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 Family photos left on a refrigerator after Hamas terrorists set it on fire on Saturday’s attack on the kibbutz on October 14, 2023 in Be’eri, Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images) |
FOR FREE PEOPLE
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Sofie Berzon MacKie on what went through her mind while terrorists attacked her kibbutz, and the first thought she had after she was rescued.
By Max Raskin
25October2023 https://www.thefp.com/p/my-life-is-going-to-end
Sofie Berzon MacKie is a British Israeli artist, a mother, and the director of Be’eri art gallery. She is a survivor of the Hamas massacre of Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. Below, the writer Max Raskin asks Sofie about the 20 hours she spent under attack. This interview originally appeared on his Substack.
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Max Raskin: How do you feel right now?
Sofie Berzon MacKie: Relatively okay.
I lost track of time, in a way. I know it’s been 13 days since the 7th of October, and I think, “Wow, it’s already two weeks?” But at the same time… “Only two weeks?”
So it’s a really strange feeling of being disoriented in time. Time stretches and is compacted at the same time. I’m not so shaken anymore. I kind of have a vision of what needs to be done in the near future and that’s all I can hope for at this point in my life, where we lost everything. Besides we have our lives, that’s about it.
MR: If any of these questions are too personal or intrusive, or make you uncomfortable, please just let me know.
SBM: No, no, feel free. Really, ask whatever.
MR: Are you in therapy right now? How is your family dealing with it?
SBM: Well, of course I’m in therapy. I have a psychologist and also a psychiatrist. I need to take a pill every night or I have really bad anxiety attacks. And if I don’t take something to calm down, then I have the worst possible nightmares and I can’t sleep. So, I take a pill every evening. I go to sleep. I have this really deep sleep and I wake up with a very heavy feeling of, “Wow, another day in this surreal life that I now lead.”
But then the day goes by, and I get very busy trying to rebuild whatever I can with whatever I have right now. And the children are also, I think, okay. I have really strong children and they’re very smart and very resourceful. So, I hope—and I dare say, I know—that it might take some time, but the horrific ordeal we went through will be a very bad memory, but it will be just a memory. I don’t think we’re going to be post-traumatic in the long term.
MR: Let’s say someone woke up from a coma today and you were the first person they talked to, and they said to you, “Hey, great to meet you. What’s going on?” What would you say to them?
SBM: In a sentence, I would say that the most brutal, sadistic, inhuman, murderous attack was made on a peaceful civilian population—mostly left-wing, by the way—where 1,400 people were murdered in their homes. . . babies, the elderly, mothers. Another 200 are kidnapped, also children among them, without their parents. And now, in many ways, what we went through is very similar to the Holocaust, but much worse because it happened in our land, in our homes. So, if I had to summarize it, that’s it.
MR: I don’t know how to even broach it, but I think it’s important for people to hear the story of that day. Can you tell my readers what that day was for you?
SBM: So the day before was Sukkot. We were having a nice family dinner and we went to play tennis together, and it was a lot of fun. And we went to bed and woke up at half past six in the morning with ear-deafening explosions that didn’t sound anything like what I know. It didn’t sound like rockets, and there wasn’t the siren that goes off every time it’s a rocket. It was just something else.
So we jumped out of bed, me and my partner, and I woke my daughter up. She’s twelve and a half. And I told her to run. . . just run to the safe room. And I took my daughter, my little one, my toddler—she’s three years old—out of her bed, grabbed her, and ran and shut the window. We have a really thick metal window. And I slammed the door shut and just sat on the bed. My son sleeps there. And a few minutes later, the red color sirens went off and like 100 missiles went over our heads. I can hear them exploding right outside my house.
And then I opened my phone, which I took with me, and there’s this internal group that serves the kibbutz for important messages, and there was a message there that there is an indication of terrorists in Israel, but not in the kibbutz yet
And then the kids asked me, “Mommy, can they reach our kibbutz?”<
And I said, “No, we’re quite far from the border.”
We’re almost five kilometers from the border, and it seemed to me unimaginable that anyone can cross that distance inside Israel’s territory without the army responding and neutralizing them.
So that’s what I said, but five minutes later, another message, “There are terrorists in the kibbutz. Lock the doors. Close the windows, and shut yourself in the safe room and don’t leave.” So I thought it’s not the first time I received that message. It might be like two or three terrorists and they will be taken care of fairly quickly.
The mothers of the kibbutz, we have a WhatsApp group. We use it if anyone needs some sort of medicine or is looking for clothing and just mother stuff. It just exploded with messages, hundreds of them, of terrorists in people’s homes. And because I know the people writing those messages, I drew this map in my head, and I understood that there are hundreds of them all over the kibbutz. That was a very, very terrifying moment.
MR: You were getting messages from the mothers?
SBM: Yeah.
“We have terrorists in our house.”
“They’re shooting at my window.”
“They’re inside my house burning tires, and my house is on fire.”
And these pleas for someone to come and save us. And everyone was like, “Where’s the army? Where’s the army?”
And things escalated for hours on end. Mothers were sending their last words—pleading for someone to save them when you can hear the terrorists in the background—and then they were murdered. The most really horrifying things. I just sat there for hours listening to that group, my friends, and so many of them.
MR: And you knew these people?
SBM: Of course, of course. The kibbutz has 550 families, so of course you know everyone. We share our lives together. It’s a fairly tight-knit community, although people, of course, have their careers and not everyone works on the kibbutz. But we celebrate the holidays together and our children—the kindergartens are on the kibbutz grounds. Everybody’s everybody’s friend, on some level, of course.
So that went on for many, many hours. My children were terrified, absolutely terrified. I told them to stay away from the door, because we realized quite soon that the door is not bulletproof, because they started shooting through the door and injuring people inside the safe room and throwing hand grenades.
MR: Did they see your phone? Did you let them see your phone?
SBM: No. No, of course not. No. No.
MR: How did you talk to your kids?
SBM: We weren’t talking much. I told them, “There are terrorists in the kibbutz. Now you have to be very quiet and cannot talk.”
I was scared that my toddler wouldn’t manage the situation. You hear stories from the Holocaust of people with little children in hiding, and I always thought, “How do you keep a child that small, that young, quiet in this situation?” But the energy was so heavy and we were so quiet.
I told my daughter, “You need to be as quiet as a mouse. We’re not talking now.” And she whispered through the whole day. Even when she fell over, she didn’t cry.
And the kids at some point got so exhausted from the adrenaline and all the stress. And terrorists were shooting for hours at our house, and we could hear them outside our window of the safe room, shouting in Arabic.
MR: How long were you in that safe room?
SBM: Almost 14 hours, and then another 6 with the neighbors in theirs, until the army rescued us. We were in ours from half past six in the morning until after midnight.
We didn’t have any water, any food. . . nothing. So at one point, when it got relatively quiet and I couldn’t hear people shooting at our house anymore, we crept out of the room, because I was scared that if my daughter gets hungry, she’s going to start screaming and we’re doomed. So we took a calculated risk and left the safe room. And we brought a bottle of water and some cereal and dates, just grabbed it and ran back to the safe room.
Later on, I understood that they didn’t manage to break into the safe room, because it is relatively hard. . . if you hold down the handle, it’s kind of hard to open the door. . . but they just burned the houses. That really scared me. But when I understood that they didn’t break into our safe room, I ran to our bathroom. I grabbed all the towels and just opened the tap of the bathtub. I didn’t care how much noise it made. So, I soaked them in water and put them in a basket and ran back to the safe room, and I put them beneath the door and the window in case they tried to set our house on fire.
My kids got very tired at some point, so I told them, “Listen, just try to sleep.” And they fell asleep for, I think, five hours, and they woke up and it was, “Is it over, Mommy,” and I’m like, “Not yet, just please try to sleep.” So they slept most of the day
MR: How long were the terrorists in the kibbutz?
SBM: They were in the kibbutz even after we were rescued. They were there for days, until the army found the last one of them. Even after all of us were evacuated, the army was still there for days, I think for even a week.
MR: I’m not asking this in a spiritual or philosophical sense, but I guess I’m asking this question—how did you survive?
SBM: A series of the smallest coincidences, really. The most insignificant events decided our fate that day. And it’s really hard to comprehend, because the reality of being dead or alive, it’s this eternal situation. You’re dead, you’re dead. And if you’re alive, you’re here. And, on the other hand, the really meaningless occurrences that decided whoever’s fate.
I would say luck, but it’s not really luck. It’s just the way the dice was rolled that day.
MR: Did they shoot at your house and you just happened to survive?
SBM: Yes. They shot a lot. . . a lot at my house. They came into my house at one point. Some houses, they really didn’t leave for hours, until whoever the family was in the safe room was killed. Some houses, for five hours, they went and came back and went and came back.
MR: Did they try breaking into your safe room?
SBM: Yes. At one point, we heard voices. They didn’t really try. They were just there and they left. I was standing next to the door with a knife, because that’s what I had. But why they left, I don’t know
MR: Did your safe room lock?
SBM: No. You can’t lock it from the inside, but you can hold the handle down and then it’s almost impossible to open it from the outside. But, of course, they can shoot you through the door. They used hand grenades. And if they were really determined in getting in, nothing could stop them. There were houses that they took apart the hinges of the door.
MR: I don’t even know what to ask. I don’t even know what to ask. I mean, what goes through your head at that time? Do you pray? Do you think about how to solve the situation? Are you thinking about escape? What is actually going through your head?
SBM: First, disbelief that this is happening and thinking that the army will surely arrive. And then the hours went on, and they didn’t. And then at one point, when they were really on my house shooting at the window, trying to. . . I don’t know what they were trying to do to the outside wall. . . I could hear them hammering at it, at the wall, trying to break it. And then I was sure I was going to die, so I actually posted my goodbyes on Facebook, and I sent messages to my friends, family that, “Know I love you, but I’m not going to survive this. This is the day I’m going to die.” And I was very sad, not much because my life is going to end today, but thinking about the brutal way that I’m actually going to be murdered made me really, really sad. And I was so scared.
 (courtesy of Sofie Berzon MacKie) MR: As a woman, were you afraid?
SBM: I wasn’t thinking like they’re going to rape me or anything. I was just, as a mother, I think. . . seeing the terror on my children’s faces once they’re in the safe room—that was a thought that absolutely broke my heart. So when they were really on our house trying to get in, I just sat. I held them and covered their eyes, because I just didn’t want to see the look on their faces when they see the people that are going to murder them. I prayed. I don’t believe in God. Not that I don’t believe that the world is a spiritual place, but I don’t believe in Him in the way any religion explains this force that moves through the universe that creates all things. But I was, in my heart, just begging for some force to let me out of that room. We sat there for so many hours, my heart was pounding in my chest the whole time. At some point, I started really shaking uncontrollably because of the adrenaline rush. Complete terror.
MR: Physically—other than your heart beating—what does that physically feel like to be in that kind of situation?
SBM: I can’t even describe it.
MR: Do you want to throw up? Do you want to go to the bathroom?
SBM: You want to throw up. You want to run away. You have this urge, crazy urge, that you have to oppress, to open the door and run, just run. And you have to really stop yourself from leaving your home because you just want to run. To have to sit there and wait, all your muscles become stiff. Your body becomes stiff. Your heart is beating. I got extremely thirsty at some point. My mouth was so, so dry. My daughter had terrible cramps in her stomach. She had an awful tummy ache, and her head was throbbing. Your body is screaming that this situation is unbearable. But here we are.
MR: I don’t know if this is a silly question, but are there any moments of levity in that whole thing?
SBM: No. At one point, when I understood that I am going to die, I couldn’t stand the fear that took hold of me. It was beyond anything I ever felt in my whole life, the most extreme feeling of panic, and terror, utter terror. So, I kind of took a look at my life, and I became very grateful for what I have, what I had—for my life’s trajectory and the people I met and the people I loved and who loved me back. And that was a really deep moment for me. It was, I don’t know, spiritual in a way, that I understood my life is going to end. It’s a fact.
MR: People say your life flashes before your eyes. Is that what that was like?
SBM: Yes. You think about your childhood, your parents, your friends, things you did right.
MR: And did that make you feel good?
SBM: It made me feel at peace, and I felt all the fear just leaving my body, and I felt really at peace with my fate. I was still very deeply sad about dying this way. I felt like it’s unfair.
MR: How does that make you feel now when you think about it? Can you access that same peace? Most people get cut off in traffic and they’re pissed off, and it ruins their day.
SBM: Something really changed in me. It’s like I met the worst possible situation life could hand out to someone, really the worst. And I found. . . I’ll try to explain.
It’s like something inside me connected with the universe, with the fact that everything has a beginning and everything has an end, and this is my end. And I suddenly felt so peaceful, and I had this warm feeling, and I felt all the fear draining out of my body into this really deep acceptance that I’m going to meet whatever eternity is, after I go.
MR: Had you thought about eternity before? Do you believe in an afterlife?
SBM: I don’t believe in an afterlife, but I am very spiritual. And these ideas, I’m occupied with them and by them for a long time.
MR: Before this happened?
SBM: Yes, that everything is connected in the world. The infinitely large. The stars, when you gaze up, is connected to my body. It is inside me and I am inside everything. So I walk through life with that feeling. But it really was intensified, and the truth of that feeling overcame me and all fear just left me.
MR: What moment was that when that was actually happening?
SBM: That moment was really the peak of it. I just thought, “I can’t stand. . . ”
It’s like you’re mentally fighting for your life. Emotionally, you’re fighting for your life, although, in many ways, you’re just sitting in a room not doing anything. And then I kind of let go. . . “That’s it. It’s out of my hands. Whatever is going to happen, let it happen. You can’t stop it. There’s no need to be afraid. There’s just no need to be afraid. You can’t control the situation. Just let it go.”
MR: And then when did you come back and realize, “I might make it through this?”
SBM: I think it’s around half past four, I heard Hebrew outside my window. I heard only Arabic until that point. . . and gunshots. I heard Hebrew and understood that the army is outside my house. And then I had this thought, quite fleeting, actually, not even like an understanding, but just a glimmer of hope that I might make it through this day alive with my children. I think it was a quarter past six and my neighbor from upstairs called me and said, “Sofie, the army is here. They’re evacuating us. Get ready.” And I could hear them talking to the soldiers and telling them, “There is a family downstairs. You have to go and get them also.” So then, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to get through this. They’re here.”
MR: You hear stories of the terrorists using young kids to falsely coax people out of their houses to kill them. Were you at any point worried that they were playing a game on you and trying to lure you out?
SBM: Of course. All day long, they were banging on doors. They were knocking on the windows. They were dressed as the IDF. But when you hear a group of people speaking, you can recognize the language, and especially the language used by the army—nobody can fake that. But during the day we understood that they were pretending to be the army, but we also knew that the army hadn’t arrived yet, because we were in contact with the official statements.
But at quarter past six, they were banging on our door, “Open up. Open up. It’s the IDF.” And I just ran and collapsed into their arms.
I had 10 soldiers, two of them were officers, standing in my living room. I thought they were the most beautiful people I ever saw in my life. And I told them, “Take my children. Please, just take my children.” I handed my daughter to them. And they said to us, “You have two minutes. Pack the necessities that you will need, and we’re out of here.”
Then they helped us climb over the wall, and we were standing with our neighbors, two families, with 30 soldiers, in the most horrific scene. The sky was. . . it was green and orange and full of smoke. There were so many houses on fire, dead bodies scattered everywhere, puddles of blood, rockets exploding, and bullets started whizzing in front of us, so they understood that we can’t be evacuated yet. And they told us, “Please go upstairs to the safe room of your neighbors, and we will be back very soon.” And eventually, they came back at midnight. So we had another six hours, with no electricity at that point.
MR: Did you feel safe at that point?
SBM: Safer, yes.
MR: Like the military was in charge?
SBM: Yes. I knew that they were fighting them. I knew that families were evacuated at that point, not many, but they’re succeeding in evacuating them. I knew that they knew we were there, and I trusted that they would be back.
Luckily enough, we were at our neighbor’s house, because I think two hours after that I could hear terrorists inside my house—shooting from inside my house at the soldiers who were outside. My life was saved more than once that day.
And at around midnight they came back, and we didn’t answer the door when they came. We were too scared at that point. We didn’t answer the door. So they broke in. They tried to break in through the window. They started pulling the window apart, but then we ran and opened the door, and we were evacuated under fire.
MR: How were you evacuated? In an armored personnel carrier?
SBM: No, by foot. We had to walk. My daughter, my eldest daughter, was terrified. She said, “I’m not walking. They’re going to kill me. I’m staying here.” So one of the soldiers took her by her hand and said, “I am here with you. We’re going to make it.”
So we were three families. Thirty soldiers surrounded us in a ring, with weapons drawn. And we started walking. They told the kids to close their eyes and not open them until they tell them it’s safe, because the horrors—as I just said, there were dead bodies everywhere, butchered dead bodies, fire, blood everywhere, just insane. . .
MR: I feel like everyone is watching whatever videos they can get their hands on, even the most horrific things. . . people feel like a need to see. Do you watch any of it?
SBM: No. Not only do I not watch it, I’m actively blocking it out. After meeting with my psychologist, he rightfully said that “there is absolutely no use at this point even thinking about what happened. It’s only going to make the trauma linger on. So you just really need to work hard on your mental and psychological defense and block it out for now, until, I don’t know, in a year’s time, two years’ time”—these are his words. “When you’re safe and you have a home and you’re far enough from what’s happened to safely deal with it. But now, you just really have to block the memory out. Because otherwise, it’s going to turn into post-trauma, and it’s going to haunt you your whole life.” So I do as he said, and it’s really helpful advice.
MR: What does it do when someone wants to get your testimony?
SBM: When I say what happened, I remember it. But at this point, it doesn’t feel like I’m there. Something did change with my psychological capabilities, and some time has passed. For a week and a half after everything happened, I felt like what happened is still happening in the world somewhere. My life kind of split into two timelines and in one timeline, me and my family and my children, we were saved, but in another timeline, in another universe, it is still happening, and the end is still unknown, and it can still play out completely differently. And that’s how I felt.
So it was very scary to think about it because I had this feeling that if I don’t pay attention—don’t ask me to what, because I don’t know. It’s like I felt like I have to be on guard, because if I’m not, the end will be different and I will be killed with my children.
And that, when I come to think about it now, I don’t feel like that anymore. I feel like it was a horrible, horrible experience, but it is over. I am more grounded in reality. I don’t feel like I have these flashbacks where I’m still there physically. It’s like sharing a very painful memory, but a memory.
MR: And do you listen to the memories of others? As a photographer, you probably think about this a lot but there’s a kind of prurient interest or pornographic spectacle that people are curious about the rapes and the torture.
SBM: The people that are here, we survived, so none of us have these stories and we don’t know the specifics of what happened to our loved ones. Nobody gave us that information. I saw maybe one or two testimonies of people who were working in the kibbutz and what they saw, but no one was given any details and I’m glad.
MR: But these stories are starting to come out now. Are you avoiding them?
SBM: Yes, of course. I really can’t deal with that. It’s not like before. I used to watch these images. I can understand how things can be horrifying. I don’t have to see them. I remember when ISIS started releasing the beheading videos and they were found on YouTube. I think I watched one, and I was like, “Okay, no, I really can’t handle this. It’s just too much.” I’m definitely avoiding. . . how can I watch my community[’s] children being butchered and tortured? I don’t want to see.
MR: How does this make you think about the Holocaust?
SBM: I think in many ways, what we went through was very similar to the Holocaust. I can understand, maybe, a bit more, a bit better, what it really felt like, although Israel is very good at preserving the memory of the Holocaust. So through my whole life I’ve been reading testimonies, meeting Holocaust survivors, and I had a very good sense. I went to Poland also, to concentration camps when I was in high school, and it felt in many ways very similar.
I daresay it’s even a bit worse. It might actually be a bit worse.
Because it’s in our land, in our country, in our homes. We weren’t like guests in someone else’s country. This is our country. We have a very strong and capable army, and it happened in my home, in my land.
MR: Is your worldview changing minute to minute?
SBM: I think I hold very liberal, humanitarian ideas of the world. I think I was naive about Hamas and the people of Gaza, who, in many ways, I relate to and am an advocate for, in their justifiable call for freedom.
But I couldn’t imagine that any human being, as hateful as they are, could do the things that they did. It’s a really shocking revelation for me to understand that some people, and not some—a lot—because of the two to three thousand terrorists that entered Israel that morning, they were not all Hamas. A lot of them were also just citizens of Gaza who hate us.
The thought that people can be so hateful that they will shoot a baby in its head while she’s in her mother’s arms. . . and these are things I witnessed and heard happening in my kibbutz. Or kidnapping children. I feel so naive.
You see the world through the lens of who you are.
I saw the world through the lens of who I am, and I always believed that every person, as bad as they may be, there’s a sense of humanity that you can appeal to, that you can talk to. I think I was wrong. I think there is this force that some strain of humans possess, that to call them human is a disgrace. It is a disgrace for humankind to have people who can do those things walk amongst us and share our world. And that is something that has really changed in me—although I still want to believe that in Gaza, there are women like me, mothers like me, children like my children, who wish for peace. And I can’t believe that two million people are like that.
But maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know.
 The remains of the Be’eri Gallery. (Courtesy of Sofie Berzon MacKie)
MR: What kind of impact does this have on how you think about what your life is going to be? How do you think about your next gallery opening? Before this happened, what projects were you working on?
SBM: Many. I’m co-director of a gallery—Be’eri Gallery—which is now burnt to the ground and nonexistent. We had nine artists in line for 2024. We were already working on their exhibitions with them. Personally, I was working on various projects.
MR: What was one of your personal projects?
SBM: I’m a photographer. I now call myself more of a visual artist, because I don’t only use photography, but I was photographing in my living room for the past three years—a series that was my way of thinking about and discussing my motherhood, my identity, my relationship with my home, with my dreams. That’s one thing. I have, still hanging, an exhibition at the Man and the Living World Museum in Ramat Gan, which is very much about what we just discussed—about the eternity and interconnection of all things. I made a series called Event Horizon where I used photography, manipulated photography with AI, in just a black room, a dark room, and very large pictures of shell-like organisms that are just half-alive, half-dead. . . thoughts about eternity and—I wouldn’t use the word afterlife—but the event horizon of the black hole.
MR: Are you interested in space at all?
SBM: Yeah, I’m very interested in that. I think a lot about time and beginnings.
MR: Are you a sci-fi person?
SBM: Yes.
MR: What sci-fi do you like?
SBM: Dune, by Frank Herbert. I read it when I was 14, and I—at that point I knew that I read the best book I’m going to read in my lifetime. And I just finished the Silo trilogy, and The Hobbit, of course
I actually thought about Silo, because it’s about the apocalypse of humanity and how the human race has to stay low in these silos buried in the ground until the world is ready for them to start their new life. That’s really what I’m doing right now.
MR: After everything that’s happened, has this changed your view about the cosmos and the interconnectivity of it or your view about the afterlife?
SBM: No. I think in many ways it’s actually reinforced my thoughts about the nature of things. I really had to face the idea that every life comes to an end and that my life will come to an end right now, and that that’s just how the world, how creation works. Things are destroyed and created from the beginning of time, and now it’s my time to be part of that. And it was really a moment of enlightenment. It’s kind of hard to describe what happens to someone who faces their death and accepts it, really, with your whole being. I feel like nothing scares me anymore. And I think for 10 days I was floating, not connected to time or to this place or to reality, in many ways.
But then I went for a bike ride here near the Dead Sea, and it was at dusk. I looked at the sea. And suddenly, this normal thought, my thoughts, my normal thoughts, just popped into my head—that the sea has been here for millions of years. I held on to that thought that I recognized myself in it, and suddenly, I saw the beauty of this world, and I could again feel how I am connected, how this beauty is part of me, and how I am part of everything.
Also, I understand that powers of destruction have always been part of our universe and it’s just part of everything. I hope that answered your question.
MR: This is the most powerful interview I’ve done.
SBM: Thank you. I’ve been interviewed a lot in the past two weeks, and this was really healing, in a way.
MR: Really?
SBM: Yes.
MR: Most of my guests describe my interviews as just really weird and uncomfortable.
SBM: No. I don’t feel like you’re weird or uncomfortable. I think we would have a similar interview even if I wasn’t going through this.
MR: What’s your plan right now?
SBM: Now we are going to stay here at the hotel, although it’s not so comfortable for me. Personally, I need a more quiet environment, more breathing space, and less grieving collectively, because every other person I see here has lost at least one person. So there’s a lot of pain and grieving going on, but my children desperately need their friends.
MR: Are their friends there?
SBM: Most of them are here. Some of my daughter’s friends were murdered. Two of her friends are missing. One of her friends is for sure abducted. And she’s twelve and a half, so her social life at this point is more important to her than her immediate family. There’s a psychologist who is working with her group and also with my son’s group, and so I’m here for them now.
MR: Listen, we come to Israel a lot. We’re going to be there soon. My wife’s actually about to give birth in the next few weeks. But when we’re there, I’d love to meet you in person.
SBM: Wow, that’s great. That makes me happy.
MR: It’ll be our first!
SBM: Wow, that even makes me happier. That’s amazing.
I actually thought that maybe we should have another child, although I decided that three is enough, and I have the most horrible pregnancies. But after we escaped from that thing, I was like, “Wow, I think we should just have another child.”
Regarding your question about the Holocaust, I can understand why people had the need to have large families. It’s really a statement of being alive in this world.
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Max Raskin is an adjunct professor of law at New York University and a fellow at the school’s Institute for Judicial Administration. You can follow him on X @maxraskin.
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WAR: Hamas missiles on Jerusalem on Shabbat/Shemini Atzeret 5784
Hamas Nazi Swastika Battle Flag
Remember who you are dealing with!
Hamas Nazis: Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini and Adolf Hitler
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini and Adolf Hitler December 1941
Haj Amin al-Husseini who was, in many ways, as big a Nazi villain as Hitler himself. To understand his influence on the Middle East is to understand the ongoing genocidal program against the Jews of Israel. Al-Husseini was a bridge figure in terms of transporting the Nazi genocide in Europe into the post-war Middle East. As the leader of Arab Palestine during the British Mandate period, al-Husseini introduced violence against moderate Arabs as well as against Jews. Al-Husseini met with Adolf Eichmann in Palestine in 1937 and subsequently went on the Nazi payroll as a Nazi agent. Al-Husseini played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in instigating a pro-Nazi coup in Iraq in 1941 as he urged Nazis and pro-Nazi governments in Europe to transport Jews to death camps, trained pro-Nazi Bosnian brigades, and funneled Nazi loot into pro-war Arab countries.
On 20 November1941, al-Husseini met the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and was officially received by Adolf Hitler on 28 November.
Al-Husseini’s own account, as recorded in his diary, states that Hitler expounded his view that the Jews were responsible for World War I, Marxism and its revolutions, and this was why the task of Germans was to persevere in a battle without mercy against the Jews,
According to the official report of the meeting, on November 28, 1941, Adolf Hitler told Husseini that the Afrika Korps would “liberate” Arabs in the Middle East and that “Germany’s only objective there would be the destruction of the Jews.”
“SS leaders and Husseini both claimed that Nazism and Islam had common values as well as common enemies – above all, the Jews,” the report states.
In fall 1943, it says, Husseini went to the Croatia, a German ally, to recruit Muslims for the Waffen-SS.
Der Grossmufti von Palästina vom Führer empfangen.
Der Führer empfing in Gegenwart des Reichsministers des Auswärtigen von Ribbentrop den Grossmufti von Palästina, Sayid Amin al Husseini, zu einer herzlichen und für die Zukunft der arabischen Länder bedeutungsvollen Unterredung.
9.12.41 Presse Hoffmann
From the Passover Haggadah:
According to the instructions of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the wine cup is now raised and the Matzot are covered.
This is what has stood by our fathers and us! For not just one alone has risen against us to destroy us, but in every generation they rise against us to destroy us; and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hand!
This is what it means to be ‘Pushed into the Sea’
Israel teddy bear display highlights Hamas’ child hostages
Updates
Israel left Gaza on Tisha B’Av 5765! What did the Jews of Israel get with the “Disengagement”? Gush Katif and Hurricane Katrina
IDF dragging Jews from Gush Katif
Chanah Angelica Kamen-tweet-15October2023-It’s past time that we stop playing with our people like it’s a chess board
Tu B’Shevat 2024
VIDEO SERIES: HaShabbat HaSh’chora – Documenting A Massacre
EDITORS NOTE: The following series called “Shabbat HaSh’chora” or “Black Saturday” depicts the events of October 7, 2023 when Palestinian militants from Hamas, along with other groups and civilians, invaded Israel and proceeded to systematically kill civilians, including women, children, the elderly and babies. They literally raped, pillaged and plundered their way through several Israeli communities close to the Gaza border.
When it was all said and done, more than 1400 people were killed. More than 245 hostages were taken, some dead, some alive.
The Judean decided to run this series with a heavy heart. There is so much misinformation out there about what happened, including that it never did happen or that Israeli forces were responsible. Social media channels have systematically been removing all videos depicting that day, whether they are redacted, blurred or edited to minimize the gore.
This series is not for the faint of heart however it is a must see for all those who doubt the barbaric nature of the Palestinians in Gaza, some who support Hamas and some who, from the video, just seem happy it all happened. The Judean invites anyone who wants to use these videos to dispell the lies and misinformation about that dark day, one that saw more Jews die in the most horrible ways since the Holocaust.
[EDD: This will be on JerusalemCats hidden from plain view for backup]
Chanah Angelica Kamen-tweet-13November2023-Footage of Hamas and Gaza civilians who lined up to rape women
It took a good few hours to stop feeling physically ill from only reading the article about the footage compiled.
Footage of Hamas and Gaza civilians who lined up to rape women. So many atrocities.
Hamas and Palestinian Civilians did it. Do you understand?
I beg you, do not under any circumstances watch the videos, but we just have to be understand what we’re dealing with and stop deluding ourselves that this society is against terrorism.
If we don’t take back Gaza after this, it will be a disaster.
May G-d rescue our hostages, and BH” may we be blessed with such a miracle and BH” with the utmost safety of our soldiers to #MakeGazaGushKatifAgain.
https://thejudean.com/index.php/news/42-shabbat-shachor/2086-video-series-hashabbat-hashchora-documenting-a-massacre-part-4
Chanah Angelica Kamen-tweet-13November2023-Footage of Hamas and Gaza civilians who lined up to rape women
BACKGROUND
https://trailer.web-view.net/Show/0XE9C86924E33B1CCD1E3B3C76B992DBCD33C5165B197F8AA7CADC7763737E7364CE621924E3B8FD11.htm
In the midst of Simchat Torah, thousands of terrorists entered from Gaza and massacred hundreds of people, women and children.
More than 700 were killed (and the number keeps rising…).
More than 2243 were wounded (including some 300 in very serious and/or critical condition).
Hundreds of civilians, including infants, children, women and the elderly, were kidnapped and are now being held captive and are victims of physical and mental abuse by Hamas.
More than 3,000 missiles were launched over Israel against the civilian population.
We need your help in these difficult times.
What can you do?
Pray!
Recite a Psalm or the Tikkun Haklali for the salvation of the people of Israel, the healing of the wounded, the release of prisoners and the protection of our soldiers.
Share the message!
Help Israel spread the truth- most people are unaware of the incredible suffering the people of Israel are going through!
Please support us!
On social media, in your spirit, spreading the news, support Israeli businesses (click here to shop) and most of all, praying for Israel!
“Behold, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.”
Breslev English | Shivtei Israel 56, Jerusalem, Israel | 972-2-532-3339 ext. 3
idf-Who is Protecting the children Israel or Hamas?
Next Time think of Dresden, Germany before letting the fascists run things.
UNRWA-tweet-17February2024-Gaza-Feb2024
There are no words.
UNRWA-tweet-17February2024-Gaza-February2024
Gaza-February2024
Silent Majority-tweet-13October2023-Golda Meir quote
Here is the proof of Iran supporting and giving aid to the Nazi Hamas.
Ambassador Gilad Erdan-tweet-8October2023-Hamas terrorists thanking IRAN for the weapons money and rockets
The drones used by Hamas in Southern Israel are American-made and supplied by the US to Ukraine
Mudar Adnan Zahran-tweet-11October2023-Hamas drones-American-made and supplied by the US to Ukraine
Mudar Adnan Zahran-tweet-11October2023-Our intelligence sources confirm: The drones used by Hamas in Southern Israel are American-made and supplied by the US to Ukraine, where Jordanian intelligence bought them from the Ukrainians and delivered them to Hamas upon orders from Rania Antoinette (the Kinglet’s wife) with funding from an Arab Gulf state (not Qatar). The shipment arrived in Jordan and was then transported by Jordan’s intelligence to Egypt, where it was received by Egyptian military intelligence, which smuggled it through the tunnels to Hamas with Sisi’s approval… The ongoing slaughter is the nasty work of Arab regimes on the verge of collapse, whose mere existence has become a threat to regional stability and world peace.
Comments:
https://www.israpundit.org/the-drones-used-by-hamas-in-southern-israel-are-american-made-and-supplied-by-the-us-to-ukraine/
peloni1986
October 12, 2023 at 12:02 am
We know that the arms being shipped to Ukraine are being repurposed in some number, and the refusal of any oversight being attached to these weapons would further suggest that this is the very purpose of this lack of oversight. So the potential that the drones were American in origin should not be dismissed too quickly.
In addition to this, the recent exposure of the Jordanian arms smuggling program to support the Islamist terror attacks murdering Israeli’s would certainly indicate that Jordan would certainly not be opposed to facilitating a similar such arms transfer to Hamas.
Also, the weapons did come to Gaza, either by boat or thru the Egyptian land crossing, and it is clear that Sissi’s govt was aware of what was coming in full or partial detail, which would clearly indicate a reasonable conclusion that the arms were transferred to Hamas thru Egypt.
When considering whether Sissi would involve himself in such a transfer as Mudar suggests he conducted, the recent warming which has been taking place between Iran and Sissi should also be seen as a potentially relevant factor. Furthermore, the lack of any response taking place when Jordan was caught in the act of transferring such war contraband might possibly persuade Sissi that even if he were caught doing so, he might expect a similar lack of consequence which Jordan faces for their recent treachery.
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-12October2023-THIS is what the world needs to know about the civilians in Gaza
Some Posts on X/Twitter are to graphic to Post. These are Nazis we are dealing with. See: Sanctions
[EDD: This image was blurred]
Israel-tweet-12October2023-Those who deny these events are supporting the barbaric animals
David Lange-tweet-8October2023-What they mean by a Free Palestine
[EDD: ⚠ TRIGER WARNING]
Chaskel Bennett-tweet-29October-2023-WARNING: The WhatsApp group chat of the Nir Oz Community Group has been published.
it is horrific, as one can imagine. I only share it because at this point
we are fighting a pr battle we can not win without authenticated information. This is painful to read, and I couldn’t finish it. I warn you in advance that the crimes committed here are beyond human comprehension. The kind of savagery and barbarism we’ve only heard about from our Holocaust survivors. H’YD
https://yediot.webflow.io/7days/nir-oz-community-chat
Chaskel Bennett-tweet-29October-2023-The WhatsApp group chat of the Nir Oz Community Group has been published
JerusalemCats-tweet-8October2023-Hamas missiles were landing in Armon HaNetziv Jerusalem every 15 minutes
Measures Israel takes to minimize harm to Israeli civilians:
– Clear instructions on emergency updates via television, radio, internet, and red alert apps.
– Air raid sirens installed within hearing distance of every populated area in the country.
– Minimizing gatherings of over certain amount of people in areas in danger.
– Closing public areas and beaches in times of danger.
– Ensuring people going to work have access to a fortified area.
– Mandatory fortified rooms built in every home by law.
– Schools operating on Zoom so the children are at home.
– Public bomb shelters available in the streets with easy access.
– Training of local governments to respond to threats.
– Closing communities with gates, guarded by armed guards.
– Monitoring of communities by Israel Police and IDF.
Measures Israel takes to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians:
– Coordinating evacuation routes away from target areas
– Dropping leaflets warning of an imminent attack
– Placing phone calls directly to civilians informing them to vacate the area.
– Dropping a “roof knock” warning of imminent strike on the exact building being targeted.
Measures Hamas takes to maximize harm to Israeli civilians:
– Strategically choosing a date for their attack on a Jewish holiday and a day of rest, when a large music festival is taking place.
– Indiscriminate gunfire into large crowds
– Specifically choosing communities with a lot of unarmed civilians, senior citizens and children who cannot defend themselves.
– Firing unguided Iranian rockets into populated cities across Israel including Tel Aviv.
– Suicide bombers who add nails coated in rat poison in their bombs and bombs themselves in crowded markets, buses, and restaurants.
– Specifically targeting families, women and children.
Measures Hamas takes to maximize harm to Palestinian civilians:
– Urging civilians in Gaza to ignore all IDF warnings
– Blocking escape routes to safe zones
– Sabotaging humanitarian corridors with car bombs
– Raiding UNRWA warehouses
– Punishing civilians who try to protect themselves.
– Urging people not to leave buildings slated for removal, but to stand on the roofs.
The-Mossad-Satirical,-Yet-Awesome-tweet-October 17, 2023-Measures Israel takes to minimize harm to Israeli civilians
Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-9October2023-Israel withdrawal from Gaza Strip in 2005 was Land for Peace;
Michael Benezra-tweet-8October2023-Appeared on the battlefield
StopAntisemitism-tweet-8October2023-Times Square-a swastika was spotted on the phone of a pro Palestinian supporter
Israel Defense Forces – Live briefing from Tel Aviv
The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-8October2023-Hamas beheading captured soldiers
Mike-tweet-7October2023-Hamas terrorists subject women and little girls to public humiliation on the streets of Gaza
BACKGROUND
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-13October2023-Hey all you critics of Israel
Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) October 13, 2023
Hey, all you “critics of Israel:”
For years you’ve been saying that Hamas has moderated. That it changed its charter. That it accepted a two state solution. That it wanted peace. That if Israel would improve life in Gaza it would reciprocate with goodwill.
For years we “right-wing, extremist” Zionists have been telling you that you were wrong. Over and over again.
You disparaged us as warmongers. You had “experts” to back you up, from the finest universities. You had former ambassadors. Human rights leaders. The best of the best. You all agreed, Hamas was moderating, and not the same Hamas as the 1988 Charter and the Sbarro massacre.
You considered us to be the obstacles to peace while you met with and welcomed Hamas leaders and invited them to write op-eds in the @NYTimes
.
Hamas fooled you. They knew that you projected onto them your own desire for peace, for a two state solution, for them to repeal their charter that calls for the genocide of all Jews. So they played you. And you fell for it, totally.
You were fatally wrong.
And your coddling Hamas for so long – barely condemning their rocket attacks, ignoring their many other war crimes, all while publishing thousands of pages of articles condemning Israel – showed the Palestinian terror groups and their Iranian sponsors that you were their useful idiot allies.
Yes, you have been de facto allies of the group that just murdered the most Jews in one day since Auschwitz.
You treated us as the enemy and you treated the disgusting, immoral, murderous Islamist extremists as partners.
You spent 95% of your time condemning the only state in the region that actually cares about human rights for all and only a token amount of time on the true evil that Hamas and the other Palestinian groups have made no secret of sponsoring and supporting. And, amazingly, you pretended that this was helping bring “peace.”
You were dead wrong.
Do you have the slightest feelings of shame? Embarrassment? Or even maybe, responsibility?
Do you think for maybe a moment that since you were so spectacularly wrong about Hamas, maybe we “extremist Zionist fanatics” know more than you do on other issues?
Maybe you are even wrong with your obsessive demonizing of Israel as well. Maybe Israel really does follow real international law as understood by military experts, not wannabe experts from anti-Israel NGOs. Maybe Israel has done more to help Palestinians live in dignity than you are reading about in The Nation.
Are you honest enough to admit when you are wrong?
Or will you continue to be wrong and keep pretending that you know what you are talking about?
Nervana Mahmoud-tweet-11October2023-remembering the long history of bad choices
Nervana Mahmoud-tweet-11October2023:
I am accused of “justifying occupation”, which is a big fat lie.
My guilt is remembering the long history of bad choices & wasted opportunities.
Remember when hijacking airplanes, killing athletes were the Palestinian answer to Israeli occupation?
Remember when suicide attacks were marketed as the answer to the occupation?
Remember when firing rockets was the innovation of the resistance?
None of the above liberated Palestine.
Why, and how bloody pogrom and kidnapping women and children will?
the Jewish Virtual Library. logo https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
First Intifada
(1987 – 1993)
By Mitchell Bard
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/first-intifada
False charges of Israeli atrocities and instigation from the mosques played an important role in starting the intifada. On December 6, 1987, an Israeli was stabbed to death while shopping in Gaza. One day later, four residents of the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza were killed in a traffic accident. Rumors that the four had been killed by Israelis as a deliberate act of revenge began to spread among the Palestinians. Mass rioting broke out in Jabalya on the morning of December 9, in which a 17-year-old youth was killed by an Israeli soldier after throwing a Molotov cocktail at an army patrol. This soon sparked a wave of unrest that engulfed the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.
Over the next week, rock-throwing, blocked roads and tire burnings were reported throughout the territories. By December 12, six Palestinians had died and 30 had been injured in the violence. The following day, rioters threw a gasoline bomb at the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem. No one was hurt in the bombing.
In Gaza, rumors circulated that Palestinian youths wounded by Israeli soldiers were being taken to an army hospital near Tel Aviv and “finished off.” Another rumor, claimed Israeli troops poisoned a water reservoir in Khan Yunis. A UN official said these stories were untrue. Only the most seriously injured Palestinians were taken out of the Gaza Strip for treatment, and, in some cases, this probably saved their lives. The water was also tested and found to be uncontaminated.
This uprising or intifada was violent from the start. During the first four years of the uprising, more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives were reported by the Israel Defense Forces. The violence was directed at soldiers and civilians alike. During this period, 16 Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers were killed by Palestinians in the territories; more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and 1,700 Israeli soldiers were injured. Approximately 1,100 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Throughout the intifada, the PLO played a lead role in orchestrating the insurrection. The PLO-dominated Unified Leadership of the Intifada (UNLI), for example, frequently issued leaflets dictating which days violence was to be escalated, and who was to be its target. The PLO’s leadership of the uprising was challenged by the fundamentalist Islamic organization Hamas, a violently anti-Semitic group that rejects any peace negotiations with Israel.
Jews were not the only victims of the violence. In fact, as the intifada waned around the time of the Gulf War in 1991, the number of Arabs killed for political and other reasons by Palestinian death squads in what amount to an “intrafada” exceeded the number killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat defended the killing of Arabs deemed to be “collaborating with Israel.” He delegated the authority to carry out executions to the intifada leadership. After the murders, the local PLO death squad sent the file on the case to the PLO. “We have studied the files of those who were executed, and found that only two of the 118 who were executed were innocent,” Arafat said. The innocent victims were declared “martyrs of the Palestinian revolution” by the PLO (Al-Mussawar, January 19, 1990).
Palestinians were stabbed, hacked with axes, shot, clubbed and burned with acid. The justifications offered for the killings varied. In some instances, being employed by Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank and Gaza was reason enough; in others, contact with Jews warranted a death sentence. Accusations of “collaboration” with Israel were sometimes used as a pretext for acts of personal vengeance. Women deemed to have behaved “immorally” were also among the victims.
Eventually, the reign of terror became so serious that some Palestinians expressed public concern about the disorder. The PLO began to call for an end to the violence, but murders by its members and rivals continued. From 1989-1992, this intrafada claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 Palestinians.
(2000 – 2020)
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-suicide-attacks-against-israel-2000-2007
Number of Suicide Attacks and Deaths
Number of Suicide Attacks and Deaths
The last suicide attack was in 2008.
Number of Suicide Attacks Thwarted By Israeli Forces
Number of Suicide Attacks Thwarted By Israeli Forces
Sources:Israeli Foreign Ministry;
Washington Post, (April 2, 2004);
Prime Minister’s Office;
McClatchey Washington Bureau, (January 11, 2006).
Israeli Missions Around The World
The Situation on the eve of the Second Intifada (2000)
https://embassies.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Maps/Pages/Situation-on-the-eve-of-the-Second-Intifada.aspx
The Second Intifada – a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence – began in September 2000, with official Palestinian Authority media exhorting the Palestinians to violence. It erupted just as the most serious negotiations for a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians were being pursued. In the absence of any significant land barrier, Palestinian terrorists were able to cross easily from the West Bank into Israeli towns and communities where they staged murderous suicide bombings against civilians.
During this period, lasting until September 2005, Palestinian suicide bombers used increasingly powerful bombs to kill larger numbers of Israelis in their terror attacks. Over 1,000 Israelis were killed and thousands severely injured. Over 2,000 Palestinians were also killed during this period. The disproportionate number of Palestinian casualties was primarily a result of the number of Palestinians involved in violence. The unfortunate deaths of noncombatants was largely due to the practice of Palestinian terrorists using civilians as shields.
At the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit of February 2005, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and PA President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to stop all acts of violence and reaffirmed their commitment to the Roadmap for Peace.
Pre-2nd-Intifada Map
This map is for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered authoritative.
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https://www.oref.org.il/en
Israel Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref)
https://www.oref.org.il/en
Rocket and Missile Attacks
https://www.oref.org.il/12410-en/Pakar.aspx?tab=12487&parentCategory=12486
Supplies for Emergencies
https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15903-en/pakar.aspx
In light of the development of fighting in the various sectors, you must prepare equipment that will allow you and your family to stay in the protected area for up to 72 hours:
Water supply of 3 liters per person per day, for 72 hours
Stock of dry and canned food
Battery operated lighting or flashlight
Means for receiving alerts and updates – a radio that runs on batteries and portable batteries for mobile phones
Medicines
First aid kit
Personal documents, certificates and cash
Equipment for babies or animals, depending on the needs of the family members.
Israel Home Front Command (Pikud HaOref) is the official address for Israeli citizens during these times Pikud HaOref / Phone: 104
Help Line for Holocaust Survivors
The Government has also opened a help line for Holocaust survivors to help with ANY NEED. For example, medical, social , psychological etc.. The number to call is *5105 or 03 5682651
Home Front Command: Life Saving Guidelines-1
Home Front Command: Life Saving Guidelines-2
click to Enlarge
Choosing a Protected Space
https://www.oref.org.il/12487-15895-en/Pakar.aspx
Secure space for everybody
Why is it Important to Wait 10 Minutes in the Protected Space?
https://www.oref.org.il/12487-16151-en/Pakar.aspx
Why we Wait in the Protected Space for 10 Minutes?
Lying down on the ground can save lives
https://www.oref.org.il/12487-15965-en/Pakar.aspx
Rockets and Missile Attack – Why is it important to lie on the ground
During an alert – move away from the car
https://www.oref.org.il/12487-16149-en/Pakar.aspx
Why should I get away from my vehicle during a siren.
Unexploded and Unidentified Objects
https://www.oref.org.il/12487-17793-en/Pakar.aspx
Watch Out! Staying near fallen projectiles endangers lives
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Links: Foreign Embassy Alerts
U.S. Embassy in Israel
Emergency Preparedness
https://il.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/emergency-preparedness/
Security incidents can occur at any time and at any place. As security incidents, including rocket fire, often take place without warning, U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to remain vigilant and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.
In the event of mortar and/or rocket fire in Israel, a Red Alert siren may be activated. Treat all such alerts as real; follow the instructions from local authorities and seek shelter immediately. Know the location of your closest shelter or protected space.
For additional information on appropriate action to take upon hearing a siren or explosion in Israel, see the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command website (available on devices within Israel) or view the Preparedness Information PDF. U.S. citizens may also wish to download the free Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command application on Android or Apple devices to receive real-time security and safety alerts; follow the link for Download Instructions in English. Free commercial applications, such as Red Alert: Israel, are also available.
The situation in Israel continues to be unpredictable. Individuals should follow local government advice to increase their security awareness and remain safe. Mortar and rocket fire may take place without warning.
U.S. citizens in Israel who need assistance should contact the closest U.S. embassy or consulate using this crisis intake form. Family members can also submit information on behalf of a U.S. citizen family member.
U.S. citizens who wish to leave and can do so safely are advised to check the status of the border crossings or verify flights have not been cancelled before heading to the Ben Gurion Airport.
U.S. citizens can find additional information regarding steps to take in case of mortar and rocket fire in the Country Information for Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/IsraeltheWestBankandGaza.html):
Assistance:
U.S. Embassy Jerusalem
14 David Flusser St.
Jerusalem
Telephone: +972-3-519-7575
E-mail: JerusalemACS@state.gov
Website: https://il.usembassy.gov/
U.S. Embassy Branch Office Tel Aviv
71 HaYarkon St.
Tel Aviv
Telephone: +972-3-519-7575
E-mail: TelAvivACS@state.gov
Website: https://il.usembassy.gov/
Consular Affairs
1-833-890-9595 (toll free) and 606-641-0131 (local)
Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Country Information
Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Travel Advisory
Enroll in Safe Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security updates
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Emergency Resources & Preparedness
* Last updated on October 8, 2023 * https://www.nbn.org.il/life-in-israel/emergency-resources-life-in-israel-2/emergency-resources/
Important Numbers
Navigating Medical Emergencies
In case of a medical emergency, it’s important to know where to turn. When visiting your Kupat Cholim, ask them how to seek help during and after office hours. Contacting your Kupat Cholim first can provide the necessary information and Ishurim (approval) for an effective resolution to the medical emergency and help you avoid unnecessary financial charges.
Kupot Cholim:
Leumit *507 -> 2 for English
Maccabi *3555 -> 4 for English
Meuhedet *3833 -> 3 for English
Urgent care centers:
Terem is a network of urgent care centers found in several cities throughout Israel (see: www.terem.com). You will need to present your Kupat Cholim membership card and there will be a fee. This will not be reimbursed by your Kupat Cholim (unless you have been sent with a Hafnaya – referral letter). There are some Kupot Cholim that have urgent care hours in their clinics. This is sometimes referred to as a Moked. Speak to your Kupat Cholim for more information. Services at an urgent care center can often save someone a trip to a busy ER. If the urgent care center cannot resolve the situation, they will send you to the ER with a Hafnaya. The referral is important as it will provide the hospital with background medical information dictating the need to go to the ER and generally cover the treatment.
Ambulance Service:
If you are not admitted to the hospital, you will be charged for the service of taking an ambulance. 24-hr observation in an ER is typically not considered admittance. You will be billed to the address listed in your Teudat Zehut. If you are admitted, make sure to present the ambulance bill to your Kupat Cholim together with your discharge papers to ensure reimbursement for services.
Do not hesitate to contact the NBN Answers and Advocacy Team at answers@nbn.org.il or by calling *3680 for guidance and support.
Going to the Emergency room:
If you need to make an emergency visit to the ER without a previous visit to a doctor or urgent care center, you will only need to present your Teudat Zehut (or at least know the number) to open a file. You will not need to present your Kupat Cholim card although you will need to provide the receptionist with the name of your Kupat Cholim and family doctor (if you have one). As in any country, be prepared to wait.
When going to the ER, if you are not consequently admitted to the hospital, or if you don’t have a doctor’s referral or a referral from your Kupat Cholim call line, you may be charged a fee for the emergency room visit.
An exemption from charges in the emergency ward is granted automatically for a number of specific health crises, including work injury, road accident, school accident, fracture, foreign object in the eye, joint dislocation, and stitches. For full details: www.health.gov.il
National Emergencies
It is important to be prepared for all eventualities, to have a plan in place, and to know how to protect yourself and your family in the event of a national emergency. Pikud Ha’Oref (The Home Front Command) is responsible for direction and guidance in times of national emergency such as rocket/missile attacks and earthquakes. The Pikud Ha’Oref website www.oref.org.il provides up-to-date information and important guidelines to be followed in times of national emergencies. Resources in English for emergency preparedness can be found here: www.oref.org.il.
App for the Home Front command:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/…/israel-home…/id999308676…
During times of national emergency, Nefesh B’Nefesh will post important directives and general information as needed. As always, never hesitate to be in touch with your Aliyah Advisor directly. The NBN Answers and Advocacy Team is available at answers@nbn.org.il or by calling *3680.
Where to Turn:
News
Nefesh B’Nefesh-FIDF Lone Soldiers Program Resources:
NBN-FIDF Lone Soldiers Program
24/7 Hotline for soldiers and those in Israel: *6563
Email: LSP@nbn.org.il
IDF Merkaz Bodedim (Lone Soldiers Department)
Phone number in Israel: 03-5691000
WhatsApp: +972 52-943-7725
Email: me.bodedim@mail.idf.il
Eran (ער”ן) – Emotional First Aid
Hotline for those in Israel: 1201
WhatsApp: +972 52-845-1201
Email: eran1201@eran.org.il
Natal (נט”ל) – Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center
Helpline: 1-800-363-363
One Soul (נפש אחת) – Support for IDF Soldiers and Veterans
Helpline for those in Israel: *8944
Additional Resources
Nefesh B’Nefesh Services:
Have questions? NBN Answers is available to answer your questions and provide guidance by phone at *3680 or answers@nbn.org.il, Sunday – Thursday. We offer one-on-one meetings, and translation services for bills and paperwork received.
Municipal Coordinators:
A municipal coordinator offers assistance, information on local resources, and guidance through the local municipality. For a listing of Municipal Coordinators throughout the country, see: https://www.nbn.org.il/community-guide/municipal-klita-coordinators/
Yad Sarah:
Best known for its medical lending services and offers a wide range of other services in 100 locations throughout the country. See: www.yad-sarah.net
ERAN Emotional Crisis Hotline (for all ages) – 1201 extension #10 for English
EMOTIONAL ASSISTANCE DURING TIMES OF NATIONAL CRISIS:
Crossroads 24/7 Crisis Hotline for English-Speaking Teens and Young Adults 050-468-5463
SHIL (Sheirut Ye’utz L’ezrach):
A citizen’s advice bureau found in most cities throughout Israel offers a wide range of free services. See: www.molsa.gov.il
Revacha (Social Services):
Found in every municipal region, all Revacha offices have reception hours. No appointment is necessary.
National hotlines for men and women in cases of rape or sexual harassment:
Women – 1202 from any phone Men – 1203 from any phone
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The Key to National Security
Other nations – even our allies – have been threatening us that we are in danger of political and international isolation. Should we really fear isolation?
Rabbi Lazer Brody
Posted on 27September2023 https://breslev.com/385792/
The Key to National Security
Other nations – even our allies – have been threatening us that we are in danger of political and international isolation. According to Moses, isolation is not something to be afraid of. Indeed, for the Nation of Israel, it’s even desirable. Moses declares in his final blessing of his people shortly before his departure from the physical world:
And Israel shall dwell securely, alone (Devarim 33:28).
Every year, we read the above passage on Simchat Torah, the day following the termination of the Sukkot holiday, when we complete the annual reading of the Torah and begin anew.
Let’s ask ourselves two basic questions: First, what’s the connection between the above-mentioned passage and Sukkot? Second, what’s the eternal teaching of the above passage?
Sukkot is concrete proof that the Nation of Israel is the nation of emuna and therefore above nature. The holy Zohar calls the sukkah, “The shadow of emuna”; in other words, who one dwells in the sukkah is literally
sukkah
enveloped in the Divine Presence, tzila d’mehemnuta, the shadow of emuna. Spiritually, there is no safer place on earth.
How seemingly odd…
Jewish law requires that the sukkah be a temporary dwelling. The roof of a sukkah must be natural material that grows from the ground, such as river canes, tree branches, palm leaves and the like. The average sukkah roof can’t support the weight of a cat. A strong rain is enough to chase a family out of the sukkah. A good strong wind can send one’s sukkah roof into orbit around the neighborhood.
That’s security?
It sure is.
The sukkah is a place to learn and acquire emuna. We leave our permanent dwellings at a time when the weather starts getting cold. We learn that the only real security we have over our heads is not the roof of our permanent dwelling, but Hashem. For seven days a year, Hashem wants us to teach us how to completely entrust ourselves to His care, as King David says (Psalm 31:6), “I place my spirit in Your hands.”
The intrinsic message of the sukkah is that with a Jew, the illogical is logical and the supernatural is natural. Hashem’s relationship to His chosen people is on a completely different level than His “way of the world” relationship with the nations.
Normally, one feels secure under a concrete roof. But with bunker busters and non-conventional weapons, reinforced concrete no longer gives a person a feeling of security. That’s the point of the sukkah: under the palm-leaves or the river-reed roof – knowing that we are enveloped in the Divine Presence – we feel true security, for beneath a thatched roof in the Divine Presence is ever so much safer than under a concrete and steel roof in an environment devoid of holiness and therefore without the protection of the Divine Presence.
Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? Eyes devoid of emuna see the sukkah as some type of Jewish play house. But, with eyes of emuna, we know that the sukkah is the real deal; that’s why the pious almost never leave their sukkah for an entire week. Who wants to leave the Divine Presence even for a moment?
During Sukkot, the nations of the world look at us like we’re crazy, but that doesn’t deter the believer from happily erecting and dwelling in his sukkah. That’s the answer to our first question, namely, what’s the connection between “And Israel shall dwell securely, alone” and Sukkot? We, the nation of Israel, know that our national security doesn’t depend on armaments and fortifications. On the contrary – the only safe place in the world for a Jew is in a place where the Divine Presence hovers, and that’s the sukkah! Symbolically, we alone dwell in the sukkah; no other nation does. By dwelling alone, we live lives of emuna while protecting ourselves from both ideological and physical assimilation. The natural law that pertains to the nations of the world has nothing to do with the Nation of Emuna.
This brings us to our second question: what’s the eternal teaching of “And Israel shall dwell securely, alone”?
The subject of national security is one that never leaves the headlines of Israeli media. Especially in recent times, when no border can be termed “calm” and even countries who have no border with us such as Iran and Turkey threaten us, politicians are knocking themselves over to find solutions to national security. They haven’t been succeeding very well, as current affairs bear witness.
The moment our leaders recognize that for Israel, national security depends on two conditions: one, that we dwell alone – both physically and ideologically – within the Divine Presence and without outside influence. That means that our homes and our land must be places of holiness, and like the sukkah, worthy of the Divine Presence. So with all due respect to democracy, the Land of Israel cannot stand public displays of debauchery in any shape or form, for this is national suicide.
Second, our national security depends on emuna. We must realize that as the chosen people, Hashem requires us to live our lives according to the spiritual rule of emuna, which supersedes any natural concept of security such as military advantage. So by learning emuna, we strengthen ourselves and our country. That’s the key to our national security. Chag Sameach!
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The Children
This little eight year old girl can only fall asleep by hiding in a storage unit for linen. That’s how she and her younger brother survived for hours during the Hamas massacre when terrorists went door to door in Kibbutz Alumim murdering entire israeli families. Since then she no longer sleeps in her bed.
Israel-tweet-23October2023-This little eight year old girl can only fall asleep by hiding in a storage unit for linen
Generations
“In every generation they rise up to destroy us” was, and is, a warning to be taken seriously.
DRY BONES-Generations Credit: Yaakov (DryBones) Kirschen.
DRY BONES
Brooklyn-born (in 1938) cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen made Aliyah to Israel in 1971 and began drawing his Dry Bones cartoons in January of 1973. He is a member of both America’s National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society. Dry Bones was internationally syndicated and ran in The Jerusalem Post for 50 years, being reprinted by the New York Times, Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal and other major media publications. The Dry Bones story has been covered by CBS, CNN, Forbes and many others.
https://www.jns.org/generations/
(October 24, 2023 / JNS) Hamas’s Oct. 7 pogrom has changed us.
It has smashed our youngsters with an explosive and frightening reality.
How will they deal with this trauma? What will they be like as adults? What will their Israel be like?
“Never again” is a great slogan.
But “In every generation they rise up to destroy us” was, and is, a warning to be taken seriously.
Bari Weiss-tweet-25October2023-
You hear stories from the Holocaust of people with little children in hiding, and I always thought, “How do you keep a child that small, that young, quiet in this situation?” But the energy was so heavy and we were so quiet.
I told my daughter, “You need to be as quiet as a mouse. We’re not talking now.” And she whispered through the whole day. Even when she fell over, she didn’t cry.
“‘I Understood My Life Is Going to End’: A Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room”
‘I Understood My Life Is Going to End’: A Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room
https://www.thefp.com/p/my-life-is-going-to-end
Bari Weiss-tweet-25October2023-Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room
TOP
Family photos left on a refrigerator after Hamas terrorists set it on fire on Saturday’s attack on the kibbutz on October 14, 2023 in Be’eri, Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images)
FOR FREE PEOPLE
‘I Understood My Life Is Going to End’: A Mother Describes 20 Hours in a Safe Room
Sofie Berzon MacKie on what went through her mind while terrorists attacked her kibbutz, and the first thought she had after she was rescued.
By Max Raskin
25October2023 https://www.thefp.com/p/my-life-is-going-to-end
Sofie Berzon MacKie is a British Israeli artist, a mother, and the director of Be’eri art gallery. She is a survivor of the Hamas massacre of Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7. Below, the writer Max Raskin asks Sofie about the 20 hours she spent under attack. This interview originally appeared on his Substack.
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Max Raskin: How do you feel right now?
Sofie Berzon MacKie: Relatively okay.
I lost track of time, in a way. I know it’s been 13 days since the 7th of October, and I think, “Wow, it’s already two weeks?” But at the same time… “Only two weeks?”
So it’s a really strange feeling of being disoriented in time. Time stretches and is compacted at the same time. I’m not so shaken anymore. I kind of have a vision of what needs to be done in the near future and that’s all I can hope for at this point in my life, where we lost everything. Besides we have our lives, that’s about it.
MR: If any of these questions are too personal or intrusive, or make you uncomfortable, please just let me know.
SBM: No, no, feel free. Really, ask whatever.
MR: Are you in therapy right now? How is your family dealing with it?
SBM: Well, of course I’m in therapy. I have a psychologist and also a psychiatrist. I need to take a pill every night or I have really bad anxiety attacks. And if I don’t take something to calm down, then I have the worst possible nightmares and I can’t sleep. So, I take a pill every evening. I go to sleep. I have this really deep sleep and I wake up with a very heavy feeling of, “Wow, another day in this surreal life that I now lead.”
But then the day goes by, and I get very busy trying to rebuild whatever I can with whatever I have right now. And the children are also, I think, okay. I have really strong children and they’re very smart and very resourceful. So, I hope—and I dare say, I know—that it might take some time, but the horrific ordeal we went through will be a very bad memory, but it will be just a memory. I don’t think we’re going to be post-traumatic in the long term.
MR: Let’s say someone woke up from a coma today and you were the first person they talked to, and they said to you, “Hey, great to meet you. What’s going on?” What would you say to them?
SBM: In a sentence, I would say that the most brutal, sadistic, inhuman, murderous attack was made on a peaceful civilian population—mostly left-wing, by the way—where 1,400 people were murdered in their homes. . . babies, the elderly, mothers. Another 200 are kidnapped, also children among them, without their parents. And now, in many ways, what we went through is very similar to the Holocaust, but much worse because it happened in our land, in our homes. So, if I had to summarize it, that’s it.
MR: I don’t know how to even broach it, but I think it’s important for people to hear the story of that day. Can you tell my readers what that day was for you?
SBM: So the day before was Sukkot. We were having a nice family dinner and we went to play tennis together, and it was a lot of fun. And we went to bed and woke up at half past six in the morning with ear-deafening explosions that didn’t sound anything like what I know. It didn’t sound like rockets, and there wasn’t the siren that goes off every time it’s a rocket. It was just something else.
So we jumped out of bed, me and my partner, and I woke my daughter up. She’s twelve and a half. And I told her to run. . . just run to the safe room. And I took my daughter, my little one, my toddler—she’s three years old—out of her bed, grabbed her, and ran and shut the window. We have a really thick metal window. And I slammed the door shut and just sat on the bed. My son sleeps there. And a few minutes later, the red color sirens went off and like 100 missiles went over our heads. I can hear them exploding right outside my house.
And then I opened my phone, which I took with me, and there’s this internal group that serves the kibbutz for important messages, and there was a message there that there is an indication of terrorists in Israel, but not in the kibbutz yet
And then the kids asked me, “Mommy, can they reach our kibbutz?”<
And I said, “No, we’re quite far from the border.”
We’re almost five kilometers from the border, and it seemed to me unimaginable that anyone can cross that distance inside Israel’s territory without the army responding and neutralizing them.
So that’s what I said, but five minutes later, another message, “There are terrorists in the kibbutz. Lock the doors. Close the windows, and shut yourself in the safe room and don’t leave.” So I thought it’s not the first time I received that message. It might be like two or three terrorists and they will be taken care of fairly quickly.
The mothers of the kibbutz, we have a WhatsApp group. We use it if anyone needs some sort of medicine or is looking for clothing and just mother stuff. It just exploded with messages, hundreds of them, of terrorists in people’s homes. And because I know the people writing those messages, I drew this map in my head, and I understood that there are hundreds of them all over the kibbutz. That was a very, very terrifying moment.
MR: You were getting messages from the mothers?
SBM: Yeah.
“We have terrorists in our house.”
“They’re shooting at my window.”
“They’re inside my house burning tires, and my house is on fire.”
And these pleas for someone to come and save us. And everyone was like, “Where’s the army? Where’s the army?”
And things escalated for hours on end. Mothers were sending their last words—pleading for someone to save them when you can hear the terrorists in the background—and then they were murdered. The most really horrifying things. I just sat there for hours listening to that group, my friends, and so many of them.
MR: And you knew these people?
SBM: Of course, of course. The kibbutz has 550 families, so of course you know everyone. We share our lives together. It’s a fairly tight-knit community, although people, of course, have their careers and not everyone works on the kibbutz. But we celebrate the holidays together and our children—the kindergartens are on the kibbutz grounds. Everybody’s everybody’s friend, on some level, of course.
So that went on for many, many hours. My children were terrified, absolutely terrified. I told them to stay away from the door, because we realized quite soon that the door is not bulletproof, because they started shooting through the door and injuring people inside the safe room and throwing hand grenades.
MR: Did they see your phone? Did you let them see your phone?
SBM: No. No, of course not. No. No.
MR: How did you talk to your kids?
SBM: We weren’t talking much. I told them, “There are terrorists in the kibbutz. Now you have to be very quiet and cannot talk.”
I was scared that my toddler wouldn’t manage the situation. You hear stories from the Holocaust of people with little children in hiding, and I always thought, “How do you keep a child that small, that young, quiet in this situation?” But the energy was so heavy and we were so quiet.
I told my daughter, “You need to be as quiet as a mouse. We’re not talking now.” And she whispered through the whole day. Even when she fell over, she didn’t cry.
And the kids at some point got so exhausted from the adrenaline and all the stress. And terrorists were shooting for hours at our house, and we could hear them outside our window of the safe room, shouting in Arabic.
MR: How long were you in that safe room?
SBM: Almost 14 hours, and then another 6 with the neighbors in theirs, until the army rescued us. We were in ours from half past six in the morning until after midnight.
We didn’t have any water, any food. . . nothing. So at one point, when it got relatively quiet and I couldn’t hear people shooting at our house anymore, we crept out of the room, because I was scared that if my daughter gets hungry, she’s going to start screaming and we’re doomed. So we took a calculated risk and left the safe room. And we brought a bottle of water and some cereal and dates, just grabbed it and ran back to the safe room.
Later on, I understood that they didn’t manage to break into the safe room, because it is relatively hard. . . if you hold down the handle, it’s kind of hard to open the door. . . but they just burned the houses. That really scared me. But when I understood that they didn’t break into our safe room, I ran to our bathroom. I grabbed all the towels and just opened the tap of the bathtub. I didn’t care how much noise it made. So, I soaked them in water and put them in a basket and ran back to the safe room, and I put them beneath the door and the window in case they tried to set our house on fire.
My kids got very tired at some point, so I told them, “Listen, just try to sleep.” And they fell asleep for, I think, five hours, and they woke up and it was, “Is it over, Mommy,” and I’m like, “Not yet, just please try to sleep.” So they slept most of the day
MR: How long were the terrorists in the kibbutz?
SBM: They were in the kibbutz even after we were rescued. They were there for days, until the army found the last one of them. Even after all of us were evacuated, the army was still there for days, I think for even a week.
MR: I’m not asking this in a spiritual or philosophical sense, but I guess I’m asking this question—how did you survive?
SBM: A series of the smallest coincidences, really. The most insignificant events decided our fate that day. And it’s really hard to comprehend, because the reality of being dead or alive, it’s this eternal situation. You’re dead, you’re dead. And if you’re alive, you’re here. And, on the other hand, the really meaningless occurrences that decided whoever’s fate.
I would say luck, but it’s not really luck. It’s just the way the dice was rolled that day.
MR: Did they shoot at your house and you just happened to survive?
SBM: Yes. They shot a lot. . . a lot at my house. They came into my house at one point. Some houses, they really didn’t leave for hours, until whoever the family was in the safe room was killed. Some houses, for five hours, they went and came back and went and came back.
MR: Did they try breaking into your safe room?
SBM: Yes. At one point, we heard voices. They didn’t really try. They were just there and they left. I was standing next to the door with a knife, because that’s what I had. But why they left, I don’t know
MR: Did your safe room lock?
SBM: No. You can’t lock it from the inside, but you can hold the handle down and then it’s almost impossible to open it from the outside. But, of course, they can shoot you through the door. They used hand grenades. And if they were really determined in getting in, nothing could stop them. There were houses that they took apart the hinges of the door.
MR: I don’t even know what to ask. I don’t even know what to ask. I mean, what goes through your head at that time? Do you pray? Do you think about how to solve the situation? Are you thinking about escape? What is actually going through your head?
SBM: First, disbelief that this is happening and thinking that the army will surely arrive. And then the hours went on, and they didn’t. And then at one point, when they were really on my house shooting at the window, trying to. . . I don’t know what they were trying to do to the outside wall. . . I could hear them hammering at it, at the wall, trying to break it. And then I was sure I was going to die, so I actually posted my goodbyes on Facebook, and I sent messages to my friends, family that, “Know I love you, but I’m not going to survive this. This is the day I’m going to die.” And I was very sad, not much because my life is going to end today, but thinking about the brutal way that I’m actually going to be murdered made me really, really sad. And I was so scared.
(courtesy of Sofie Berzon MacKie)
MR: As a woman, were you afraid?
SBM: I wasn’t thinking like they’re going to rape me or anything. I was just, as a mother, I think. . . seeing the terror on my children’s faces once they’re in the safe room—that was a thought that absolutely broke my heart. So when they were really on our house trying to get in, I just sat. I held them and covered their eyes, because I just didn’t want to see the look on their faces when they see the people that are going to murder them. I prayed. I don’t believe in God. Not that I don’t believe that the world is a spiritual place, but I don’t believe in Him in the way any religion explains this force that moves through the universe that creates all things. But I was, in my heart, just begging for some force to let me out of that room. We sat there for so many hours, my heart was pounding in my chest the whole time. At some point, I started really shaking uncontrollably because of the adrenaline rush. Complete terror.
MR: Physically—other than your heart beating—what does that physically feel like to be in that kind of situation?
SBM: I can’t even describe it.
MR: Do you want to throw up? Do you want to go to the bathroom?
SBM: You want to throw up. You want to run away. You have this urge, crazy urge, that you have to oppress, to open the door and run, just run. And you have to really stop yourself from leaving your home because you just want to run. To have to sit there and wait, all your muscles become stiff. Your body becomes stiff. Your heart is beating. I got extremely thirsty at some point. My mouth was so, so dry. My daughter had terrible cramps in her stomach. She had an awful tummy ache, and her head was throbbing. Your body is screaming that this situation is unbearable. But here we are.
MR: I don’t know if this is a silly question, but are there any moments of levity in that whole thing?
SBM: No. At one point, when I understood that I am going to die, I couldn’t stand the fear that took hold of me. It was beyond anything I ever felt in my whole life, the most extreme feeling of panic, and terror, utter terror. So, I kind of took a look at my life, and I became very grateful for what I have, what I had—for my life’s trajectory and the people I met and the people I loved and who loved me back. And that was a really deep moment for me. It was, I don’t know, spiritual in a way, that I understood my life is going to end. It’s a fact.
MR: People say your life flashes before your eyes. Is that what that was like?
SBM: Yes. You think about your childhood, your parents, your friends, things you did right.
MR: And did that make you feel good?
SBM: It made me feel at peace, and I felt all the fear just leaving my body, and I felt really at peace with my fate. I was still very deeply sad about dying this way. I felt like it’s unfair.
MR: How does that make you feel now when you think about it? Can you access that same peace? Most people get cut off in traffic and they’re pissed off, and it ruins their day.
SBM: Something really changed in me. It’s like I met the worst possible situation life could hand out to someone, really the worst. And I found. . . I’ll try to explain.
It’s like something inside me connected with the universe, with the fact that everything has a beginning and everything has an end, and this is my end. And I suddenly felt so peaceful, and I had this warm feeling, and I felt all the fear draining out of my body into this really deep acceptance that I’m going to meet whatever eternity is, after I go.
MR: Had you thought about eternity before? Do you believe in an afterlife?
SBM: I don’t believe in an afterlife, but I am very spiritual. And these ideas, I’m occupied with them and by them for a long time.
MR: Before this happened?
SBM: Yes, that everything is connected in the world. The infinitely large. The stars, when you gaze up, is connected to my body. It is inside me and I am inside everything. So I walk through life with that feeling. But it really was intensified, and the truth of that feeling overcame me and all fear just left me.
MR: What moment was that when that was actually happening?
SBM: That moment was really the peak of it. I just thought, “I can’t stand. . . ”
It’s like you’re mentally fighting for your life. Emotionally, you’re fighting for your life, although, in many ways, you’re just sitting in a room not doing anything. And then I kind of let go. . . “That’s it. It’s out of my hands. Whatever is going to happen, let it happen. You can’t stop it. There’s no need to be afraid. There’s just no need to be afraid. You can’t control the situation. Just let it go.”
MR: And then when did you come back and realize, “I might make it through this?”
SBM: I think it’s around half past four, I heard Hebrew outside my window. I heard only Arabic until that point. . . and gunshots. I heard Hebrew and understood that the army is outside my house. And then I had this thought, quite fleeting, actually, not even like an understanding, but just a glimmer of hope that I might make it through this day alive with my children. I think it was a quarter past six and my neighbor from upstairs called me and said, “Sofie, the army is here. They’re evacuating us. Get ready.” And I could hear them talking to the soldiers and telling them, “There is a family downstairs. You have to go and get them also.” So then, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to get through this. They’re here.”
MR: You hear stories of the terrorists using young kids to falsely coax people out of their houses to kill them. Were you at any point worried that they were playing a game on you and trying to lure you out?
SBM: Of course. All day long, they were banging on doors. They were knocking on the windows. They were dressed as the IDF. But when you hear a group of people speaking, you can recognize the language, and especially the language used by the army—nobody can fake that. But during the day we understood that they were pretending to be the army, but we also knew that the army hadn’t arrived yet, because we were in contact with the official statements.
But at quarter past six, they were banging on our door, “Open up. Open up. It’s the IDF.” And I just ran and collapsed into their arms.
I had 10 soldiers, two of them were officers, standing in my living room. I thought they were the most beautiful people I ever saw in my life. And I told them, “Take my children. Please, just take my children.” I handed my daughter to them. And they said to us, “You have two minutes. Pack the necessities that you will need, and we’re out of here.”
Then they helped us climb over the wall, and we were standing with our neighbors, two families, with 30 soldiers, in the most horrific scene. The sky was. . . it was green and orange and full of smoke. There were so many houses on fire, dead bodies scattered everywhere, puddles of blood, rockets exploding, and bullets started whizzing in front of us, so they understood that we can’t be evacuated yet. And they told us, “Please go upstairs to the safe room of your neighbors, and we will be back very soon.” And eventually, they came back at midnight. So we had another six hours, with no electricity at that point.
MR: Did you feel safe at that point?
SBM: Safer, yes.
MR: Like the military was in charge?
SBM: Yes. I knew that they were fighting them. I knew that families were evacuated at that point, not many, but they’re succeeding in evacuating them. I knew that they knew we were there, and I trusted that they would be back.
Luckily enough, we were at our neighbor’s house, because I think two hours after that I could hear terrorists inside my house—shooting from inside my house at the soldiers who were outside. My life was saved more than once that day.
And at around midnight they came back, and we didn’t answer the door when they came. We were too scared at that point. We didn’t answer the door. So they broke in. They tried to break in through the window. They started pulling the window apart, but then we ran and opened the door, and we were evacuated under fire.
MR: How were you evacuated? In an armored personnel carrier?
SBM: No, by foot. We had to walk. My daughter, my eldest daughter, was terrified. She said, “I’m not walking. They’re going to kill me. I’m staying here.” So one of the soldiers took her by her hand and said, “I am here with you. We’re going to make it.”
So we were three families. Thirty soldiers surrounded us in a ring, with weapons drawn. And we started walking. They told the kids to close their eyes and not open them until they tell them it’s safe, because the horrors—as I just said, there were dead bodies everywhere, butchered dead bodies, fire, blood everywhere, just insane. . .
MR: I feel like everyone is watching whatever videos they can get their hands on, even the most horrific things. . . people feel like a need to see. Do you watch any of it?
SBM: No. Not only do I not watch it, I’m actively blocking it out. After meeting with my psychologist, he rightfully said that “there is absolutely no use at this point even thinking about what happened. It’s only going to make the trauma linger on. So you just really need to work hard on your mental and psychological defense and block it out for now, until, I don’t know, in a year’s time, two years’ time”—these are his words. “When you’re safe and you have a home and you’re far enough from what’s happened to safely deal with it. But now, you just really have to block the memory out. Because otherwise, it’s going to turn into post-trauma, and it’s going to haunt you your whole life.” So I do as he said, and it’s really helpful advice.
MR: What does it do when someone wants to get your testimony?
SBM: When I say what happened, I remember it. But at this point, it doesn’t feel like I’m there. Something did change with my psychological capabilities, and some time has passed. For a week and a half after everything happened, I felt like what happened is still happening in the world somewhere. My life kind of split into two timelines and in one timeline, me and my family and my children, we were saved, but in another timeline, in another universe, it is still happening, and the end is still unknown, and it can still play out completely differently. And that’s how I felt.
So it was very scary to think about it because I had this feeling that if I don’t pay attention—don’t ask me to what, because I don’t know. It’s like I felt like I have to be on guard, because if I’m not, the end will be different and I will be killed with my children.
And that, when I come to think about it now, I don’t feel like that anymore. I feel like it was a horrible, horrible experience, but it is over. I am more grounded in reality. I don’t feel like I have these flashbacks where I’m still there physically. It’s like sharing a very painful memory, but a memory.
MR: And do you listen to the memories of others? As a photographer, you probably think about this a lot but there’s a kind of prurient interest or pornographic spectacle that people are curious about the rapes and the torture.
SBM: The people that are here, we survived, so none of us have these stories and we don’t know the specifics of what happened to our loved ones. Nobody gave us that information. I saw maybe one or two testimonies of people who were working in the kibbutz and what they saw, but no one was given any details and I’m glad.
MR: But these stories are starting to come out now. Are you avoiding them?
SBM: Yes, of course. I really can’t deal with that. It’s not like before. I used to watch these images. I can understand how things can be horrifying. I don’t have to see them. I remember when ISIS started releasing the beheading videos and they were found on YouTube. I think I watched one, and I was like, “Okay, no, I really can’t handle this. It’s just too much.” I’m definitely avoiding. . . how can I watch my community[’s] children being butchered and tortured? I don’t want to see.
MR: How does this make you think about the Holocaust?
SBM: I think in many ways, what we went through was very similar to the Holocaust. I can understand, maybe, a bit more, a bit better, what it really felt like, although Israel is very good at preserving the memory of the Holocaust. So through my whole life I’ve been reading testimonies, meeting Holocaust survivors, and I had a very good sense. I went to Poland also, to concentration camps when I was in high school, and it felt in many ways very similar.
I daresay it’s even a bit worse. It might actually be a bit worse.
Because it’s in our land, in our country, in our homes. We weren’t like guests in someone else’s country. This is our country. We have a very strong and capable army, and it happened in my home, in my land.
MR: Is your worldview changing minute to minute?
SBM: I think I hold very liberal, humanitarian ideas of the world. I think I was naive about Hamas and the people of Gaza, who, in many ways, I relate to and am an advocate for, in their justifiable call for freedom.
But I couldn’t imagine that any human being, as hateful as they are, could do the things that they did. It’s a really shocking revelation for me to understand that some people, and not some—a lot—because of the two to three thousand terrorists that entered Israel that morning, they were not all Hamas. A lot of them were also just citizens of Gaza who hate us.
The thought that people can be so hateful that they will shoot a baby in its head while she’s in her mother’s arms. . . and these are things I witnessed and heard happening in my kibbutz. Or kidnapping children. I feel so naive.
You see the world through the lens of who you are.
I saw the world through the lens of who I am, and I always believed that every person, as bad as they may be, there’s a sense of humanity that you can appeal to, that you can talk to. I think I was wrong. I think there is this force that some strain of humans possess, that to call them human is a disgrace. It is a disgrace for humankind to have people who can do those things walk amongst us and share our world. And that is something that has really changed in me—although I still want to believe that in Gaza, there are women like me, mothers like me, children like my children, who wish for peace. And I can’t believe that two million people are like that.
But maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know.
The remains of the Be’eri Gallery. (Courtesy of Sofie Berzon MacKie)
MR: What kind of impact does this have on how you think about what your life is going to be? How do you think about your next gallery opening? Before this happened, what projects were you working on?
SBM: Many. I’m co-director of a gallery—Be’eri Gallery—which is now burnt to the ground and nonexistent. We had nine artists in line for 2024. We were already working on their exhibitions with them. Personally, I was working on various projects.
MR: What was one of your personal projects?
SBM: I’m a photographer. I now call myself more of a visual artist, because I don’t only use photography, but I was photographing in my living room for the past three years—a series that was my way of thinking about and discussing my motherhood, my identity, my relationship with my home, with my dreams. That’s one thing. I have, still hanging, an exhibition at the Man and the Living World Museum in Ramat Gan, which is very much about what we just discussed—about the eternity and interconnection of all things. I made a series called Event Horizon where I used photography, manipulated photography with AI, in just a black room, a dark room, and very large pictures of shell-like organisms that are just half-alive, half-dead. . . thoughts about eternity and—I wouldn’t use the word afterlife—but the event horizon of the black hole.
MR: Are you interested in space at all?
SBM: Yeah, I’m very interested in that. I think a lot about time and beginnings.
MR: Are you a sci-fi person?
SBM: Yes.
MR: What sci-fi do you like?
SBM: Dune, by Frank Herbert. I read it when I was 14, and I—at that point I knew that I read the best book I’m going to read in my lifetime. And I just finished the Silo trilogy, and The Hobbit, of course
I actually thought about Silo, because it’s about the apocalypse of humanity and how the human race has to stay low in these silos buried in the ground until the world is ready for them to start their new life. That’s really what I’m doing right now.
MR: After everything that’s happened, has this changed your view about the cosmos and the interconnectivity of it or your view about the afterlife?
SBM: No. I think in many ways it’s actually reinforced my thoughts about the nature of things. I really had to face the idea that every life comes to an end and that my life will come to an end right now, and that that’s just how the world, how creation works. Things are destroyed and created from the beginning of time, and now it’s my time to be part of that. And it was really a moment of enlightenment. It’s kind of hard to describe what happens to someone who faces their death and accepts it, really, with your whole being. I feel like nothing scares me anymore. And I think for 10 days I was floating, not connected to time or to this place or to reality, in many ways.
But then I went for a bike ride here near the Dead Sea, and it was at dusk. I looked at the sea. And suddenly, this normal thought, my thoughts, my normal thoughts, just popped into my head—that the sea has been here for millions of years. I held on to that thought that I recognized myself in it, and suddenly, I saw the beauty of this world, and I could again feel how I am connected, how this beauty is part of me, and how I am part of everything.
Also, I understand that powers of destruction have always been part of our universe and it’s just part of everything. I hope that answered your question.
MR: This is the most powerful interview I’ve done.
SBM: Thank you. I’ve been interviewed a lot in the past two weeks, and this was really healing, in a way.
MR: Really?
SBM: Yes.
MR: Most of my guests describe my interviews as just really weird and uncomfortable.
SBM: No. I don’t feel like you’re weird or uncomfortable. I think we would have a similar interview even if I wasn’t going through this.
MR: What’s your plan right now?
SBM: Now we are going to stay here at the hotel, although it’s not so comfortable for me. Personally, I need a more quiet environment, more breathing space, and less grieving collectively, because every other person I see here has lost at least one person. So there’s a lot of pain and grieving going on, but my children desperately need their friends.
MR: Are their friends there?
SBM: Most of them are here. Some of my daughter’s friends were murdered. Two of her friends are missing. One of her friends is for sure abducted. And she’s twelve and a half, so her social life at this point is more important to her than her immediate family. There’s a psychologist who is working with her group and also with my son’s group, and so I’m here for them now.
MR: Listen, we come to Israel a lot. We’re going to be there soon. My wife’s actually about to give birth in the next few weeks. But when we’re there, I’d love to meet you in person.
SBM: Wow, that’s great. That makes me happy.
MR: It’ll be our first!
SBM: Wow, that even makes me happier. That’s amazing.
I actually thought that maybe we should have another child, although I decided that three is enough, and I have the most horrible pregnancies. But after we escaped from that thing, I was like, “Wow, I think we should just have another child.”
Regarding your question about the Holocaust, I can understand why people had the need to have large families. It’s really a statement of being alive in this world.
====
Max Raskin is an adjunct professor of law at New York University and a fellow at the school’s Institute for Judicial Administration. You can follow him on X @maxraskin.
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Hostage Israeli nurse taken by Gazan civilians and sold to Hamas
Who are the ‘civilians’ and who are the ‘terrorists’ in Gaza?
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-5January2024-who are the ‘civilians’ and who are the ‘terrorists’ in Gaza?
“She was taken by Gazan civilians who took her to a Hamas tunnel in Gaza and sold her to Hamas.”
Tell me again though, who are the ‘civilians’ and who are the ‘terrorists’ in Gaza?
Elad Simchayoff-tweet-4January2024-Hostage Israeli nurse taken by Gazan civilians and sold to Hamas
Unbelievable testimony by Nili Margalit, an Israeli nurse who was abducted from her house in Nir Oz.
She was taken by Gazan civilians who took her to a Hamas tunnel in Gaza and sold her to Hamas.
She took on the unofficial role of medically treating dozens of Israeli hostages, all injured, some elderly. She made detailed lists and demanded that medication be brought even at the cost of arguing with her captors. When she kept insisting on medication the captors sometimes denied the hostages fans. Staying 40 meters underground without ventilation caused them breathing difficulties.
She had to improvise treatments, she treated infected wounds with honey as there were no antibiotics.
It’s a story of (another) amazingly brave and resourceful woman
Elad Simchayoff-tweet-4January2024-Hostage Israeli nurse taken by Gazan civilians and sold to Hamas
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Daniel Aloni’s heartbreaking interview
Yaari Cohen-tweet-6January2024-Daniel Aloni’s heartbreaking interview
“After i covered my daughter with a blanket, i hugged her tight and i told her.. im sorry but we’re going to die”.
Part of Daniel Aloni’s heartbreaking interview to @N12News,
i ask you, please watch it, share it and understand this is what so many Hostages went through.
Yaari Cohen-tweet-6January2024-Daniel Aloni’s heartbreaking interview
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The “Golden News” that reached the Shin Bet about the Hamas attack on October 7 | Exposing “Ovda”
A few months before Simchat Torah, a concrete warning came from a human source in the Gaza Strip about a “major move” planned by Hamas – a week after Yom Kippur • The information came from a man known as “Mbu’a” – a person who heard from another source about the plan • Despite this warning, the Shin Bet marked the information as “insignificant” – and the attack did occur at the expected time • all the details
Ilana Dayan
Ilana Dayan | Protective sleeve | The main edition | Posted 27December2023 http://www.mako.co.il/tv-ilana_dayan/Article-0a034bff26cac81026.htm?sCh=ec1c747d0c7e9110&pId=1053994317
Palestinians celebrate around an IDF tank that was attacked on October 7 (Photo: Reuters)
Hamas attack on October 7 | Photo : Reuters
The information that could have prevented a disaster: Months before the Hamas surprise attack, the Shin Bet received concrete information about Hamas’s intention to carry it out, including the planned date – this is what Ilana Dayan and Sharit Magen revealed this evening (Wednesday) in the “Main Edition”. The information came from a human source that the Shin Bet operated in the Gaza Strip – according to which “Hamas is planning a major move in the week after Yom Kippur.”
The signs before the attack – coverage N12
Compared to the same “signs” that were lit the night before October 7, this time it is not about signals or transmissions that were received, but about information originating from “Youmint”, that is, human intelligence. This concrete information came from the mouth of a source known as “Mbo’a” – a professional term for someone who brings information from another means. That is, he did not hear the information directly, but from someone who knew how to tell him that he had heard about the program.
Ronan Bar, the incoming head of the Shin Bet (Photo: Flash/90)
The information received was not forwarded to the head of the Shin Bet in real time. Ronan Bar, archive | Photo: Flash/90
However, the question arises, what happened to this golden information from the moment it reached the Shin Bet? The operator of that human source, passed the raw information to those who are supposed to handle this information. However, the warning was not marked as significant information. The assumption was that if it really came close to being implemented, additional intelligence would arrive As a result, the information does not pass to the higher levels, and did not reach the head of the Shin Bet Ronan Bar in real time.
Burnt cars at the Nova Barai party (Photo: Haim Goldberg, AP)
The golden information that reached the Shin Bet months before the attack – which was not marked as significant information. Pictured: Hamas attack on October 7 | Photo: Haim Goldberg, AP
Since October 7, the Shin Bet has been trying to understand how they failed in the incident of receiving the information. As part of this attempt to understand the failure, they come up with the same information, which arrived as mentioned months before Simchat Torah, and was buried under piles of other information.
Shin Bet sources explain that the reported source “was relatively new, not an old source, and its reliability was also unclear.” In retrospect, they know to say that this is a source whose level of reliability is “very high.” The same Shin Bet sources emphasize: “There is no intention to overthrow the The responsibility for low ranks, in the Shin Bet, will not be “Shg. The question of what should have been done with this information – will still be examined. In the bottom line – there is no debate that we failed, and we did not warn of war.”
The Shin Bet responded: “At this time, the Shin Bet is focused on fighting. The Shin Bet is prepared to conduct in-depth and thorough investigations for the benefit of learning and learning lessons, and in this framework all the information that was available will be examined. In any case, the focus on one specific piece of information does not reflect the intelligence picture at the time.”
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Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
SEE: From 9January2014 Sales Of Hitler’s Mein Kampf Are Surging
Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
While visiting different Palestinian cities in the West Bank, I was shocked to see Mein Kampf sold at many stores (even those that are not bookshops).
When you hear how many Palestinians talk about Hitler, you quickly understand why.
Listen to Yussuf from Bethlehem.
Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
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BREAKING: Israel at War | The Caroline Glick Show IN – FOCUS
8October2023
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When at War
Posted 8October2023 by Akiva https://www.mpaths.com/2023/10/when-at-war.html
When at War
by Reb Gutman Locks
When at War
War comes to us for a reason. When we fight amongst ourselves Hashem sends enemies to attack us. These attacks bring us together. Hashem wants the Jewish people to stay together, to love one another as true brothers and sisters should.
There has been terrible fighting among ourselves lately. The political protests have brought Israel to talk of civil war! Jews fighting Jews, hating one another!
Now that we have brought this evil war upon ourselves we must apply the remedy at once! Each of us must extend ourselves to love our fellow Jew, to love one another for no other reason than we are Jews. The sooner and stronger we come together, the sooner and stronger our enemies will be destroyed.
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The spiritual fight back begins
8October2023 https://www.thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/the-spiritual-fight-back-begins/
This morning, before I wrote that last post, I was feeling pretty down.
***Excerpts from the Rav’s shiurim updated below – scroll down.***
After I wrote it, I started to feel a bit happier, but still not great.
Then, one of my Breslov friends sent me this:
====
And that’s when the penny dropped, that what the yetzer is really after is all the sadness and depression yesterday’s horrible stuff is causing.
So then, I called ‘Southern Command’ – my friend S. who lives on a moshav in the South and who got really taken out by the events of Simchat Torah.
And I told her:
====
God is still with us!
God didn’t go anywhere!
Yes, some very bad stuff happened yesterday, but right now, our job as the real ‘home front command’ is to stand back up, connect to God, connect to our prayers and our emuna – and to encourage ourselves and the people around us that:
AIN YEOUSH BE OLAM KLAL!!!
And that all this can and will turn around in a miraculous way.
As long as we don’t get depressed, and as long as we don’t stop praying and believing and doing our best to live our emuna.
====
====
Our soldiers need us!
The Jewish people need us, to keep dancing and praying and believing.
So yalla!
Start dancing.
Keep saying your tikkun haklalis.
Encourage others to join you and to stand strong.
That’s is the best and fastest ‘response’ to this – and turn off the lying news, too.
It’s working for the same people who arranged what happened yesterday.
And it’s trying to bring us all down, and to pull us away from God, and into fear and yeoush.
That is the real war being fought here.
====
UPDATE:
These snippets are from Shiurim from the Shivivei Or Newsletter, 326, given September 1st and 5th, 2023.
Bear in mind that at least some of the sections of the Gaza Fence were bulldozed down by the terrorists.
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Second shiur, emphasising the importance of the women dancing again:
====
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Devarim 29:22
[2] Yalkut Shimoni, Yirmiyahu, Chapter 9: “The Cuthites who were there, what did they do? They sewed here, and it burned. They sewed there, and it burned.” Then, there is an example given of a Cuthite who was ploughing a field in the valley, and it burst into flames.
[3] Shemot, 15:20.
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Hamas-The practice of child sacrifice
Jeremy Gimpel-tweet-13February2024-Hamas-The practice of child sacrifice
“They’re not just using them as human shields, they’re using them as human sacrifices”
– @COLRICHARDKEMP
There is ancient Middle Eastern spiritual practice of child sacrifice. It’s hard for the modern mind to comprehend that inner desire of Gazans to sacrifice their children. The war against that evil was always at the heart of Judaism. Nothing has changed.
The War in Israel today is the war of Good against Evil.
Jeremy Gimpel-tweet-13February2024-Hamas-The practice of child sacrifice
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Security cabinet approves declaration of war
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
8October2023 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-765222
The security cabinet approved a declaration of war on Saturday night in accordance with article 40 of the Basic Law: The Government, the cabinet said Sunday.
Article 40 allows the government to order “significant military action that may lead, with a level of probability close to certain, to war.” The prime minister will be able to make certain decisions with only the approval of the security cabinet as well.
The cabinet also requested that the Knesset approve the activation of emergency regulations which would allow detainees to be held for extended periods without the detainee being brought before a court.
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Israel is at War!
By Mordechai Ben-Menachem 8 October 2023 https://www.israpundit.org/israel-is-at-war-3/
Fifty years to the day of the Yom Kippur War; and once again a surprise attack of unprecedented viciousness.
The war began at 06:30 with the intentional targeting of children and families. They intentionally murdered children and mothers in their beds.
Expect a conflict that will last several weeks. As the poet said: “The vengeance of children’s blood is on the hands of Satan.” First, some 5,000 rockets were fired at civilians in the first half hour, then an additional 2,000 later. It then continued with attacks by land, sea and air. The sea attacks was intercepted and failed. Some of the attackers were apparently people from Judea and Samaria who infiltrated via work permits. Some 60 hang gliders were used to fly over the fence. Near Kerem Shalom, the southernmost border crossing, Gazan ‘civilians’ used tractors to bulldoze the fence so that Hamas operatives could enter using bikes and jeeps, while also entering the Erez crossing a little farther north. The initial objective of the infiltrating pigs was to butcher entire families in their homes, particularly children. E.g., they entered Kibbutz Be’eri, went house-to-house, to slaughter women and children. The world has not seen this kind of action since WWII. The incursions occurred in 9 towns: Netiv Haasara, Sderot, Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, Be’eri, Ofaqim, Kibbutz Sufa, and Kerem Shalom. For context, I lived and grew up there.
At the end of Shabbat & High Holiday, when I turned my devices on, the first report that I saw was from the BBC. True to form, true to their history at least since the Holocaust, the BBC report was that 198 Gazan were killed by Israel because they had fired “a few dozen rockets”. The BBC has never been famous for the intelligence of a scarecrow, so let me make this clear so that even they can comprehend; 7,000 is nearly 590 dozen, and even for unintelligent cowards and antisemites like the BBC, 590 is not a few. This is not new to them.
There is NO DOUBT that the US’ $6B ransom payment funds this action DIRECTLY, despite Blinken’s nonsensical statements. Iran stated clearly that they fully intend to use these funds for whatever they chose. There is no doubt the Biden-Blinken funding of Hamas has funded this since the beginning of the current admin.
There is NO DOUBT that Biden’s open subservience to Iran, while openly ‘distancing’ from Israel, emboldens Iran. Iran has ‘called-all-US shots’ since the beginning of Biden’s residency.
There is NO DOUBT that German and EU funding if Hamas is directly culpable.
250-300 dead, 1,600 wounded, and the ridiculous Australian FM demands ‘restraint’ from Israel. “Australia urges the exercise of restraint and protection of civilian lives.” The statement is repulsive and all Australians that consider themselves human should be completely ashamed. The real question is does the Australian FM believe that civilization exists and should be valued. What excuse does this creep have for her statement?
Turkey: “We call on all sides to act with restraint and stay away from impulsive moves that will heighten the tension.”
This is NOT a war against Israel. This is a war against civilization. In Iran’s Parliament the members of Parliament are chanting Death to America, in unity. $6B is not enough, nothing is ever enough. It should be noted that apparently, some 40 Israelis were taken as hostages, apparently, some of them have already been eaten while still alive — cannibalism! There is precedent. We also saw Hamas video of a bound woman beaten to death. Hamas has placed these horrific videos as their top priority. Mosques in Jerusalem are actively inciting war against the State of Israel over their loudspeakers. These religious bodies receive funding from the State, their Imams, receive stipends and salaries. In Istanbul, residents demonstrated in favour of war. Hezbollah is threatening to join the war from Lebanon.
Trump, like him or despise him, brought stability and peace, peace that spread. Biden, since he began, has brought war and destruction everywhere. Within months of Biden stepping in, Hamas attacked Israel and the US response was sick. Biden’s fomenting of conflicts in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, West Africa, East Africa, Serbia, Taiwan and Korea, distract and dilute US resources. The planning and logistics, as well as the success in hiding this from Israeli intelligence, cannot be sourced in Gaza, they do not have the capability. There is no doubt that the Government has some explaining to do. Netanyahu’s message to Gaza residents: Get out now, what is coming has never been seen before. I sincerely hope this turns out to be correct. A lot depends upon the reactions of the world.
There is no time or place for equivocation.
There is no time or place for equivocation you are either in favour of civilization or cannibalism. It is that basic.
It is important to recognize that the MAJORITY of Arab countries are stating very strongly, that Hamas must be annihilated to its core, despite the blather of idiots like the FM of Australia US Congress must show that it remains a body monogamously married to morality. When does acting ‘morally’ towards the enemy become an immoral act? Do the people of Gaza deserve to be cared for? Does the civilized world have responsibility towards those citizens? The Obama people claimed ‘responsibility’ towards the citizens of Libya, and that was why Libya was reduced by NATO to hell.
Is that responsibility only relevant when it is convenient?
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West Point Urban Warfare Expert: IDF ‘Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Military in History’
by Jack Elbaum 1February2024 https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/02/01/west-point-urban-warfare-expert-idf-implemented-more-measures-to-prevent-civilian-casualties-than-any-other-military-in-history/
The chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern Warfare Institute released an op-ed on Wednesday arguing that, during Israel’s war on Hamas, the country “has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other military in history.”
John Spencer, who served in the U.S. Army for 25 years and did two tours in Iraq, took to the pages of Newsweek to push back on allegations that Israel is indiscriminately targeting civilians and even committing genocide.
“As someone who has served two tours in Iraq and studied urban warfare for over a decade,” Spencer explained, “Israel has taken precautionary measures even the United States did not do during its recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
He wrote: “One of the best ways to prevent civilian casualties in urban warfare is to provide warning and evacuate urban areas before the full combined air and ground attack commences. This tactic is unpopular for obvious reasons: It alerts the enemy defender and provides them the military advantage to prepare for the attack. The United States did not do this ahead of its initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, which involved major urban battles to include in Baghdad. It did not do this before its April 2004 Battle of Fallujah (though it did send civilian warnings before the Second Battle of Fallujah six months later).”
“By contrast,” Spencer continues, “Israel provided days and then weeks of warnings, as well as time for civilians to evacuate multiple cities in northern Gaza before starting the main air-ground attack of urban areas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) employed their practice of calling and texting ahead of an air strike as well as roof-knocking, where they drop small munitions on the roof of a building notifying everyone to evacuate the building before a strike.”
Israel’s use of hundreds of thousands of leaflets, almost 20,000 cell phone calls, 65,000 texts, and 6,000,000 voicemails to civilians, along with alerting civilians where its ground operations would be on a day-to-day basis, is also unprecedented, says Spencer. Not to mention pausing fighting for four hours “over multiple consecutive days” to allow civilians to leave war zones.
Israel may have needed to take such unprecedented measures because the conditions in which they are fighting are also unprecedented, according to analysts. Gaza is a small piece of land — only 25 miles long and, at its widest point, 7.5 miles wide — and extremely densely populated. To make matters more difficult, there are between 350 and 450 miles of tunnels under the strip, which is only 141 square miles, meaning almost the entire territory has Hamas infrastructure under it.
On this point, Spencer writes, “No military in modern history has faced over 30,000 urban defenders in more than seven cities using human shields and hiding in hundreds of miles of underground networks purposely built under civilian sites, while holding hundreds of hostages.”
Protecting civilians in such an environment is particularly challenging, which is likely one of the reasons Israel took the measures they have.
At the same time, the destruction in Gaza is widespread. More than half of the buildings are likely no longer habitable and the war has created a humanitarian crisis where people are unable to gain access to food and necessary medical care.
Additionally, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health says almost 27,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, although it does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists. Based on Israeli and U.S. estimates, the civilian-to-combattant casualty ratio is somewhere between 1.5-to-1 and 3-to-1, which is significantly better than the international average, which is 9-to-1 according to the United Nations, but still means thousands of uninvolved civilians have been killed.
“To be clear, I am outraged by the civilian casualties in Gaza,” Spencer makes sure to emphasize, “But it’s crucial to direct that outrage at the right target. And that target is Hamas.”
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Hamas cowards are sitting in their cold Rafah tunnels
Hillel Fuld-tweet-11February2024-Hamas cowards are sitting in their cold Rafah tunnels
Hamas cowards are sitting in their cold Rafah tunnels with limited oxygen praying that Israel doesn’t initiate its plan to enter Rafah and liquidate it from Hamas terrorists.
They know this is the end for them. They know their leaders will be found and eliminated. They know the hostages, which was their only bargaining chip are in Rafah and are about to be found.
These little snakes are trying to do whatever they can to prevent this operation.
Of course, as always, the world obliges and pressures Israel to not enter Rafah.
There is no possible explanation of why the world is trying to prevent this operation other than the desire to keep Hamas alive.
There will be no “Humanitarian crisis” unless Hamas creates one.
Israel has already begun to notify civilians that they should evacuate, and has provided many places, all of which Israel already cleansed of Hamas, for them to go.
This is the final stronghold for Hamas. They know it, Israel knows it, and the international community knows it.
Biden himself has shown his true colors and is calling on Israel not to enter Rafah. Of course he knows full well that Israel has no intention of listening to a senile man who sees people where there are none and confuses Egypt with Mexico.
All the heavy guns are being taken out to prevent Israel from achieving victory. First the threat of freezing aid if Israel goes in. Then, when Biden realizes no one cares what he has to say, he pulls the Ramadan card.
The audacity to tell Israel not to attack Hamas on a Muslim holiday when this all started on a Jewish holiday on which Jews were murdered and raped is repulsive. Shame on you, Biden.
But here is the thing. The Jewish people are done listening to foreign governments who think they have any moral standing to tell Israel not to defend itself.
Israel will do what is good for Israel and if anyone doesn’t like it, well, too bad for them.
Hamas, here we come. Nowhere else to run. Nowhere else to hide. We are coming for you and you will die like the cowards you are, at the hand of the IDF, preferably a female soldier because, well, after what you did to Jewish women, I think we can agree that it’s only fair you are eliminated by Jewish women. Karma is coming for you.
It’s too late to surrender. You had your chance. The party is now over and Hamas is about to become a thing of the past.
Hamas will join the club with many nations and empires that tried to annihilate the Jews and failed. You guys can all sit in the depths of hell crying how unfair it is that the Jews are still thriving and flourishing as a nation while you and your people have been eliminated from the world.
Am Yisrael Chai but Hamas will soon be buh bye!
Hillel Fuld-tweet-11February2024-Hamas cowards are sitting in their cold Rafah tunnels
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36 years of terrorism, rejection of peace and incitement of violence by Hamas.
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-6December2023-36 years of terrorism by Hamas
36 years of terrorism, rejection of peace and incitement of violence by Hamas.
Hamas proved once and for all that if we do not stop them now, next time would be worse.
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-6December2023-36 years of terrorism by Hamas
Here is why all of Gaza is being destroyed. Blame Hamas for building these terror tunnels underneath the entire Gaza strip and for placing their rocket launchers in all the red dots locations. Hamas has had more then 8 year to expand number of Rocket Launchers it has.
From the 2014 Gaza War
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map-of-rockets-launches-from-gaza-from-2014-07-08-to-2014-07-31.jpg
Map of rocket launches from 2014-07-08 to 2014-07-31
Map of rocket launches from 2014-07-08 to 2014-07-31
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Gaza. everyone there is complicit and it’s like one big Hamas family
Marina Medvin-tweet-28December2023-one big Hamas family
Israeli hostage after being rescued from Gaza: “It is important for me to represent the real situation of the people living in Gaza, who they really are—everyone there is complicit and it’s like one big Hamas family.”
She was held by Palestinian civilians.
Bulagan-tweet-28December2023-
Whenever you see one of these music festival survivor videos, keep in mind these are peaceniks that went to the music festival because they wanted peace with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These are not right-wingers, these are people that are center-left or left-wing.
What they’re saying is hard for them to admit, their entire worldview has been smashed. Their souls have been completely stripped bare
Marina Medvin-tweet-28December2023-Gaza. everyone there is complicit and it’s like one big Hamas family
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Gaza civilians are neither innocent nor uninvolved
The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-4November2023-Gaza civilians participated in the October 7 massacre too
Remember: “ordinary” Gaza civilians participated in the October 7 massacre too.
The Mossad Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-4November2023-Gaza civilians participated in the October 7 massacre too
Yes, they are ‘civilians’, but they are neither innocent nor uninvolved
When encountering Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, surveys show an 80%+ likelihood that they are terrorists, supporters, or sympathizers.Op-ed.
Dr. Avi Perry / 3January2024 / https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382988
The international community, encompassing the global media, social media, political figures, and even supporters of Israel, tends to criticize the Jewish state’s defensive war for causing harm and casualties among “innocent” civilians in Gaza, rather than holding Hamas accountable. There is often a disregard for the reality that eliminating Hamas involves unavoidable collateral damage, given their use of civilians, hospitals, schools, private homes, mosques, and other civilian infrastructure for military purposes.
However, there is more. Contrary to the narrative portraying these civilians as innocent victims, a survey by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) among Palestinian Arabs in Gaza and the ‘West Bank’ reveals widespread support for terrorism, rejection of peace, and ingratitude towards supporting countries. “…the results indicate that an overwhelming percentage of Palestinian Arabs support the October 7 massacre (75%), reject coexistence with Israel (85.9%), are committed to the restoration of ‘historical Palestine’ as a final resolution (71.1%), and support the creation of a Palestinian state ‘from the river to the sea’ (74.7%) as the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…”
This challenges the notion of the majority of these civilians being truly innocent. Consequently, when encountering Palestinian Arabs in these regions, there is a significant likelihood—over 80%—that they are either terrorists, active supporters, or sympathizers, contributing to negative perceptions and suspicions.
Regrettably, this majority, exceeding 80%, tarnished the reputation of the remainder. When faced with individuals from these areas, there is a natural inclination to harbor fear, suspicion, and generalizations, as there is a high probability—more than 80%—that these sentiments are accurate. While some may label it as Islamophobia, it differs from antisemitism, which stems from bigotry. Islamophobia is grounded in fear and suspicion, and equating the two is nothing but a display of profound ignorance.
Unfortunately, these characterizations extend to women and children as well. Alarmingly, children are indoctrinated from an early age to dehumanize and harbor hatred and hostility toward Jewish individuals, making them likely to grow into terrorists, terrorist supporters, or sympathizers. They cannot be deemed innocent in this context.
In fact, children were filmed beating with sticks a young hostage who was crying for his mother. Hordes of violent, looting civilians invaded Israel in the wake of the Hamas breach of the border on October 7 and others cheered, spit at and cursed hostages who were paraded through the streets, even violatng dead bodies..Civilians, including a doctor and UNRWA teacher, harbored hostages under inhumane conditions and when hostages were freed under the temporary pause in fighting, lined the streets to jeer at them.
Additionally, Hamas strategically employs the Gazan population as human shields, anticipating that if civilians are harmed, Israel will be blamed by the international community. This tactic, coupled with Israel’s commitment to trying to avoid civilian casualties, creates a challenging situation in dealing with Hamas effectively while attempting to avoid civilian casualties.
But notwithstanding the unintentional killing of Gazan civilians forced on the IDF by the Hamas’ human shield strategy, we can still draw glaring parallels to historical conflicts, such as World War II, where American forces intentionally targeted and killed many thousands of German civilians, as seen in the destruction of cities like Dresden. This strategy aimed to demoralize the enemy and expedite the path to victory. The use of atomic bombs on Japan also targeted civilians and ultimately led to the transformation of both Germany and Japan into allies of the United States.
Despite these actions causing intentional and significant civilian casualties, Presidents Roosevelt and Truman were not viewed as war criminals; instead, they were considered great leaders. The Nazis, along with many Germans and Japanese civilians, were perceived as being brainwashed by propaganda during WWII. Once the U.S. achieved their unconditional surrender, the subsequent baby boom generation enjoyed a period of prosperity.
Eradicating evil comes at a high cost, requiring a choice between bad and worse. In the current context, Israel faces a similar dilemma, and opting for a worse choice that leaves Hamas in power will result in more significant consequences for present and future generations.
Dr. Avi Perry, talk show host at Paltalk News Network (PNN), is the author of “Fundamentals of Voice Quality Engineering in Wireless Networks,”and “72 Virgins,” a thriller about the covert war on Islamic terror. He was a VP at NMS Communications, a Bell Laboratories – distinguished staff member and manager, as well as a delegate of the US and Lucent Technologies to the ITU—the UN International Standards body in Geneva, a professor at Northwestern University and Intelligence expert for the Israeli Government. He may be reached through his web site www.aviperry.org
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Palestinian civilian in Gaza city: Hamas: Don’t give up!
Dr. Eli David-tweet-25February2024-gaza-civilians-hamas-do-not-give-up
“Innocent Palestinian civilian” in Gaza city:
“We are eating animal food, but we have a message to Hamas: Don’t give up! And we have a message for Jews: We already did October 7, and there will be October 8, 9, and 10.”
Zero sympathy for these “civilians”. You deserve it all!
Dr. Eli David-tweet-25February2024-Gaza Civilians-Hamas: Don’t give up!
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Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health data is fake
Max Meyer-tweet-10March2024-Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health data is fake
Wharton statistician looks at Hamas’ casualty data and concludes they are likely falsifying to maintain a rolling mean & linear growth — and they don’t know how to avoid making anomalies obvious to Western analysts
Women:Children R2=0.017
Men:Women is *negative* with R2 = 0.835
SEE: How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers
Max Meyer-tweet-10March2024-Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health data is fake
Max Meyer-tweet-10March2024-Classic sign of fake numbers
The utter lack of correlation between the deaths of women and children is especially strange.
Essentially, the split between women and children is different every day but the total always the same.
Classic sign of fake numbers!
Max Meyer-tweet-10March2024-Classic sign of fake numbers
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Hamas continues to exploit civilian infrastructure as a terrorist hub.
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-5December2023-Hamas exploits civilian infrastructure as terrorist hub
Hamas continues to exploit civilian infrastructure as a terrorist hub.
Al-Shati is one of many areas where schools and civilian buildings are used to launch rockets, store weapons and carry out attacks against the IDF.
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-5December2023-Hamas exploits civilian infrastructure as terrorist hub
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Tunnel entrance shaft is booby-trapped inside a Gaza civilian building
Marc Zell-tweet-28February2024-tunnel entrance shaft is booby-trapped inside a Gaza civilian building
Some bad news from Gaza that got lost in the municipal elections coverage yesterday and today:
“Once again a tunnel entrance shaft is booby-trapped inside a civilian building. Result: another disaster for IDF warriors. During an operation conducted by the 162nd division in the Zeitun neighborhood, soldiers of elite unit from the Givati brigade entered a booby-trapped house. There was an explosion in which two officers were killed and ten injured, including 7 seriously. The victims were all part of a group of Hesder Yeshiva students whose unit suffered casualties which at the beginning of the ground campaign.”(Hillel Biton Rosen)
We must never forget the courage and sacrifice being made by these men and women to protect our freedom, our democracy and way of life. May the memories of the fallen be a blessing for us forever and may Hashem send the wounded a full and speedy recovery.
Marc Zell-tweet-28February2024-tunnel entrance shaft is booby-trapped inside a Gaza civilian building
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Abu Yehuda
A blog about the struggle to keep the Jewish state
Good morning, International Community
Posted on October 13, 2023 by Victor Rosenthal https://abuyehuda.com/2023/10/good-morning-international-community/
Good morning, International Community.
I understand that the Secretary-General of your “United Nations” is distressed about a possible humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip. “I urge all sides and the relevant parties to allow United Nations access to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians trapped and helpless in the Gaza Strip,” said Antonio Guterres yesterday.
No, you will not be allowed access. You are advised to prepare to receive a flow of refugees at the Egyptian border, where you will need to provide food and shelter for them, as well as transportation to any country that will receive them. They will not be returning to Gaza.
You will be responsible for them, because you are directly responsible for the creation of the cultural pathology that gave rise to the outburst of pure evil that occurred last week. You are the reason that the displacement of a relatively small number of Arabs from Eretz Yisrael in 1948 was turned into a permanent and exponentially growing population dependent on the international dole and a festering sore of the most vicious hatred and terrorism.
While the millions of refugees created by WWII and the Holocaust, the breakup of the European empires, and the almost total expulsion of Jews from the Arab world were all absorbed in one fashion or another, this particular group of Arabs was encouraged by “humanitarian” policies to grow larger. Host countries (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon) applied true apartheid policies to them in order to prevent assimilation and to keep the pot of hatred boiling. No other “refugee” population exists for whom refugee status is hereditary. You paid for their food and healthcare, while accepting the idea that millions must “return” to a place from which a few hundred thousand fled 75 years ago. You paid for their “education,” while allowing it to become indoctrination in irredentism.
What did you expect to happen, International Community?
What did you expect would be the result of pouring billions every year into support for what is essentially a population created and nurtured to be a human wave to overwhelm the Jewish state?
Last week, the pustule burst and the infection flowed into our beautiful country, at enormous human cost. But we are not asking for aid to rebuild what your wards destroyed. We simply wish to be left alone to cauterize the wound. Over the past 75 years, you have demonstrated that you are part of the problem. We will not let you interfere with its solution.
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Abu Yehuda
A blog about the struggle to keep the Jewish state
When We Said “Never Again,” We Meant It
Posted on 21October2023 by Victor Rosenthal
My heart is breaking. What I surmised yesterday, but was afraid to write has turned out to be true. I have never wanted to be wrong more than I do this morning. But I can’t pretend that “it will be OK,” as Israelis like to say.
The IDF has been ready for some time to begin the operation to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. The plans were made long ago, and updated regularly. Hundreds of thousands of reservists have left their jobs and families, at great expense to the government. The tanks are poised near the border. Why aren’t they moving?
The reason is that they have been ordered not to by the Americans. Whether or not they planned it, Hamas struck gold when some twelve Americans and ten British subjects were included among the roughly 200 hostages that were carried back to Gaza by the terrorists. Now negotiations are taking place, brokered by the despicable Qatari regime, to obtain their release. The demonic Hamas have released two American women (for what in return?) to prove that a deal is possible.
I’m not surprised and I’m not criticizing the US president and British PM for trying to protect their people. That is the top job of a government – a job, incidentally, that ours has been failing to do for some time. But that’s another story.
Now our government has a different job. This is our last chance, after the disasters of Oslo, the withdrawal from Gaza, the Second Lebanon War, the Shalit trade, the ongoing loss of Area C, and countless other losses and humiliations, to end our slide to destruction. If Hamas is not ripped out of Gaza by its roots, the immediate result will be the loss of the northern and southern parts of our country (who would live there?) and the evaporation of any honor and deterrence that the State of Israel still has. And then there will be no peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, no hope of preventing a nuclear Iran, and no possibility of obtaining sovereignty in the strategic hill country and the Jordan Valley. We are suffering the death by a thousand cuts, and today the knife is poised over a vital artery. We are at the point of no return.
Israel today has no choice but to invade Gaza and wipe out every trace of the poison that poured out of it two weeks ago today. Otherwise, we are finished here. And if we are finished, the Jewish people are finished too, perhaps for another 2000 years or perhaps forever.
The situation of the hostages, American, British, and Israeli, is horrific. You may ask: would I say the same thing if my children were among them? Of course not, because I am only human. But that doesn’t make me wrong.
Maybe there is some magic by which the IDF can effect an Entebbe-like rescue. Who knows? I’m sure the IDF is trying mightily right now to locate them. If we invade now we may lose some or all of them, and if there is hope of rescue, then perhaps we can delay a few days longer. Of course, we have already lost 1400. And every day the international pressure not to invade, thanks to the media’s embrace of Hamas lies about its suffering civilians, is growing, along with the vicious antisemitism that our humiliation feeds.
My heart is breaking. But I say to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the Chief of Staff: do it. Give the order to start the tanks, to open fire with the artillery, to bomb every military target (even if it is called a “school” or a “hospital” or if it is the property of the UN). Do not allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, force Egypt to open the Rafah crossing, and let the world community express its love for the Gazan civilians there, in the northern Sinai. Make the campaign as short as possible and as brutal as necessary.
Show the world: when we said “never again,” we meant it.
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Palestinian Authority replaced by Hamas
Jewish News Syndicate-tweet-25February2024-Palestinian Authority replaced by Hamas
🔴Palestinian Authority PM Mohammad Shtayyeh’s govt could resign “within days” as part of a unity deal with the Hamas terrorist org, reports @skynewsarabia
REPORT ▸ https://www.jns.org/pa-govt-could-make-place-for-hamas-backed-technocrats-within-days/
Jewish News Syndicate-tweet-25February2024-Palestinian Authority replaced by Hamas
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PA to immediately reward families of Oct. 7 terrorists with nearly $3 million
The “pay-for-slay” stipends will continue for the rest of their relatives’ lives.
UPDATE DESK https://www.jns.org/pa-to-immediately-reward-families-of-oct-7-terrorists-with-nearly-3m/
(October 17, 2023 / JNS) The Palestinian Authority will pay nearly $3 million to the families of slain Hamas terrorists who slaughtered civilians in Gaza border communities on Oct. 7, Palestinian Media Watch reports.
The corpses of 1,500 Hamas terrorists were found after the massacre in which more than 1,400 Israelis were killed and more than 4,100 others were wounded. At least 199 captives were taken back to Gaza.
Pal Media Watch-tweet-15October2023-The Palestinian Authority will be rewarding the Hamas terrorists and their families with $2,807,000 – already this month. The PA has not only expressed support for the Hamas terror attacks, but under PA law it will be rewarding the terrorists.
Under P.A. law, every Palestinian terrorist who is killed attacking Israelis is classified as a “martyr” and the family is rewarded with a 6,000 shekel ($1,511) grant and a monthly stipend of 1,400 shekel ($353) for life.
The Israel-based NGO and media watchdog estimates that each family will receive 7,400 shekels for the first month—11.1 million shekels ($2,789,430) in total to the families of the Hamas terrorists killed in the attack that began on Oct. 7.
“The P.A. sends every month half of its [Martyrs Fund] budget to the Gaza Strip. We see it from the budget reports. They call it ‘South Palestine,’” PMW director Itamar Marcus told JNS.
“We are used to seeing the P.A. and Gaza as two different things, but they get the same money,” Marcus stressed.
“We know that in the past, when Israel carried out operations in Gaza, and Hamas terrorists were killed in the airstrikes, there was suddenly a huge number of ‘martyrs,’ but they didn’t get the payments, so there were a lot of complaints about it from Gaza,” Marcus said.
“So now, according to the law the P.A. passed, they will pay all those [terrorists’ families] retroactively, starting this month together with those who carried out the attack on Oct. 7. We don’t know when it will be done but according to the law they will receive it starting this month,” he explained to JNS.
In addition, the 50 Hamas terrorists captured by Israel who participated in the massacre will be paid at least 70,000 shekels ($17,590) in total this month. As part of the P.A.’s “pay-for-slay” program, terrorists in Israeli prisons receive monthly stipends starting at 1,400 shekels per month that eventually increase to 12,000 shekels per month.
Terrorist prisoners who are married with children receive even higher salaries from the P.A.
In total, the P.A. will pay at least 11.17 million shekels ($2,807,021) in payments to the families of dead Hamas terrorists and to imprisoned Hamas terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.
Palestinian Media Watch said that this was a conservative estimate, because as the war continues Israeli forces will kill and capture more Hamas terrorists.
“The Palestinian Authority should be sending a big thank-you to the E.U. countries and Norway, currently the largest funders of the P.A., because the P.A. could not possibly make these terror payments without them,” Palestinian Media Watch stated.
“These donor countries like to pretend that it’s not their money rewarding terrorists, but everyone knows that the P.A. could not reward terrorists without this generous foreign funding. When payments to teachers, police and street cleaners are taken care of by international donors, the P.A. has the hundreds of millions available it needs to pay for terror,” the NGO said.
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Hamas atrocities explode the two-state myth
The United States may finally be prepared to let Israel defeat the Islamist terror group. But that shouldn’t lead to a push for a Palestinian state after that is accomplished.
Jonathan S. Tobin https://www.jns.org/hamas-atrocities-explode-the-two-state-myth/
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him @jonathans_tobin.
(October 11, 2023 / JNS) At last. After 17 years of diplomatic pressure from the United States to limit its responses to Hamas terrorism, it appears that Washington may be finally prepared to let Israel strike a decisive blow against the Islamist group in Gaza. The scale—the death toll now exceeds 1,200 murdered—and the depravity of the atrocities committed during the Oct. 7 assault seem to have convinced the Biden administration as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a maintenance of the status quo with Hamas isn’t an adequate response.
But it hasn’t taken long for the people who have been influencing and steering America’s Middle East policies for the last generation and whose mistakes paved the way for this slaughter to be back preaching their familiar sermons about the need for Palestinian statehood. That such people are still being taken seriously—let alone touted as foreign-policy “wise men”—is mind-boggling, especially when few in Washington seem to recognize that the Hamas state in Gaza is proof that their formulations are wrong. It’s not just that the beliefs of these Islamists are incompatible with a two-state solution, something that even liberals now concede. Rather, it is that the two-state solution is incompatible with any vision of peace.
Giving Israel room to act
Biden’s remarks delivered at the White House on Oct. 10, in which he compared Hamas to ISIS and cited the horrific crimes committed by Hamas, were not merely passionate but seemed to be a green light for Israel to “respond.” Just how far the Americans will go along with a ground invasion of Gaza or at what point Biden will seek to halt Israel’s efforts to end the threat from the terrorists remains to be seen. But for the moment, Biden’s sentiments offer Netanyahu and his new unity government the room they need to act.
What exactly a ground assault on Gaza would mean is far from clear. Indeed, a press briefing by the prime minister’s office conducted on Oct. 11 merely promised that when Israel was done, Hamas would be left with “zero military capability and zero motivation to attack again.” That may fall short of the demands being voiced by many Israelis for a campaign that will end with Hamas finished, but Netanyahu is clearly keeping his options open.
For now, the focus of Israel’s supporters should be on making sure that Biden sticks to his promise to have Israel’s back. The rhetoric of support for Israel and recognition that Hamas cannot be granted a pass for its barbarism is loud, and for the most part, bipartisan. But the indications of the outlines of a post-war debate about what the next step for U.S. foreign policy ought to be are already being made clear. The desire on the part of the foreign-policy establishment for a return to an American strategy rooted in the patent nostrum of a two-state solution is already being heard.
While Biden has avoided mention of two states in the current context, others have not.
Keeping Hamas alive
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who has been a particular favorite of Biden as he acted as a cheerleader for the Israeli protest movement that was aimed at toppling Netanyahu, has lost no time in weighing in to urge that Washington oppose an operation against Hamas inside Gaza and to return to efforts to pressure Jerusalem to make concessions to the supposedly “more moderate” Palestinian Authority.
Just as pointed was a piece by Richard Haas, the quintessential establishment thinker, former Bush administration staffer and president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as an MSNBC talking head.
Haas sounded the traditional voice of caution that has always argued against doing something about Hamas, claiming that it “can’t be eliminated because it represents an ideology as much as an organization.” Sounding a theme that has been frequently deployed to deprecate counter-terrorism efforts elsewhere, he argued that killing terrorists merely creates new ones. “Efforts to destroy it risk building support for it,” he said.
That is a spineless argument that will fall on deaf ears in Israel as well as with decent people everywhere, as the shocking details of cold-blooded murders of men, women and children; decapitations of babies; rapes and kidnappings have created a consensus that those who ordered and committed these crimes must not go unpunished. The “ideology” of which Haas speaks is one that is grounded in the glorification of this inhuman behavior and the murder of Jews. Just like that of the similar beliefs of the Nazis, it, too, can and must be eliminated.
Going further, he claimed that the aftermath of the fighting must provide Palestinians with exactly the sort of political benefit that Hamas was hoping for. While he acknowledged that Israel would need to use its military to some limited extent, the only real answer is for it to produce “a credible Israeli plan for bringing about a viable Palestinian state.”
The Palestinian state already exists
The first thing that needs to be said about that is to remind the world about an obvious fact that is generally ignored. It is that there is already an independent Palestinian state in Gaza.
Do we really need to point out that Israel withdrew every soldier, settler and settlement from Gaza in the summer of 2005? It did not, as the George W. Bush administration and many in Israel hoped, become an incubator for peace. Instead, it became an independent Palestinian state in all but name. Hamas has ruled Gaza since mid-2007 in a coup after winning an election the prior year. It then transformed it into a terror base from which it has launched rockets and missiles against Israeli villages, towns and cities, a war crime in which it seeks to indiscriminately target civilians as well as cross-border assaults.
The “wise men” like Friedman and Haas claim that while Hamas are bad guys, they are merely extremists who give Palestinian nationalism a bad name. But this is untrue. While the “moderates” of Fatah that run the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria—where it autonomously governs the Arabs who live there—are, in theory, committed to coexistence with Israel, in many ways they are as radical as their Hamas rivals.
It is true that there is close cooperation between the Israeli security forces and the P.A. But that is more for the sake of keeping Abbas alive and his kleptocracy in power than for maintaining peace. Without Israel’s help, the corrupt P.A. leader—87 years old and serving the 19th year of the four-year term to which he was elected in 2005—would have been knocked off by Hamas long ago.
Is the P.A. different?
Abbas, an inveterate Holocaust denier as well as someone who denies the facts about Jewish history in the land of Israel, regularly spews antisemitism with as much vitriol as the Islamists in Gaza or Hamas’s theocratic funders in Iran. That’s also true of the P.A.’s official media and schools, which have been fomenting antisemitism and hatred for Jews among Palestinian children since it took over the territories after the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Abbas and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, have funded terrorism with a “pay for slay” plan by which those who injure or murder Jews are rewarded with salaries and/or pensions for their families. Just as important, they have also repeatedly rejected Israeli offers of statehood and independence because it would have required them to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state and effectively end their futile century-old war on Zionism.
They have always said “no” to peace because Palestinian national identity—whether expressed through the ideology of Fatah or that of Hamas—remains inextricably linked with efforts to eradicate the Jewish state rather than a desire to build their own nation. When Palestinians speak of the “occupation,” they don’t refer to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria or Jerusalem, but to pre-1967 Israel. Hamas is merely more explicit about that goal than the P.A.
The reason why the P.A. has repeatedly refused to hold another election is rooted in their justified fears that Hamas would defeat them and take control of the West Bank as well as Gaza.
For 16 years, Hamas has shown the world what a Palestinian state where (unlike in Judea and Samaria), the Israel Defense Forces could no longer operate would look like. And since unlike Abbas, they don’t rely on the Israelis to maintain control over their people, they don’t have to sometimes pretend to be more reasonable than they actually are.
Much like the routine terrorism that is rewarded with their “pay for slay” system, the barbarism of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks is a pure expression of the “ideology” that Haas thinks can’t be eliminated. And far from condemning these unspeakable crimes, the P.A. has predictably endorsed them. That took the form of a statement by Abbas in which he defended the attacks by saying that “Palestinians had a right to defend themselves against the terrorism of the settlers and occupation forces.” On P.A. TV, his Fatah Party urged Palestinians to “land more blows on Israel,” and to join with Hamas to join the terror, and to “strike the sons of apes and pigs” and “slaughter everyone Israeli.”
Were Abbas’s kingdom to be granted full sovereignty and independence, it would not just soon fall to Hamas as Gaza did. It would also behave in much the same manner as Hamas’s terrorist state. Many Palestinians may, like their Israeli neighbors, long for peace. But those among them that preach endless war are very much in the mainstream while advocates for peace are in the minority.
They won’t admit defeat
Peace between Jews and Palestinian Arabs requires the latter to do something they have stubbornly refused to do: admit defeat in their long war to turn the clock back not just to 1967 or 1948, but to 1917 and the Balfour Declaration. Perhaps a complete defeat of Hamas in Gaza will move them closer to that recognition, but as long as the West’s policy is aimed at allowing them to ignore reality, that won’t happen. Until there is a sea change in the political culture of the Palestinians, Israel will have no choice but to continue with an anomalous policy in which it seeks to avoid interference in internal Arab affairs but continues to protect its security by maintaining control over Judea and Samaria. It’s little wonder that the Western suggestions about replicating former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza experiment in the West Bank has always struck most Israelis as not just ill-advised but insane.
Oct. 7 provided even more proof not just of the insanity of calls for Israeli territorial withdrawals, but why a two-state solution is a formula for enabling the shedding of Jewish blood rather than advancing the cause of peace. Anyone prepared to look at the truth soberly and without the false preconceptions that have guided the peace processors since 1993 can now see that calls for two states are incompatible with Israel’s existence or peace. It’s time to realize that … and to stop taking those who continue to peddle such terrible and dangerous ideas seriously.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin0
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International coalition against Houthi attacks on international maritime trade
Visegrád 24-twet-18December2023-international coalition against Houthi attacks
BREAKING:
USA announces creation of international coalition against Houthi attacks on international maritime trade
Operation Prosperity Guardian will involve the navies of:
🇧🇭 Bahrain
🇨🇦 Canada
🇫🇷 France
🇮🇹 Italy
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇳🇴Norway
🇸🇨 Seychelles
🇪🇸 Spain
🇬🇧 UK
🇺🇸 USA
Visegrád 24-twet-18December2023-international coalition against Houthi attacks
Damien Symon-tweet-16December2023-incidents in Bab-el-Mandeb region
Amidst the maritime chaos unfolding in the Red Sea, here is a simple graphic detailing recent incidents in Bab-el-Mandeb region, this visual encapsulates current challenges faced by one of the globe’s busiest shipping routes
Damien Symon-tweet-16December2023-incidents in Bab-el-Mandeb region
Visegrád 24-tweet-20December2023-coalition preparing military operation
BREAKING:
U.S. officials say the US coalition has started preparing the military operation (Prosperity Guardian) that is meant to completely destroy the military capabilities of the Houthis to attack ships in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait
Don’t mess with international maritime trade
Visegrád 24-tweet-20December2023-coalition preparing military operation
Tracy-tweet-31December2023-UK preparing for attacks on Houthi rebels with US
⚠️🚨”an unprecedented statement is expected to be released by the UK and the US in the coming hours” >>
UK preparing for attacks on Houthi rebels with US
Britain’s military is preparing to launch a wave of air strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis creating chaos in the Red Sea, raising the prospect of a significant spiralling of tensions in the region.
Under the plans the UK would join with the US and possibly another European country to unleash a salvo of missiles against pre-planned targets, either in the sea or in Yemen itself, where the militants are based.
A Whitehall source said the co-ordinated strikes could involve RAF warplanes for the first time or HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer which successfully destroyed an attack drone with a Sea Viper missile in the Red Sea earlier this month.
It is understood an unprecedented statement is expected to be released by the UK and the US in the coming hours which will warn the Houthis to stop attacking commercial vessels or face the military might of the West.
Ahead of the statement, Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, said: “If the Houthis continue to threaten lives and trade, we will be forced to take the necessary and appropriate action.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/houthi-rebels-boats-yemen-red-sea-attacks-85mxc6gzt
Tracy-tweet-31December2023-UK preparing for attacks on Houthi rebels with US
Laddin-tweet-31December2023-Yemen is now declaring war on all American bases in the Middle East
Yemen is now declaring war on all American bases in the Middle East after America killed at least 10 Yemenis in the Red Sea today
Laddin-tweet-31December2023-Yemen is now declaring war on all American bases in the Middle East
Tomahawks from US Navy surface ships and strikes from FA-18s are hitting Houthi targets in Yemen 12January2024
Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping)-tweet-12January2024-Tomahawks from US Navy surface ships and strikes from F/A-18s
Tomahawks from US Navy surface ships and strikes from F/A-18s off USS Dwight D Eisenhower are hitting Houthi targets in Yemen.
The questions are:
1️⃣ Why wait until after the largest attack against shipping on Jan 9?
2️⃣ Will this deter or embolden the attacks against shipping?
3️⃣ Will the insurance underwriters and commercial shipping firms think that the #RedSea is now safer?
While this may satisfy the military desire to hit the enemy, it may have made the area more dangerous.
Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping)-tweet-12January2024-
U.S. and Britain launch strikes against targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen
https://nbcnews.com/news/world/us-britain-strikes-houthi-yemen-rcna133576 via @nbcnews
Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping)-tweet-12January2024-Tomahawks from US Navy surface ships and strikes from FA-18s are hitting Houthi targets in Yemen
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The first ship sunk by the Houthi
Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping)-tweet-7March2024-The first ship sunk by the Houthi
New photos show the sunken bulker #Rubymar sitting with her stern on the bottom and her bow above water in the #RedSea. The first ship sunk by the #Houthi.
@aljoumhouria
Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping)-tweet-7March2024-The first ship sunk by the Houthi
Two killed and six injured in a Houthi missile strikes
Sal Mercogliano-tweet-6March2024-Houthi killed innocent mariners
It was only a matter of time until the #Houthi killed innocent mariners.
Lara Seligman-tweet-6March2024-Two killed and six injured in a Houthi missile strikes
BREAKING: Two killed and six injured in a Houthi missile strikes on the MV True Confidence, a Liberian-owned vessel, in the Red Sea today, per two U.S. officials.
These are the first fatalities of the Houthi campaign against international shipping since November.
Sal Mercogliano-tweet-6March2024-Houthi killed innocent mariners
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Hamas Steals Humanitarian Aid
Oli London-tweet-17December2023-Hamas Steals Humanitarian Aid
Hamas terrorists have hijacked yet another humanitarian aid convoy after it crossed over the Rafah border from Egypt.
Oli London-tweet-17December2023-Hamas Steals Humanitarian Aid
Hamas stealing UNRWA humanitarian aid
Adam Albilya-tweet-13December2023-Hamas stealing UNRWA humanitarian aid
Well, nothing new to see here—just Hamas’ freedom rapists violently stealing the humanitarian aid from their civilian all over again.
Breaching the understanding they signed off to when they still acted like they’re just worried, caring, and need it for nothing but their people.
Adam Albilya-tweet-13December2023-Hamas stealing UNRWA humanitarian aid
Hamas open fire on desperate Gaza civilians trying to get humanitarian aid
Oli London-tweet-15January2024-HHamas open fire on Gaza civilians trying to get humanitarian aid
Hamas open fire on desperate Palestinian civilians trying to get humanitarian aid after aid trucks crossed over from the Rafah border from Egypt.
Multiple AK-47 rounds can be heard being fired as the Gazans flee.
Hamas have been captured on video multiple times hijacking humanitarian aid and firing on civilians that beg for food.
Oli London-tweet-15January2024-HHamas open fire on Gaza civilians trying to get humanitarian aid
Innocent Palestinian civilians” killed the driver of an Egyptian humanitarian aid truck
Dr. Eli David-tweet-3March2024-Innocent Palestinian civilians killed the driver of an Egyptian humanitarian aid truck
🚨 Breaking: “Innocent Palestinian civilians” killed the driver of an Egyptian humanitarian aid truck, and looted the truck 👇
Barbarians…
Dr. Eli David-tweet-3March2024-Innocent Palestinian civilians killed the driver of an Egyptian humanitarian aid truck
Gaza Palestinians murdered Egyptian humanitarian aid truck driver to loot the Truck
Dr. Eli David-tweet-3March2024-Gaza Palestinians murdered Egyptian humanitarian aid truck driver to loot the Truck
Today Palestinians in Gaza murdered the Egyptian driver of a humanitarian aid truck to loot it.
If that’s what they do to a Muslim “brother” who brought them food, imagine what they do to their “infidel” enemies… That’s what they did on October 7.
Dr. Eli David-tweet-3March2024-Gaza Palestinians murdered Egyptian humanitarian aid truck driver to loot the Truck.png
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How did YOU help Israel and the Jews in it’s time on Need?
Teshuvah, Tefilla and Tzedakah (besides Aliyah)?
Hillel Fuld-tweet-10October2023-Let me tell you about the Jewish people
Khna Tsdq (Kahane Was Right) – Israeli Kahanist Song
Kahane Tzadach (Kahane Was Right) – Israeli Kahanist Song
noa tishby-tweet-14October2023-A ray of light in the darkness
ImTirtzu-tweet-10October2023- It’s time to mobilize for them
Im Tirtzu
Working hard to protect Zionism and the State of Israel
https://imti.org.il/en/
Donate: https://imti.org.il/project/63715/
Living Lchaim-tweet-10October2023-They are certified kosher and serving the IDF
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Israeli airlines add more flights to bring reservists home
By Joanna Plucinska and Steven Scheer
11October2023 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/el-al-israir-add-flights-bring-reservists-back-israel-2023-10-10/
LONDON/JERUSALEM, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia added more flights on Tuesday to bring home reservists, according to their websites and Israel’s airports authority, though the prospect of more conflict also stoked sector worries about staff shortages.
Israel said on Monday it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and warned residents of Palestinian enclave Gaza to evacuate in a sign it could be planning a ground assault in response to Palestinian militant group Hamas’ unprecedented weekend attack.<
Separately, U.S. State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the U.S. government was in conversation with various carriers to “encourage” them to consider resuming travel in and out of Israel to help a number of American citizens leave the country.
American Airlines (AAL.O) on Tuesday temporarily suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv through Dec. 4 after Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) said Monday it would cancel all flights to Israel through Oct. 31, while United Airlines has indefinitely halted flights.
Airlines for America, a trade group representing major U.S. carriers, said on Tuesday it remains in discussions with government agencies about the issue. “The situation in Israel is rapidly evolving, and our carriers continue to make individual assessments about operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports,” a spokesperson said.
While many major airlines have cancelled flights to and from Israel, domestic carriers have looked to ramp up capacity, at least in coming days. Many Israelis were travelling abroad the last week for a Jewish holiday.
On its website, Israir Airlines (ISRG.TA) said it was offering flights from Larnaca in Cyprus, Corfu in Greece and Batumi in Georgia to help bring Israelis back to the country.
Arkia was offering flights from Greek capital Athens to Eilat in southern Israel and from Marrakesh in Morocco to Tel Aviv, among others.
Flag carrier El Al (ELAL.TA) added a flight from Athens on Tuesday. El Al added that, while it wasn’t offering free flights for reservists, it was trying to keep prices affordable. Reservists were being charged $900 for flying from the United States, $650 from Bangkok, and $300 from Europe for flights under four hours, a spokesperson said.
Fears of staff shortages at airlines have grown, however, with the prospect of reduced flights looming.
Israir said its flight schedule could be reduced in coming days as its foreign crews were asked to leave the country while some Israeli staff were also recruited to fight.
Flights evacuating foreigners were also leaving Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Iceland said on Monday night it had flown out 126 Icelanders, five Faroese, four Norwegians and 12 Germans who had been stranded in Israel from Amman, Jordan, on a government-sponsored plane.
The Israeli airports authority said 67,000 passengers were expected to travel through Ben Gurion on Tuesday, compared to an average of 80,000 under normal circumstances.
The authority added that it would restrict flights to Ben Gurion airport’s Terminal 3 due to security concerns.
“All our clients who planned to depart (to Israel) this week have cancelled their trip,” said Emilie Dumont, managing director of Digitrips, a French online travel company. The Union of Tour Operating companies (SETO), a French organization, recommended this weekend to cancel or postpone all departures to Israel until Oct. 13, she said.
Flights to Israel from Turkey were also being cancelled, including those of national carrier Turkish Airlines and budget carrier Pegasus, according to Flightradar24 – a flight tracking website. Turkish Airlines said on its website: “Our Tel Aviv (TLV) flights have been temporarily suspended until further notice.”
Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago, David Shepardson in Washington, Tim Hepher in Paris, Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Nick Macfie, Mark Potter, Nick Zieminski and Sandra Maler
The Persian Jewess-tweet-19February2024-EL_AL_ISRAEL
This beautiful @EL_AL_ISRAEL commercial has me crying like a baby.
💙🇮🇱💙
#StandWithIsrael
David Oh-tweet-19February2024-My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL
My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL, She says that they let people seat in the toilet at takeoffs, the planes were full of Israelis coming back home to join the army. We have a wonderful people, great young generation.
The Persian Jewess-tweet-19February2024-EL_AL_ISRAEL
David Oh-tweet-19February2024-My daughter is a flight attendant at El AL
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More updates from the Rav
10October2023 https://www.thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/more-updates-from-the-rav/
In case you haven’t realised already, “the news” is lying to you.
Sure, there is some truth mixed in to all this, because without the element of truth, no lie would last long.
And this particular ‘lie’ has lasted 75 years and counting….
(At least.)
So, I am going to stick to just passing on emet, the real information you really need to know from our true tzaddikim.
Before we move on, a question: what happened to take out all the army bases on the border – and all the people in them – BEFORE ‘Hamas’ even came close to breaching the fence?
When we know the answer to that, we will know a whole lot more.
====
Here is what the Rav is saying, from yesterday, the main points, paraphrased in some cases.
====
The Rav is putting a very strong emphasis on turning off the news, and to stop engaging with all the manipulated and manipulative ‘info’.
He’s asking people to say 3 books of tehillim a day now, instead of one – I am a third of the way through my first book today, and my advice is just to do something, whatever you can manage, but to for sure spend more time doing that something than surfing the net looking at more awful snuff videos from the attack, or reading media prostitutes who are being paid to tell you ‘Iran did this’.
Men should learn 10 pages of Gemara a day.
====
The Rav is not allowed to talk about money at all these days, in case they arrest him.
So, this is coming from me:
People should pay tzedaka to sweeten the judgement – money for blood.
And they should pay it to Shuvu, and have in mind that it’s for a ‘global redemption’ – a global pidyon – for the Jewish people to get out of this mess.
Even a tiny bit will do something awesome in shemayim.
Go HERE to do that online.
====
UPDATE:
The Ravberland.com link above is currently not working, so use this link instead, in the meantime – it comes from a trusted source, one of the Rav’s gabbais who I know personally:
https://donate.stripe.com/3cs3eo6KMcwncRq4gg
====
I am not getting into arguments about pidyonot here – go and read Likutei Moharan Lesson 180 about how they work generally.
And then, read this:
====
That ‘One in a Generation’ in our generation is Rav Berland.
The Rav also said to pray with niggunim, with melodies, otherwise the prayers don’t ascend.
Preferably, he said to come and pray with Shuvu Banim (usually starts around 8-8.30 pm, on Ido HaNavi Street – it’s a crush, and bring your own chair as they are in v limited supply.)
You can also watch the livestream of the prayers on the website HERE (right hand side of the screen).
====
If neither of those options work for you, then the Rav says to find a place where they daven with niggunim, because that is how the prayers ascend.
That’s why we spend half an hour before the prayers at the Rav just singing ‘Or zeruah’, and then another half an hour afterwards singing Uman songs.
And sometimes, when there is a lot of stuff to ‘sweeten’, the singing and the dancing go on way longer.
====
So, to recap:
Because there is no ‘State of Israel’ or ‘army’ waiting in the wings to rescue us from this situation.
As those poor people on Shabbat learned at an incalculable cost.
====
Take heart!
Prayers, teshuva and tzedaka can and will turn all this around!
God is with us.
He’s just waiting for more of the people who are so far away from Him to realise that, and come back home.
This is Gad Elbaz’s Mizmor Le David from Caesaria, I have it on repeat.
It’s Psalm 23:
Even if I walk through the gates of death, I won’t fear evil – because You are with me.
Gad Elbaz – Mizmor Ldavid – גד אלבז – מזמור לדוד
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Remembering the Mercaz Harav Massacre
Im Tirtzu-tweet-6March2024-Remembering the Mercaz Harav Massacre
Remembering the Mercaz Harav Massacre
On March 6, 2008, a Palestinian Arab terrorist entered the yeshiva in Jerusalem and opened fire on young students who were learning Torah.
8 students were barbarically murdered, and 11 more were injured.
May their memory be a blessing 💔
Im Tirtzu-tweet-6March2024-Remembering the Mercaz Harav Massacre
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Jews In Name Only supporting Hamas
Brad R. Torgersen-tweet-8October2023-Jews In Name Only supporting Hamas
Yoni Michanie-tweet-23October2023-
Boston University: Anna Epstein clearly believes that raping Jewish women on the corpses of murdered victims, that beheading Jewish infants in front of their parents, and torturing Holocaust survivors is an appropriate response to fighting an “occupation”
JerusalemCats-tweet-24October2023-
Is her Mother Jewish? Was she raised Jewish, Shabbat/Yom Tovim, Kosher, Modest Clothing, No TV, Jewish “Orthodox” Schools, Volunteer at Jewish NGOs? Did she live (Not just Visit) in Israel? What about Aliyah? Did her parents talk about living in Israel?
JerusalemCats-tweet-24October2023-Is her Mother Jewish? Was she raised Jewish, Shabbat/Yom Tovim, Kosher, Modest Clothing, No TV, Jewish “Orthodox” Schools, Volunteer at Jewish NGOs? Did she live (Not just Visit) in Israel? What about Aliyah? Did her parents talk about living in Israel?
Hamas has been ruled to be Amalek
Zachor
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/644313/jewish/Zachor.htm
Just as a Catholic Priest is not Jewish so is a “reform rabbi” not Jewish (Not discussing Laity), even if their mother is Jewish. The Reform in their 1885 Pittsburgh Platform formally rejected the Torah of Israel and Israel both as a State of Israel, The People of Israel and the Land of Israel:
Para.#4 “We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.”
Para.#5 “We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel’s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.”.
Pew-2016-03-08-Israel Reform Essay static identify
Relatively few Israeli Jews identify with either Conservative (2%) or Reform (3%) Judaism
http://www.pewforum.org/2016/03/08/comparisons-between-jews-in-israel-and-the-u-s/ .
Israeli’s know that reform is not Jewish but something else. The reform rabbis claim to be educated since they call themselves “rabbi” but they know nothing about Torah Judaism and are practicing “Tikkun Olam”.
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Hamas Kids Terrorist Training Camps
Posted 26October2023 Israel Defense Forces:
Straight from Hamas’ social media: see the training camps where Hamas terrorists brainwash young children and teenagers. From 2:12-2:32, you see kids shooting IDF soldiers in a video game. From 5:53 until the end, you can see a Hamas terrorist training camp recruitment video in full, which ends with text on screen reading: “It prepares a generation… for liberation.”
Have you ever wondered what happens to humanitarian aid in Gaza?
SEE From 28July2014: Israel Deserves an Apology
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-17October2023-what happens to humanitarian aid in Gaza
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Biden gives Hamas $100 Million in Military aid to Murder Jews
The reaction: Watch: Trump Slams Biden For Handing $100 Million To Palestinians
Tom Cotton-tweet-18October2023-Under present circumstances, “humanitarian assistance” = resupply for Hamas terrorists. President Biden continues to embolden Iran and its terror proxies.
Despite US admission Hamas ‘may seize’ aid to Gaza, Biden announces $100m in Palestinian aid
“We know Hamas is going to commandeer that money, and Hamas is going to use it to advance terrorism,” stated Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a presidential candidate.
David Swindle, Menachem Wecker
https://www.jns.org/despite-us-admission-hamas-may-seize-aid-to-gaza-biden-announces-100m-in-palestinian-aid/
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and their respective governmental teams, meet in Tel Aviv about the war with the Hamas terror organization that rules the Gaza Strip, Oct. 18, 2023. Credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO.
(October 18, 2023 / JNS) Later this week, U.S. President Joe Biden intends to ask Congress for “an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense,” he said today at the David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv. “The world will know that Israel is stronger than ever, and my message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago: Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”
Moments later, Biden announced “$100 million in new U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance in both Gaza and the West Bank.” The monies will “support more than 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza,” the president said.
The announcement came less than two days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged, in remarks he delivered in Tel Aviv, that there are concerns about aid packages reaching civilians who need it.
“We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it,” Blinken said on Oct. 16.
“If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it, and we will work to prevent it from happening again,” he said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president, attacked the president’s announcement. “They say it’s humanitarian assistance. We know Hamas is going to commandeer that money, and Hamas is going to use it to advance terrorism,” DeSantis stated.
“I say no U.S. tax dollars to the Gaza Strip. We still have hostages being held by Hamas. There are American hostages being held by Hamas. How are you funding them when they’re holding Americans, as well as others, hostage?” DeSantis added.
Biden did not say how, if at all, Washington would ensure that the $100 million would get to those in need.
Per the White House, Washington is working “through trusted partners including U.N. agencies and international NGOs.” It, too, did not say how it would guarantee that the aid reaches its intended recipients.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel “will not prevent humanitarian assistance from Egypt, as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip or which is evacuating to there, and as long as these supplies do not reach Hamas.”
“Any supplies that reach Hamas will be prevented,” he said.
Jerusalem won’t allow any assistance to Gaza from Israel, “as our captives are not returned,” the prime minister added. “Israel demands Red Cross visits with our captives and is working to mobilize broad international support for this demand.”
UNRWA supplies stolen
Earlier in the week, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) posted—and then deleted—a series of messages on social media, where it noted that it “received reports” that “a group of people with trucks purporting to be from the Ministry of Health of the de facto authorities in Gaza removed fuel and medical equipment from the agency’s compound in Gaza City.”
Hamas currently controls the Gazan Ministry of Health, and an official Israeli Foreign Ministry social-media account stated that “even UNRWA is now saying that Hamas terrorists in Gaza are stealing emergency supplies and gas which are needed to help Gazan civilians.”
“Or in other words,” wrote Israel Katz, the Israeli energy and infrastructure minister, “Hamas is robbing the ‘humanitarian aid’ to the Palestinian people. There’s no reason to give them anything until we eliminate Nazi Hamas.”
Hold on $75 million in funds
On Oct. 3—four days before Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,400, wounding 4,500 others and taking some 150 hostages, including American citizens—Blinken approved a $75 million aid package to UNRWA. Republicans had blocked the payment.
“Thank you, Secretary Blinken, for providing $75 million in food assistance to Palestine refugees in Gaza,” wrote an official UNRWA account. “This generous support from the American people will allow UNRWA to continue this critical aspect of its humanitarian and human development work through the end of Q1 2024!”
On Sept. 11, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked in a State Department press briefing about the UNRWA funding.
“It seems that $75 million are still being held up in food assistance to the Palestinians, especially in Gaza. I guess it’s awaiting maybe the end of the fiscal year and so on, and I wonder if you could comment on this because the situation, as you’ve probably been following up, with UNRWA and with the distribution of food and the assistance of food in Gaza, cannot wait till the end of the fiscal year or the beginning of the new one,” said Said Arikat, Washington bureau chief for Al-Quds.
“I would say that we agree that funding for UNRWA supports the provision of food, health care, education, relief and social services, which are more vital than ever with the worsening violence in the West Bank and Gaza,” Miller responded to the ostensible question. (Arikate frequently attacks Israel in his “questions” at State Department press briefings.)
“We are committed to working with the UN and our international partners to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to marshal international support for recovery efforts in a manner that benefits the Palestinian people,” Miller added. “So we would agree that this funding is important and are trying to move it through.”
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) had put a hold on the funds, citing UNRWA’s “long history of employing people connected to terrorist movements like Hamas, promoting antisemitic textbooks and using its schools to store Hamas weapons.”
In 2021, following the Biden administration’s resumption of aid to UNRWA, Risch led a group of 20 Republican senators in sending a letter to the president urging him to hold funds until verifying that the U.N. agency does not employ Hamas members nor continue to use antisemitic textbooks.
Biden’s visit
17October2023 https://www.thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/bidens-visit/
Just got back from the Rav.
He said Biden is only coming tomorrow to give Eretz Yisrael away to the Arabs.
I.e. the ‘2 state solution’….
Does anyone honestly still have any doubt about who was behind what happened on Simchat Torah?
And second, the Rav said that all the women’s tehillim are saving the soldiers….
So continue!
I don’t have a lot of time to write at the mo, as the tehillim are taking most of my day up.
But as important things come up, I will try and share them here.
Also, it seems the matzav ruach is starting to bounce back, at least a little.
And tons and tons of people are coming off the news, in all sorts of different ways, at the moment.
Which means their ability to manipulate and control us is also being radically limited.
Continue!
And may we just hear good news.
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JerusalemCats Comments: Least We forget who our Enemy is:
Israel approves emergency regulations that could pave way to closing Al Jazeera offices
By Jeremy Sharon 20October2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-approves-emergency-regulations-that-could-pave-way-to-closing-al-jazeera-offices/
The government has approved regulations that will allow it to temporarily shut down foreign news channels during states of emergency, such as the current war with terror group Hamas in Gaza, if it believes the outlet is damaging national security.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has led the charge to pass these regulations in order to shut down the Al Jazeera news channel, which he claims has damaged national security.
The regulations are retroactive, meaning broadcasts by the Qatari network since the war started can now be used as the basis for a decision to shut down the staunchly pro-Palestinian news outlet’s local branch.
“Israel is at war on land, in the air, at sea, and on the public diplomacy front. We will not allow in any way broadcasts that harm the security of the state… The broadcasts and reports of Al Jazeera constitute incitement against Israel, help Hamas-ISIS and the terror organizations with their propaganda, and encourage violence against Israel,” says Karhi.
According to the new regulations, the communications minister — with the agreement of the defense minister — will be able to order TV providers to stop broadcasting the news outlet in question; close its offices in Israel, seize its equipment, and shut down its website or restrict access to its website, depending on the location of its server.
The decision must be approved by the security cabinet, must be based on legal opinions by the security establishment that the outlet is indeed harming national security, and is subject to the review of a district court.
Such a decision will be valid for 30 days but can be extended for additional 30-day periods. The emergency regulations will be in place for three months, or until the specific state of emergency is formally ended by the government.
UPDATE:
Knesset approves bill to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel
New law approved in second and third reading stipulates Communications Minister could act against foreign media channels in Israel should they be found to harm the country; White House spokeswoman criticizes bill
Moran Azulay| 01April2024 | 20:02 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b17yvd00yr
The Knesset approved Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill ordering Qatari news network Al Jazeera to cease its operations in the country in a final reading on Monday. “Hamas mouthpieces won’t have any freedom of expression in Israel. Al Jazeera will be shut down in the coming days,” Karhi said in a statement.
The law promoted by Karhi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to shut down foreign channels (including Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen, and others), was approved by the Knesset Plenum in second and third readings.
The law stipulates the Communications Minister could act to shut down foreign media channels in the country should the prime minister find it is harming Israel after reviewing at least one security assessment on the issue and conditioned by the approval of the government or security cabinet.
Actions will be approved by orders signed by the Communications Minister, and will include: closing down the channel’s offices in the country, confiscating broadcasting equipment, preventing channel reporters from broadcasting, removing the channel from cable and satellite providers in the country, blocking its websites in the country, and more.
“We have approved a quick and efficient tool to act against those who use the freedom of the press to harm Israel’s security and IDF soldiers and incite terrorism during wartime,” Karhi said in a statement following the law’s approval.
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the law on social media, writing on his X account: “Al Jazeera has harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited violence against IDF soldiers. The time has come to remove Hamas’ mouthpiece from our country. The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activities.”
Despite Netanyahu’s praise, other members of his Likud party criticized the bill’s wordings. “The bill as presented by the Communications Minister is both ineffective and damaging,” Likud MK Amit Halevi told Ynet. “It’s absurd that our coalition will vote in favor of such a bill. It primarily reflects an extreme lack of judgment aimed at gaining popularity.”
According to Halevi, the approved law in its current form isn’t effective. “The overwhelming majority of Al Jazeera viewers in Israel’s Arab sector watch it via satellite dishes or the internet, not Israeli broadcasters. The agency’s internet servers and offices will reopen in Ramallah if shut down in Israel.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized the law in a statement, saying, “We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical. It is critically important, and the United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world, and that includes those who are reporting in the conflict in Gaza.”
“So, we believe that work is important. The freedom of the press is important. And if those reports are true, it is concerning to us,” she added.
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Al Jazeera admits the ‘rapes’ at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE
StopAntisemitism-tweet-25March2024-Al Jazeera admits the ‘rapes’ at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE
Al Jazeera admits the “rapes” at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE.
#Gaza
StopAntisemitism-tweet-25March2024-Al Jazeera admits the ‘rapes’ at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE.png
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EXPOSED: Reuters Mideast Visuals Chief Openly Supported Terrorism as a Pro-Palestinian Activist
Reuters’ regional head of video and pictures in the Middle East has publicly supported terrorists while working for a pro-Palestinian organization, demonized Israel, and criticized the US for providing military aid to the Jewish state,…
HonestReporting Staff 23October2023 https://honestreporting.com/exposed-reuters-mideast-visuals-chief-openly-supported-terrorism-as-a-pro-palestinian-activist/
Reuters’ regional head of video and pictures in the Middle East has publicly supported terrorists while working for a pro-Palestinian organization, demonized Israel, and criticized the US for providing military aid to the Jewish state, HonestReporting exposed Monday in a revelation that calls into question his journalistic objectivity.
Labib Nasir, who is currently based in Dubai and editorially supervises Reuters visual content coming out of the region, openly praised terrorists at a media conference in Beirut in 2004 while he was working for the pro-Palestinian organization “Miftah.” According to the conference proceedings, in his public remarks, he said:
Nasir continued to falsely claim that Israeli communities in the West Bank were not “civilian,” thus suggesting they were legitimate targets:
While his words are appalling in their own right — because they refer to communities inhabited by families and children — they resonate ever more loudly in light of Hamas’ brutal massacre of innocent Israeli civilians on October 7. How can a person who holds such views have any editorial say about Middle East coverage at this sensitive time? How can a person with such views be trusted to provide objective, unbiased content on the region? It cannot and should not be tolerated.
Nasir’s full address to the conference (which was ironically held under the title “Media Ethics & Journalism in the Arab World”) is rife with more inaccuracies and anti-Israel vitriol. To quote just a few:
More examples of his activism include an opinion piece titled “Checkpoint Guide,” which refers to the everyday reality of passing through security checkpoints set up by Israel to protect its citizens against terrorists. In it, he called Israeli army soldiers “killer soldiers,” and demonized the Israeli “enemy” as an adversary of humanity:
A decade later, years after he’d already been hired by Reuters, Nasir took part in a demonstration against Israel’s 2014 Gaza operation that targeted Hamas terror tunnels and publicly criticized the US for providing billions of dollars in military aid to the Jewish state, as quoted in Boston’s WBUR news:
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time a biased Reuters journalist is exposed, as in the case of Henriette Chacar who has questioned the difference between Israeli civilians and combatants. But Nasir has risen to a much more senior position in the news agency.
Activist-Turned-Journalist
Nasir attended the 2004 conference as the media and information coordinator for “Miftah,” an organization with an anti-Israeli agenda that was headed by then-senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi. Several months later he joined Reuters as a reporter and a producer in Jerusalem, clearly without a sufficient background check. He has climbed the news agency’s ranks ever since.
Did he attempt to set aside his activist agenda? Quite the opposite, as apparent from an interview he conducted in 2010 for Reuters with none other than his former boss Hanan Ashrawi. Any decent journalist would have excused themselves from doing so, but Nasir let Ashrawi get all her talking points across.
The problem is that Nasir understood the power of media already in 2004 when he stated in his conference presentation that: “The visual media have become highly developed in recent years and are a powerful tool that has forced itself into every house.”
Now, this activist-turned-journalist gets to decide what images from the war-torn Middle East are seen in every house worldwide and what stories are told in video and pictures — the most effective ways to influence hearts and minds.
And hundreds of media outlets that subscribe to Reuters rely on this coverage.
As the region is still reeling from Hamas’ atrocities, a person who openly supports terrorism and believes that Israeli civilians’ blood is forfeit should not be allowed near any newsroom, let alone that of one of the world’s largest news agencies which claims to uphold the strictest standards of unbiased journalism.
HonestReporting has submitted an official complaint to Reuters, calling upon it to take the necessary action to maintain the values its audience deserves.
Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!
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CNN, the Modern Der Stürmer Propaganda
“Die Juden sind unser Unglück!” “The Jews are our misfortune!”
[Slogan printed on the bottom of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der Stürmer]
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/dersturmer.htm
The-Mossad-Satirical,-Yet-Awesome-tweet-22October2023-CNN, News you can trust
Map of Israel according to CNN
For those that are graduates of Ivy League Schools, this is a Map of Israel.
GoogleMaps screenshot / Simcha Pasko – A map of Israel and the West Bank.
Map of Sderot, Israel
Map of Sderot, Israel. From Wikipedia
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‘Too many red lines crossed’: Israeli hospital bans BBC
The Galillee medical center “refuses to cooperate with media outlets that refuse to see Hamas as a terrorist organization.”
https://www.jns.org/too-many-red-lines-crossed-israeli-hospital-bans-bbc/
The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Photo by Noam Falakasa/TPS.
(October 22, 2023 / JNS) Citing BBC News’s “biased coverage” of the war against Hamas, staff at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya banned a film crew from entering the hospital on Saturday, a hospital spokesperson said.
“When there is no clarity, and this is sometimes the nature of this situation, it is good for such a popular media outlet to check, delve and investigate before publishing its reviews to hundreds of millions of people in the world,” hospital director Professor Masad Barhoum told Jewish News Syndicate.
“In everything related to the BBC network, too many red lines were crossed, so when they asked to film at our medical center and interview doctors, it was clear that they were looking for manipulations and distortions, so we informed them that we have closed our doors to them until further notice,” he added.
Hospital spokesperson Gal Zeid told JNS, “I issued the announcement to the media in the hope that other bodies and institutions in the health system, including in the country as a whole, will show solidarity, certainly during the war, and refuse, like us, to cooperate with media outlets and parties that cover the reality in a biased way and refuse to see Hamas as a terrorist organization, which harms all citizens of Israel indiscriminately.”
The publicly funded British news service is facing harsh criticism for its coverage of the Gaza war.
President Isaac Herzog and other officials have blasted the BBC for refusing to describe Hamas as “terrorists.”
“We are dealing with one of the worst terrorist organizations in the world,” Herzog told visiting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday.
“I know that in modern democracies, like ours and yours, you can’t interfere per se, but since the BBC has a certain linkage and is known as British all over the world, there has to be an outcry for it to be corrected, and that Hamas will be defined as a terrorist organization there as well,” Herzog said. “What else do they need to see to understand that this is an atrocious terror organization?”
Meanwhile, the BBC was forced to apologize for its coverage of an explosion that devastated Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night. Correspondent Jon Donnison reported from the scene that the hospital had been hit by a missile or shell, adding, “But it’s hard to see what else this could be really given the size of the explosion other than an Israeli air strike or several air strikes.”
The Israel Defense Forces released intercepted Hamas communications and security footage confirming that the hospital was devastated by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket.
Initial news reports and social media posts erroneously blaming Israel for the blast sparked Arab riots across the Middle East.
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The New York Times and Hamas
Ambassador Gilad Erdan-tweet-20October2023-The nytimes has just rehired a NAZI
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Defense minister announces ‘complete siege’ of Gaza: No power, food or fuel
By Emanuel Fabian 9>October2023 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says he has ordered a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, as Israel fights the Hamas terror group.
“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” Gallant says following an assessment at the IDF Southern Command in Beersheba.
“We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly,” he adds.
Eugene Kontorovich-tweet-9October2023-A belligerent commander may lawfully lay siege to a place controlled by the enemy
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-14October2023-Hamas is forcefully preventing their civilians from relocating to southern Gaza for their own safety
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Another example of World War ll disproportionate force
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-21November2023-Allies Bomb Germany
Another example of disproportionate force
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-21November2023-Allies Bomb Germany
Allies Bomb Germany with 2,453,595 tons
The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)
Hiroshima atomic bombingThe bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about an abrupt end to the war in Asia, with Japan surrendering unconditionally to the Allies on 14 August 1945.
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This is what it means to be “Pushed into the Sea”.
Ben & Jerry’s-Push the Jews into the Sea Salt and Caramel flavor Ice Cream
Cannons of eight Arab states: Sudan, Algeria, United Arab Republic (then Egypt), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Lebanese daily Al-Jarida, May 31, 1967.
Egyptian pamphlet literally titled ‘Throw the Jews into the sea’ before the 1967 war
Six Day War – Israeli victory – Documentary – War of Redemption
15 Seconds in Sderot, Israel
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Hostages treatment by Hamas
Maccabi Lev-Ari-tweet-Hostages treatment by Hamas
By the time nine-year-old Emily Hand was released, she thought she had been in Hamas captivity for a year.
She told her father that they weren’t allowed to speak out loud, and she learned how to say, “be quiet” in Arabic.
Twelve-year-old Eitan Yahalomi said that when the kids cried, Hamas threatened them with weapons. So they learned to hold it all in.
The hostages were held deep in underground tunnels, sometimes alone, sometimes together. They were beaten with sticks, only given plastic chairs to sleep on, not allowed to shower, and had to wait hours to use the bathroom.
The hostages who came home were found to be suffering from severe malnutrition, and lost 5-10 kilo of weight on average. One lost 20 kilo, which is 44 lbs. They explained that they were only given one meal each day, consisting of just rice, sometimes bread, sometimes nothing. When they were held together, the men would give their portions to the elderly and children, to keep them alive.
Eitan, the sensitive little boy who was captured alone, told his parents that the terrorists forced him to watch an hour of horror footage from the October 7th massacre. The same footage that Israel showed in closed screenings to select journalists and politicians, many of whom ran out midway through, in tears.
When Eitan was brought into Gaza, on the back of a Hamas motorcycle, he said that civilians came out to see and they all happily beat him. Civilians. Of all ages.
The civilians of Gaza had the chance to save Ron Krivolli, but instead, they turned him in to Hamas. Ron was being held alone in an apartment building, and when it was bombed by the IDF, he took the chance to escape. He wandered around for four days trying to find his way to Israel. But ordinary Gaza people found him, and immediately brought him to Hamas.
Alma Avraham, the 84-year-old hostage who is fighting for her life in the ICU now, desperately needed medication. Her family begged the Red Crescent to bring it to her, but they refused. Yaffa Adar, the 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who was amongst the first to be released said she had begged Hamas to release Alma and other elderly women before her, who are barely still alive. Hamas so far only released hostages who have family members still in their cruel hands.
To top it all off, right before they were released, the hostages were given their first shower and change of clothing in over 50 days. Then they were forced to smile and wave at the masked Hamas terrorists, for photos. A propaganda display that an international public that is happily eating up.
The Gaza civilians didn’t get the memo though. They chased after the Red Crescent vans that escorted the hostages out of Gaza, jumped on the vehicles, and banged on the windows to terrify the children in one last display of barbaric cruelty.
Is your blood boiling yet? Because mine is.
#Hamas #Israel
Maccabi Lev-Ari-tweet-Hostages treatment by Hamas
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GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ANIMAL ABUSE IN PALESTINE AUTHORITY
Oli London-tweet-24November2023-government sponsored animal abuse in palestinian authority
There are thousands of stray cats and dogs in Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority’s official policy is to SHOOT and POISON all stray dogs and cats.
Stray dogs and cats subjected to this die in absolute agony.
Those poisoned convulse in seizures.
Those shot are often wounded and left to die slowly from their injuries.
Palestinian civilians are also encouraged to kill dogs.
In 2022 the mayor of Hebron, in West Bank offered citizens $5 for every dog they killed.
These tactics are so normalized that Palestinian municipalities post notices warning citizens not to be alarmed by impending gunfire, and post pictures of bloodied dogs on their Facebook pages, claiming to have made streets safer for people.
Source: OIPA International Organization for Animal Protection.
GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ANIMAL ABUSE IN PALESTINE https://www.oipa.org/international/palestine-petition-killing-stray-animals/
Oli London-tweet-24November2023-government sponsored animal abuse in palestinian authority
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JerusalemCats Comments: It is time to bring out the Dragons! The Russians have an equivalent, TOS-1A Solntsepyok (“Scorching sunlight“) multiple rocket launcher capable of using thermobaric warheads
12-year-old Harry Potter fan championed by J.K. Rowling found murdered by Hamas
Shared by Israel’s X account, story of autistic girl and her grandmother helped world see massacres; pair originally thought captured by terror group in vicious Oct. 7 incursion
By ToI Staff 19October2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/12-year-old-harry-potter-fan-championed-by-j-k-rowling-found-murdered-by-hamas/
12-year-old Noya Dan, seen here in a Harry Potter-inspired costume, was murdered by Hamas alongside her grandmother Carmela on October 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz. (via X)
The bodies of Noya Dan, a 12-year-old autistic Israeli girl, and her grandmother Carmela, 80 — who were initially believed to have been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza — have been found, the Kan public broadcaster reported on Thursday.
On Monday, while Noya’s fate was still unknown, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling retweeted a post highlighting the child’s uncertain situation that was initially posted by the State of Israel’s official X account.
Rowling wrote, “For obvious reasons, this picture has hit home with me,” the author says, adding that kidnapping children is “despicable and wholly unjustifiable,” and expressing hope for the release of all captives in Gaza.
In the past 12 days, Noya’s voice was broadcast on Israeli media when her mother, Galit, shared her daughter’s final voice memos.
“Mom, there was a big boom at the door that scared me,” Noya said in Hebrew. “All the windows in Grandma’s house were broken at the entrance. Because there was another boom, there are many broken windows. Mommy… I’m scared,” she said.
Mother Galit told the Kan public broadcaster this week that “just because she is autistic doesn’t mean she doesn’t understand. She understands everything.”
The family, residents of Kibbutz Kissufim close to the Gaza border, had a large extended family dinner together the night before the devastating Hamas incursion. Knowing how close her daughter and mother were, Galit suggested Noya sleep over at her grandmother’s house in neighboring Kibbutz Nir Oz as a special treat.
Younger sister Tamar, 8, remained at home with her mother and father, Yinnon. Hours later, Kibbutz Kissufim was attacked by Hamas terrorists and the family hid in their saferoom while gunmen used their living room as a temporary headquarters, shooting out through the windows of the family home at their neighbors.
The two families texted and sent photos to each other from their saferooms throughout the morning, Galit told Kan. Grandmother Carmela optimistically said she’d send photos of her looted home once everything was over.
All communication was lost at noon with Noya’s final voice message.
[EDD: Updated tweet]
J.K. Rowling
@jk_rowling
Kidnapping children is despicable and wholly unjustifiable. For obvious reasons, this picture has hit home with me. May Noya and all hostages taken by Hamas be returned soon, safely, to their families.
Israel ישראל 🇮🇱
@Israel
We are devastated to announce that Noya and her grandmother’s bodies were found yesterday.
Thank you @jk_rowling
for sharing her story with the hope that she would come home.
Our hearts are broken.
May their memory be a blessing.
J.K. Rowling-tweet-16October2023-Kidnapping children is despicable and wholly unjustifiable
Author Rowling’s repost of a picture featuring Noya, smiling and wearing what appears to be a Hogwarts school uniform and holding a wand, touched many, especially fellow Harry Potter fans, according to The Daily Mail, and cemented the horror of the massacre perpetrated by Hamas that killed some 1,400 people in Israel.
Closing a circle, in a message on X, Israel announced Noya’s death on Thursday, writing, “We are devastated to announce that Noya and her grandmother Carmela’s bodies were discovered yesterday. Thank you to all of you who shared her story to help us bring her home. Our hearts are broken.”
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⚠ TRIGER WARNING
“Hundreds of dead people in Israel are still unidentifiable because of what Hamas terrorists did to their bodies.”
Video and images slowly being released by Israel show torture and abuse of Israeli living and dead during the initial Hamas attack, including a deceased victim having poles shoved deep into his eye sockets.
Posted by William A. Jacobson 15October2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/10/hundreds-of-dead-people-in-israel-are-still-unidentifiable-because-of-what-hamas-terrorists-did-to-their-bodies/
Israeli Identifying the Dead-Hamas War Crimes 7October2023
Israeli is historically bad at public relations. It doesn’t parade the bodies of its dead and wounded in front of the cameras to show the depravity of its enemies.
Israel also has almost the entire international media against it, as well as Islamists around the world and western leftists, all of whom pump out propaganda to delegitimize Israel’s self-defense.
During this current Hamas attack, there are widespread claims denying that Hamas committed the brutality to which there have been numerous testimonies not only by Israelis, but also foreign journalists, diplomats, and U.S. military, who have seen the scenes firsthand or in images/video. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that from what he’s seen, it’s worse than ISIS.
Testimonies by Israeli first responders are horrific.
i24NEWS English-tweet-12October2023-Eye witness recounts horrific details of Hamas cruelty on pregnant women, children and innocent Israeli civilians
Israel very slowly, too slowly IMO, has started to release images and video. Even those images spawned an new industry of denial. An image of a dead and charred Israeli baby was subjected to unreliable and manipulated “AI” detectors by these ghouls, with the false result then used to deny Hamas’ crimes.
Alex Goldenberg
@AlexWGoldenberg
@AJArabic is amplifying a debunked claim that a photo of a burnt corpse of an Israeli baby is in fact an AI generated image of a dog. Their source? 4chan.
Experts have debunked the claim per @404mediaco.
Daily reminder: Al Jazeera is not a trusted source of information.
Alex Goldenberg-tweet-15October2023-@AJArabic is amplifying a debunked claim that a photo of a burnt corpse of an Israeli baby is in fact an AI generated image of a dog. Their source? 4chan.
Israel is struggling to identify its dead because of the abuse of the corpses by Hamas. The creator and producer of the hit show FAUDA writes:
avi issacharoff-tweet-15October2023-Hundreds of dead people in Israel are still unidentifiable because of what Hamas terrorists did to their bodies
Israel has released more information, as published in this Jerusalem Post article, Israeli forensic teams describe signs of torture, abuse:
Israel Forensic Team Say Victims Were Abused, Burnt | News9
Here is a video of some of the abuse. Some of the images and video we’ve seen before, some are new. I had trouble sleeping after watching it last night. I’m not squeemish at all, but I almost threw up after watching Palestinians abuse the living and the dead, including long poles being shoved deep into the eye sockets of a dead Israeli.
The Jerusalem Post
@Jerusalem_Post
(WARNING: Graphic content)
#Hamas murdered over 1,300 civilians and soldiers and kidnapped over 150 people during its attack on #Israel last week.
These are just some of the horrific scenes from the assault.
📹Watch and Share
https://t.co/Ftg85pOFDL
The Jerusalem Post-tweet-15October2023-(WARNING: Graphic content)
#Hamas murdered over 1,300 civilians and soldiers and kidnapped over 150 people during its attack on #Israel last week.
These are just some of the horrific scenes from the assault.
📹Watch and Share
(Video also here in case it disappears from social media.)
Private Israeli citizens are also beginning to document the crimes.
Imshin
@imshin
🚨 They say it didn’t happened. They say there is no evidence.
Here is the evidence!
A Google doc with links, video, photos. And it’s continuing to update.
Share it! Use it!
We must not allow them to erase and deny the horror!
Imshin-tweet-15October2023-They say it didn’t happened. They say there is no evidence.
Here is the evidence!
A Google doc with links, video, photos. And it’s continuing to update.
Share it! Use it!
We must not allow them to erase and deny the horror!
You can read the Google Doc here. (Here is a downloaded pdf. as of this writing in case it disappears)
This is ISIS-type tactics. Despicable and morally corrupt “Human Rights” activist Ken Roth (former head of Human Rights Watch) objects to comparing Hamas to ISIS, because Hamas has a political cause, not just “crazed love of violence.”
Kenneth Roth-tweet-14October2023
Watch these videos and images and its clear that Hamas, like so many other Palestinian groups, has a “crazed love of violence” against Jews.
Whatever has been released is just the tip of the Hamas iceberg – everything I’m hearing is that the abuse is much, much worse. Prof. Eugene Kontorovich’s statement, which we previously quoted, makes even more sense as more video and images are released.
Posts regarding Hamas’ brutality
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VIDEO: Gaza “Civilians” Loot Israeli Kibbutz Be’eri During Hamas Massacre
The looting included motorcycles, farm equipment, and whatever else they could get their hands on and drive away.
Posted by William A. Jacobson 10October2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/10/video-gaza-civilians-loot-israeli-kibbutz-beeri-during-hamas-massacre/
Gaza “Civilians” Loot Israeli Kibbutz Be’eri During Hamas Massacre
While Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian terror groups clearly carried out the bulk of the massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023, Gaza “civilians” were active participants.
Hamas tried to blame those “civilians” for the carnage, which was a dishonest deflection but at least acknowleged that large numbers of Palestinians crossed the border during the attack.
Now there is footage from security cameras showing what happened in Kibbutz Be’eri (see our prior report here) during the attack – mass looting by Palestinian “civilians.”
The looting included motorcycles, farm equipment, and whatever else they could get their hands on and drive away.
Gaza “Civilians” Loot Israeli Kibbutz Be’eri During Hamas Massacre The looting included motorcycles, farm equipment, and whatever else they could get their hands on and drive away.
Here is the video.
manniefabian-tweet-16October2023-Hamas’s onslaught on Kibbutz Be’eri
(Video also here in case it disappears from social media).
Remember these “civilians” and the many thousands more who celebrated on the streets of Gaza when news of the attack broke. Remember also the large crowds hitting and spitting on the stripped body of a woman captive driven through the streets. This wasn’t just an attack by Hamas, it was an attack by Gaza.
You also should scroll through this thread, which has numerous videos not only of the looting, but also the execution and brutalization of Israelis during the attack.
Luís Da Cruz-tweet-15October2023-To emphasize the brutality of these terrorists
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Destroying Israeli agriculture was part of Hamas’s evil plan
It didn’t quite work: Israelis are resilient and, knowing how important the crops are for the country, they went back to tend the fields under fire
Danielle Abraham 31January2024 https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/farming-on-the-frontlines/
Credit: ReGrow Israel – A burnt tractor at kibbutz Nahal Oz
After three months spent tirelessly scouring the news, I thought I understood what happened on October 7th. The loss was still too much to bear, but I thought I understood.
Then came the curveball.
During one of my many trips to the Otef (the Gaza Envelope) as part of my work with ReGrow Israel – an initiative dedicated to saving and strengthening the devastated farming communities in the western Negev – one sentence stood out. I was meeting with the head of agriculture in Nahal Oz and as the afternoon drew to a close, his words rang out clearly against the backdrop of distant artillery fire.
“Agriculture wasn’t collateral damage: it was a target, a deliberate target.” He went on to explain, with chilling detail, the precise, coordinated and systematic nature of Hamas’s agricultural terrorism.
They didn’t just destroy whatever they could find. They came with hammers and deliberately targeted key taps to flood orchards.
They didn’t just kill Jews and Israelis. They sought out, massacred and abducted foreign workers to undermine a vital source of labor for the agricultural sector.
They didn’t just wantonly steal whatever caught their eye. They went straight for the computer chips that regulate entire irrigation systems, starving whole fields and crops straight at the source.
Even as someone working in agriculture, the fact that agriculture had been a deliberate target of war had been lost on me. This narrative has been remarkably absent from our collective conversations about October 7th.
It shouldn’t: it holds two important lessons for us all.
The first is a powerful lesson in resilience. I have never seen such resolve.
Two days after the attack that cost the lives of over 90 of his family and friends, Motti returned to Kibbutz Be’eri and stepped into his new role – a battlefield promotion of sorts. As the kibbutz’s Head of Farming lay in hospital, Motti gathered the cows that had been roaming free and herded them back to safety, navigating blood-stained streets and weaving between tanks.
Some of the fields belonging to Nahal Oz are currently green with young wheat, despite being located only 700 meters (four-tenths of a mile) from Gaza. How? Because they sowed those crops under fire. Many other kibbutzim have done the same, sharing what little equipment they can find so they can keep going, even at great personal risk.
The second lesson is the vital and unquestionable importance of agriculture for Israel.
Of course, farming was targeted: It embodies the Jewish people’s attachment to the land of Israel and our sense of stewardship over this little patch we call home. For residents of kibbutzim and moshavim, farming is part of their DNA.
Of course, farming was targeted. It underpins Israel’s food security and the slightest shock sends ripples throughout the country.
Of course, farming was targeted. It drives the economy of the western Negev and takes years to rebuild.
Of course, farming was targeted. Our unrivaled agricultural prowess is one of Israel’s proudest achievements. It’s a shining example of our tiny state helping to better the entire world: ushering in smarter and more sustainable farming that will feed generations to come.
We should never lose sight of the national role shouldered tirelessly by our farmers. We need them. They need us.
Rebuilding these communities isn’t just about helping some of the bravest and most inspiring people you’ll ever meet; it is vitally important to Israel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danielle is the Founder and Executive Director of Volcani International Partnerships (VIP), a leading Israeli agricultural NGO promoting agricultural innovation and tackling global hunger with Israeli agricultural expertise. Following the tragic events of October 7th VIP launched ReGrow Israel, an agricultural development fund bringing all stakeholders together to secure the future of the farming communities of the western Negev. A renowned advocate for Israeli agricultural innovation, Danielle is a sought-after speaker at prestigious global conferences including Harvard University, the World Food Prize, and the Milken Conference. Danielle started her career in Israel as a senior policy advisor in MASHAV – Israel’s agency for International Development Cooperation – representing Israel as a guest speaker at the UN, OECD and German Development Bank. Danielle holds a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Oxford and lives in Tel Aviv with her husband and two children.
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‘At least 40 babies killed’: Foreign reporters taken to massacre site in Kfar Aza
With terrorists’ bodies still lying in the grass, international press witnesses firsthand the shocking aftermath of Hamas’s slaughter of Israeli civilians
By Lazar Berman 10October2023, 4:16 pm Updated at 6:34 pm https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-takes-foreign-journalists-to-see-massacre-site-in-kfar-aza/
An IDF soldier prepares to remove the bodies of Israelis killed during an October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian terrorists, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip, on October 10, 2023. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
The IDF took dozens of foreign journalists on Tuesday to see for themselves the death and destruction wrought by Hamas terrorists this week.
With explosions and artillery fire in the background, the crews, wearing helmets and flak jackets, picked through the destroyed Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where the bodies of Palestinian terrorists still lay outside of fire-scarred homes.
The journalists were protected by at least a company of IDF soldiers, clad in full combat gear as they continued to clear homes.
Reporters spoke of the stench of death in the air.
Still, the pastoral simplicity of the kibbutz with its lawns and one-story homes was evident, further underscoring how jarring were the atrocities that took place only days before.
“It’s not a war,” General Itai Veruv, head of the IDF’s Depth Command, told reporters. “It’s not a battlefield. You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms, and how the terrorists kill them. It’s not a war… it’s a massacre.”
IDF soldiers remove the body of an Israeli killed during an October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip, on October 10, 2023 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
“It’s something I never saw in my life. It’s something I used to imagine of my grandmother and my grandfather in Europe and other places,” he said.
A reporter from i24 News said that an IDF commander told her that they had found the bodies of some 40 babies, some of whom had been beheaded.
Israel has yet to organize a tour of the massacre sites for Israeli journalists, showing how strongly the country is prioritizing world opinion.
Israeli soldiers stand near the body of a Palestinian terrorist in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, south of Israel bordering Gaza Strip, on October 10, 2023. (Thomas COEX / AFP)
When Ukrainian forces liberated the Kyiv suburb of Bucha from [EDD: Ukrainian Nazi Azov Battalion not Russian] Russian forces in April 2022, Ukraine arranged similar tours for journalists to ensure widespread coverage of Russian war crimes against residents.
Earlier Tuesday, the IDF said it had finally regained control over the border with the Gaza Strip, some 72 hours after Hamas terrorists blew through sections of the barrier and launched an invasion, slaughtering over 900 Israelis and kidnapping more than 100 to Gaza.
The bullet-shattered window of a house at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Fighting continued in the kibbutz into Sunday.
As Israel continued to grapple with the emerging enormity of Saturday’s massacres and the military was formally notifying hostages’ families that their loved ones were being held in Gaza, air force planes bombarded wide swaths of the Strip.
Meanwhile, some 300,000 reservists girded for a possible ground invasion, sweeps to locate terrorists feared still hiding inside Israel continued, and tensions on the northern border threatened to snowball into a second front.
IDF soldiers on October 10, 2023, show members of the foreign press around Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the southern Israeli communities where Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 (Channel 12 screenshot used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The IDF estimates that there are a small number of terrorists still hiding in Israeli territory. Overnight, Israeli security forces killed at least one Palestinian terrorist near Kibbutz Sa’ad.
Troops also exchanged fire with terrorists in Kissufim and Monday night saw police kill another terror suspect near Mishmar Hanegev, some 24 kilometers (15 miles) inside Israel.
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The fruit of Kfar Aza
Overripe pomegranates highlight the loss of those who would have harvested them, but also point to the resilience of those who first planted the tree (Tu Bishvat)
Rachel Sharansky Danziger 24January2024, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-fruit-of-kfar-aza/
Overripe pomegranates Image by Leopictures from Pixabay
On the 74th day of the war, I visited Kfar Aza.
I stopped to look at a pomegranate tree amidst the ruins.
The pomegranates on its boughs were overripe.
In and of itself, this fact was not particularly striking. It certainly couldn’t compete with the burned house across the pathway, where it took weeks and a team of archaeologists to find evidence of the owner’s death. It couldn’t even compete with the unburned house beside it, perfectly whole, yet marked with ominous red graffiti by ZAKA volunteers.
But my eyes kept coming back to the pomegranates all the same. Just as my thoughts kept returning to the overladen citrus trees we had passed earlier.
We all know what happened to the people who would have picked those fruits in a normal autumn.
The presence of the overripe fruit made those people’s absence real to me.
A ruined home in Kfar Aza’s young neighborhood. (Courtesy)
* * *
Now it’s the 110th day of the war, and tonight we will sit around our table to celebrate Tu Bishvat, New Year of the Trees. But it is hard to feel festive. Instead of focusing on the fruit we’ll eat tonight, my thoughts keep returning to the fruit of Kfar Aza.
Fruit is eloquent: its very existence tells the story of the process that created it. Each pomegranate tells us that a seed once turned into a shoot and broke the surface of the earth, a tree grew through different seasons, and flowers turned into fruit, and ripened, carrying summer’s warmth into the colder months.
The overripe pomegranates of Kfar Aza tell other stories, too.
Planting a tree is an investment in the future. Kfar Aza’s trees tell the stories of the people who chose to make this investment, people who loved their kibbutz enough to lay roots in it, who poured their efforts into building a future, a life, on this land. The trees are tall, telling the story of the years it took them to grow, years that the people of Kfar Aza used to build families, businesses, happiness. The canopies of those trees witnessed generations of residents growing and living and loving in their shade.
But the overripe fruit makes me think of another story, another process, another cause entirely — the one our enemies pursued while our people were nurturing life.
As the trees grew, and as our people built lives there, our enemies built tools to bring about our deaths. They tightened their control over Gaza, they dug tunnels, they accumulated weapons.
The overripe pomegranates of Kfar Aza bear witness to the fruition of their plans.
I look at the fruit we will soon cut open for our Tu Bishvat celebration, and my heart is heavy in my chest.
* * *
Tu Bishvat is meant to be celebrated when the boughs are bare of fruit, since it was originally a cutoff date between one year’s taxable fruit harvest and the next year’s yield. Yet as we prepare for this year’s Tu Bishvat, the boughs of the trees in Kfar Aza are still bowed down by last year’s fruit.
I too feel bowed down by the fruit of past processes, by the consequences of everything that brought us to this war.
I wish, more than anything, that we were done with these consequences, that we could look to the future free from their weight.
I wish that all of the captives taken by Hamas were already back home and that Hamas was already dismantled, that the war was won and that the horrible daily “released for publication” notices were a thing of the past.
It hurts to know that we have long way to go before any of these wishes can come true.
* * *
When I visited Kfar Aza, a kibbutz resident walked with us and spoke of the future. “The kibbutz voted to move to temporary homes in Kibbutz Ruchama,” he told us, and smiled. “That is, until we can go back home.”
I thought of this man, and of his smile, as I bought fruit for tonight’s celebration. I thought of him as I picked apples and pears grown right here in Israel, a plum from an Israeli orchard, and last but not least, one enormous pomegranate. How remarkable, I thought, that this man thinks of the future, despite everything he lived through, the hell he survived: 20 terrifying hours in a safe room with his wife and daughters, his neighbors’ deaths, the loss of his home — none of it killed his determination to move forward, plan a future, and even smile as he looks ahead.
The trees of Kfar Aza bear witness to the spirit and aspirations of the people who planted them. That spirit still lives in this man, in his smile. In so many like him, who are choosing life.
The pomegranate seeds will be red in my hands tonight, red like the blood — far too much blood — we have bled since Simchat Torah. One hundred and ten days worth of bleeding, of funerals, of grief.
But I will set my sadness aside tonight, and look to the future. I will ask myself what new fruit I wish to nurture into being, instead of focusing on our experiences of loss. I will hold the memory of the overripe pomegranates of Kfar Aza in my heart, but at the same time, commit myself to the spirit of the people who planted the pomegranate tree in the first place.
If they can go on putting down roots and building lives, how can the rest of us do any less?
* * *
God, when we open a pomegranate on Rosh Hashanah, we say, “May our merits be as numerous as the seeds in a pomegranate.” God, may we merit that we never again see overripe fruits in a devastated Jewish village. God, may our actions now, in this very moment, merit to be the seeds of a better tomorrow, of a safer, kinder, healing future in this land.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel is a Jerusalem-born writer and educator who’s in love with her city’s vibrant human scene. She writes about Judaism, history, and life in Israel for the Times of Israel and other online venues, and explores storytelling in the Hebrew bible as a teacher in Maayan, Torah in Motion, and Matan.
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Giving Gaza to Palestinian Authority is an insanely bad idea
Giving Gaza to Palestinian Authority is an Insanely Bad Idea-Caroline Glick-IN FOCUS
Caroline B. Glick https://www.jns.org/giving-gaza-to-palestinian-authority-is-an-insanely-bad-idea/
The Caroline Glick Show “IN FOCUS”
(October 31, 2023 / JNS) Caroline Glick on her show “IN FOCUS” tackles several topics, including how the atrocities of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas continue to come to light in all their horrific detail; how Biden continues to pressure Israel for a quick end to the war, meaning leaving Hamas in place; and how insanely bad the idea is of giving the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority after Israel completes its goals.
Giving Gaza to Palestinian Authority is an Insanely Bad Idea | The Caroline Glick Show IN Focus
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‘All the bodies were brutalized’: The truth about the Hamas attacks
The Horror Firsthand
Caroline Glick sits down with Avigail Gimpel
Caroline B. Glick https://www.jns.org/all-the-bodies-were-brutalized-the-truth-about-the-hamas-attacks/
“The Caroline Glick Show” with guest Avigail Gimpel, Ep. 76
(November 1, 2023 / JNS) Caroline Glick sits down with Avigail Gimpel—educator, author and chevra kadisha (burial society) member who handled the organization of corpses left in the wake of the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7. More than 1,400 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the terrorist infiltration into southern Israel.
With so many claiming that the atrocities are exaggerated or untrue, it is crucial to hear from someone who witnessed the brutality firsthand.
‘All the bodies were brutalized’: The truth about the Hamas attacks | The Caroline Glick Show
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Rape is NOT Resistance
The Persian Jewess-tweet-28February2024-Rape is NOT Resistance
🔥Rape is NOT Resistance🔥
@IsraelFriendsUS
#BelieveIsraeliWomen
#HamasRapists
The Persian Jewess-tweet-28February2024-Rape is NOT Resistance
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Amid war and urgent need to ID bodies, evidence of Hamas’s October 7 rapes slips away
Despite definitive witness testimony, global skepticism persists about the terrorists’ sexual crimes. ToI investigates how a mass-casualty event in a war zone made forensic determination impossible
Carrie Keller-Lynn
By Carrie Keller-Lynn
9 November 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-war-and-urgent-need-to-id-bodies-evidence-of-hamass-october-7-rapes-slips-away/
A soldier mans the makeshift mass casualty morgue at the Shura military base near Ramle, October 24, 2023. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
Hebrew-language media reported on Wednesday that the Israel Police investigations unit, Lahav 443, has been collecting evidence from terrorist interrogations, witness testimony, and various footage sources about sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists during their October 7 onslaught.
These eyewitness testimonies from survivors of the Hamas massacre — in which some 1,400 people were murdered and 240 were taken hostage, the majority of them civilians — are horrific. The sexual abuse committed by Hamas includes acts of gang rape, genital mutilation and necrophilia.
But in the wake of the unprecedentedly large mass-casualty event, physical evidence of sexual assault was not collected from corpses by Israel’s overtaxed morgue facilities amid their ongoing scramble to identify the people killed, many of whose bodies were mutilated and burned. More than a month after Hamas rampaged through border communities near the Gaza Strip and a massive outdoor music festival, Israel is still identifying the dead through disaster victim identification protocols.
The decision — made under war footing and a pressing need to identify the dead — to not use time-consuming crime scene investigation protocols to document rape cases has, however, fueled international skepticism over Hamas’s sexual abuse of victims while it held control over parts of southern Israel on October 7.
The questions and outright skepticism come amid attempts to downplay the scale of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7, especially as international attention quickly moved on from the invaders’ brutality to the Israeli military response, whose aim is to dismantle the terror group.
There is significant evidence of systematic sexual abuse, but morgue officials have not designated individual cases as rape because of a lack of court-compliant physical proof. In addition to survivors’ testimony, a slew of Israeli officials, first responders, and morgue workers have stated that Hamas raped women as part of its assault. The Shin Bet has released clips from videotaped interrogations of captured Hamas perpetrators attesting to their orders to rape Jewish women.
A woman’s body, found on October 7, 2023, with a partially burned head and unclothed from the waist down; video was uploaded to social media and screened by the IDF as part of a raw footage compilation of Hamas atrocities (Screenshot)
Reflecting the government’s official position, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas committed acts of “murder, rape, kidnapping,” in Hebrew-language remarks, repeated multiple times over the past month. However, the government has not released explicit footage or pressed rape survivors to share their stories. Nor have the forensic services released formal reports on whether their findings were consistent with sexual abuse.
This seemingly official decision not to provide clear evidence of rape to international media has fed persistent criticism, mostly from abroad, and many media outlets are now framing the October 7 rapes as a claim rather than a fully substantiated fact. Social media is now awash with memes parodying “not believing women” who are Israeli or Jewish.
This skepticism of rape claims has been noted at home: On November 5, an Arab Israeli lawmaker said that a compilation of raw attack footage — which the MK, Iman Khatib-Yassin, declined to view when it was screened for Knesset members — did not show evidence of women being raped. (Her party leader swiftly asked for her resignation, and right-wing lawmakers are petitioning to remove her from parliament.)
Over a month after what Israelis are calling “Black Shabbat,” The Times of Israel has examined what we do and do not know about Hamas’s use of rape among the 1,400 killed, and why Israel’s sexual assault forensic process is at a seeming standstill.
The Times of Israel investigation is centered on evidence collected from the bodies of those slaughtered on October 7. An editorial decision was made not to pursue leads to survivors of sexual abuse, and the Defense Ministry declined to discuss intelligence related to the treatment of Hamas-held hostages.
Burnt cars are left behind at the site of the attack three days earlier by Palestinian terrorists on the Supernova desert music near Kibbutz Re’im in the Negev desert in southern Israel, on October 10, 2023. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Challenges to making official designations
Physical evidence for rape or sexual abuse can be collected from the deceased in a manner that would be admissible in court by either a forensic pathologist or a police crime scene investigations (CSI) unit. Of the two, only a forensic pathologist, or another medical doctor with special certification in sexual assault, can make a formal recommendation of what the findings suggest.
Rape, or sexual assault, can only be legally determined by the court because the crime requires an element of intent alongside a physical act.
Now, a month after the massacre, the window for collecting physical evidence of rape that can stand up in court is closed, said a forensic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Under good conditions, authorities would have had about a week to collect evidence from bodies if they were promptly found and professionally handled.
But these were not optimal conditions for evidence collection. In the wake of the massacre, resources were overwhelmingly directed toward identifying victims — not their cause of death — a process that is still ongoing. The circumstances of the mass casualty event and the ongoing war contaminated crime scenes, or did not allow for the collecting of relevant evidence. And in many cases, the bodies were in such states of mutilation or decay when found that it was impossible to obtain evidence.
Bodies collected in the field are bagged and delivered to an emergency morgue set up at the Israel Defense Forces’ Shura Base, near the town of Ramle. Michal Levin Elad, head of the National Forensic Investigative Division of the Israel Police, spoke with The Times of Israel on October 31 at Shura and said that the base’s “prime mission is to identify victims; we were not concerned with how they died or what happened.”
Of the 1,400 people presumed killed on October 7, about 310 soldiers and 840 civilians have been identified. It is unclear if among them are the 58 police officers killed, as well. This means that around 200 bodies remain unidentified.
“We have been working 24/7 on three shifts, more than 100 people a shift,” and still the unit is struggling to process remaining corpses, searching for biometric data, she said. Levin Elad expected further remains to surface, as the army is still scanning the Gaza border area and finding “bones, teeth, and human tissue,” which is then brought to Shura.
Forensic identification lead, police commander Michal Levin Elad, at the makeshift mass casualty morgue at Shura Base, October 31, 2023. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)
Her unit is in charge of identifying civilians at Shura’s makeshift morgue, constructed out of refrigerated shipping containers. The military runs a parallel process for soldiers.
Given this strain, “we won’t be able to conduct a full CSI, with crime scene identification protocols,” said Superintendent Doron Avigdori on October 31. Avigdori heads the police forensics division in Israel’s central district, covering Shura.
Instead of going through CSI, which would make it possible to produce evidence of crimes, the bodies are being processed through the disaster victim identification (DVI) track, as is common for mass casualty events.
Bodies are scanned for postmortem biometric markers, and sometimes cross-referenced with antemortem information provided by families. Once an identification is made, a medical professional told The Times of Israel, “We try to bury the dead as soon as we can and we try not to make the process longer.”
It is not clear whether some bodies continue for further forensic processing after identification is made, or if rape kits were ever collected. A police spokesperson refused to answer a question about rape kits, saying instead, “This is not the point of this place [Shura].”
Refrigerated containers holding bodies at Israel’s makeshift mass casualty morgue at Shura Base, October 31, 2023. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)
A second facility involved in identifying the dead is the civilian-run Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine. Abu Kabir is focused on a number of the most mutilated bodies, including charred remains that have little or no genetic material or biometric markers available for comparison, according to sources familiar with the issue.
While Abu Kabir does, unlike Shura’s morgue, routinely document the cause of death for bodies examined there, these bodies arrive in such a state that any tissue or fluid evidence related to sexual assault would have already been destroyed, a source within the facility confirmed.
Untrained personnel at the scene
According to Levin Elad, criminal forensic investigators were quickly summoned to the Shura base. Near the Gaza border, however, the majority of people who collected the human remains were not trained to gather evidence or preserve crime scenes. Instead, many were from body retrieval service ZAKA or medical organizations Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah, or from the army.
“All of the forensic investigators in the country came here,” to Shura, “and the people responsible for collecting the bodies [from the scene] were not forensics investigators,” Levin Elad said.
A ZAKA volunteer collects human remains in a house at Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza Strip on October 26, 2023. (YURI CORTEZ / AFP)
Additionally, many bodies were collected from active battle zones, as concealed terrorists were still being found in Israel for days after October 7. Furthermore, searching for survivors and maintaining security took precedence over preserving evidence, first responders said. Today, many of the hardest-hit communities are still within closed military territory.
Compounding this issue is that bodies continued to be found for days after a warm October 7, often already in significant stages of decay.
From direct encounters with bodies in the field and in morgues, several first responders and emergency workers gave on-record accounts of findings consistent with sexual abuse. The Times of Israel spoke with several people who had firsthand encounters with bodies they perceived to be abused.
Among them, first responder Simcha Greiniman, who leads one of the ZAKA Search and Rescue volunteer teams retrieving bodies across Israel’s south, said he saw direct evidence of sexual abuse, though he’s not qualified to determine it in line with Israeli criminal standards.
Speaking on October 26, Greiniman said he found the body of a woman at Kibbutz Be’eri, lying facedown on a bed, unclothed from the waist down. She had been shot in the back of her head.
ZAKA volunteer Simcha Greiniman in the ruins of Kibbutz Holit, October 26, 2023. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)
His team, he said, only discovered her body three days after the massacre, and it was already in a state of decay.
“So you understand that we couldn’t see any [criminal forensic] evidence and that’s not our job. Our main goal is to bring the bodies to burial,” he said.
Asked if he had pictures from the scene, Greiniman said, “I don’t have one picture in my phone. It’s enough to suffer for the rest of my life from what I saw.”
Some emergency workers, he acknowledged, did photograph other scenes and sent pictures directly to official authorities, he said. The Times of Israel was not able to obtain images from various government sources, which cited both victim privacy and the need to protect intelligence sources.
What the victims’ bodies show
IDF Captain (Res) Maayan, part of the medical staff at the makeshift mass casualty morgue, at Shura Base, October 31, 2023. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)
At Shura, IDF Captain (Res.) Maayan, who said she was unable to share her last name, is a dentist and part of the medical forensic team working to identify bodies.
Maayan said on October 31 that she has seen several bodies that had signs consistent with sexual abuse.
“I can tell that I saw a lot of signs of abuse in the [genital region],” Maayan said, using her hand to euphemistically demonstrate. “We saw broken legs, broken pelvises, bloody underwear,” and women who were not dressed below the waist, she said.
Ina Kubbe, a gender and conflict scholar with Tel Aviv University, confirmed that these are signs consistent with sexual violence, but that a forensic investigation is required for any formal determination of rape.
Shari, another IDF reservist working in the Shura morgue, offered similar testimony from firsthand observation of the deceased, in a recorded video verified by the IDF.
Visegrád 24-tweet-24October2023-Israeli woman responsible for identifying female victims
An Israeli woman responsible for identifying female victims of the Hamas massacre confirms that Hamas terrorists raped children and elderly women.
Visegrád 24-tweet-24October2023-An Israeli woman responsible for identifying female victims of the Hamas massacre confirms that Hamas terrorists raped children and elderly women.
“Yes, we have seen that women have been raped. Children through elderly women have been raped. Forcible entry, to the point that bones were broken,” said Shari, who asked not to share her last name. “We saw genitals cut off,” she added. Shari is part of a special women’s unit that prepares female soldiers’ bodies for burial after mass casualty events. She, too, is not legally qualified to determine rape.
The IDF has also screened, behind closed doors, a 47-minute compilation of raw footage from the Hamas assault, including a video of a mutilated woman whose undergarments had been removed. There are also pictures and videos uploaded to social media providing additional circumstantial evidence supporting rape claims.
In their own words: Hamas interrogations
Israeli intelligence services have released several clips from interrogations of Hamas terrorists captured after taking part in the October 7 attack.
In one video, a man said that terrorists were “having sex with dead bodies,” with the intention “to dirty them, to rape them.”
Gender violence scholar Kubbe said that “the concept of ‘dirtying’ is significant because it reflects the intention of the perpetrators to tarnish the honor and dignity of the targeted population.”
“By violating the physical and psychological integrity of individuals through sexual violence, the perpetrators aim to degrade and stigmatize the victims and their entire community. This can have long-lasting consequences, including social ostracism, trauma, and a breakdown of social structures,” Kubbe said.
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-11October2023-And why take the kids and babies
And why take the kids and babies? “To rape them”.
This is a Hamas terrorist, during interrogation.
I can’t. I just can’t. They’re worse than even ISIS. What monstrous evil!
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-11October2023-And why take the kids and babies? “To rape them”.
This is a Hamas terrorist, during interrogation.
I can’t. I just can’t. They’re worse than even ISIS. What monstrous evil!
Another videotaped testimony by a captured terrorist who identified himself as Muhammed Nahed Ahmed El-Arsha said bluntly that Hamas committed acts barred by Islam, including rape.
“According to religion, all of what happened is forbidden,” he said, specifying that he meant “the kidnapping, the raping, the whoring of children.”
Emily Schrader-tweet-13October2023-Interrogation of Hamas terrorist
LEAKED FOOTAGE: Interrogation of Hamas terrorist captured by IDF security in which he admits both beheadings and rape. Disturbing!
Emily Schrader-tweet-13October2023-LEAKED FOOTAGE: Interrogation of Hamas terrorist captured by IDF security in which he admits both beheadings and rape. Disturbing!
Another interrogated terrorist also said that Hamas had given them permission to rape the corpse of a girl.
He said that compatriots did “things a person doesn’t do – beheading people, having sex with dead bodies, meaning the body of a dead young woman,” adding that: “It’s not humans that do that.”
Amichai Stein-tweet-23October2023-A Hamas terrorist
A Hamas terrorist who participated in the attack in his interrogation in Israel: Hamas ordered us to kill, behead and even to “have sex their bodies”
Amichai Stein-tweet-23October2023-A Hamas terrorist
“Rape has been used as a tool of war and conflict throughout history, and it continues to be a disturbing and pervasive issue in contemporary conflicts as well,” Kubbe said.
She added that rape is “used as a tool to target specific ethnic or religious groups,” here Jews, and that sexual violence “can be a means of asserting dominance and control over the targeted group.”
All three of the videos linked above were screened on Israeli television channels, after being released by security services.
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14 kids under 10, 25 people over 80: Up-to-date breakdown of Oct 7 victims we know about
Age, gender data for most civilian victims of Hamas onslaught, based on media tally, provides a picture authorities aim to complete as they continue efforts to identify bodies
By ToI Staff 4 December 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/14-kids-under-10-25-people-over-80-up-to-date-breakdown-of-oct-7-victims-we-know-about/
A soldier mans the makeshift mass casualty morgue at the Shura military base near Ramle, October 24, 2023. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
Almost two months after the unprecedented Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, which left some 1,200 people dead, the exact data on those killed in the biggest terror attack in Israeli history is still shrouded in uncertainty.
There have been efforts to compile the available data, particularly the number of babies, children, and elderly people murdered on October 7, even as several members of emergency organizations have been quoted giving imprecise information.
Authorities have identified a total of 274 soldiers and 859 non-soldiers killed during the brutal assault. The latter figure includes 57 Israel Police officers and 38 local security officers. It is unclear which of these individuals were on duty when killed. Removing those victims leaves a figure of 764 civilians.
Partial data by Hebrew media covering the civilians — killed by thousands of invading terrorists and by some of the thousands of rockets fired that day at Israeli cities — reveals that they include two infants, 12 other children under the age of 10, 36 civilians aged 10-19, and 25 elderly people over the age of 80, accounting for 75 of the 764 civilians.
Israel has also named another 15 civilians and members of security forces (not included in the 764 above) who were killed and whose remains are held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip. There are 122 other Israelis and foreigners currently being held hostage in Gaza as a result of the October 7 assault — an unknown number of whom are dead — after a total of 109 hostages were freed by Hamas. Another hostage (a soldier) was rescued alive by IDF forces, and three bodies of slain hostages — two civilians and one soldier — were recovered by Israeli troops and returned to Israel (also to be added to the sum total of Israelis killed on October 7).
An additional seven Israelis are currently listed as missing, with their families having received no information from authorities about whether they were killed or abducted. An unknown number of foreigners are similarly unaccounted for.
An unknown number of bodies — in mid-November the number was around 100 — are still awaiting identification at the Shura pathological center near Tel Aviv, with difficulties in the process arising because of the state of the remains. Some of the remains are believed to belong to Hamas terrorists.
In summary, Israel has officially identified 1,151 people murdered in the Hamas onslaught, with an unknown number of others still awaiting confirmation, and some of the remaining Gaza hostages possibly dead as well.
An aerial picture shows the abandoned site of the weekend assault by Hamas terrorists on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, October 10, 2023. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Authorities have yet to provide an official breakdown on the victims. But the Walla news site has published data by age and gender for 756 of the murdered civilians for which information is available.
One of them was a baby under the age of one year — 10-month-old Mila Cohen, killed with her father and grandmother.
According to data by Haaretz, a Bedouin woman at the tail end of her pregnancy was shot in the abdomen while heading to the hospital to give birth, where doctors delivered the baby, but failed to save it.
Additionally, 12 children aged 1 to 9 — 10 boys and two girls — were murdered in the Hamas massacres, according to Walla.
Between the ages of 10 and 19, 36 civilians were murdered, 25 of them male and 11 female.
The largest number of confirmed civilian victims, 421, were in the age group of 20-40. Among them were 259 men and 162 women.
There were 161 victims between the ages of 41 and 64 — 102 men and 59 women.
Walla reported that 100 victims were aged 65-80, including 69 women and 31 men.
And 25 victims were over the age of 80 — 18 men and seven women.
With Israel using advanced technological methods — including from the field of archaeology — to locate the missing and identify more severely mutilated or burnt bodies, authorities hope to soon bring clarity, both to the families of still-missing loved ones, and to the general public, regarding the worst attack on Israeli civilians in the country’s history.
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Hamas Using Chemical Warfare, Gassed IDF Soldiers to Death at Nahal Oz
Hana Levi Julian – 2 Tevet 5784 – December 14, 2023 – https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/hamas-using-chemical-warfare-gassed-idf-soldiers-to-death-at-nahal-oz/2023/12/14/
An investigation into the deaths of IDF surveillance soldiers at the Nahal Oz military base on October 7 has discovered that Hamas terrorists used chemical (gas) weapons to kill Israelis.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 News, investigators examining the bodies of the surveillance soldiers at the base reportedly revealed they died from the effects of toxic gas.
The name of the gas, which caused suffocation and loss of consciousness within a few minutes of exposure, was not revealed.
The families of the IDF surveillance soldiers who were killed at the Nahal Oz outpost received the details of the investigation from an IDF reserve officer who shared the final moments experienced by their loved ones before their death inside the camp.
Fifteen female IDF observers and three female IDF officers died in the toxic Nahal Oz inferno. Six officers and one surveillance soldier managed to escape the toxic environment and survived to tell the tale to investigators. Of those remaining, six others were abducted by the terrorists who dragged them into Gaza.
The main finding, detailed by an engineering expert, indicated that an unspecified, toxic flammable substance was hurled into the entrance of a building housing the surveillance commander center at the base.
The chemical warfare was used to launch the October 7 attack by some 3,000 invading terrorists led by Hamas who decimated communities, tortured, raped, beheaded and burned people alive while thousands of rockets were fired at Israeli population centers across the Jewish State.
Some 22 communities and a number of Israeli military bases were overrun by the raging hordes; more than 1,200 people were slaughtered, the vast majority of whom were civilians. Another 240 people, including soldiers, were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
According to the report, a soldier at the entrance to the building tried but failed to extinguish the flames ignited by the substance.
“They set fire to materials that ignited and spread, which contained toxic gases that could cause suffocation in a few minutes or even less than that,” the officer told the news outlet.
Smoke from the toxic flames entered the command center where 22 people, including many surveillance soldiers, were hiding. The soldiers soaked paper towels with water and stuffed them under the door hoping to block the smoke, but the strategy didn’t work.
“The soldiers began to leave the room and search for an exit. They were coughing and some couldn’t breathe,” the IDF officer told Channel 12.
“Some told us that they felt they were stepping on some people, they tried to pick them up, and with the rest of their strength tried to call to them. They were simply surviving and trying to figure out how to get themselves out of there.”
Realizing the emergency exit door was in flames, the struggling soldiers searched further.
Reaching a nearby restroom, one of the officers climbed in and broke the window. He helped five more of his friends to get out.
“The same officer tried to break another window, and the last survivor managed to get out of the opening,” the IDF officer shared with the bereaved parents.
“One of the officers climbed back into the bathroom. He shouted but there was no voice in response … There were also soldiers here who did not manage to make this climb,” the officer added.
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The Press Tours Hamas Massacre at Kfar Aza, Israel
Kassy Dillon-tweet-20November2023-The Press Tours Hamas Massacre at Kfar Aza, Israel
This is what I saw at Kfar Aza, Israel.
Kassy Dillon-tweet-20November2023-The Press Tours Hamas Massacre at Kfar Aza, Israel
The Press Tours Hamas Massacre at Kfar Aza, Israel
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Interactive map – Hamas Terror
Mapping the Massacres https://oct7map.com/
Israel-tweet-31October2023-Interactive map – Hamas Terror
Israel-tweet-31October2023-Interactive map – Hamas Terror
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Hamas Massacre Videos
The-Mossad-Satirical,-Yet-Awesome-tweet-2November2023-Hamas Massacre Videos
Here is a new website that contains all videos and images of documented Hamas War Crimes from October 7th, including raw footage from the attacks.
The world must know the enemy we are fighting. The enemy whose clearly stated intentions are to rid Israel of its Jews and then the world.
Warning: the images are graphic and difficult to see.
https://hamas-massacre.net
The Mossad Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-2November2023-Hamas Massacre Videos
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Israel’s Rabbis order 200+ vehicles with remains buried
Nov 21November2023 2:17 pm | Ticker, Virtual Jerusalem
https://virtualjerusalem.com/israels-rabbis-order-200-vehicles-with-remains-buried/
7October2023 Hamas Massacre Burnt vehicles
In an unprecedented and grisly ruling, Israel’s chief Rabbinated has ruled that vehicles involved in the October 7 atrocities, believed to contain human remains, must receive a Jewish burial. The decision follows weeks of trying to scrape blood and flesh from the cars and trucks that were attacked on that day. Many of the vehicles were crushed and burned and the human remains within not always identifiable. Thus, with no certainty about the identities, the decision was made to bury all such vehicles.
ZAKA Tel-Aviv Update 23November2023
via E=mail https://zakatelaviv.org/
In a unique response to the tragic events of October 7, Zaka Tel Aviv has recommended an unprecedented measure for preserving the sanctity of those lost on that day. Due to the inability to recover all remains from vehicles where many victims perished, the decision has been made to bury these vehicles. This decision, made after consultation with rabbinic authorities, is a first in Israel’s history. It reflects our deep commitment to dignity in death, especially in situations where traditional methods are not feasible. This approach, while awaiting final approval, symbolizes our respect for the deceased and offers a form of closure to grieving families.
7October2023 Hamas Massacre Burnt vehicles-zakatelaviv
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