All The World Are Hypocritical Idiots

So, no one cares if innocent Israelis get hurt or killed by inhuman terrorists.  But if Syrians gas their own children – this we have to stop.  For this, we can start World War Three.  At Israel’s expense, of course.  Our families won’t be wearing gas masks and sitting in bomb shelters, eating food out of cans and rationing water.  We’re too far away.  But Israel, Israel can handle it.  They didn’t ask for this war and they’re not part of it, but so what?  They can take the burden, they can take the fear and the fighting.  Their families are better sacrifices than our own.

Seriously, world?  Take your nose out of our business and mind your own.  Syria will do what Syria will do.  Until you live in the Middle East, you don’t understand how the Middle East works.  Let them fight their own wars; it means that they’re too busy to fight others.

from: http://propaganda-buster.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/americans-stupid.html

Iran you don’t care about.  Hamas and Hezbollah you don’t care about.  You really don’t care about anything, except saving the world and making a name for yourself.  And that’s really egocentric, selfish, and stupid.

Before you jump into a war that will put someone else in danger, think about whether or not you’d put yourself and your own family in that same situation.  We didn’t ask for this.  We don’t want it.  And we’d really rather stay out of it.  But, of course, because Syria is our northern neighbor, we will have to deal with the consequences, to a greater or lesser degree.  (Of course, we’re all hoping and praying for the lesser degree.)

I knew something was up when Yitzchak called the Home Front Command tonight.  Shlomo’s gas mask box was accidentally smashed under a pile of books.  A plastic strap is sticking out.  We don’t know if the mask is damaged, because we’re not allowed to open the box until we are told to.  So, Yitzchak called the Home Front Command.  At first they said that damages would cost us 500 shekels.  (OMG, really?  Like we have the money for that now.)  Then I heard Yitzchak talking about going to Jerusalem to have it checked.*  And I started thinking – huh?  They don’t have a distribution point in Jerusalem.  Then he spoke about Be’er Sheva.  DO they have a distribution point there?  Why does he still want to go to Jerusalem?  And why would he go to Jerusalem if there’s no distribution point there, anyways?

Well, it turns out there is.  And there will be one opening in Be’er Sheva on Sunday.  Something smells really funny here.

Yitzchak looked upset, so I asked why.  I figured he’d say that it’s late and he’s tired.  Instead, he says that America decided to go to war, with all of Europe, against Syria, and that Syria threatened to attack us, Israel, with chemical weapons, if America actually went through with it.  Yay, America.  Yay, Obama.  Save the world on someone else’s backs, not ours.  You world-class [closet] anti-Semites and idiots.

I guess that explains why Mom (Yitzchak’s mother) called at such a random time.  It explains why they are opening new distribution points, why everyone on the Hebrew-language forum I’m on is freaking out (I freaked out a long time ago), and why Yitzchak is so upset.

It also means that we need to finish stocking our kit.  Dang it.  This is NOT the expense we needed right now.  This is NOT what we want to be doing right now.  At least we are in the South, far away from Syria and pretty much everyone.  The army has started calling up reservists.  Yitzchak wanted to join the army back in June, and he would have done basic training, making him an option if the army was pressed for manpower.  But the basic training would have fallen on what I thought would be the toughest three weeks of the year, and I refused (Yitzchak doesn’t have to serve).  When those three weeks weren’t so hard, I felt like we’d lost out on an opportunity.  Now I know why.  Thank G-d.  But – Jack is in the North, and he’s going into a combat unit.  Oh, dang it.

World, I hate you.  Mind your own business and fight the real bad guys, not the people who are minding their own business in their own country, with their own families.  You can’t save the world.  You’ll only make things worse.

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*(End of story: The person asked why we don’t know if the mask is damaged.  Yitzchak told her that we haven’t opened it to check, because we’re not allowed to open it.  Oh, oops, you’re right – you’re not allowed.  So take it in to be checked, chances are that since it was an accident and you still haven’t opened it, you won’t have to pay a fine.  Yitzchak doesn’t want to wait until Sunday, he’ll go in to Jerusalem tomorrow to get it checked.)

America: Learn From Israel

A few months ago, Yitzchak and I were talking.

About Iran.  About Syria.  About terror.  About car accidents.

Maybe we should move back to America, we thought.  No, we decided, only if we see World War Three about to break out. 

But in that case, is America a good option? 

Well, Kentucky isn’t the center of anything except maybe medical facilities, so it’s not too bad a choice, says Yitzchak. 

You’re right, I said, but why not bomb medical facilities?  Sounds like a good strategy to me.

So we left it at that.  If World War Three is about to break out in our “neighborhood,” we leave.  If we can, we take our furniture.  If we can’t, we just pick up and go.

Then –

Newton.

Michigan.

Hazard Technical College.

Florida.

Massachusetts.

Boston.

Texas.

Is America really a safer place than Israel?

In Israel, schools have armed security guards.  In Israel, guns are a bit better controlled.  Rocks, no.  Guns, yes.

We know to look for suspicious objects.  We know to alert others.  What happened in Boston would never have happened here, because it would have been caught in the very early stages, and the person would probably have been apprehended while laying the rest of the explosives.

And we have good anti-terror strategies.  True, we’re not always allowed to use them, because maybe the world will get mad at us for defending ourselves (gasp!).  But we have them.  And I think the policies regarding their use are about to change.

Late last week, someone in Brooklyn saw a backpack left unattended, and called the police.  It turned out to be a third-grader’s forgotten schoolbag, but it was good that they called.

America is learning.

Or maybe the person who saw it was Israeli.  That seems to be more logical.

America is not learning.  America just doesn’t get it.

America needs to understand: Terror is not about what you did.  It’s about who you are, and what you believe.  You don’t believe in Islam.  Therefore, you deserve to die – unless you convert.

You are a heretic.  America is the head of the snake.  Israel is a little problem; America is the bigger problem.

“We will bring this fight to American soil,” bin Laden said.  He may be dead, but his followers and other believers of those values, still live.

America needs to understand that.

And when they do, they will ask us to teach them how to prevent terror attacks.

And when they ask us, we will teach them.

But if they are allowed to kill terrorists, we should be allowed, too.  No questions asked.  No explanations necessary.

Obama, I hope you read this.  I hope you learn the lessons – that have already cost upward of 150 American lives, on American soil – and learn how to prevent future situations like these.

I hope you learn that terrorists are not logical.  They are not too intelligent.  And their hate is not something that can be taken away.  What we do is an excuse for their behavior, no more.

They act the way they do because of who we are.

Maybe there should be a U.S. Apartheid week?  After all, the U.S. stole land from the Indians and never gave it back.

Obama, please: If you read this, stop and think.  And don’t criticize Israel for defending its citizens.  Tell the world that terror has to stop, and terrorists are murderers.  Because, honestly, that’s what they are.

And if you don’t understand this by now – well, I hope you won’t have to have too many repeat lessons.  Because each lesson costs American lives.  And even though you’re not running for president again – it is your responsibility to make sure that Americans are safe.

No matter where they are.

And yes, there are lots of Americans in Israel.

Until America adopts Israel’s security measures, perhaps those Americans in Israel (including us) are safer here in Israel than in America.

“I Am Israel”

I found this picture on A Soldier’s Mother, and it was too beautiful not to share.

This is Israel; this is the Jewish nation.  We have survived thousands of years; we have seen empires, some of them the strongest and most powerful of their times, rise to power and then fall.

Israel is a Jewish country, and therefore Israel will endure.  Our country has changed hands several times, but always keeps coming back to us.

At different times, we have conquered and owned all of Sinai, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.  Gaza was sometimes ours, sometimes not.  Judea and Samaria were always ours.  Eilat was conquered later.  We do not wish to conquer any of our present neighbors; we simply wish to keep the land that we have, and make it fruitful.

When we came 64 years ago, this land was almost a complete desert wasteland.  In less than fifty years, we made the desert bloom.

Being Jewish is both a religion and a nationality.

Israel is, and has always been, no matter what it was called, the Jewish homeland.

No other country withstands what we do, on a daily basis, and still continues to be a free, democratic country, giving equal rights to all its citizens, even if not all of its citizens agree that that is what should be done.

Israel, Syria, and Egypt

from The Israel Project

Suddenly, my internet works again.  I can check my email, the news, and work, while Shlomo is sleeping.

And I realize that even though we have good news, that no one was killed in Judea and Samaria during 2012 because of terror attacks, that is very isolated good news.  The rest is worse.

I have been skimming and skipping articles on the Syrian rebellion.  I know that the IDF changed the rules of engagement, and I’m pretty sure they widened the border area to keep Israel’s north safer.  So, I felt better.  Then I read Arlene’s blog, and I remembered something that I had forgotten, or chosen to forget: The Syrian government is losing control.  They are on the brink of collapse.  They have one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the Middle East.  This stockpile, if not moved or destroyed, may well fall into Hezbollah’s hands.  And we all know what that means: Bad news for Israel.

And I read more, and remember, and realize, that things never really calmed down after Operation Pillar of Defense.  For that matter, they did not calm down, really, since Operation Cast Lead.  We are on the brink of the third intifada – not that the second one ever really ended.  That, to me, is more scary than Syria.  War with Syria is one thing.  Intifada is another.  Intifada, to me, means bus bombings and restaurant bombings.  These I cannot deal with.  Air-raid sirens and bombs falling are something else.  These I can deal with, very simply: Everything is canceled, we all stay home.  I work as usual, Yitzchak continues studying.  We go to a bomb shelter when needed, and we are safe, even if our stuff may not be.  This I can deal with.  Worrying about buses being blown up or turned over, or restaurants being blown up (not that we go to restaurants, but still), or riots in random neighborhoods – this I cannot deal with.  (Not that I don’t deal worry about it anyways . . .)  There is no warning siren, there is no safe place to run.  Yitzchak thinks that a third intifada will take the form of rockets.  I hope and pray that he is right.

And then there is Egypt, which is also undergoing a serious civil war.  Luckily, they are not as immediate a concern as Syria is.  But a concern they certainly are, and it is just a matter of time.

Maybe I should stick my head back into the sand.  It was much more peaceful there.

More good news is that Israel has had less terror attacks this past month than in the previous months.  Thank G-d.  These are miracles, true miracles.  Perhaps it is because security is tight, and we are on guard.  No matter what the reason, it is definitely a miracle, and we need to say, thank G-d.  But, we cannot rely on this miracle to continue.

And now, more than ever, I am grateful that I work from home, on the computer.  It gives me flexibility, and it allows me to not obsessively worry about Shlomo’s safety, because usually, I am with him.

May G-d protect us and keep us healthy, safe, and secure.  I will not leave my country, but sometimes I seriously contemplate it.  G-d helped us win the war in 1948, He helped us win the war in 1967, and he helped us in 1973.  War is ugly, war is cruel.  But G-d has helped us, against all odds, and I pray that He will do so again.