Three weeks and two days

30th October 2023 Three weeks and two days after all hell broke loose Dear friends, I didn’t write yesterday because, sadly there was nothing specific to say and I have no intention of writing for the sake of writing, or speaking for the sake of speaking. Perhaps after all I am not a journalist! What British journalist Julie Burchill calls the” phoney, anti-colonial cant that unites both far left and the far right, the KKK and the PLO” She went on “It may be politically incorrect to call this ancient people "ours", but what the hell: they're tough, they can take it. And they are still our Jews, in that if they are wiped out, in Israel or anywhere else, we will be wiped out, too, one day, all of the modern world and its achievements - swept back into the Dark Ages mulch from whence we came. The cry of Cable Street still rings true. Not our Jews! But, this time, "our" means mankind, and the very future of our species. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/06/race.uk Anti-Semitism is raising its ugly head all over the world, in places that have no Jews, in places where there are few Jews, in places where there are many Jews and institutions whose very existence depends upon the generosity of Jewish philanthropists. Yesterday a terrifying mob went on the rampage in a Russian airport searching for Jews when an aeroplane landed from Israel. They broke through security gates and reached the tarmac and stormed the aeroplane. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/byvmumhza The war in the north is heating up. Hezb-Allah is not necessarily sending the missiles, they simply allow Hamas Lebanon to use their area, the area occupied in this Christian country, to launch missiles on beautiful towns like Kiriat Shmona. The town is virtually empty, its citizens joining the refugees for whom life is too dangerous to stay in their homes. Actually, perhaps it is worth learning some history of Lebanon and the PLO. During Black September King Hussein of Jordan decided to rid Jordan of the PLO, led by Yassir Arafat and the Jordanians killed many thousands of Palestinians many more fleeing the bloodshed, and the only country willing to accept them was Lebanon, standing up to its Christian principles of charity. That generosity of spirit led to the downfall of Lebanon and the influx of Islamic terrorism in the form of Hezb-Allah. The son of Hamas, The Green Prince, has many names but his given name is Mosab Hassan Yousuf, and he the son of one the founders of Hamas. He was a spy for Israel for a number of years then in 1999 he converted to Christianity, emigrated to the States where he received asylum. Here, in this video, he speaks out, expressing his lack of surprise at the events of October 7th https://youtu.be/6cIBzZylOpk?si=nZ36Ky7uJEE2h_Sm Czech defense minister Jana Černochová, expressed outrage at the United Nations General Assembly. She called on her country to withdraw from the United Nations to protest its failure to condemn Hamas October 7th massacre while calling on Israel to withdraw from Gaza. “The Holocaust is back and we must not be silent again” The hotels of Israel are filled with refugees, refugees from the horrors of Hamas/ISIS. We do not take chances, for Israel human life is precious, any human life, which is why we send leaflets and make personal phone calls to the residents of Gaza, the ordinary residents of Gaza to leave the Hamas controlled areas and flee for their lives. The Israelis, however, are not simply evacuees, they are refugees, seeking refuge from Hamas brutality, from the diabolical thought that if they return home, for those that still have a home, it could happen again. Refugees, not evacuees, evacuees still have a home to go back to. The ground troops have gone into northern Gaza. The battle has started slowly but with great determination. It is essential, we were given no choice, but imagine the fears of the families of the hostages; they know that this is a war we cannot lose but their loved ones are in there, in some underground tunnel, in captivity. It will not be easy, it will be tough and many Gazans will die because Hamas hides behind them, according to an eye witness, shooting those who try to escape to the south, away from the tunnels that Israel is attacking. In a tiny beacon of light, the Israeli banks have actually come up trumps, offering everyone who had to flee their home, or whose home is destroyed, at least three months grace on their mortgage or overdraft. Similarly, the insurance companies have waived the payment of premiums for anyone from the Gaza Envelope. The problem is that until this government gets around to giving compensation it will be much more than three months. The BBC is not known for its honest reporting when it comes to Israel. However, this heartbreaking, terrifying video, from the body cam of the Hamas terrorist who shot their 18 year old daughter Mayan and kidnapped the father Zachi, is exceptional. It isn’t easy to watch. https://youtu.be/Ch6T9oR6tro?si=iSjsqDseZFnXmZCy CNN still has some empathetic reporters, especially when they are shown the truth by Major Marcus Sheff, yes, the CEO of Impact-se, who in his current position of IDF Spokesman in English, took foreign journalists to Kibbutz Kissufim. https://youtu.be/tmJf7cFKxik?si=BdhxKjjl4PpgHIOm Deir el Asad is an ancient village in the Galilee. Deir el Asad is a Moslem village in the Galilee and they got together and cooked vast amounts of food for the refugees from the Gaza Envelope. We must never forget that many, if not most, of Israeli Arabs are just the ISRAELI Arabs. Our pain is theirs. Many young Israeli Arabs have also headed south to help bring in the crops. Please do not tar everyone with the same brush. In a few minutes I am off to Motza ha Katana, where there is a street market of fruit and veg from growers in the South, it is amazing how the citizens of Israel either go south to help pick the crops or travel far and wide to ensure the sales of the crops. Don’t think that it is just a few people in the street, you have to get there early otherwise it is all gone!! As soon as I get back, I will report to you, I promise. Well, I cannot describe the situation but I’ll try. Let’s just say that it’s a shame that I don’t play American football because I would have had the right protection! They arrived a bit late, a big white van and a truck and trailer, trying to park where there were no parking spaces, and the awaiting crowd (mostly women) stampeded! Everything was beautiful and fresh, pomegranates, potatoes, pineapples, sweet potatoes, fresh sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and potatoes, all freshly picked. The grower, who luckily came with his wife, son and daughter, was trying very hard to put some order in the chaos! Poor man was sweating profusely and his wife and daughter were trying to calm him! The son, in the meantime offloaded the boxes of fruit and veg, with the help of all of the able-bodied people waiting. I took what I could without getting hurt and paid. I came home to the one piece of good news that we are so thirsty for. A number of the lookouts, the specially trained young women who sit at the screens and see exactly what is happening along their area, a number were taken hostage to Gaza. In a surgical operation, Cpl. Ori Magidish was rescued from Gaza and brought home. Thank heaven she is safe and well and with her family, hopefully able to give the IDF a great deal of information. Simultaneously, an ISIS style video was released of three of the women hostages who had clearly been told what to say. The only consolation is that their loved ones can see that they are alive – still. The Israeli media does not show such videos without the permission of the families, but Al Jazeera has no such compunctions. There was a red alert very close by, in both Shoresh and Neve Ilan and south of Jerusalem, hopefully not at Bethlehem which is just three kilometres south of Jerusalem. We don’t wait, we just go into the safe room and work on our computers! Talking of red alerts and missiles, do you know who Hanoch Levin is? Really? Well Hanoch Levin was the project manager of the combined project of Rafael Industries and Israel Aerospace Industries, it was under his keen eye and brilliant brain that the Iron Dome defence system came about. Thousands of lives are saved as this miracle shoots down the rockets and missiles. It works out the exact trajectory and intercepts the missile mid-air, neutralizing it with incredible accuracy. Even a massive salvo doesn’t phase this brilliant Israeli invention. The ironic result of this war is that more and more countries will want to buy it! Thank you for reading to the end. Thank you for wanting me to continue these updates. Thank you for caring. With love Sheila