19th July 2024
286 days of captivity in Gaza for 120 Israelis
Shabbat Shalom! I hope you are well.
In the early hours of this morning there was a drone
attack on Tel Aviv by Houthis from Yemen some 2,303 kms away. One man died and there were several injuries. The Houthis
may be known for their piracy and savage attacks on ships in their vicinity but
the fact is that with Iranian backing they are acquiring sophisticated weaponry.
Note that Israel has never threatened the Houthis in any way shape or form, apparently
one doesn’t need a reason to kill Israelis.
Incredibly, it is 286 days since the 7th of October. 9
months since the savage attack on young people enjoying a music festival and
the gentle folk of the Southern kibbutzim. 9 months of fighting a guerilla war in
underground tunnels which were paid for by aid money and built to a very high
standard with the cement that governments far away insisted that the Gazans needed
to rebuild. 9 months in which the United Nations lied through their teeth,
failed to do their job, promoted hatred through their teaching and ignored the
fact that their employees were signed up members of the very terror
organisation they were sent to deter. 9 months since the world ignored the rape
of so many, 9 months is a very disturbing length of time.
In the meantime our kakistocracy continues to demoralise Israelis
of all creeds.
The incredible bravery of the young women of the Nahal Oz surveillance
base is known, many died and others were taken hostage, are still, after 286
days prisoners in their underground tunnels, without seeing the light of day
for 9 months, undergoing unknown horrors. All this is known to each and every
one of us yet Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that he didn’t
know that these amazing young women, in a base on the Gaza border, were
completely unarmed, at the mercy of the drugged perpetrators of unbearable
atrocities. During a meeting with the bereaved families
of the surveillance team, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed he did not
know that the observers had expressed concerns of an impending attack from
Hamas. He also claimed that he didn’t know that the surveillance soldiers at
the base on the Gaza border, all women, were unarmed. And he said he had no
idea that many bereaved families had not been paid condolence visits by
government ministers or Knesset members. How could he face the parents
of those young women and lie? If he really didn’t know, why?
This Sunday the conscription of Haredi young men should begins.
It is hardly the necessary numbers, just 1,000 on the first enlistment, many
conditions have been introduced (no women on the base, free to pray whenever
necessary etc) conditions that the rest of the IDF don’t need but there are
many conditions that the regular soldier can only dream of!
It is 30 years since the AMIA bombing of
the Buenos Aires Jewish Centre killing dozens of people in the Centre. Hezb-Allah/Iran
claimed responsibility. Again and again, Hezb-Allah, with Iranian backing wreaks
havoc, kills with no better reason than hatred of Jews.
Mohammed Deif, the evil mind behind all the activities of
Hamas, including the savagery of the 7th of October, should be dead. We are
really good at pinpoint killing of terrorists, it has worked for us time and
again. Deif is like the proverbial cat with 9 lives and this is not the first
attempt, but the question is, did this one work? Hamas claims that he is still
alive but when you see the footage it seems highly unlikely that anything came
out of the wreckage. However, I will never forget the story told to us by Canon
Andrew White, who, perhaps 20 years ago while there was still a Christian
presence in Gaza. Canon White was “invited” to the home of Mohammed Deif. As
Andrew said then “When Deif invites you home it isn’t a choice, you go”. As it
happens his welcome was warm but when they took Andrew’s blindfold off, he
found himself in a beautiful room with a large armoured vehicle in the middle
and the entrance to escape tunnels for a quick exit! Basically, this evil man
had thought of everything. Which brings us back to the question, is he alive or
dead?
From the 26th of July we will see the most racist
Olympics since those of 1936. The Paris Olympics threatens like a dark
cloud over the Jewish participants, especially the Israeli participants in both
the regular Olympics and the Paralympics. Large areas of Paris will be closed
off in a desperate hope to control any proposed terrorism. The Olympic motto is
“Citius Altius Fortius”. These words mean Faster, Higher, Stronger and this
year the word Community has been added in a weak attempt to hold back racism.
Just as Jesse Owens ran in 1936 so our Olympians will be there. This El Al
advertisement expresses all of the above, https://youtu.be/xiBEsQ5leEE?si=aXiFfXzGE70Nbqj9
The generosity of most European countries has led to what should
have been wonderful multicultural societies. Britain accepted and embraced many
cultures and waves of immigration, many from the former Empire, but not only.
The Jews, Indians, West Indians, indeed all of the above, wanted to be part of
their adopted country, were very proud Brits while retaining their cultural
identity. That was also true of the Pakistani immigrants who wanted to ensure a
good education and standard of living for their children, but something
happened in that second generation and some of those young people became radicalised,
not by their parents but by other newcomers. As a Brits of my first 44 years
(perhaps for ever) I waited for the rebound, for the understanding that there
is a change in the proud, accepting British society, but it didn’t happen….. or
did it? This week the law decreed that one TikTok terrorist, with extreme anti-Semitic,
anti-Israel posts, be sentenced to a jail term for incitement to hatred.
Before we go to the good news, this discussion between Ben Shapiro
and Douglas Murray may lift your spirits. https://youtu.be/iA9m3etVQLs?si=3C_craHsFm7w0omQ
Professor Gabriel Barkay was born in the Budapest Ghetto 80 years
ago and his family emigrated from Hungary, after the war, in 1950. As with all
immigrants his family had a tough beginning, but that did not stop Gabby going on
the be an archaeologist of renown, the best in his field, the most important
expert in Biblical archeology in the world. This week his peers chose to honour
him in a beautiful ceremony in the Begin Centre in Jerusalem. The Begin Centre
was the most appropriate site for the celebration since it was during the
digging of the site, underneath the Scottish Church, that the famous Priestly
Blessing was found, two small
silver scroll amulets containing the priestly
benediction from the Book of
Numbers,
discovered in 1979 in a First Temple Period tomb. These amulets contain the oldest surviving biblically
related inscription discovered to date, dating back to the seventh century BCE
and are to-date the only archaeological proof that passages from the Hebrew Bible as we know them were in circulation in the First Temple Period. As if that is not enough, Gabby is known
as a brave seeker of the truth and when Raeed Salah dug out and threw away
hundreds of tons of rubble containing archaeological treasures from under the
Temple Mount, Gabby initiated the return of the rubble and then the sifting
project began https://tmsifting.org/en/ Proud to call him friend, a true friend to Zvi
for the last 60 years
The Khan Theatre is housed in a Khan, a caravanserai, from the
Ottoman period. I love going there because the main theatre is intimate and the
small theatre even more so. The building is beautiful and the actors in the
Khan troupe are all exceptional. We went to very different show this week,
called The View of the Sea, Nof HaYam, and the entire performance was without
words, not quite mime because there were “noises” but it was simply brilliant.
The troupe often begin their performance at the Khan then take it all over
Israel. We both highly recommend this one!!
We are off to have a weekend in Tel
Aviv, after Zvi’s parliament and my visit to Rachel and family. We will spend
Shabbat evening with Irit and Yitzik Lev and Shmulik and Eilata Ziskind then stay over at Amiad’s home because they
are conveniently on vacation in Crete!!
My choices of music this week are
somewhat sentimental but sadly reflect our situation. Firs tis Turn Turn Turn
by the Byrds https://youtu.be/W4ga_M5Zdn4?si=9Ub41SLadEfA1BXz
The second choice is Peter Paul and
Mary and Blowin’ in the Wind, Perer Yarrow is a great proponent for Israel to
this day https://youtu.be/Ld6fAO4idaI?si=02j_z1QHoNic31kO
The last one is a purely selfish
choice because I love it!! John Denver and Placido Domingo with Perhaps Love https://youtu.be/toYfeN0ACDw?si=hdZ938f-slorjT5A
May your week be filled with sweet
music, kind thoughts, pride in who you are and of course, gentleness. Shabbat
Shalom from beautiful Jerusalem.
Sheila
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