French Jews holiday in Eilat
Nikita found me the links to this wonderful show of solidarity. Where but in Blogistan would you see such give and take?


A hypothetical story
A woman, let’s say she’s Swedish, calls her husband on his cell phone, one morning. A strange man answers, she can’t quite place his accent. The woman assumes it’s a wrong number, it happens all the time, but she asks anyway, “Can I speak to Jorgen, please?” The man answers, “Jorgen? I just killed Jorgen.”

Sound familiar? Ah, but it wasn’t in Sweden, was it? And it wasn’t Jorgen, it was Yossi.

This story haunts me.

The Ramallah lynching was a turnng point for a lot of people. Naomi Ragen sent this on her e-mail list:

“We Are People Too

By Moshe Sheskin ( moshes7@netvision.net.il)

A number of years ago, during a stint in the Israel army reserves, I was
posted at one of the bridges over the Jordan River. It was my unit’s
responsibility to examine the travelers, coming from Jordan, prior to their
entry into Israel and the disputed territories in order to prevent
contraband from entering the country, especially detonators,. As our
commanding officer remarked, “Remember, if a bomb goes off due to your
negligence, it may also mean the life of your wife and children.” His
comments had an instantaneous effect upon us and although the temperature in
the Jordan Valley in August hovered around the 50 degree mark and hordes of
flies added to our discomfort, we meticulously examined each and every
traveler, their documents, baggage, personal effects and a body search when
necessary.

At one point, while going through the process, a young lady
shouted at me.

“We are people too you know”.

Her anger and discomfort were apparent but the words were penetrating so
that for many years, during my more liberal period, I couldn’t shake her cry
and my feeling at that time echoed her frustration and agony. Peace was a
necessity and I was convinced that it was within the realms of possibility,
at least within the next few years..

I firmly believed that we had reached a point in our
relationship with our Arab cousins where we no longer would control their
destiny but could live side by side, two separate people sharing a common
land and history. I felt that the agreements reached by the Palestinian
Authority through Arafat would finally bear fruit and that we really had a
partner for peace.

The cry of that young woman melted into nothingness in October
2000 when two of our soldiers, who had lost their way, were brutally
lynched. The elation by the populace and those who had actually perpetrated
this sadistic act has been permanently etched in my mind.

Thus the intafadah was born and with it, a change in my
attitude. No more did I hear that young women crying to me, “We are people
too”. Slowly but surely, after many months of increased conflict and with it
the increased loss of life in the civilian population, my liberalism and
socialist thinking gave way to a distinct hard line. I can no longer believe
in the ability of Arafat to make peace. I no longer believe in Arafat’s
commitment to peace evident by his refusal to honour signed agreements.
Arafat’s rhetoric only proves once more that the goal is not only that of a
Palestinian State but the complete destruction of Israel.

I lost faith in the Israeli Arabs, the majority of whom not only approve of
the intafadah but support it in many other ways. This is borne out by the
numerous articles and polls that were carried out over the last few years.
As citizens of Israel, I had expected a certain degree of loyalty, while
understanding their feelings and their frustration with respect to our
problem with their kinsmen. The action of our Arab members of the Knesset
only showed me that we had a ‘fifth column’ in our midst. Yes, it’s now my
turn to cry out,

“WE ARE PEOPLE TOO, YOU KNOW”

We don’t educate our children to hate.

We don’t revel in the death of innocent civilians.

We don’t shoot our guns in the air to celebrate an Arab death.

We don’t march in the streets to celebrate massacres.

We don’t have support of a United Nations with a built in Arab majority.

We don’t have the support of the Europeans and their anti-Semitic attitudes.

We don’t use humans with bombs attached to commit suicide and kill innocent
people.


What we do have is the will to survive and the will to live in peace. What
we want is to take our place in the Middle East as a recognized partner for
the sake of all. What we want is a democratic region where social and
economic conditions will be the right of every individual. When will this
happen? When Arabs will begin to live in peace with each other and recognize
the rights of the individual. Until then, we have no choice but to defend
ourselves and remain strong, not only against our immediate neighbors, but
if need be, against the world.

WE ARE PEOPLE TOO, YOU KNOW.”



More scary stuff
Ze’ev Schiff on the danger of a biological attack and Israel’s nuclear reaction; iodine capsules for those living near nuclear reactors; Israel will get Patriot missiles, if necessary (no offense, we’re very grateful, but they weren’t much good last time, were they? And there’s more about inoculation.

Don't worry, I know it's psychological warfare. That's why I'm not talking about it too much. Just linking.