EREV GOYISHE NEW YEAR -- DAY 1672 -- GILAD SHALIT REMAINS CAPTIVE, ALONE, UNSEEN, UNVISITED, UNHEARD OF, UNHEARD FROM....

AND FOR TWO WEEKS NOW THERE HAS BEEN ESCALATED VIOLENCE ACROSS THE BORDER FROM GAZA, INSTIGATED BY THE FIRING OF ROCKETS AND OTHER MORE ADVANCED WEAPONRY BY HAMAS INTO THE NEGEV. AND MAHMOUD ABBAS IS TODAY FOMENTING MORE ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTIONS IN THE U.N.

SHABBATH SHALOM....

WIKILEAKS

DAY 1650 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT

To many Wikileaks is guilty of treason and an enemy of freedom. To others Wikileaks is a hero fighting government power. Probably there is truth from both of these perspectives. Regardless, if Wikileaks has leaked any knowledge of the wellbeing and whereabouts of Gilad Shalit, such knowledge has not made it into the mainstream media.

Today is day 1650 in the captivity of Gilad Shalit.

May Heavenly Mercy inspire his captors to free him.

THE EIGTH DAY OF CHANNUKAH 5771

TODAY IS DAY 1650 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

The world says nothing about Gilad Shalit, making not even a whisper.

Yet the world weeps that Israel will not surrender Jerusalem, will not buckle to world pressure to retreat to 1967 borders, will not prohibit Jewish life in East Jerusalem, ignoring that Israel does not, will not, and would not prohibit Arab life outside East Jerusalem.

There is a terrible double standard in the world that says, that Israel must give away and give away and give away and give away, and that Arabia may take and take and take and take by violent means of arms and by violent means of politics and by violent means of media saturation.

There is a movement in the UN to recognize a State of Palestine based on 1967 borders, and both Brazil and Argentina (infamous homes for Nazis fled to South America on losing WW2) push this.

The Catholic Church's Council of Bishops and America's General Petraeus have both seen fit to blame Israel as the source of all political instability in the Middle East.

Iran now has it's own mining sources of nuclear raw materials with which to feed the centrifuges in which it produces weapons grade nuclear fuel.

North Korea has attacked South Korea, bringing North Korea and South Korea to the brink of all out military engagement, and causing both an American aircraft carrier group and the nation of Japan to go on the alert in support of South Korea; and of course it may be presumed that Russia and China may be on alert to support North Korea. North Korea may not be found geographically in the Middle East; but, it is the eastern-most nation of the "Axis of Evil" identified by the Bush Administration. It is the Axis of Evil that gave us a nuclear Pakistan, Nine-Eleven, and Mahmoud Ahmadinijad.

May the "drunken" leadership of the world take a sober moment, away from self-absorbed concerns of Wikileak exposure, to realize that the world at large already perceives they are "naked"; and in this sober moment, world leadership should insist on the safe, immediate, unconditional freedom of Gilad Shalit!

Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur have come and gone. Sukkoth has come and gone. In the secular world of the USA, Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone -- all without the presence of Gilad Shalit at his parent's table.

May the Shalit family find solace and light on this Eigth Night of Channukah, and may Gilad Shalit find his own oil to last as miraculously as did the oil in the time of the Macabees, oil that burned for eight days and nights, when it seemed there was only sufficient oil to burn in the Menorah for one night!

EREV ROSH HASHANA 5771

PROMISES AND UNCERTAINTY ON DAY 1559 OF GILAD SHALIT'S CAPTIVITY. WILL ROSH HASHANA MARK DAY 1560?

Gilad Shalit is not yet free, remains unseen and unheard, there is no trustworthy witness to his being alive nor promise of his freedom....

Prime Minister Netanyahu now speaks of "The West Bank" and not of JUDEA-SAMARIA, and he shakes hands with Mahmud Abbas....

Hamas fires rocket after rocket into Israel and dances joyously en masse in the streets of Gaza (literally, not figuratively!) as five Jewish souls (two men and two women, one pregnant) fall victim to a rain of terrorist bullets in "The West Bank"....

Under Israeli protection the PAL prospers and the ghost of Yassir Arafat sits across the table from Prime Minister Netanyahu and is spoken to as a legitimate "partner in peace"....

This "spirit of reconciliation" occurs against the backdrop of the sounding of the morning Shofar throughout the month of ELUL, the month in which we seek to draw closer to HaShem, a month in which we recite Selichot, the month in which we examine ourselves in regards to the year that is nearly gone, the month in which we seek to transcend self-absorption and participate in acknowledging His Creation. We stand poised to ask HaShem that we be inscribed in the Book of Life for a happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous, enlightened New Year. Will this Rosh HaShana mark captive day 1560 for Gilad Shalit?

May Gilad Shalit be free. May Jerusalem never again be divided. May Judea-Samaria be formally rejoined to Israel. May the ERUV RAV seek new homes elsewhere, and may all those, who truly remember and love Zion, find their way home.

B'SHANA HABA B'YERUSHALAYIM!

DAY 1508 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT. AND UNDER ISRAELI ESCORT, QADAFFI DUCK JUNIOR REACHES EGYPT...

... WITH A CARGO OF "HUMANITARIAN AID" FOR THE TERRORISTS OF GAZA.

From the earlier Mavi Mamara Incident, Israel has already uncovered weapons caches and other military contraband aboard the Mavi Mamara, for which Turkey wants Israel to apologize. Will Egypt be as diligent as Israel in preventing such contraband from being smuggled into Gaza off the newly docked Libyan "aid" ship (flying a Moldavian flag)? Perhaps we should consider holding our collective breath as an additional affliction to fasting this Tisha B'Av.

Facetiousness aside, let us continue to pray for the safe relief of the Capitve, may he yet be alive and in good health.

tz17-9av-foundation.blogspot.com

DAY 1500 - "ANOTHER COUNTRY HEARD FROM...." - LIBYA AND EGYPT COMBINE TO MOCK ISRAEL-EGYPT BLOCKADE OF GAZA.

TODAY IS DAY 1500 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT....

QADAFFI DUCK JR., SON OF LIBYA'S QADAFFI DUCK, HAS EMBARKED FROM GREECE ON A SHIP FLYING A MOLDAVIAN FLAG WITH TWO-THOUSAND TONS OF "HUMANITARIAN AID" BOUND FOR GAZA TO VIOLATE THE ISRAELI BLOCKADE OF GAZA, AND IS LIKELY TO WIND UP UNLOADING IN EGYPT INSTEAD, WHERE THE "HUMANITARIAN CARGO" WILL THEN BE TRANSPORTED TO GAZA. This after both the Iranian flotilla and Lebanese flotilla were called off due to international pressure. If the Libyan ship unloads in Egypt there is a far greater likelihood that contraband will more easily flow into Gaza than if the same cargo were unloaded in Ashdod under Israeli supervision. The Egyptian's have allowed many tunnels to succeed under the Egyptian border into Gaza, and the Egyptians have eased official channels as well. Will Israel allow this Libyan ship to work in coordination with Egyptian authorities to complete the mockery of the combined Israel-Egypt blockade of Gaza? TURKEY HAS ALSO GIVEN ISRAEL AN ULTIMATUM TO "APOLOGIZE" (FOR THE MAVI MAMARA INCIDENT) OR SUFFER A TOTAL SEVERANCE OF TURKISH RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL.

While it was nice to see Netanyahu and Obama smiling and shaking hands in Washington, D.C. this week, it must be said to these world leaders, "WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!" The porous border between Gaza and Egypt is now a flood, and only Israel can dam that flood. Israel has nothing to apologize for and Turkish threats ought not inhibit Israel from acting. It is clearly necessary for Israel to once again take responsibility for controlling the Gaza southern border, even at risk of engaging with Egypt. Obama is smart enough to see that action now may prevent a war later. Eyes may be on Hezbollah for war against Israel's north from Syria and Lebanon. Ears to the ground must suggest that as always Israel must keep all eyes on all borders and see that they are secure.

DAY 1482: MORE PROVOCATIONS ON THEIR WAY TOWARDS ISRAEL BY LAND, AIR, SEA ...

STILL THERE IS NO WORD ON ANY CHANCE OF FREEDOM FOR GILAD SHALIT.

In the wake of the Mavi Mamara incident Israel is easing restrictions on the landed flow and nature of goods permitted into Gaza. This unfortunately includes construction materials, much of which will inevitably wind up in the hands of Hamas and will accelerate the rate at which Hamas is able to build such things as military bunkers. Ostensibly this increased legal flow of goods into Gaza will cut the bottom out of the black market being run through the illegal tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. If you believe that line, let me tell you, there is a bridge for sale in Brooklyn....

If there is an upside to Israel's conciliation to international pressure to ease the flow of goods into Gaza, it is that Middle East Envoy Tony Blair has stated publicly that "there is no need" for aid to be sent by sea to Gaza, given the extent to which Israel has eased the flow and diversity of aid allowed into Gaza via proper landed channels.

This is an important statement by Tony Blair as antidote to the propaganda venom of Israel's enemies, who have ramped up provocations of Israel by scheduling additional "humanitarian aid" flotillas to violate Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Ships from Lebanon via Cyprus and from Iran via the Suez Canal are either on their way or scheduled for imminent departure towards Israel. The Lebanese ships are reported to be financed by Arab-Iranian Yasser Kashlak, Lebanese businessman and allegedly the primary financial intermediary supplying Iranian funds to Hamas and Hezbollah. The Iranian vessels represent a team effort between The Red Crescent and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with full public support of Ahmadinijad. An unsubstantiated report of a possible air attempt at blockade running into Gaza of Iranian aid from Egypt needs confirmation. Lebanon and Iran have both given national sanction to the alleged "humanitarian aid" missions of these ships, and have pre-established their rhetoric as to the alleged peacefulness of these missions, stating that on that basis they will blame Israel, should any incidents occur.

The USA has quietly sent a carrier group through the Suez Canal just coincidentally in advance of the uncertainly scheduled departures of "humanitarian aid" ships from Iran. Will this carrier group intercept or deter the Iranian ships? Will other nations such as France, Britain, Italy, or Germany make similar showings in the Mediterranean? Such intervention with or without UN involvement could prevent a regional war.

Perhaps even the UN will do it's duty and warn these so-called "humanitarian aid" ships that, by attempting to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, they are engaging in acts of war against Israel, and that Israel has the right to defend itself, even militarily.

Realistically, expecting any such fair and rational behavior from the UN is less a winning bet than a purchase-offer on that bridge in Brooklyn. But, still, in theory we may expect the UN to do the right thing, and if we do not express just what the right thing is, there is no way to hold the UN accountable for doing the wrong thing.

Speaking of the wrong thing, the right thing, and the UN: is it too much to ask that the UN pass an unequivocal resolution asking Hamas to safely and unconditionally return Gilad Shalit home to Israel, immediately?

TODAY IS DAY 1482 IN THE KIDNAPPING AND CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

OBAMA DOES SOMETHING RIGHT, CALLING FOR B.P. TO ESTABLISH A $20 BILLION ESCROW FUND TO ANTICIPATE PAYMENT OF DAMAGES DUE TO THE GULF OIL SPILL

WHILE THERE IS SO MUCH THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS NOT HANDLED WELL WITH RESPECT TO THE OIL SPILL, THE IDEA THAT B.P. SHOULD ESTABLISH A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR ESCROW FUND IN ANTICIPATION OF PAYMENT OF DAMAGES IS A BRILLIANT IDEA.

This is a win-win idea that British Petroleum should take seriously. In fact according to a NYTimes News Alert, B.P. has agreed to such a fund. At the present time, unless it's financial picture is a house of cards (not impossible given the 21st Century genius of smoke and mirror accounting practices), then British Petroleum already has the financial resources to make such a fund immediately feasible. By establishing such a fund, it should be obvious that the payment of reasonable damages by B.P. then has a tangible and significant opportunity to mitigate the suffering of those in the Gulf in real time. What may be less obvious is that by setting aside an escrow fund, based on the appearance of a reasonable finite number with respect to anticipated damages, should ease stockholder fears of open-ended risk and restore a positive public relations image for B.P. from both the public and the stockholder perspectives.

Kudos to President Obama for this idea. Kenneth Feinberg, who presently is the TARP Special Master, and who previously directed the Compensation Funds Program for Nine-Eleven victims, will reportedly be in charge of the Gulf Compensation Fund. There could not be a better choice to head this fund. Let us hope that the word "tentative" (used by the NYT to describe the agreement for the implementation of the fund) does not imply "temporary for a short term public relations lift, until such time as B.P. may back out of the agreement, leaving Obama and the USA in the lurch."

TODAY IS DAY 1475 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

DAY 1473, WEEK 9, SIGNIFICANT MINERAL DEPOSITS IN AFGHANISTAN, MESHAAL AND ABBAS, HELEN THOMAS, AND $400 MILLION TO P.L.O. FROM OBAMA (GEZINT A'HEYT)

TODAY IS DAY 1473 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT. Week #10 has started with respect to the Gulf Oil Spill. I throw that information in here only because the Gulf Oil Tragedy will have consequences for decades to come, is tantamount in scale to a major military attack on the USA, and may be interpreted as an example of British impact. Make what analogy you will to the Middle East. And, while we are counting, let us remind the world that it should be counting the days of Shalit's Captivity, not only the days of the Gulf Oil Spill.

In different but similar expressions to Charlie Rose, Khalid Meshaal of Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas of the PLO have essentially stated the same thing, namely that Israel must go.. Where to? They do not say. But, Helen Thomas was clear and direct, right to the face of a Rabbi: go back to Russia, Poland, Germany, and the USA! Meshaal said two things: (1) Hamas will make peace with Israel, when Israel has left the Occupied Territories (read, when Israel has left the Middle East, as according to Hamas's Charter, all of Israel and all of Palestine constitute Israeli Occupied Territory); (2) Hamas will "accept" Israel's retreat to pre-1967 borders and will then offer the Palestinian Arabs a plebiscite on the recognition of the existence of Israel. Abbas on the other hand has also stated that Israel must return to the pre-1967 borders, after which time land-swapping might be considered. For two ostensible enemies, these two sure seem to sing the same song. But, why not? They all belong to the Muslim Brotherhood! As to the Helen Thomas Affair, perhaps some good may come of it, if discussions of the matter are sufficiently widespread to educate the world as the the genuine identity of Jews and their right to Israel by dispelling the myth that Jews are European converts and not original Jewish natives by heritage.

Major mineral deposits are reported to have been discovered in Afghanistan into the billions of dollars. Now Afghanistan will have riches other than poppy seeds, hashish, and beautiful mountain scenerry. But, protected and theoretically democratic thanks to the USA and Allies, there is no requirement that Afghanistan recognize Israel, nor is there any similar requirement made of Iraq. But, whoever said that the USA and Allies were devoid of hypocrisy?

May God Bless President Obama, who is doing such a great job of seeing things the way they are and doing the right lawyerly things. Oil keeps gushing into the Gulf from the same busted pipes; but, the lawyers are filing all kinds of paperwork (printed on recycled paper, we hope?) to go after BP; but, alas, not from a mile under the ocean, where there appears to be no mouth big enough to fit over that darn pipe! And Mahmoud Abbas shall return to Judea-Samarea with a promise of $400 million from Obama for construction. How do you spell relief? O-b-a-m-a! Whew! Instead of all that concrete from the "Rachel Corrie" being delivered into Gaza for bunker building, now Obama has funded the PLO with $400 million for concrete, so that now the PLO can build bunkers in Judea-Samarea! This will ease Israeli tensions in a profound way -- that is, in a profoundly negative way!

IS THE "RACHEL CORRIE" A PLANNED MARTYR SHIP? ONE STEP AWAY FROM WORLD WAR THREE!

A FEW YEARS AGO A YOUNG AMERICAN WOMAN WITH MISPLACED IDEALS, WHICH IDEALS WERE KNOWINGLY OR UNWITTINGLY EXERCISED IN SUPPORT OF HAMAS, PLACED HERSELF BETWEEN A MOVING ISRAELI BULLDOZER AND THE HOME OF A TERRORIST, WHOSE HOME THE BULLDOZER WAS THERE BY LAW TO DEMOLISH. RACHEL CORRIE GAVE AWAY HER YOUNG LIFE BEFORE THAT BULLDOZER, A GREAT PERSONAL TRAGEDY MOURNED BY THE ENTIRE WORLD. TODAY AN OSTENSIBLY HUMANITARIAN SHIP NAMED IN HER HONOR IS MAKING IT'S WAY TOWARDS GAZA, DOING SO JUST,BUT, NOT JUSTLY ON THE HEELS OF THE "AVI MAMARA" INCIDENT. THE OPERATORS OF THE VESSEL "RACHEL CORRIE" HAVE PUBLICLY STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT RESIST BOARDING BY THE ISRAELI NAVY AND WILL WILLINGLY BE REDIRECTED TO ASHDOD, ISRAEL.

LET US PRAY THAT THE "RACHEL CORRIE" REACHES SAFE HARBOR IN ISRAEL, AND THAT NO "INCIDENT" OCCURS THAT MAY BE BEYOND THE IMAGINATION OF THE WELL INTENDED, BUT, MISGUIDED HUMANITARIANS OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE".

SUCCESSFUL AND SAFE ARRIVAL OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE" TO ASHDOD, AND THE TRANSFER OF HUMANITARIAN GOODS BY THE ISRAELIS INTO GAZA ON THE BEHALF OF THE HUMANITARIANS OF THE SHIP (LESS THE BUNKER BUILDING CONCRETE), WILL DO MUCH TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF RACHEL CORRIE AND WILL MITIGATE MUCH OF THE ANGER, ANGUISH, AND BLOTTED HUMANITARIANISM OF THE SAD INCIDENT IN WHICH RACHEL CORRIE GAVE HER LIFE AND WILL DO THE SAME WITH RESPECT TO THE SIMILAR RESULTS WE HAVE JUST SEEN AS INITIAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE "AVI MAMARA" INCIDENT.

MISGUIDED IN THEIR CONSCIOUS OR INADVERTENT SUPPORT OF HAMAS, THE HUMANITARIANS OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE" MISSION MAY FACE MORE RISK THAN THEY MAY IMAGINE. SUPPOSE SOME JIHADIST TERRORISTS HAVE HIDDEN A BOMB ABOARD SHIP AND SET IT TO EXPLODE IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, IN ISRAELI WATERS, OR EVEN IN THE PORT OF ASHDOD; SUPPOSE THERE IS A SECRET OPERATION ABOARD SHIP INVOLVING JIHADIST MARTYR BOMBERS (BE THEY HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, I.R.A., AL-QUAEDA, SOLIDARITY, ROTE ARMEE FAKTION, OR WHOMEVER), OR ANY SIMILAR SUCH SECRET OPERATION FROM OFF SHIP (SUCH AS JIHADIST OPERATIVES DISGUISED AS ISRAELI NAVY MEN), OR ANY TYPE OF SUCH SINISTER EVENT DESIGNED TO CAST BLAME ON ISRAEL AND TO ENFLAME AND INCITE WORLD OPINION AND WAR: SUCH AN EVENT COULD BE ANALOGOUS TO THE ENTIRE WORLD STEPPING ONTO A LANDMINE IN ONE ILL FATED MOMENT....

LET US PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE" FROM ANY ACCIDENTAL OR INTENDED HARM!

TODAY IS DAY 1469 SINCE GILAD SHALIT WAS KIDNAPPED AND MADE CAPTIVE IN GAZA BY HAMAS. SHABBATH SHALOM.

AVI MAMARA INCIDENT MAY BE PLANNED PRETEXT FOR TURKEY-SYRIA-IRAN AXIS TO WAGE REGIONAL WAR ON ISRAEL.

ISRAEL DEFENDED ITSELF AGAINST A MILITARY ATTACK DISGUISED AS HUMANITARIAN AID; THE INCIDENT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN PLANNED BY HAMAS AND THE TURKISH-SYRIAN-IRANIAN AXIS AS A PRETEXT TO JUSTIFY A BREAK BY TURKEY OF IT'S FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL AND TO JUSTIFY A REGIONAL WAR AGAINST ISRAEL.

The decision of the Avi Mamara to run the Israeli blockade rather than to accept humanitarian escort by the Israeli Navy proves that the Avi Mamara never truly had an humanitarian mission, only a military mission, to publicly attempt to run the blockade and thus provoke an inevitable military response with Israel.

Five of the six ships of the so-called "Peace Flotilla" accepted Israel's promises to accept and deliver the humanitarian aid brought by these ships and to be escorted by the Israeli Navy to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where the unloading and distribution of the humanitarian aid would commence.

The sixth ship, the Avi Mamara, chose instead to run the blockade and to provoke violence.

For much of the world, blinded by compassion for the residents of Gaza, all it sees is "disproportionate use of force". At best, much of the world naively seems to think that, if Israel ceases to blockade Gaza, then there will be no reason for the residents of Gaza to make war on Israel. At worst, there are many in the world, who support Hamas and it's goal of utter destruction of Israel. This incident is a profound example whereby the naivety of the former is abused by the latter, the latter having an agenda totally opposite to the former. The former need to see past their naivety and realize that, when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the residents of Gaza did not make peace with Israel and instead waged war, which is why the Israeli blockade became necessary and was not even instituted until 2007, a year after Hamas kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still captive today (if he is even alive, as he is refused all visits, not even the Red Cross may visit him).

The world should remember that it was the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit that was the first in a chain of events that led to the 2006 Lebanon-Israel War. If war breaks out again this summer, the world may well regard the provocation of the Avi Mamara as the first of a new chain of events leading to war. Given the increasing realignment of Turkey towards a Turkish-Syrian-Iranian Axis, the potential for war this summer takes on a scope much larger than Hamas to Israel's south and Hezbollah to Israel's north.

As well, given the increasing realignment of Turkey towards a Turkish-Syrian-Iranian Axis, and given the choice by Muslim Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey to use the Avi Mamara Incident to vilify Israel (he could have chosen instead to inspire calm), the event of the Avi Mamara Incident may well be interpreted as a deliberate event planned with Turkey's knowledge as pretext to regional war with Israel or to severance of Turkish relations with Israel or both and also to consequence not yet imagined perhaps involving Iran and nuclear weapons.

TWO WEEKS PAST SHAVUOUS, MEMORIAL DAY IN THE U.S.A., AND ALL IS NOT WELL ....

GILAD SHALIT IS STILL CAPTIVE, IT IS DAY 1459 OF HIS CAPTIVITY, AND YESTERDAY THE "AVI MAMARA INCIDENT" TOOK PLACE IN WHICH HAMAS USED A SO-CALLED "PEACE FLOTILLA" TO PROVOKE AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT INVOLVING THE ISRAELI NAVY.

Nine so-called "civilians" were killed by Israeli commandos, who boarded the Turkish flag-flying ship "Avi Mamara", when the Avi Mamara refused to follow Israeli Navy instructions to change course away from Gaza and towards Ashdod, Israel, where the cargo of "humanitarian aid" could be unloaded and delivered into Gaza via existing channels such as the Red Cross and the U.N. Five of the six ships of the "Peace Flotilla" had already agreed to Israel's humanitarian gesture. The sixth ship, the Avi Mamara, insisted on provoking an incident by giving priority to running the Israeli blockade of Gaza rather than to delivering the humanitarian aid with Israeli cooperation.

The political consequences do not look good for Israel at the moment, even though the military necessity of the raid is clear and obvious. An act of war (attempting to run the blockade) was promoted by Hamas against Israel. But, the world is so drunk and infatuated with the Arab Cause, the imminent possibility of a nuclear hangover originating in Iran is not taken seriously by the world.

S.N.A.F.U.

(SNAFU -- SITUATION NORMAL, ALL MESSED UP....)

IT WAS IN THE YEAR TWO-THOUSAND AND SIX THAT I WAS KIDNAPPED,
WHEN OUT OF THE GROUND UNDER THE GAZA BORDER.
JIHADIST TERRORISTS, WHO MURDERED MY COMRADES,
THEN DRAGGED ME BACK WITH THEM THROUGH THEIR TUNNEL INTO THE BOWELS OF GAZA.

THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF MY ILLEGAL CAPTIVITY DRAWS NYE.
HAMAS SENT A 'PRESENT' TO MY FATHER AND MOTHER AND HOMELAND:
A VIDEO CARTOON IN WHICH MY FATHER SEARCHES FOR ME IN VAIN, ONLY TO FIND MY CASKET....
AND THE WHOLE WORLD IS SILENT, THE MEDIA IS BUT A CHOIR FOR JIHADIST TUNNEL RATS!

HOW CAN THE WORLD BE SO BLINDLY HEARTLESS?
IS THIS THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER?
IS THIS THE BEST THE WORLD CAN DO?
DOES THE ENTIRE WORLD NOW BOW DOWN TO GAZA, MECCA, AND TEHRAN?

EVERYTHING IS IN ORDER, ALL MESSED UP.
I AM CAPTIVE IN AN HAMAS PRISON CELL.
NO ONE HAS PERMISSION TO VISIT ME --
NOT MY MOTHER, NOT MY FATHER, NOT EVEN THE RED CROSS!

I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!
I AM GILAD SHALIT, TOTALLY ALONE, CAPTIVE IN THE BOWELS OF GAZA!

=============================================
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Today is Rosh Chodesh Sivan in the year 5770.
Today is Day 40 of the Omer counting.
Today is Day 1435 in the Captivity of Gilad Shalit in the Bowels of Gaza.

One Jerusalem

IN THE ABSENCE OF A WORLD CLIMATE RESPECTFUL OF ISRAEL AND IN THE PRESENCE OF A WORLD CLIMATE THAT ROMANCES JIHADIST TERRORISTS, NEITHER THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL COURT NOR THE U.N. MAY BE REGARDED AS PRACTICAL, MORAL, ETHICAL, NOR JURISDICTIONAL. IT IS INCUMBENT UPON ISRAEL TO ACT UNILATERALLY TO PASS HISTORICAL NEW LAW REITERATING THE ANNEXATION OF JERUSALEM AND DECLARING IMMEDIATE ANNEXATION OF JUDEA-SAMARIA, GOLAN, AND SHEVA FARMS. THIS NEW LEGISLATION SHOULD BE NAMED TO HONOR GILAD SHALIT AND ALL THE DISAPPEARED ISRAELI SOLDIERS. JERUSALEM MUST REMAIN ONE CITY, AS ISRAEL MUST REMAIN ONE NATION.

It should be noted that Netanyahu announced this week that Israel was considering legislating a severe reduction of the rights and privileges that now exist for prisoners in Israeli jails. This is not a constructive response to the Gilad Shalit matter (not to the contemporary matter of the mocking video cartoon produced and distributed by Hamas, nor to the extended horror of Gilad Shalit's continued Captivity, which today numbers Day 1432). Israel's moral stance as regards treatment of prisoners ought not fall victim to the cartooning of terrorists nor to their behavioral depravity. [In relation to this issue, please review the April 25 posting to which non-trivial after-content has been added.]

The Democratic World ought to consider the creation of an Organization of World Democracies independent of the U.N. The U.N. may be intended to foster democracy in the world eventually; however, it should be clear that it is not a democracy despite it's appearance to democracy. It is today in effect a mob of Third World Nations biting the hands of those, who feed them. The U.N. has largely been co-opted by dictatorships, including those such as the government of Iran, which is a dictatorship in democratic clothing. Their combined treatment of Israel ought to be understood by the democratic world as an harbinger. If the democratic world fails to stand by Israel and if the democratic world fails to strengthen itself and it's values, then the democratic world will fall by the wayside and party to the ushering-in of a New Dark Ages.

AHMADINIJAD - NEBISH, SHMO, OR INTERNATIONAL MEGASHMUCK?

HE LOOKS SO HARMLESS, LIKE A MEXICAN WETBACK LOOKING FOR A JOB AS A DOMESTIC SERVANT. HIS SPEECH IS SO PLAUSIBLE; HE SAYS HIS NATION IRAN DEFIES THE WESTERN WORLD IN DEVELOPING ADVANCED NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES ONLY IN ORDER TO FURTHER SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, THAT THE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION PROBLEM HAS SOURCE IN THOSE NATIONS ALREADY THREATENING THE WORLD WITH NUCLEAR POWER, E.G. THE U.S.A.

(note: The terms "nebish", "shmo", "megashmuck", and "wetback" are made use of here for their colloquial character in context, not as a habit of speech.)

Yet it is precisely his appearance that is so dangerous. "Nebish" and "Shmo" are Yiddish terms for someone who is basically helpless and clueless; and "wetback" is American slang referring to a Mexican illegally in the USA, perhaps having had to swim across a border river to get into the USA. Often the "media is the message", to quote Marshall McLuhan. All of these terms can be used condescendingly and in fact are most often used in this way. Whether or not these terms are used condescendingly the person referred to is often innocent in appearance and inspiring to superiors of help and assistance. It is this innocent plausability that makes Ahmadinijad so dangerous.

Ahmadinijad is in fact an international megashmuck. I have taken the liberty to combine the greek prefix "mega-" with the Yiddish word "shmuck"; the meaning should be immediately clear, that he is not just an ordinary "prick"; he is a "megaprick" of international consequence. To the Third World Nations of the UN he is today's "hero" for standing up to the West. His appearance of capable defiance gives the "have not" nations someone to look up to in their jealousy and hatred of the West. In that context these Third World nations of shmos and nebishes may do great harm to themselves and to the world via their misplaced support of Ahmadinijad in whom they believe they see themselves. The West cannot afford to be swayed by demeanor nor plausibility of Ahmadinijad's message on nuclear proliferation given yesterday at the UN.

Iran is the Shia side of the Muslim coin pretending to be moderate, even as Egypt and Turkey pretend to be moderate on the Sunni side of the Muslim coin. Together they call for Israel to be exposed as a nuclear nation that must give up it's nuclear capabilities in order to assure nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East. This is as much a cock and bull story as is the resistance to Obama in the USA on the basis of his "socialism" -- not his race. This Blog has yet to see anything to find joy in with respect to Obama and his administration. Yet, the analogy to Israel holds up quite ironically. Israel is the "nigger" in the Middle East. The Muslims, like foxes pretending to be chickens, say, "Come on out and play. We won't hurt you. We are chickens just like you are. You don't need those nukes. You should give them up. Those things are dangerous and you are only chickens. Those things are dangerous in your hands. Better yet, give them to us. There are many more of us than of you. Let us protect you. You can trust us...."

Today is Day 1430 in the captivity of the soul of Gilad Shalit.

AND THE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL KEEPS BUILDING AND BUILDING AND BUILDING....

(NEVER MIND THE INCREASING HYPOCRISY OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN ATTEMPTS TO DEAL WITH BEING THREATENED AND OVERRUN BY ARAB MUSLIMS).

Today is Lag B'Omer, one hopes for a reprieve from the horrendous sins of omission and commission with respect to Israel by it's so-called allies from the USA to Europe, etc. Is it so much to ask, especially given the nature of the horrendous, cruel video cartoon published by Hamas last week ridiculing Gilad and Noam Shalit, for the nations of the world internally and for the United Nations General Assembly to pass resolutions condemning Hamas for that video cartoon and asking for the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of Gilad Shalit?

Has the world gone completely mad, or just plain evil, failing to perceive that it is Israel and not the Arabs, who are the primary victims of hatred, human rights abuses and aggression?

Today, Lag B'Omer, is day 1428 into the captivity of Gilad Shalit, alive or dead, probably dead. There is no sign of the Arabs showing any remorse for their evil. Let them show remorse and compassion or let them be destroyed. Let it be their choice.

HAMAS RELEASES A TWENTY MINUTE CARTOON RIDICULING GILAD SHALIT AND HIS FATHER.

THE MORAL BANKRUPTCY AND HEARTLESS CRUELTY OF HAMAS IS NOW COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT TO THE WORLD.

Noam Shalit, Gilad's father, spoke bravely, realizing publicly that the cartoon video represents an Hamas exercise in "psychological warfare".

It is the opinion of this Blog that this "cartoon" is tantamount to an announcement from Hamas that Gilad Shalit is dead.

Perhaps it is time that Israel return the 1000 prisoners that Hamas wants set free. May these prisoners be dressed in nothing but t-shirts sporting photos of Gilad Shalit, then air-dropped at ten-thousand feet en masse from a cargo plane into the heart of Gaza city, sans parachutes. May the inhabitants of Gaza then be swallowed up by the sand.

May Gilad's mother and father and family be comforted among the mourners of Zion.

05/05/2010 - RETURNING FROM THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT.

Returning from the heat of that moment on April 25, when I wrote in anger, calling for a vivid revenge, it is important to make a complete separation between my own comments and those of anyone else. It is also important to make clear that the vivid revenge scenario I painted above was not intended as "comfort" for the Shalit Family. In explanation it is best to understand the revenge paragraph of the above comment as a verbal cartoon in response to a cartoon. As I have stated previously in this Blog, the kidnapped whereabouts of Gilad Shalit had to be known by more than a few Gazans. Someone had to know someone, who had to know someone, who knew someone, who knew (knows) the location in which Gilad Shalit was being held captive. That not one Arab revealed what they knew to Israel in order to enable Israel to secure his freedom is not merely beyond conscience, it establishes the collective guilt of the Gazans. And it must be remembered that Israel has no captives in circumstances analogous to the circumstances by which Gilad Shalit suffers. Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, though they be proven murdering terrorists, are well fed, are visited by the Red Cross, and even share conjugal visits with their wives. They watch TV, listen to the radio, are free to pray, etc. Hamas screams and hollers and makes issue that Israel should free a thousand adjudicated murdering terrorists; but, they cannot see to the freedom of innocent Gilad Shalit. Subsequently to April 25, I have written calling for UN and governmental condemnations of Hamas, as well as for the unconditional release of Gilad Shalit. But, there have been no such resolutions; at least, no news has reported of their existence, or even that such resolutions may be under consideration anywhere. How bankrupt is the world, that not one government, large or small, and neither the UN especially, has condemned Hamas nor called for Giald Shalit's unconditional release? Instead the world plays host to Ahmadinijad!

YOM HAZIKARON, 5770 (MEMORIAL DAY, ISRAEL, 2010 CE) & PATRIOTS DAY IN MASSACHUSSETTS & 1415 YOMIM "HATISHBI".

IN MASSACHUSSETTS, WHERE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGAN, WHERE SOME OF THE FIRST AMERICAN JEWISH SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA CAN BE TRACED, TODAY IS "PATRIOTS DAY".

GILAD SHALIT MARKS DAY 1415 OF HIS SOLITARY CAPTIVITY IN GAZA, ALLOWED TO SEE ONLY HIS CAPTORS, NO ONE ELSE, NOT HIS MOTHER, NOT HIS FATHER, NOT EVEN THE RED CROSS.

112 ISRAELI SOLDIERS HAVE DIED SINCE ISRAEL MEMORIAL DAY LAST YEAR.

22,682 ISRAELI SOLDIERS HAVE DIED SINCE 1948.

ON THIS DAY IN 1943 THE JEWS OF THE WARSAW GHETTO BEGAN THEIR UPRISING AGAINST THE NAZIS; THEY DIED FIGHTING WITH ROCKS AND PISTOLS AND MOLOTOV COCKTAILS AGAINST THE LUFTWAFFE AND AN ENTIRE PANZER DIVISION RATHER THAN BE SHIPPED OFF TO THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS OF WHICH EVIDENCE HAD FINALLY REACHED THEIR EARS.

"ANA B'KOACH GADOLATH YMINCHA TH'THYR TZRORAH." ("We implore YOU, by the Power of YOUR Right Hand, release the Captive.")

HAYOM ESRIM YOM SH'HAYM SHNAY SHVUOTH V'SHISHA YOMIM L'OMER, HAYOM "YESOD B'TIFERETH". (Today is the 20th day towards the Omer Day; the mystical qualities of this 20th day include Foundation and Harmony.)

"WEST BANK OCCUPATION" -- THE DIFFERENCE TODAY COMPARED TO 1967.

IT IS ALMOST 43 YEARS NOW SINCE THE "SIX DAY WAR", AND 1407 DAYS SINCE GILAD SHALIT WAS KIDNAPPED. HOW ARE THESE EVENTS RELATED OR UNRELATED?

In 1967 Israel "occupied" the "West Bank" [Judea-Samaria] as a result of the famous "SIX-DAY WAR". It was then that Israel also occupied the Golan Heights (well into Syria), Southern Lebanon, and the Sinai.

As of today, most of the Golan has already been returned to Syria in fruitless peace efforts; with the exception of the Sheva Farms, all of Southern Lebanon has been returned to Lebanon, again with no peace. Neither Syria nor Lebanon acknowledges Israel nor Israel's existential right. All of the Sinai has been retuned to Egypt as part of a peace agreement that is a very cold peace, "warmed up" perhaps by Egypt's "failure" to successfully patrol the Egypt-Gaza border or to identify and destroy smuggler tunnels large enough to bring automobiles into Gaza. Israel has a similar peace with Jordan.

Contemporary to Israel's achievement of statehood, Jordan overran and occupied Judea-Samaria, then the de facto homeland of Palestinian Arabs. Post 1967 it was Israel's expectation that Israel would aid the Palestinian Arabs in creating a Palestinian Arab State, just as the UN had hoped for in 1947. If Israel were to leave Judea-Samaria ensuing the 1967 military victory, then a political vacuum would have existed in that territory, allowing Jordan to re-occupy, and exposing Israel again to greater military vulnerability.

If the Palestinian Arabs had been amenable to recognizing Israel's right to exist, there would have been a Palestinian Arab State then and there in Judea-Samaria. It is not Israel's fault that terror organizations such as Black September and the PLO of Yassir Arafat would not dance, instead choosing to wage decades of war and terror on Israel with an eye to the total destruction of the Jewish State. The world has no excuse for failing to remember this, and neither does Israel.

By now Israel should have annexed Judea-Samaria.

By now Israel should have freed Gilad Shalit.

BIDEN AND THE COMING THIRD INTIFADA

BIDEN AND "THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES".

Two examples in recent Israeli history can tell us much about "unintended consequences": The Gaza Withdrawal, and the Gilad Shalit Kidnapping.

Despite legitimate rights to live in Gaza, the State of Israel imposed a forced withdrawal of every Jew from Gaza, expecting that Gaza would be a peaceful neighborhood that would soon along with the "West Bank" become a Palestinian [Arab] State. Instead, Israel has suffered repeated terrorism from Hamas controlled Gaza, terrorism including ten-thousand Qassam rockets fired into Israel for years, which not so long ago caused Israel to finally respond in the form of a forceful invasion of Gaza. Many had warned the Sharon/Olmert government that withdrawal from Gaza would have only negative effects. Sharon and Olmert did not listen. What happened in Gaza is clearly an unintended consequence of the Olmert/Sharon decision to withdraw from Gaza.

Who would have thought that a simple, daring kidnapping would lead to a full scale war? And yet such was the unintended consequence of the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. Tomorrow will mark the 1400th day of Gilad Shalit's captivity. In a daring raid via tunnels dug underground across the Israeli border from Gaza, Arab terrorists attacked and murdered most of Gilad Shalit's unit and took Gilad Shalit captive. In the north Hezbollah sought to mimic this act, killing several Israeli soldiers and capturing Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whom they later murdered. Attacked from south and north by Hamas and Hezbollah, including the daily barrage of Qassam rockets from Gaza targeting Sderot and then more advanced rockets from southern Lebanon that could reach as far as Haifa, Israel found itself embroiled in a full scale war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, known as the Second Israel-Lebanon War. That war may or may not have been inevitable. It is not likely that this War was an intended consequence of the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.

Simultaneous to the visit of Vice-President Biden to Israel barely three weeks ago, Israel announced construction plans for 1600 housing units adjacent to the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem on an undeveloped hillside. Biden condemned this announcement, as if it were a deadly terrorist attack, taking personal offense, taking offense on behalf of the Obama Administration, and thus lighting a fire of such condemnations around the world. A diplomatic response could have finessed even the appearance of insult and lent focus on the purpose of the Biden Peace Mission. Instead Israeli-American relations have become strained, the Peace Mission has been set back, and America's Image has weakened in the world, while traction has been given to the world image of America as Bully. Arab militants now have propaganda ammunition by which to justify stepped up terrorism against Israel. In the past two or three weeks such stepped up terror has cost the lives of Israeli Soldiers and Arab Terrorists. The Arabs have resumed the firing of Qassam rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, and Israel has responded with air attacks into Gaza. A Third Intifada is a real possibility, perhaps an unintended consequence of the failure of Vice-President Biden to respond with positive diplomacy to the surprise Israeli Construction announcement.

Vice-President Biden went to Israel, ostensibly on a Peace Mission.

Nothing Vice-President Biden did or said furthered peace, nor did anything he said or did lead to the release of Gilad Shalit. Perhaps this too is an unintended consequence of Vice-President Biden's lack of diplomacy.

Israel has just celebrated Pesach (Passover), which Holiday Commemorates Liberty from the Slavery of Ancient Egypt, which Holiday concludes on Tuesday Evening, which would be Day 1402 of Gilad Shalit's Captivity. Let Gilad Shalit Go! Set Gilad Shalit Free!

WHY DOES GREAT BRITAIN ESPECIALLY HAMMER ISRAEL WITH FRAUDULENT PROPAGANDISTIC NOMENCLATURE SUCH AS "ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED" AND "ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS"?

FOR A NATION THAT PUBLICLY SPEAKS OF ITSELF AS ISRAEL'S "ALLY", BRITAIN CALLS TO THE JEWISH MIND THE APHORISM, "WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?" THE SAME CAN BE ESPECIALLY SAID OF EUROPE TODAY AND OF MUCH OF THE WORLD AND CERTAINLY OF HILLARY CLINTON, JOSEPH BIDEN, AND PRESIDENT OBAMA. BUT, WHAT IS IT, THAT MAKES THE VITRIOL OF THE BRITISH SO UNRELENTING, WAR-LIKE, MEGALOMANIACAL, AND PUZZLING?

It was not so long ago historically that Britain occupied what it chose to call "Palestine" after the name "Syria Palestina" given to that part of the world by the Romans during Rome's Middle East occupation. The British extended the term to apply to the territory eastwards of the Jordan River, which territory it referred to as "Transjordan". The British won this territory during WW1 [World War 1] by defeating the Syrians and Turks, who were allied with Germany. The underlying conflict was largely about oil supply for the war and long term oil rights in general in addition to the customary violence pertaining to political spheres of influence.

The British like to see themselves as being on the forefront of the historical fight for freedom, liberation, and liberty. Other nations tend to see them as elitists and imperialists. To be sure, the truth encompasses both aspects. Even the British, with their reputation for coldness and correctness, achieving at times an emotionless mechanical quality coupled with talent for great thespianism (witness Parliament), do actually have feelings and emotions like other people do. One suspects that the great bombing of London by the Germans during the early stages of WW2 (World War 2) may have had more than a little to do with the stereotypical subdued personality of Britain. One suspects as well that such phenomenon as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Monty Python, and "Keeping Up Appearances" and "Are You Being Served" are all representative of the once and great Empire that was Britain, struggling to be itself again after the great bombing of London and all that the British suffered during WW2.

Whether as imperialist or as grand patriarch reticent to leave the "children" on their own, the British cannot have felt thrilled to have been targeted by their "Jewish" and "Arab" children for guerilla warfare bent on freedom and independence. However pernicious and inhibiting BRITISH OCCUPATION may have felt to the Jews and the Arabs, the British Patriarchy must have thought and represented their hegemony to be for the regional good and for the good of the Peoples within, however evolutionarily backwards the Brits may have regarded those Peoples to be.

Anyone, who has ever freed a trapped animal, knows that he or she must protect him or her self from the flailing and rage of the animal while it is trapped, and then from the possible venting of that rage on anything or anyone nearby, once that animal has gained it's freedom. Any parent knows that at some point a child has to grow up -- preferably on his or her own and out of the house. The troubles of an occupier are that an occupier rarely has the good instinct of a human freeing an animal, who knows when and how to set that animal free without getting into conflict with it, and an occupier tends to think of that which is occupied as Home of the Occupier. A parent may kick a child out of the house or give the house to the child; but, it is the right of the parent to choose and execute, not the other way around.

So, how dare these backwards, retrograde "Peoples" -- these Jews, these Arabs -- kick the Brits out of their "Home"! And, how dare these "Peoples" have such respective power today, even be they enemies! The Arabs with all their oil, the Jews with their spiritual and military might! How dare they challenge the Enlightenment brought to them and to the World by Great Britain! By Europe! By the USA!

So, segway to Palestine. The Brits know that the Arabs want to kick the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea. All the world knows that the Arabs want to kick the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea. The Brits know that there was never a People called "Palestinians" and never a State called "Palestine" and that it is completely a fabrication of British foreign policy to do so -- as does the rest of the world know this. The Brits know that Israel, as a political entity, has an identity going back thousands of years, including more than two-thousand years of foreign occupation. It was Israel that decisively motivated Britain to depart from it's occupation of the Holy Land after the close of WW2. So, revendfully, Britain targets Israel -- with it's BBC propaganda machine most especially -- framing Israel as "illegal occupier".

Use by the BBC of such loaded and biased nomenclature as: "Palestine" to refer to a non-existent state of [militant] Arabs, "settler" to refer to Jews building homes in their homeland [e.g. Jerusalem], "illegal settlers" to refer to Jews building homes in their historical homeland [e.g. Judea-Samaria], "illegal occupation" to refer to the presence of the Israeli military wherever there is disputed territory and wherever in those territories the Israeli military presence is essential for Israeli self-defense and for maintaining peace between the various Arab factions and for maintaining law and order -- all of that responsible Israeli behavior is derided and decried by the British, and one tool for this is the unrelenting use of fraudulent language to bully Israel with propaganda.

In their misguided vindictiveness the British pound and hammer Israel with propaganda, day after day, year after year, conducting their own "propaganda bombing" campaign against Israel analogous to the bombing Britain received from Hitler's Luftwaffe! Is it possible that the British tacitly think in the irrational mode that somehow, were it not for the Jews, that the bombing of London might never have happened? Is it possible, however ironically, that after sixty-years of freedom from the Nazis, that now the British are behaving like freed animals, lashing out at their most vulnerable ally and indirect liberator, Israel?

Indeed the media is replete with the idea that somehow "peace" in Israel between the Jews and the Arabs would be like oil on the troubled waters of other Arab or other Muslim nations at war! There is ugly anti-semitism behind such thinking, not merely the historical record of war and terror from Africa and the Middle East all the way to Asia, East Asia, and Indonesia, and from Arabia into Europe and across the Atlantic to the USA; there is also great strategic stupidity in such thinking.

Media fraud to propagandize against Israel by the British must not go unnoticed and must not be ignored by the British justice system, by the court of world opinion, and by an appropriate world court, even the Hague, if such an appropriate world court exists. This is not only true of Britain, it is also true in the media of Europe as a whole, as in these times Britain and Europe seek to rid themselves of the guilt of their own history by once again using the Jews as Scapegoat, by waging media wars of propaganda and fraud against Israel.

It is legitimate for the media to report activities that occur in "disputed territories;" it is illegitimate to refer to the disputed territories as "illegally occupied" or "illegally settled". It is legitimate to refer to the building of homes for Jews -- if such building is indeed within the confines of the Arab East Jerusalem -- as occurring within Arab East Jerusalem or the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem; it is illegitimate to refer to the Arab Quarter as "illegally occupied East Jerusalem. And so on, when reporting on such disputed territories as Sheba Farms, the Golan, Judea-Samaria [the "West Bank"], and Gaza.

And, there is a real occupation that ought to be addressed immediately by the world. It is the occupation of the soul of Gilad Shalit, 1,372 days captive today by Hamas, Hamas being Arab descendants of Arab allies to the Nazis. Today is DAY 1,372 of captivity for once young Gilad Shalit. Tomorrow is Erev Pesach, the day before Pesach [Passover]. Britain holds the power of persuasion to see to the freeing of Gilad Shalit by Hamas immediately.

Britain, your lands are already infested with crickets of Muslims, your population flows with the living blood of millions of Muslims, your airwaves croak like millions of frogs.... Britain, turn back from your Evil, lest you suffer the full wrath of The Miracle Plagues of The Almighty!

Free Gilad Shalit so that he may celebrate Pesach with his family in his home in Israel! Let Gilad Shalit go!

BRITAIN, IRELAND, "PEACE" MONGERING, AND ISRAEL: THE OPERA AIN''T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS.

WHAT DOES THE "PEACE" MONGERING IN NORTHERN IRELAND HAVE TO DO WITH THE "PEACE" MONGERING IN ISRAEL?

A few days ago Martin McGuinness appeared on the Charlie Rose Show. The peace and reconciliation process that former Senator Michel brokered in Ireland continues, and in recent years Protestant Ian Paisley together with Jerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Shin Fein have "become close friends", says Martin McGuiness, as the three have led the Peace. Charlie Rose asked First Minister Martin McGuinness, whether or not in his opinion a similar peace and reconciliation was possible in Israel between the Israelis and the "Palestinians", and McGuinness responded in the affirmative.

Putting aside a comparison-contrast analysis of the two very different conflicts, there is one great common denominator: British Imperialism and Occupation. We know the historical suffering of the Irish and the Scots at the hands of the British. We know the suffering of the Palestinian Jews and Arabs at the hands of the British (aided and abetted by the French). So it should be clear that the Irish, the Israelis, and the Palestinian Arabs have an historical common enemy: The British.

It has famously been said that, "The opera ain't over until the fat lady sings!" For years now British rhetoric about Israel has been profoundly fraudulent and negative towards Israel, gathering great momentum in the past several years, even achieving a war-like tone in recent months. The British continue to belove the Arabs and to quietly encourage peace in Ireland between the Protestants and the Catholics. This Blog isn't so confident as Martin McGuinness with respect to the "peace" in Northern Ireland, as this Blog is profoundly distrustful of the British. This Blog speculates that the British are using the Irish and the Arabs and perhaps the Persians as well in order to pressure Israel into self-destruction. British propaganda increasingly puts Israel in the awkward position of having to choose between two self-destructive options: surrender Judea-Samaria and incurr the undeniable security risks of doing so, or do-not surrender Judea-Samaria and face world condemnation. Once Israel self-destructs on either "choice" and the British and French regain their former foothold on the MIddle East to "protect" the Jewish survivors, the British will again turn their force against the Arabs and against the Irish. This Blog suggests to Martin McGuinness that the Irish beware the "Fat Lady" that is Great Britain.

WAQF -- WAQF RADIO, VOICE OF PALESTINIAN ISLAM...

...VOICE OF THE ARAB AND MUSLIM WORLD ALTOGETHER?

(writing of post in progress)

40-YEARS OF MEDIA FRAUD, ESPECIALLY BY THE BBC AND EUROPEAN MEDIA, USING HITLER'S "BIG LIE" PROPAGANDA MODEL, HAVE SHAPED WORLD OPINION TO BELIEVE...

...THAT ISRAEL AS A NATION IS ENGAGED IN THE "ILLEGAL OCCUPATION" OF "PALESTINE" AND IS DEVOTED TO A POLICY OF "ETHNIC CLEANSING" OF "PALESTINIANS".

(writing of post in progress)

IT IS VITAL TO THE WORLD, NOT ONLY TO ISRAEL, THAT JERUSALEM REMAIN UNIFIED AND AN ISRAELI CITY.

IF THE WORLD HAS A STAKE IN POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, THEN IT CANNOT BE DENIED THAT THE RECOGNITION AND PRESERVATION OF JERUSALEM AS AN ENTIRELY ISRAELI CITY IS VITAL.

It is an interesting conundrum at the core of the creation of the United Nations, that the United Nations is body for the meeting of all member nations, and that despite the democratic appearance of the United Nations, not all member nations are required to be nor assumed to be democratic nations. Hence many nations are members of the UN, and yet are not democracies or are democracies in name only. Hence there are nations, such as Russia and China and Iran and Syria, which are UN members and which are not democracies or are democracies in name only.

It is well known that in recent years the UN has become increasingly anti-West as a body and in it's body of decision making.

It is well known that for many decades the UN has been decidedly biased against Israel, passing resolution after resolution without fairness or factual basis against the State of Israel.

It is not so well known, that as a matter of UN Law, Israel is prohibited to serve on the UN Security Council, even as it's enemy nations (e.g. Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudia Arabia, Libya, Sudan, etc.) may and do serve on the UN Security Council. Imagine! These nations, famous for human rights abuses, serve on the UN Security Council! Oy, Vey!

When Jerusalem was under Arab hegemony, Jews were denied the right to pray at the Western Wall [commonly called the "Wailing Wall"]. This was also true and remains true, even within Israeli controlled borders, where in Arab "territories" of Israel, the State of Israel bows to local control, even when that means that Jews may not visit Holy Sites. Most famous of these are such places as the Machpellah Cave [Tomb of the Patriarchs] in Hebron, and Joseph's Tomb and Jacob's Well, both adjacent to each other on the outskirts of Nablus. Joseph's Tomb was desecrated by Arab Terrorists during the 2003 Intifada. Jews attempting to visit the Machpellah Cave are always at risk of stoning or riot or worse, and are prohibited from the Machpellah Cave most of the year. The Machpellah Cave is under the administration of the Waqf, which is the Arab religious authority, the same authority that oversees the famous Dome of the Rock Mosque. [The present Israeli Government recently announced that it intends to include the Machpellah Cave and Rachel's Tomb in a national heritage sites protection and rehabilitation plan.]

Under Israeli rule religious freedom is held as a sacred right for all including the Muslims as well as Christians, Bahai, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. This respect is taken to the incomprehensible conclusion that excludes the Waqf from showing all but the most minimal level of respect for Jewish worship at Jewish Holy Sites under Waqf hegemony. At this very moment the Waqf is well under way in it's excavations and construction of an huge Mosque directly below the present Al-Aqsa [Dome of the Rock] Mosque! This has been going on for years with the willing participation of the previous conciliatory Israeli Government, despite the rampant destruction of Israeli archaeological history resulting from the digging out of the rock.

There is a double standard in the world, that somehow it is okay for Arabs to disrespect the inherent religious right of any human being to worship as they choose, and that other religious bodies must disrespect themselves in favor of Muslim religious sensibilities. Israel is the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" in this respect.

It is disgusting enough that in the name of "peace", the Israeli government enforceably supports the Waqf in the denial of religious rights to Jews. One can see that today the Waqf barely allows or protects Jews with respect to visiting Jewish Holy Sites under Waqf administration. It is obvious that tomorrow, if statehood is granted to the Arabs of Judea-Samaria (commonly called the "West Bank"), the consequence will be that Jews will be denied access altogether.

Until recently East Jerusalem and Arab East Jerusalem and The Arab Quarter of Jerusalem were synonymous. Now the media speaks of "Illegal Israeli Occupied East Jerusalem" -- as if it were somehow illegal for a Jew to live there. In the mind of much of the media, the Arab Quarter is already the Capital of "Palestine" -- a political State that does not exist, at least not yet! And according to that same mentality, Jews have no right to live in the Arab Quarter, and the Arabs have the right to deny any such right to Jews, as they do most everywhere else under Arab or Muslim hegemony! Double standard? At least! There is no shortage of Arabs freely living in Jerusalem, who do not live in East Jerusalem. If an Arab chooses not to live in East Jerusalem and to live elsewhere in Jerusalem, it is not against the law. Nor is it against the law for a Jew to live in the Arab Quarter!

The historical behavior of the Arabs and the Waqf makes clear that if Jerusalem and/or Judea-Samaria become a world-sanctioned political hegemony, Jews will altogether be excluded and discriminated against. Whatever may come out on paper in terms of rights of Jews in a new "Palestine", the reality will be that Jews will be excluded and discriminated against. Pogroms against Jews are not unique to the history of Europe. The history of anti-Jewish pogroms by Palestinian Arabs is not a recent phenomenon of alleged Israeli "occupation". No paper agreement with any Arab authority will survive the bigotry or the Waqf or the Arabs themselves.

Europe and Russia are already so heavily populated with Muslims that Europe is often referred to as "Eurabea". Will the European nations divide themselves each in half, as they desire Israel to do, so that we will soon see, e.g. England alongside Saudia-England with capital cities London and London-Riyadh, e.g. France alongside Syria-France with capital cities Paris and Paris-Damascus, e.g. Germany alongside Iraq-Germany with capital cities Berlin and Berlin-Baghdad? Will we soon see Russia do the same, e.g. Russia alongside Iran-Russia with capital cities Moscow and Moscow-Tehran? Will we one day say Wahabi-Washinton, D.C. alongside our nation's Capitol?

Besides the simple fact that today's Eurabeans [not a coffee blend (please forgive the humor)] are in the majority not of Arab Palestinian extraction; it should be obvious, even to Europe, that the policies, history, and demographics of Europe today are as much the direct consequence of The Holocaust, as is Israel's existence as we know it today. Europe itself not only rolled over for Hitler; Europe actively aided and abetted the Nazis, as did Poland and parts of Russia such as the Ukraine, as did the Palestinian Arabs, all having bloody histories of hatred of Jews. So, now Europe and Russia, having largely ethnically cleansed themselves of Jews (even though today there are special protections for the few Jews remaining or returning), now face the Eurabea problem.

Europe and Russia, hammer-locked by increasing Muslim population growth, are caught between the extreme pressures to ethnically cleanse themselves of Muslims, and by their own pathetic politically correct rhetoric about democracy and equality even as they commit suicide! Symbolically resisting the suicide by enacting restraining laws against Muslims, one after another European State has already established new Law: restraining Muslim immigration into Holland, prohibiting the wearing of the "hajaf" [head scarf] by Muslim women in public in France, and prohibiting the construction of minarets on mosques in Switzerland.

One cannot help but think that Europe and Russia blame Israel for their ubiquitous Arab populations, as if somehow these Arabs are all "Palestinians" with a right to return to "Palestine" and that once an hypothetical new State of Palestine comes into being, all these "Palestinians" will happily and speedily leave their respective European and Russian host countries to return "home"!

Russia and Europe are mentally unstable to begin with; and, given their history of the past century and their current demographic dilemmas, Europe and Russia should profoundly re-examine their attitudes and policies towards the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Russia and Europe will not find their increasing Muslim populations to be either democratic or tolerant of democracy. Russia and Europe inevitably must realize that the demands of democracy will require that they draw a line against Islam -- or die. They will have to limit their Muslim populations, just as Israel will, or enact segregation laws to enable peaceful co-existence. (Such an idea may fly in the face of the American mind in particular, as the word "segregation" has a loaded pejorative content with respect anti-Negro racism in America. There may be some similarities of context; but, in the largest context, America's struggle with racism is a different thing than facing the religious warfare of Islam, which is antithetical to democracy.)

As to the guilt of Russia and Europe for The Pogroms and The Holocaust: there is no theological or ethical axiom, nor democratic value, that demands Europe to seek out Muslims as the "Hand of God" in Punishment. Nor is there any similar democratic value or religious value that demands that democracies must allow anti-democracies to flourish in their midst to the point of the death of democratic hosts.

The sooner Israel formally annexes the disputed territories, and the sooner the world recognizes such annexation by Israel -- including Israel's 1967 annexation of Jerusalem -- the sooner Europe and Russia may grant themselves permission to be functional democracies and deal with their own demographic issues with Muslims -- lest they be guilty of causing their own ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Muslims.

No democratic impulse can support the division of the Arab Quarter from Jerusalem, nor Jerusalem from Israel, just as no democratic impulse can support the creation of another bigoted, anti-democratic, anti-Israeli, Arab State. Any such policy held and put forth against Israel, be it a long-standing policy or a new policy, must needs be oxymoronic in the eyes of Lady Liberty.

THE INHERENT EGOTISM OF VP BIDEN AND AMERICAN POLICY TOWARDS ISRAEL:

PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY THEY HANDLE SURPRISES.

People are responsible for their own actions and reactions. This is especially true of public figures, and is crucial to diplomats.

VP Biden's reaction in Israel was personal, when and where it was most important that he react intelligently, thoughtfully, and not personally.

Israel's announcement, that it would proceed with the planning and construction of 1600 new housing units in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem, could have been responded to very differently.

Imagine, if instead of interpreting the announcement quite publicly as an insult, VP Biden had instead said something like, "No doubt the Arabs aren't happy about this, and this will be one more axe to grind on the negotiating table; nevertheless, I'm here in Israel today on behalf of President Obama to urge re-engagement of peace talks between Israel and the Arabs. That is what I am here to do, that is what I shall proceed to do to the best of my abilities, and I urge Israel, the Arabs, and the media to focus on peace talks. And, speaking of peace talks, the unconditional release of Gilad Shalit might go a long way towards getting those peace talks started."

Instead VP Biden's thoughtless reaction placed the entire US Administration into the role of choir, as President, Secretary of State, et al could do nothing but publicly repeat the same judgement. There is even talk that General Petraeus wants to police "the occupied territories".

It might help mitigate some of the "bull in the china shop" mentality of American policy towards Israel, if the USA would discipline itself to avoid loaded propaganda terms, such as "settlers' or "illegally occupied Arab territory", when speaking about Jews building homes in their homeland, even if that territory is still a matter of legal, political, and military dispute.

ISRAEL ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 1600 NEW HOUSING UNITS IN EAST JERUSALEM...

...PRESUMABLY FOR JEWS TO LIVE IN.

The timing of this announcement has been questioned due to the visit of American Vice-President Biden. Biden stated that Israel and the USA are friends and that sometimes one friend must tell the other the truth. His words could not be more true, although I doubt he meant it the way I heard it. Surely he meant that in condemning this announcement as an insult due to it's proximity to his attempts to kick-start "peace" talks, he meant that he was condemning Israel as a friend of Israel (there should be a T-shirt sporting a cartoon of Biden: body of an ox, head of Biden, with his hoof in his mouth, captioned "OXYMORON"). Israel spoke the truth to it's American friend, that Jews have the right to live in Israel and build Jewish life there, including in East Jerusalem, which ought never be divided away from Jerusalem, certainly not as Capital nor Latipac* of another Islamic State, may such a State never come into existence!

Of course cynicism dictates the possibility that these housing units may be turned over to the Arabs. If the entire city of Jerusalem remains the united capital of Israel, well -- why not? Just let these Arabs make true peace with Israel!

This Shabbath marks day 1360 of captivity for Gilad Shalit. May he be freed in time for Shabbath!

____________________________________________
*Latipac" -- "Capital" spelled backwards, yo!

THE BLOOD SPILLED IS ALL TOO REAL; THE WORLD CONVERSATION IS A MISFORTUNATE MYTHOLOGY.

ARAB PALESTINIANS ARE NOT MYTHICAL BEINGS, NEITHER ARE JEWISH PALESTINIANS MYTHICAL BEINGS; WHAT IS CRUEL AND USELESS IS THE HATRED AND PROPAGANDA SPEWED FORTH BY BOTH ARABS AND JEWS, WHO AT VARIOUS TIMES IN HISTORY HAVE EXPERIENCED SHARED OCCUPATION BY FOREIGN POWERS, MOST RECENTLY BY EUROPEAN POWERS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

The world should express sadness and compassion at all loss of life. At the same time, the world should not be blind to the differences of language and culture behind the Arab-Israeli Conflict, nor to the reality that, if perhaps a third of the Arabs currently living within Israeli controlled boundaries prefer the life and protections of a democratic modern Israel, the other two-thirds are indifferent or hateful of Israel and represent a Fifth Column that Israel cannot tolerate and that the world should not require Israel to tolerate.

The world should carry the ball in seeing to an enforced and well-paid resettlement of that Fifth Column. The sooner the world ceases to worship the "false idol" of the idea of a "State of Palestine", then the sooner the killing can stop and peace be realized.

There is no need to bribe or leverage either side or both sides with money or the withholding of money. There is only need to see the realities of past and modern history, which suggest the solution. Proper boundaries and resettlement of the FIfth Column will make for sounder nations able to sustain investments and to engage in mutually beneficial trade and tourism.

Let us stop using degrading language that clouds conversation and incorrectly defines who is who and what is what. The myth of a State of Palestine does not make the millions of Arab Palestinians mythical beings any more than it makes the millions of Jewish Palestinians mythical beings. Every drop of blood that is spilled is real blood, not mythical blood; only the conversation is mythical, for it does not correspond to reality.

Even as I write this, most of the world is programmed to believe that by definition a Palestinian is not Jewish and that Israeli Arabs are oppressed Palestinians; therefore, most of the world may have to read comments such as mine over and over until it sinks in that the term "Palestinian" applies equally to Arabs and Jews -- including exiled Jews living in the Diaspora for two or more thousand years -- and that a "State of Palestine" would deny Jews a secure homeland and at the same time would deny Arabs entry into their natural homelands.

Similarly, the mythical "West Bank" is a European invention of territorial naming; the proper designations for that territory are Judea and Samaria, part and parcel of historical Israel, the singular tiny national homeland of Jews. For every reason the world must support Israel to be whole again as one undivided State; so, too, the world can support the Arab right to return to the many existing States that are their historical homelands.

PRESIDENT BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA CAN STAND UP AND SET HISTORICAL PRECEDENT WITH THE NAME HIS FATHER GAVE HIM.

FIRST, CORRECT THE LEXICON IN THE CONTEXT OF WHICH THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT IS DISCUSSED; THEN, REALITY MAY HAVE SOME CORRESPONDENCE TO THE TERMS OF DISCUSSION. BOTH JEWS AND ARABS ARE PALESTINIAN. IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG TO EXCLUDE JEWS FROM THE PALESTINIAN IDENTITY. SIMILARLY IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG TO DEFINE THE CONFLICT AS AN “ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN” CONFLICT, WHEN IN FACT IT IS AN “ARAB-ISRAELI” CONFLICT.

Once the terms are properly defined, once the distortion of incorrect ‘prescription glasses’ is removed, the reality of the conflict may come into focus. That reality has far greater implications than the world conversation has embraced in the past several decades. Ever since the decisive wars of 1967 and 1973, the world has believed that the scale of the Arab-Israli Conflict no longer ranged outside Israeli controlled borders and that therefore a final peace with the local Arab population could only be a few moments away. The world chose to call the Arabs within Israeli controlled borders “Palestinian”.

“Palestinian” is a term given by the Ancient Roman occupation of the middle east to all the inhabitants of that geography — Israeli, Arab, and everyone else. The British and French and Germans (Modern Romans) applied this Roman lexicon to the middle east, when in modern times they themselves occupied these lands and subjugated these middle eastern Peoples. There never existed a People or a State called “Palestine” except as a subjugated territorial entity of the Romans and the Modern Romans. [Today's Arabs from that geographical area are not identifiable with the "Philistines", although it has been a convenient myth with which the Arabs and Jew-haters propagandize in order to falsely claim an historical claim to Gaza.]

Jews have lived in Israel/Palestine dating back to the times of ancient Egypt. There has been continuous Jewish life in Israel/Palestine throughout history, even during the most decimating occupations by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, Modern Romans….

The vast majority of Arabs are Muslims, not Christians, and if at street level most people are not motivated by militancy, there are two powerful minorities that are married to militancy. These are the Jihadists, who wage their terrorist utopian Holy Wars; and then there are the Governments of the many Islamic nation-states, who rule by terror and by diversion of attention away from their own repressions by scapegoating Jews and the West; too often they find common cause with the Jihadists.

Israel has no peace with the Arab population within Israeli controlled borders because the Arab Governments don’t want peace with Israel and to this day refuse to make peace with Israel, the well-paid semi-exceptions being Egypt and Jordan. When the world at large understands that the Arab-Israeli Conflict is like a giant iceberg, and that the localized violence that is visible in Israel is visible in the same way that the tip of an iceberg is visible, perhaps then the world can become constructive in the seeking of real solutions. Denial just means ’shipwreck after shipwreck’ and a steady rise in ‘maintenance and insurance costs’.
If President Obama has the courage to stand up to reality, and not just be team leader in a never ending Washington game of “Capture The Flag”, he may make the most of the name his father gave him, declare himself to be the first American Muslim to be President of the USA, and establish a worldwide Muslim precedent demanding worldwide recognition of the State of Israel inclusive of Judea-Samaria (commonly referred to as the “West Bank”); he should suggest the creation of a world fund to support the voluntary emigration and resettlement from Israel of all willing Arab residents living within Israeli controlled borders, who cannot stomach the idea of living in a Jewish State, to the nations of their choice.

More than 1500 years of Muslim expansion in the world has created no shortage of possible destination homes for the Arabs today living within Israeli controlled borders; by nation of origin they may be identified in fact as mostly Egyptian, Saudi, Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian, and Turkish.

All should remember not only the decimations of Hitler; Hitler had many allies including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and a Muslim world that raped, murdered, and exiled Jews all the way from Afghanistan to Africa and from Russia to Iran. Israel remembers, and yet despite this history 20% of Israel’s voting citizens today are Arabs…. At what point must Israel’s idealism gove way to Israel’s survival needs as a tiny ‘island’ Jewish State in a vast ’sea’ of Muslim States?

President Barak Hussein Obama can make a profound difference and set positive democratic precedents in the solution of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Israel is already a democracy with two-million Arab citizens. This reality can be preserved and can be a precedent towards liberalization of Arab States to become inclusive and tolerant of non-Muslims. Anything less is a profoundly anti-Israeli, anti-democratic double standard that the world must reject on principle.

PURIM, PESACH, PEACE -- AND 1347 CAPTIVE DAYS FOR GILAD SHALIT, STILL COUNTING ....

SO TODAY THE UNITED NATIONS IS ABUZZ, that the United Arab Emirates Summit is encouraging resumed "Peace Talks" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- at the behest of George Michel, former American Senator (of Arab-American extraction) and international negotiator, famous for the present relative peace in Ireland [that he worked out during the Clinton presidential administration]. So the Arabs have tossed President Barak Hussein Obama either a fig leaf or a Trojan Horse.

A four-month window has been set for these talks to take place and yield results. Meanwhile Hamas and Fatah have still not come together even on terms for a "reasonable and speedy" release of Gilad Shalit. In four months will we see real movement toward peace or more preparation for another hot summer Intifada?

It is said that Purim, which was celebrated this past weekend, is a Jewish holiday pregnant with hidden miracles. Purim celebrates survival in the face of imminent annihilation dating to the captivity of Israel in Persia. In that sense it is related to Pesach, which is only a few weeks away now, when Israel "re-enacts" it's creation as a nation, remembering the many miracles composing the larger miracle of escape from Egypt more than three-thousand odd years ago.

Gilad Shalit's captivity is symbolic of Israel's history of captivity and struggles for freedom.

As of today Gilad Shalit has been held captive for 1347 days! For one man, such captivity for one day is like a year....

May Gilad Shalit's release be granted unilaterally and unconditionally by his captors before Pesach!

SHABBATH, TU B'SHEVAT, AND THE NO. 1314

Q: WHAT DO SHABBATH, TU B'SHEVAT, AND THE NUMBER 1314 HAVE IN COMMON?
A: GILAD SHALIT HAS BEEN HELD CAPTIVE APPROXIMATELY THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS,
OR, MORE PRECISELY, THIRTEEN HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN DAYS THIS SHABBAT, WHICH
THIS YEAR IS ALSO TU B'SHEVAT (TU B'SHEVAT IS THE "NEW YEAR FOR TREES IN ISRAEL",
WHEN THE SAP IS SAID TO BEGIN TO FLOW ONCE AGAIN THROUGH THE TREES OF ISRAEL).

LET US HOPE AND PRAY, THAT THE RECENT NEWS STORY FROM EGYPT, THAT TALKS ARE
RESUMING AIMED AT FREEING GILAD SHALIT, IS WORTH MORE THAN THE PAPER IT IS
PRINTED ON. LET US HOPE THAT, AS THAT NEWS STATES, THAT GILAD SHALIT IS BEING
TREATED ACCORDING TO THE GENEVA CONVENTION [OR EVEN BETTER]. LET US HOPE
THAT BETWEEN NOW AND PURIM, GILAD SHALIT IS RETURNED SAFELY TO ISRAEL!