Sunday, December 29, 2013

Lebanon Shooting Rockets into Northern Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                   

Sunday morning, which is a good 10 hours ahead of USA time, was the time when Lebanon terrorists shot 2 rockets almost reaching Kiryat Shimona that landed west of this town housing a department store similar to the USA's Macy's.  When I lived in Safed from 1980-1985, we would drive up there which is quite close to the Lebanon border to shop. This town had been hit many times.  It had been attacked by rockets so many times  that our friend from the Teacher's Program, who had gone there to visit, wound up stuck in a bomb shelter for about a week and was unable to leave during that time.  Many Westerners live in Kiryat Shimona.

Now this morning by Israel time, 5 rockets were shot at Israel from this northern state of Lebanon and one landed in Israel.  Usually all the attacks have been coming from Gaza into southern Israel.  It is a sad thing to see this starting up from Lebanon once again.

Israel retaliated as warned the same day.

Resource: https://www.facebook.com/Middle.East.Insights

Thursday, December 26, 2013

December 25th 2013 in Southern Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        
Christmas Day was remembered by Gaza's Hamas terrorists who fired a rocket towards southern Israel, but protection from above made sure it would drop within Gaza, which it did, harming no one.

It isn't that the terrorists are tired of terrorizing.  It's well known that their activities of late have been to look for longer range missiles for the next go-around.  They're stockpiling more advanced missiles.  

This means that Israel has to be prepared for ways to protect themselves as well.  Having the Iron Dome ready is one way.  

This latest shot evidently was their way of saying some sort of response to Israel's response to their previous attack of killing an Israeli who was repairing the fence after a storm and was shot by a terrorist sniper.  The Israeli was on Israel's side of the fence.  They knew what he was doing.  He was just an available target.

Resource: Arutz Sheva by Maayana Miskin

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Latest Terrorist Attacks in Israel

Nadene Goldfoot

Israel has warned the Gazans that it will not stand by and allow Israelis to be shot from Gaza without reprisal.  On Tuesday a civilian, a Bedouin Israeli,  was shot and killed near the Gaza border fence by sniper fire.

The IAF retaliated by hitting a base west of Khan Younis.  As Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, "This is an extremely serious incident and we will not stand idly by.  Our policy up until now has been to thwart and retaliate with force.  That's what they are doing.

The Defense Minister in Israel said, "If there is no peace in Israel, there will be no peace in Gaza.

"The Palestinian Authority continues to instigate against the State of Israel and its citizens and is not encouraging a culture of peace, so Israel feels that they are forced to deal with terror attacks."  mentioned Ya'alon.   It's an intolerable situation for Israel who has had to deal with attacks in southern Israel since 2001.  The people in Gaza, the Hamas terrorists,  have not accepted any thoughts of peace and it's high time they did.

Such action from Gaza encourages other acts of violence in Israel.  On Sunday a bus driver near Tel Aviv was alerted by a passenger that a large black knapsack was sitting in the bus unattended.  The passenger opened it to find  a bomb in it whereupon the driver had the passengers disembark from the bus.  A sapper attempted to defuse the bomb then but it blew up.  A policeman was slightly injured in the blast.  This was a terrorist act.

Another 41 year old police officer on the security force was stabbed literally in the back by a long knife wielding Palestinian as a terrorist attack in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Adam.  The attacker fled to a nearby Palestinian neighborhood.  This happened the day after the bus attack.

And so, the state of Israel on this 24th of December must always be aware, at least in this era, of attacks on its population that can come at any time so long as the Arabs are withholding any measure of peace for all men  and no good will towards any Israeli.

Resource:  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4469142,00.html
UPdate 12/25/13 http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-man-severely-wounded-by-sniper-fire-from-gaza/
UPdate 12/25/13http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4469142,00.html
UPdate 12/25/13http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/12/24/israeli-worker-shot-and-killed-by-gaza-sniper-update/

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense's One Year Anniversary Against Hamas

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                        

It was just one year ago that Israel had said ENOUGH and after being hit by rockets, mortars and missiles from Gaza since 2001, finally went into Gaza  in an offensive land operation to put an end to the shooting with Operation Pillar of Defense that lasted for 8 days.

It was recalled by both Hamas and other affiliated terrorists in Gaza and in Israel.  Cities like Sderot and Ashkelon were favorite sites hit in Israel.  Where Sderot is very close to the border, Ashkelon is a large major city to the north of Gaza along the sea where a large hospital is that serves both Arab Gazans and Israelis inside a large perimeter.  The strikes have caused the hospital to go to the basement levels in order to take care of their patients.  What seems to be an insane goal to me, the Arabs keep aiming for the city that provides them life when they themselves are injured.

Saturday afternoon during Shabbat, southern Israel was greeted by 3 rockets shot at them from Gaza.  They landed in an open field in Gaza!  The platform they were shot from must have been further back to not make it over the border into Sderot or some other Israeli site.

That was the climax of a week of rockets that were fired.  Last week one rocket again fell short of the border of Ashkelon from Gaza. First the warning siren blared.   The population were driven to take cover in bomb shelters.  The rocket fell just a little way from the border but landed on the Gazan side.

Last Tuesday, a Palestinian Arab managed to get into Israel from Gaza and was caught by the Israeli security forces.  He didn't come over as an immigrant wanting a better life, though.  He had grenades in his pockets.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented that there have been only 35 incidents of rocket fire since then, so this showed a 98% drop of rocket fire since last year's operation.

Will Kerry be successful in bringing about peace between the Palestinians and Israel?  He's dealing with Abbas from Fatah right now.  They have no connection with Gaza, the section that Israel left, lock, stock and barrel in the name of peace that has turned into a launching pad of rockets, mortars and missiles against them.

Hamas's charter shows no sign of ever making peace.   The charter is a 30 page document and as long as it remains their guiding dogma for Hamas or the Palestinian people in mass, the dream of peace remains impossible.  Land is elemental in this problem.  It is religion that is guiding the Palestinian Arabs.  From the Hamas Covenant, we read that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."  (said by The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory.)  The name "Hamas" means  strength and bravery according to Al-Mua'jam al-Wasit: c1.  They write, "Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.  It needs all sincere efforts."

That religion is the driving force, from article 6 in their charter, says, "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.  The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.  Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).

I have asked several Muslims about this section often quoted by Westerners who have studied the Koran and it has been explained to me in a very confusing way that either it's not there or its meaning is different and must be studied from another one of Islam's writings.  I get the feeling that it is not interpreted correctly but is often used by less educated Muslims to be the banner for their land fight against Jews in the Middle East.  However, when Muslims of little education read it, it is a very blatant statement and sounds like a dictum to be very aggressive against Jews and to do them harm.

Therefore I see in article 13  that there is no solution in Palestinian thinking  about the  Palestinian question  of a 2 state solution except through Jihad.  Initiative, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.  Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences  are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Article 32 threatens Muslims that today Jews are taking Palestine and tomorrow it will be one country or another and that the Zionist plan is limitless.  They warn that the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates, and then want to take more land.

I find this laughable because our problem is keeping Israel with a majority of Jews to keep it a Jewish state.  The last thing we need is again to live among the world as we have been, a minority without any rights of our own as has already happened in the past.  It is the Muslims who have been expansionists, forcing everyone to convert to Islam and taking their land and holy sites.  So what they really are fearing is that Jews will suddenly act like they have with the same kinds of goals.  Once they realize we are not about to ape their behaviors, perhaps they will accept us.  Hamas must be educated with some of these more enlightening and realistic ideas to solve this world problem.

 Has John Kerry, Secretary of State of the USA, found out if Hamas has changed its charter yet?  How about Fatah?  Why should Israel make peace with one who is under the spell of the other and will cooperate with fighting against Israel?  Shouldn't that twosome be worked on by the USA first before even thinking of creating another state?  Could they be thinking that this will give Fatah power over Hamas?

Resource:  http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-fire-three-rockets-at-israel/
Excerpts from the Hamas Charter, produced by StandWithUs.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/police-find-third-body-on-ashkelon-beach/

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

What? Me Worry About the Iranian Deal? Yes, Worry and Also Worry About North Korea!

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                          

People all over the world are suffering from anxiety about the nuclear agreement between the major large countries and Iran and wonder why it should be supported.  They are also worried about the start of a never-ending world war because of it.  It doesn't help that biblical prophesy has pointed out the end of the world at this time.  Atomic weapons only encourage this type of thinking.

So far, nothing has been signed.  There's just been a lot of talk.  When will it take effect?  Right now Iran isn't stopping anything.  The machinery is still doing its job.  Sanctions are being lifted anyway. Iran is receiving its bonus money of $7 billion dollars in sanction relief.   Countries are chomping at the bit to do business with Iran.  The deal was to be for this 6 month period only, and then final matters would be settled upon.

The final deal is a "huge concession and it says that it will involve a mutually defined enrichment program with mutually agreed parameters."  Enrichment only means to have the capability of making a bomb.  It is centered on the fuel cycle.  Iran has made no promise to stop working on ballistic missiles or weapons.  The nuclear program has 3 parts:  the fuel is one of them.  Then there is the warhead and the delivery system.  During these next 6 months they can do whatever it wants to work on like these last 2 items.

They are very close to reaching the nuclear threshold now.  Remember the line Netanyahu showed at the UN Conference that was televised?  They are only about 1 or 2 months away from this goal.  Mohamamad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister said that when sanctions started Iran had less than 200 centrifuges.  Today they have 18,800 that have been added, so sanctions did not stop them.

The only thing sanctions seemed to do was to bring Iran to the negotiation table in Geneva and get some publicity.  Obama thought they were "crippling sanctions:, but that turns out to be a lie.  This is why Netanyahu has made the Iran situation his number one priority.  Amos Yadlin, Israeli expert said that Iran is on the verge of producing a bomb.   So the window of opportunity of stopping them is now closed.  The country most likely to be hit by Iran is Israel.  The statement of Obama's about having Israel's back seems to fade into the sunset.   Second in line would be USA targets nearby.  What is left to do other than worry?

The USA has also allowed North Korea to gain atomic capabilities and that is also a country with an evil empire.  The USA entered into the Korean War from 1950-1953.  Previously in August 1945, it had used the new atomic discovery, THE A BOMB on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to bring the war to an end  The USA had nuclear weapons stored in South Korea, and now they have their own.  North Korea, the enemy in this war, just celebrated on July 27, 2013 the Armistice Day of this war between their North and South.  They continue to be an unstable government now ruled by the spoiled son, Kim Jong-un b: 1983, whose father was Kim Jong-il  who is following in his father's footsteps but is even more cruel and hard to figure out.   Kim just ousted his own uncle from his government position.  "Tensions between North and South Korea soared this year as Pyongyang reacted angrily to tightened United Nations sanctions imposed in response to its latest nuclear test.   The two sides are still technically at war after the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a mere truce, not a treaty.  North Korea has been helping Iran with their atomic goals for the past 10 years.  

This Iranian Deal  does not give us any indication that it will impede Iran's capabilities to manufacture the A bomb.  Instead, Israel may have to decide on military action in order to prevent being hit by an A bomb since Iran has been so obvious about their intentions to destroy this tiny country.  The possibility that the deal could lead to de-nuclearization is extremely remote, especially now that sanctions have been lifted.  It was the sanctions that drove them to the table in the first place and sanctions might have ended their desire to kill off a whole country as not being worth the trouble.  But now, it's probably full steam ahead for the next 6 months, and then the haggling, of which Iran is a master of, will begin.  June will be another worrisome month.                                                                    
                                                                      
Maybe Iran and North Korea are singing this song, now, from St. Vincent Lyrics
"C'est la vie
What me worry?  I never do
Life is one charming ruse for us lucky few."

Or perhaps the big 5 and Kerry will be singing this stanza in 6 months, 
Have I fooled you, dear? 
The time is coming near when I'll give you my hand and I'll say, 
"It's been grand, but...I'm out of here
I'm out of here." 

Resource: Blomberg's 6 Reasons to Worry about the Iranian Nuclear Dear by Jeffrey Goldberg, Dec 3, 2013
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-threat-of-nuclear-war-north-korea-or-the-united-states/5343793
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/12/world/asia/north-korea-questions.html?_r=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-un
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/03/world/north-korea-upheaval/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-24/iran-to-reap-7-billion-in-sanctions-relief-under-accord.html
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stvincent/whatmeworry.html

Monday, December 02, 2013

Golan Heights Hit by Mortar Shell


Nadene Goldfoot                                              
The Druze village of Majdal Shams, lying in the southern foothills of Mt Hermon  in the northern Golan Heights,  was hit by a mortar shell.  It seems to have come from the fighting in Syria and was launched from the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.  It's under Israeli civil law and has been a part of Israel since 1967.  It had been a part of Syria before this and was the place of attacks on Israel.  Druze had settled here in the early 1700's.

The Golan Heights' altitude is 9,232' on Mt. Hermon in the north and goes down to 1,300' along the plateau of the Heights.  The reason it is so important to Israel is that the enemy was above them and could easily pick them off.  Now they have had it since 1967 and are much safer for it.  Mt. Hermon is so high that people ski there in the wintertime.  By comparison to Mt. Hood in Portland , Oregon's area, that mountain is 11,235' high and is a popular ski resort.

No one was injured nor was there any damage from this mortar.

Resource:  http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/syrian-mortar-hits-majdal-shams/2013/12/02/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood#Elevation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majdal_Shams

Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/syrian-mortar-hits-majdal-shams/2013/12/02/