Israeli soldier entertains Palestinian kids at the border. Who says soldiers aren’t humane?

May 14 is being celebrated in Israel’s capital as the 40th anniversary of a united Jerusalem. A united Jerusalem – what does that really mean? For some, especially Israel’s Arab enemies, it still means Al Nakba or ‘The Catastrophe’, as they consider this fact to be detrimental to Arab pride as they claim part of the city to be occupied Arab land.

For Jews, especially religious Jews, a unified Jerusalem is the fulfillment of a dream that was only that, a dream, for 18 years, from 1948 until June 7, 1967. It means being able to travel in virtually all parts of the city including the Old City; and the ability to pray once again at the Kotel or Western Wall, the last remnant of the Second Temple. Going to ‘The Wall’ on the Jewish Sabbath is an experience in itself; and many Jewish families come from abroad to celebrate Bar Mitzvah ceremonies in front of this ancient landmark.

For Christians, to be able to pray in their holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulture in complete freedom is a great asset, and many Christians are grateful for this fact. For a united Jerusalem is to their advantage as well.

For Muslims, Israeli governments from the outset have given them formal control over the Temple Mount, known in Arabic as Karim al Shariff . For Jerusalem, or Al Quds (The Holy), is Islam’s third holiest city. Muslims living in the city enjoy full residency status, and many are also Israeli citizens. Despite everything said by Muslims living outside of Jerusalem, they have more freedoms in a united Jerusalem than any minority groups have in nearly all Muslim and Arab capitals, including Cairo Egypt and Amman Jordan.

So why all the controversy regarding the status of this city; and why do so many Arabs want to see the city divided once again, as well as the eviction of all non-Muslims? It is simply because they want to possess the entire Land of Israel including the Holy City of Jerusalem. This will never happen as long as Israel is strong and the Jewish people are strong.

Meanwhile, all that can be hoped for is the realization of the prophecy written in the Book of Isaiah: “For out of Zion shall come forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”.

And that simply says it all.

President Carter has been called a bigot and anti-Semite for writing the book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” Former General Wesley Clark has also been accused for anti-Semitism for saying that the U.S. is being pushed to war by “New York Money People.” The show host wonders if anyone can criticize Israel without the backlash.

Liberal Rabbi Michael Lerner debates Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz about the issue. Dershowitz said “I criticize Israel all the time” and said criticism of Israel is “good.”

Does speaking out against Israel really make you anti-semitic? Where is the fine line?

For those who may not be aware, Abie Nathan recently celebrated 80th birthday. Being one of the many people in Israel who enjoyed listening to Abie’s Voice of Peace radio station: “that’s right, 1540 on your FM dial”, I was thoroughly pleased to listen to the birthday tribute made to him today by the DJ’s and staff of a local station, 100 FM who recreated the Voice of Peace today, May 12, in commemoration of this wonderful human being who has given so much of himself in the cause of peace and humanity.

In a previous article I posted a short while back, it was written that Abie’s main wish for this day was to be given the means to end his suffering; i.e. to take his own life. In his present condition, Abie Nathan feels that he has been forgotten by the very humanity he tried so much to help. It’s not just his poor state of health that depresses him now – it’s how both Israel and the rest of the world seem to have swept both him and his dreams under the rug of history. With all that is going on in this world of ours today, especially during the past 7 years, I for one wonder what Abie Nathan would have done to help alleviate the suffering of people in so many disasters, natural and man-made, which have occurred around the planet. I can only speculate, but here are some of my ideas as to how Abie would have reacted to the following events:

1. 9-11: Abie would have certainly gone to New York City and stayed there at least a few weeks assisting in the search for victims of the World Trade Center attack, and to do what he could to help the survivors and next of kin of those who perished. He would have done this despite the backgrounds of those who became innocent victims of terror.

2. The tsunami tidal waves in Southern Asia, in December, 2004: Judging on past natural tragedies in which Abie was involved, he would have organized a large shipment of medical and other humanitarian supplies to assist the survivors of this mega catastrophe that killed nearly a quarter million human beings. One would have surely seen him in the middle of some of the worst hit areas, passing out candy and other items to children to put a smile on their stunned faces. It wouldn’t have mattered if it were in Indonesia, Thailand, India, or Sri Lanka, Abie would have gone to where he was needed.

3. Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005: Abie would have been right there on the spot to assist in the rescue of people trapped in flooded buildings in New Orleans and other areas. He also would have organized relief supplies and temporary shelter to people on the stricken Gulf Coast – many of whom who were from poorer backgrounds and not given aid fast enough during the first crucial days following the category 5 mega-storm.

4. Lebanon and Israel, July-August, 2006. Abie would have reacted immediately to the tragedy of this conflict, and if allowed would have surely aided the Lebanese as well as his own countrymen who suffered from this short but terrible war. Abie Nathan’s philosophy was to help anyone who was in need of assistance; and he would have done all he could to help those who were suffering on either side of the Israeli-Lebanese border. As it turned out, private individuals and organizations reacted much quicker than government ones; a situation still being talked about to this day.

5. Darfur in the Sudan: This conflict, now being referred to as the new holocaust of the 21st Century, would not be strange to a man like Abie Nathan as he often went to conflict torn regions, including the Congo, Ethiopia, and other places where man’s inhumanity to Man is reaching a scale of shocking proportions. Though not yet on the scale of the horrors of the Rwandan tribal massacres of the early 1990’s, what is presently happening to the inhabitants of this unfortunate region needs much more attention that what is being given by the rest of humanity. In fact, Abie suffered his first stroke while on a similar mission in Africa in 1995. Tragedies such as these only show how big Abie Nathan’s heart was in regards to helping to relieve human suffering.

While these are only a few examples of crises areas where Abie Nathan would have given his able assistance, they indicate what he would have done if given the opportunity. In the realm of promoting peace, Abie Nathan had his few moments of glory in which he could reap the personal satisfaction of helping to make it all come about – one of these being in the aftermath of the 1978 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The ink was barely dry on the document signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin, when Abie broadcasted a VOP program from a night club in the center of Cairo. It’s too bad that he won’t have the opportunity to do this again from a similar location in the center of Beirut or Damascus.

Abie Natthan may be old, sick, and infirm; but he is certainly not forgotten. Not by many of us who still pray for the day when peace and understanding will finally come not only to Israel and her neighbors, but in many other parts of our world as well.

Happy birthday, Abie, and many, many happy returns!

I am amazed, over and over again, at the mysterious ways in which the universe works. We have been so busy ignoring the endless signs around us, that finally the universe chooses to whack us on the head and spell it out for us. Amazing!

But before we give up hope, and we have all been to that place of despair and frustration at one point, we need to come to the important understanding that the timing of all this ISN’T by chance. Every past historical reference, from the Mayan Calendar to the Jewish Calendar, from past prophets to the Bible itself, has foreseen these stirring of cosmic events at exactly these times. There is a shift taking place and we have all noticed it. This is our wake up call. We have come to a crossroad and we need to make a choice. Not later. Not someday. Now.

Throughout the month of May, millions of people from all around the world will be gathering together through endless events, communities and mass meditations to make the RIGHT choice collectively. And I am proud to say that our holy ciity of Jerusalem is doing her part in this unfathomable transition on Monday, May 21, 2007:

5,000 people from around the country and abroad are needed holding hands to surround the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in a unified embrace.

We call upon lovers of Jerusalem of all walks of life, of all religions, from all areas of the world and of course all of Israel, Palestine and Jerusalem.

The purpose of this event is to unite diverse people though our common denominator, our Love for the holy city Jerusalem. This act is both simple and meaningful, offering the potential to redefine our relationship with each other and create new realities.

So why May 21st? Why Jerusalem? Well, you can click here to learn more about the structure and significance of this special event. The bottom line is, if you are part of the rapidly growing population that senses this shift happening all around us, it is our responsibility to do something about it. May we all make the right choice.

Photo: Gil Yochana Ynet.co.il

Despite attempts by embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to remain in office, a mass rally scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday night may decide the fate of the man who has been shouldered with much of the blame for Israel’s failures in last summer’s Lebanon II war. The event, at Kikar Rabin in Tel Aviv, is expected to be attended by more than 100,000, including a number of well known media and entertainment personalities as well as yet-to-be-named politicians. Seemingly hemmed in on all sides by a number of protest groups, including striking university students (pictured) Olmert’s political future seems in jeopardy as a majority of the Israel public feel that he has failed in his position as head of government and should therefore resign his post.

It’s not the first time that Israeli political leaders have resigned following wars and other trying events in which their leadership was questioned. David Ben Gurion resigned his prime minister’s post at least twice; and both Golda Meir and Menacham Begin resigned after receiving public castigation following the Yom Kippur and Lebanon I war. In the case of Olmert, however, he refuses to leave his ‘watch’ despite the devastating findings of the recently released Winograd Report. The same also holds true for Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who also is trying to stay put despite an even higher “vote’ on behalf of the Israeli public.

What remains to be seen is what will happen after the dust settles following tonight’s rally, where such ‘well-knowns’ as Aviv Gefen, Gilad Sagev and Nimrod Lev. Interest groups such as the Movement for Quality Government, Organization of Northern Border Communities, as well as a large contingent of army reservists who found themselves thrown into the heat of battle with virtually no preparation, and little or no food and water. “We want the P.M. to know just how we feel concerning what happened to us in Labanon” one angry reservist was quoted as saying. It’s questionable if any members of the Prime Minister’s cabinet will make an appearance, but for sure, many of the opposition Knesset members may show up for this event which may draw as many as 200,000.

As for both Olmert and Amir Peretz, they will probably not like what they see and hear should they both watch the spectacle on T.V. Judging from Olmert’s appearance at a ceremony to inaugurate the new National Police Commissioner, Dudi Cohen, Olmert’s already tired and drawn face may become even more pathetic on the “morning after”.
All the signs and banners telling both Olmert and Peretz to go home, will remain in the minds of many, especially the ones for whom the ‘party’ is being held.

He sits alone in a wheel chair in one of metropolitan Tel Aviv’s many “parent’s houses”, otherwise known to Westerners as nursing homes. The man, Abie Nathan, who formerly dedicated his life to promoting peace between Israel and her neighbors as well as helping to alleviate the suffering of fellow human beings the world over, recently “celebrated” his 80th birthday as a sick and crippled pensioner. His main wish, as sadly noted in a feature article in last Friday’s Yidiot Ahronot newspaper: to be provided with a pistol in order to end his personal suffering.

How could his have happened to a man, a former IAF and El Al pilot and Tel Aviv restaurant owner, whose AM/FM radio station broadcasted daily for so many years from “somewhere in the Mediterranean”, and whose good deeds became known by many unfortunate and disaster stricken people who had long given up hope – until he entered their lives? Abie Nathan was simply a very unique human being during the years that he invested so much of himself and his limited resources into trying to make the world a better place. These efforts were especially prevalent during the 1970’s and 80’s when his Peace Ship sat anchored less than a mile offshore Israel’s largest city, and whose bright and breezy radio broadcasts brought not only the latest pop tunes to his adoring listeners, but messages of hope, peace, and reconciliation to everyone in the eastern Mediterranean: From Greece to Egypt.

Abie could have made a sizable profit from the advertising revenues he received, as well as various donations to his various causes. Instead, he spent his entire revenues not only to promote his message of peace, but to provide food, medicines and other assistance to people as far away as Biafra Africa, Mexico and Nicaragua, whenever a natural or man-made disaster struck and caused so many to suffer. News clips of him walking among children, passing out toys, candy and other items to their smiling faces, often brought smiles to many. His philanthropic projects were in fact so numerous that it eventually bankrupted him and forced him to shut down his radio station and even scuttle the very ship where his crew had mostly been made up of young volunteers who often put in 16 hour days without any financial compensation.

Abie Nathan’s efforts to promote peace between his adopted country and her hostile neighbors often got him into trouble with various Israeli governments, who viewed his clandestine meetings with Palestinian and other Arab personalities as seditious and even traitorous; and prevented him from receiving any formal recognition from his own country. These rejections resulted in him being prevented from nomination for such prestigious awards as the Israel Prize, and that “jewel in the crown” that is awarded annually in the city of Oslo, Norway, the Nobel Prize.

For many people, particularly we “Anglos” who gave up the comforts of Western countries to settle in Israel, Abie’s daily broadcasts from the Peace Ship made our lives more tolerable and helped us to persevere in spite of being so far away from our former way of life. Whether it was listening to the latest rock and roll and other pop music hits, or to the VOP’s evening Twilight Time mellow renditions of earlier more tranquil years, Abie Nathan’s comforting voice was appreciated by all who listened to his message.

And now, near the end of his long life, Abie sits alone and dejected; a forgotten crusader for humanity, unable to function, and barely able to speak after two paralyzing strokes – his only wish now is to be able to die with what little dignity still remains still remains in his aged, frail body in a country that has passed him and his dreams by in this ‘brave new world’ of religious and secular extremism that is now threatening to engulf us all.

Is this a proper and fitting end for a man to whom so many owe so much, and whose tireless efforts are only now beginning to be appreciated? Surely someone in the world, especially in Israel, will finally decide to give this great man the long delayed recognition he deserves – and hopefully while he is still alive to receive it.

Wishing you all a happy 59th..
Moshik says hi

Wishing you all a happy 59th..
Moshik says hi

Less than three days before Israel’s 59th independence anniversary, we finally put some flags out on our balcony, courtesy of a local newspaper. In many neighborhoods there appears to be a marked absence of flags and banners that are usually hung out in the days preceding Israel’s annual national holiday; and from recent articles and news commentaries, this ‘phenomena’ seems to be a nation-wide reality.

More than eight months following the end of last summer’s war in Lebanon, and with an atmosphere rife with political controversy and scandal, it’s no wonder that fewer symbols of national pride are being displayed by a public that is becoming more and more disillusioned with what is transpiring – especially among the country’s leadership. To give you an idea about what has brought all of this on, a quick survey highlight the following problems that Israelis presently have to deal with:

1. The President of the State has been indicted for charges of rape and other forms of sexual misconduct.

2. The Prime Minister is under investigation for his handling of the war, as well as a number of financial dealings involving properties and other investments.

3. The Defense Minister, chosen for a position he was completely unqualified for, is under fire and many have called for his resignation.

4. The Finance Minister is now under increasing investigation for allegations of both Grand Theft and fraud, with “clarion calls” for his dismissal.

5. More and more Israelis, especially aged ones (particularly Holocaust survivors) are living under the poverty line and cannot even buy enough food to survive. This also includes one in every four Israeli children.

6. The three Israeli captive soldiers are still unaccounted for, and the present government appears unwilling or incapable of securing their release.

7. It was revealed this weekend that emigration (Yeridah) is now exceeding immigration (Aliyah) for the first time in over twenty years. And this is despite an increase in new immigrants (Olim) from France and other European countries.

Need one say more…..

It’s not the first time that following a major military conflict that feelings of dismay and lack of patriotism have been evident in the Jewish State. What makes this year’s phenomena even more striking however, are the other problems that go along with the aftermath of the Lebanon II war.

Israel’s growing economic affluence, for some, that is, largely brought on by the “get rich quick” attitudes inspired by the technological boom, has given many people the economic freedom and mobility that enables them to relocate their entire business venture by simply packing their ‘laptop’ into a suitcase and boarding an international flight to American cities like Boston or Santa Clara California. Zionistic calls to ’settle the land’ are becoming fewer and fewer, particularly following the mass disengagement from settlements in Gaza and planned ‘resettlements’ from large sections of the West Bank.

Though many of the ‘Yordim’ or emigrants are ones who came to Israel from Russia and other former Soviet Union republics, they as a whole are intelligent, highly educated people, whose skills are very much needed to ensure Israel’s technological edge over her adversaries. With countries like Iran on the verge of becoming nuclear powers, this ‘brain drain’ is even more critical, and could even be fatal in next few years.

We must therefore find ways to correct the many problems facing our country; and this can well begin with coming together as a nation and showing a bit more patriotism – even if it is only the placing of flags on our cars and on our balconies.

We don’t have another country.

To someone visiting Israel or even a new comer, these days must seem very strange. As someone who has lived here all his life though, having gone through the emotional rollercoaster every year, there is a certain balance to these two days.

Memorial Day started at 8:00 PM this evening with a siren that caught me on the way home (2 blocks from home actually), and like everyone else I stopped, got out of the car and stood in silence as the siren blared. These next 24 hours will have us dig deep. Today we get out all the old pictures and memories of the fallen. We dust them off and we take a good long look. We listen to the families who still have a gaping hole in their life. A hole that time will never fill. The stories are sad, heart wrenching, surprising and uplifting all at same time. We have a great deal of stories to tell today and they all need to be told. Since the beginning of Jewish settlements in Israel, over 22,305 lives have been lost in wars and acts of terror. 233 were killed this past year, 119 of them were soldiers killed in the Second Lebanon War.

Today you hear all sorts of stories. It makes you realize how detached we get when we are busy living our lives. I mean we feel the tinge, the pain, when we hear about a soldier killed on the news, but today we see how deep the wound is. Today we see the whole story we knew was there when we heard it on the radio.

The stories about the father’s premonition, who called the army’s Special Family Services and said he was worried about his son. At the same time his son Yaniv, was killed in Lebanon. He was told that evening when soldiers appeared at the door.

A story about a couple who at the age of 47 and 53 lose their 20 year old son and 12 months later have a third son. The fallen son was in an elite unit and was killed by friendly fire. His younger brother (18) now asked his parents for a permission letter to join a combat unit. They painfully agree.

The story of an Ethiopian boy who makes it to Israel, goes to a school on a Kibbutz and is filled with ambition to become a real Israeli. He joins the army, becomes a paratrooper and later a Lieutenant Colonel. When he falls he leaves behind a huge void for both family and community that sees him as the light of their life. A community center for Ethiopian children is dedicated to him now. His mother says she now feels she is an Israeli, not an immigrant.

There are so many stories and so many good people. Salt of the earth people: Russian immigrants, Ethiopian immigrants, religious, secular and all 100% Israelis.

Tomorrow night we will celebrate Independence Day. We will celebrate our 59 year old country. Celebrate living free in a country we more then earned.

Israel prepares to honor its war dead and those killed in acts of terror at Remembrance Day 2007, also known as Yom Hazikaron. Coming just months after last summer’s Lebanon II war, the people of Israel have those killed in this unfortunate episode to add to many others who have fallen in battle or were killed by acts of terror since the founding of the state. Also to be remembered are the three captured Israeli soldiers: Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser, and Gilad Shalit. Shalit was captured in late June when his patrol unit was attacked on the border with Gaza; Regev and Goldwasser were captured by the Hezbollah July 12 on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon - an act which sparked a war that ended more than a month later with more than 150 Israelis killed, including 38 civilians from 4,000 Katyusha rocket attacks.

Since the early 1980’s and the war known as Operation Peace for Galilee, or Lebanon I, a number of Israeli soldiers have been reported as either missing in action or captured. So far, none of these soldiers have returned alive, and many, including Air Force Flight Navigator Ron Arad, have been missing for years. It was only in the Yom Kippur War that some captured prisoners were returned alive, many after spending several months as prisoners in either Egyptian or Syrian jails or prison camps.

The reality of this past and recent scenario is that Israeli soldiers captured alive do not appear to have much likelihood of ever coming home again to their families; alive that is.

Recent optimism concerning a prisoner exchange with the Palestinians for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit seems to be constantly frustrated as demands made by the Hamas dominated Palestinian Authority for the inclusion of prisoners with “blood on their hands” are just not acceptable by Israel. In regards to the other two being held by the Hezbollah, their spiritual leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, knows how to play on the emotions of concerned relatives as they did several years back when the remains of three Israeli soldiers, and a reserve officer named Elhanan Tenenbaum, were exchanged for more than 1,000 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.

On Sunday night, April 22, Yom Hazikaron will begin in Israel with a special memorial ceremony at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. While special remembrance flames will be lit there, and at numerous ceremonies around the country, we must all pause to say a prayer for the three captive soldiers and hope that they will soon be released and back with their loving families.

That’s what Yom Hazikaron is all about: not just to memorialize the dead, but to pray for the living as well.

Every year, soon after the end of the Passover Holidays, Jews all over the world, and especially in the State of Israel, observe a day of remembering for one of the worst periods in the history of the Jewish People.

Known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah in Hebrew, all normal activities are altered and in Israel, places of entertainment, including restaurants, theatres and like are closed. Programs dealing with this subject are conducted in Synagogues, community centers, schools, etc., while television programs run ceremonies, interviews, movies and other features to bring forth various aspects of the period which ran from the mid 1930’s until the end of World War II.

We are now seven years into the new millennium and more than 66 years after the last shots were fired in Europe and the remnants of the cream of European Jewry were finally set free from the man-made hell of concentration camps all over northern and central Europe. For more than six million Jews, however, liberation came too late, as they had been swallowed up in the inferno created by a country that was once considered to be one of the most law-abiding and cultured in the World.

The Holocaust for the Jewish People is not the only disaster that has stricken Mankind – within the framework of man’s inhumanity to man. Literally thousands of events are evident throughout recorded history, ranging from conquests by the great empires of the earth, religious carnage by events such as the Crusades, rise of Islam, etc., Spanish Inquisition, and, of course, wars. Since the beginning of the 20th century, when Mankind was supposed to be more enlightened and cultured some of the worst atrocities have occurred, and in themselves, were no less horrible than the Holocaust itself. Ranging from the Turkish slaughter of the Armenians in 1918, to the Japanese persecution of the Korean and Chinese peoples, not to mention those living in South East Asia; the mayhem in various African countries, such as Rwanda, Liberia, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Sudan, where millions have died horrible deaths; the Khmer Rouge carnage in Cambodia; and the events in various Balkan countries including, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovo province of Serbia-Yugoslavia, the Chechnya province of Russia; the list literally goes on and on.

And despite all of this, it was recently announced in the U.K. that public schools there will no longer include studies of the Holocaust in their study curriculum, as this offends Muslims who are denying that the Holocaust ever happened!

For the Jewish People, whether living in Israel or in the Diaspora, life is never 100% secure, even in democracies such as England, America, Canada, etc. Israelis know all too well the alternative to being unable to defend oneself. As a country established for Jews to live in after being hounded and persecuted for centuries, Israel form the outset has had to defend itself from its “neighbors”, some of whom actually welcomed Jews in former years. In war after war, terrorist atrocity after atrocity, and recently Intifada after Intifada, the Jews of Israel have literally been fighting for survival. With one of the largest population of Holocaust survivors and children of Holocaust survivors, the importance of Yom HaShoah carries on year after year, in order that new generations of Jews will continue to spread the message of “Never Again”.

“Never Again”: the meaning of this expression is symbolic in the culture of Israelis, in that Jews will never again allow themselves to be weak and defenseless and at the mercies on the peoples of the countries in which they live. Never again will Jews be forced to give up their faith and religious practices. Never again will Jews be considered as pariahs, stateless wanderers, being forbidden to live in certain areas, and barred from working in certain trades and professions, etc.

But being strong has its price, and this price is particularly and painfully felt in the State of Israel, especially within the past few years. Both physical and economic hardships have become a part of Israeli lives, with more and more wars and terrorism attacks.

Despite all of the adversities, Israel continues to carry on, and likewise, Jews all over the world continue to have this Homeland to come to if they should ever need to flee their present places of dwelling.

By continuing to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, Jews continue to be strong.
Because once they begin to forget this segment of their past, it creates the seeds of it happening again in the future. Already many non-Jews all over the world, like the example of the U.K., preach denial of Holocaust, saying it was a fabrication to create sympathy towards the Jews.

The truth is stronger, however, and millions of Gentiles join their Jewish brethren annually to commemorate this event. For they too know that “he who forgets the lessons of history will certainly be doomed to repeat it”.

Ynet News just published a collection of 178 family pictures, which were hidden in the walls of a house in Poland just before the Holocaust, only to be found some 60 years later and be returned to their rightful owners ..

Ynet Picture
Gilad Schalit was kidnapped 286 days ago today. Together with Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev (269 days), the guys are missing and we wait for their return. Read more about them here.
I read today that Gilad Schalit received his reading glasses. The glasses were sent to him 2 months ago by his father Noam, and he reportedly received them 2 weeks ago through Egyptian mediators. It took almost 2 months to get him a pair of reading glasses. I guess the Palestinians just don’t get it…

The Palestinians are tired of this whole hostage “thing” though and that is supposedly the good news. In a recent visit of the Chancellor of Germany, Angela apparently was mostly talking about Schalit and gave little attention to the Palestinian political issue to the extent that made the Palestinian very “disappointed”. She also didn’t hide her disappointment from Abu Mazen’s impotence and lack of ability in the Schalit kidnapping. I am sure that the Palestinians would like to get this whole “messy kidnapping thing” out of the way, after all, its difficult to be taken seriously as an actual law biding country when you go around kidnapping soldiers. Look at Iran, the spiritual and ideological leader, the sponsor, even he had to return the British hostages.

Girls at The Cairo National Stadium a video by Nimrod Kamer. I saw a few of his videos on YouTube and we’ll try to show them here..

As some of you may know the commission to investigate the events of “The Second Lebanon War” (the name of the war is now official) has now launched a website.
The Winograd Committee is going to announce its conclusions and the vultures are worried. There are plenty of speculations as to the effect these conclusions will have on Olmert’s government and whether or not will he actually be held responsible. Amir Peretz, the worst Minister Of Defense ever, will likely take no responsibility personally and is likely to effectively bring down the house with him rather then admit failure.

One does have to wonder though what Olmert was thinking when he placed someone like Peretz in such a sensitive position. There has to be a limit to business in government and when it comes to Defense, Olmert fudged it.
After his “I am not popular speech” a week ago (Really? We didn’t know…), he tried to bare all and speak to the people. Doing a “Bill Clinton from the heart” speech in Israel is fine if you’re dicking around with Cigars but not when it comes to a war that gets your population killed…

Today Channel 10 actually showed the election time campaign for Amir Peretz for example, where he talks about the social reform the Labour party will lead. Beautiful promises about fighting for the weaker classes, the old, the poor and the needy. After his reign that pretty much describes the Ministry of Defense. Maybe the poor and the needy came out better off then if he was in charge of their welfare…