Israel's population increased by 121,000, or 1.8 percent, since last year's Independence Day, reaching a total of 7,150,000.
The Central Bureau of Statistics released the data ahead of Independence Day, which starts Monday evening.
The population growth was mainly a product of a high birthrate. Some 148,000 babies were born in 2006, and 18,400 new immigrants arrived.
According to the latest CBS figures, out of 24,000 Israelis who left the country in 2004 for a period of more than 12 months, 10,000 have returned.
Israel's 5,415,000 Jews and 310,000 "others" - mostly non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union or those whose Jewish status is undetermined - make up 80% of Israel's population. The Arab and Druse population numbers 1,425,000, or 20% of Israel's citizens.
The country's five largest cities, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon Lezion and Ashdod, account for a quarter of the population, or 1,810,300 people. Another 462,200, or 6%, live in small towns, while just 119,700 - less than 2% - live on kibbutzim.
Approximately 47% of the population would, if born again, prefer for that to happen somewhere other than Israel, according to an "alternative survey" conducted by the Geocartographic Institute's iGeo subsidiary.
The survey, conducted in early April among 500 Israeli Jews, found that 70% of Israelis from the FSU would prefer to be reborn outside Israel, 19% of them specifying Russia as their country of choice and 15% the US.
Among wealthy local-born Israelis, 62% said they would like to be reborn abroad, 18% in the US or Canada, 8% in Switzerland and 6% in Sweden.
The survey revealed surprising findings from pensioners; 59% said they would rather live abroad. Twelve percent would choose the US, 9% Switzerland, 6% Australia and 3% would seek retirement in New Zealand.
Among the poor, 58% would have preferred to be reborn abroad, a figure close to that among the wealthy, which stands at 52%. Most in both groups mentioned the US and Canada as their chosen alternative homeland.
In contrast, 83% of the modern Orthodox sector, 80% of those living in rural towns and kibbutzim, and 65% of Israel's well off pensioners said they would choose to be reborn in Israel.
According to Prof. Avi Degani, president of iGeo, similar studies in India and China reported that 89% of Indians would choose to be reborn in India, apparently for cultural and religious reasons. Among the Chinese, 64% said they wished to be reborn elsewhere.
Not all the news was so dire, however. A poll carried out by the Geocartographic Institute for the Immigrant Absorption Ministry found that olim were proud Israelis.
Eighty percent of immigrants said they felt "at home" in Israel, while 7% did not; half said they felt Israeli in every way. Sixty-eight percent said they primarily followed Israeli news, while 23% followed mainly international news. These figures are not so different from those for native-born Israelis, 81% of whom followed primarily Israeli news, while 8% mostly followed international reports.
Over 70% of immigrants from the FSU said they felt more Israeli than Russian (or any other FSU nationality), and 70% defined themselves as Jewish. Of the remaining 30%, only 2% referred to themselves as Christian, with the rest saying they were atheist.
Still, only a third of immigrants from the FSU reported having native-born friends.
Perhaps most importantly, 72% of immigrants from the FSU said that, if given the chance, they would repeat their decision to come to Israel.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Khatami tells Israeli reporters to 'go to hell'
Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has called for peaceful dialogue with the West, but last week cursed Israeli journalists who approached him at the sixth Eurasion Media Forum in Kazakhstan.
Khatami reiterated that Iran had a right to a peaceful civilian nuclear energy program and that it did not intend to develop nuclear weapons. "We want to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes only," he claimed.
Khatami added that his country was not striving for war, and quoted Albert Einstein, who said that no matter what weapons were used in World War III, "World War IV [would] be fought with sticks and stones."
Iran's former president also said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was overseeing Iran's nuclear activity, and pointed out that Iran was a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while "other states in the Middle East" were treated differently.
"Why do other countries have the right to atomic energy, and we don't?" he asked, noting that "pressure should be applied to [the] Middle East states that already possess nuclear weapons."
While talking informally with former US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrook on Thursday, Khatami said that once a new administration was elected, he was ready to travel to the US to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
Nevertheless, despite his calls for "dialogue," Khatami refused to speak to the Israeli reporters present at the talks.
Channel 10 later reported that Khatami, heading for his suite, had cursed them, saying, "Go to hell!"
On Friday, Khatami decided to skip the scheduled panel on Iran's nuclear program because an Israeli representative was slated to speak.
While commenting on the "double standards" allegedly applied to nations' possession of nuclear weapons, president of Israel's Council of Peace and Security Maj.-Gen. (res.) Danny Rothschild remarked that Khatami's absence was a sign that his calls for dialogue on Iran's nuclear program were mere words.
Khatami reiterated that Iran had a right to a peaceful civilian nuclear energy program and that it did not intend to develop nuclear weapons. "We want to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes only," he claimed.
Khatami added that his country was not striving for war, and quoted Albert Einstein, who said that no matter what weapons were used in World War III, "World War IV [would] be fought with sticks and stones."
Iran's former president also said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was overseeing Iran's nuclear activity, and pointed out that Iran was a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while "other states in the Middle East" were treated differently.
"Why do other countries have the right to atomic energy, and we don't?" he asked, noting that "pressure should be applied to [the] Middle East states that already possess nuclear weapons."
While talking informally with former US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrook on Thursday, Khatami said that once a new administration was elected, he was ready to travel to the US to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
Nevertheless, despite his calls for "dialogue," Khatami refused to speak to the Israeli reporters present at the talks.
Channel 10 later reported that Khatami, heading for his suite, had cursed them, saying, "Go to hell!"
On Friday, Khatami decided to skip the scheduled panel on Iran's nuclear program because an Israeli representative was slated to speak.
While commenting on the "double standards" allegedly applied to nations' possession of nuclear weapons, president of Israel's Council of Peace and Security Maj.-Gen. (res.) Danny Rothschild remarked that Khatami's absence was a sign that his calls for dialogue on Iran's nuclear program were mere words.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Today is Memorial Day, 5767 (2007)
Commemoration of Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers and terrorism victims, will began at 8:00 Sunday evening with a country-wide siren and minute of silence.
The opening ceremony took place at the Western Wall, with the participation of Chief Rabbis Amar and Metzger.
A second siren will be sounded Monday morning, at 11 AM, once again bringing all activity to a standstill and marking the beginning of memorial ceremonies at the 43 military cemeteries around the country. A Knesset Member or government official will speak at each ceremony.
A special ceremony will also be held in memory of Jews murdered by terrorists and anti-Semites around the world. Some 200 such Jews will be remembered at Monday's ceremony at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. The event is being organized by the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, and the UJC of North America. A monument with the names of the victims will be unveiled.
The names of all Israel's fallen soldiers and terrorist victims will be broadcast on Israel's public television channel Sunday evening and Monday, one after the other, for 4-5 seconds each.
The somber day comes to an end Monday with the onset of Israel's 59th Independence Day.
Both Remembrance Day and Independence Day are commemorated one day later than usual this year, by order of the Chief Rabbinate, in order to prevent the Sabbath desecration that would have resulted from having Remembrance Day begin on Saturday night.
The number of soldiers and security personnel who have fallen since November 29, 1947, when the United Nations accepted the partition, thus mandating the creation of a Jewish State, is 20,526. The struggle to re-create a Jewish homeland, beginning in the year 1860, when Jews began to move outside Jerusalem's Old City walls, claimed an additional close to 1,500 victims.
The War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with more than 6,000 dead, one percent of the Jewish population at the time, and 15,000 wounded. The war consisted of 39 separate operations, fought from the borders of Lebanon to the Sinai Peninsula and Eilat, and was fought for about a year, until 1949.
Then followed seven years of relative quiet - during which there were "1,339 cases of armed clashes with Egyptian armed forces, 435 cases of incursion from Egyptian-controlled territory, and 172 cases of sabotage perpetrated by Egyptian military units and fedayeen in Israel," in which 101 Israelis were killed, as Israeli Ambassador to the UN Abba Eban explained to the Security Council on October 30, 1956. Eban gave these statistics the day after Israel began the Sinai Campaign - its military response to Egypt's violation of international agreements by sealing off the Israeli port of Eilat, effectively stopping Israel's sea trade with much of Africa and the Far East. A total of 231 Israeli soldiers died in the fighting. In March 1957, after receiving international guarantees that Israel's vital waterways would remain open, Israel withdrew from the Sinai and Gaza - yet the Egyptians still refused to open the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping.
The Six-Day War broke out on June 5, 1967. Despite the stunning victories, over 770 Israelis were killed.
Then began the period of the War of Attrition, which claimed 424 soldiers and more than 100 civilians. A ceasefire was declared on August 8, 1970.
Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, 1973. The IDF ultimately emerged victorious, but a total of 2,688 soldiers were killed.
In June 1982, in response to continued terrorist attacks from across the Lebanese border, as well as an assassination attempt upon Israel's Ambassador to Great Britain Shlomo Argov, Israel attacked the terrorists in Lebanon in what was known as Operation Peace for Galilee. Close to 460 soldiers were killed between June and December 1982, and another 760 in daily ambushes against Israeli forces over the next two and a half years.
Between December 1987, when the first Arab "intifada" broke out, and the signing of the Oslo Accords in late 1993, 90 Israelis were killed.
Between the Oslo signing and the beginning of what became known as the Oslo War (seven years), 251 Israelis were killed.
Another 1,287 have been felled by Palestinian Authority terrorists and gunmen since September 2000.
In the year 2000, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote to the bereaved families,
"We visit today the rows of graves that extend to infinity... we still refuse to believe and we refuse to be consoled. Because there is no consolation. Heavy, maybe too heavy, is the price we bear for our independence and building the 52 years of the State of Israel."
In contrast, the late Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the first Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces and the man who was responsible for setting the date of Remembrance Day, explained the day's significance differently:
"We view the warriors who fall in battle as those who sprout forth life. The life of a nation grew out of this blood... This day must be more than mourning: We must remember, we must grieve, but it must be a day of mourning, majesty, and vision."
Interestingly, Barak himself took a similar tone when he spoke at the Mt. Herzl ceremony in 2000, saying,
"...their deaths are the precious price of freedom and our re-establishment. It is my hope that a strong and secure State of Israel will be, with the help of G-d, the consolation of the bereaved families."
Rabbi Goren explained, in a 1974 speech, how he came to set Remembrance Day just before Independence Day:
"The merit of doing this fell in my lot.. We first thought of setting Remembrance Day on Lag BaOmer, the day that historically symbolizes the Bar Kokhba war, and that which is still celebrated by Jewish children as the day of Jewish strength. In this way, we thought that we could combine the heroism of our early ancestors with that of our own children in this generation. But doubts crept in. Would we not cause harm to the general significance, shrouded in mystery as it is, of that historic day?
"One of the Fast Days, or during the Three Weeks in which we remember the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temples, was then proposed. But we could not accept the fact that the Day of Remembrance would be solely a day of mourning. It was felt that this day must be more than that. We must remember, we must grieve, but not only that - it must [also] be a day of... majesty and vision.
"We realized, therefore, that we could not assign this day to any existing holiday. But the first Independence Day was rapidly approaching, and so we did what we did - without announcing it formally and without setting any specific format for the day. I went to Voice of Israel studios on the day before Independence Day and read aloud the Chief of Staff’s Daily Military Order, which he wrote according to my request. And so I became the narrator and the one who set Remembrance Day on what became its date."
The opening ceremony took place at the Western Wall, with the participation of Chief Rabbis Amar and Metzger.A second siren will be sounded Monday morning, at 11 AM, once again bringing all activity to a standstill and marking the beginning of memorial ceremonies at the 43 military cemeteries around the country. A Knesset Member or government official will speak at each ceremony.
A special ceremony will also be held in memory of Jews murdered by terrorists and anti-Semites around the world. Some 200 such Jews will be remembered at Monday's ceremony at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. The event is being organized by the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, and the UJC of North America. A monument with the names of the victims will be unveiled.
The names of all Israel's fallen soldiers and terrorist victims will be broadcast on Israel's public television channel Sunday evening and Monday, one after the other, for 4-5 seconds each.
The somber day comes to an end Monday with the onset of Israel's 59th Independence Day.
Both Remembrance Day and Independence Day are commemorated one day later than usual this year, by order of the Chief Rabbinate, in order to prevent the Sabbath desecration that would have resulted from having Remembrance Day begin on Saturday night.
The number of soldiers and security personnel who have fallen since November 29, 1947, when the United Nations accepted the partition, thus mandating the creation of a Jewish State, is 20,526. The struggle to re-create a Jewish homeland, beginning in the year 1860, when Jews began to move outside Jerusalem's Old City walls, claimed an additional close to 1,500 victims.
The War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with more than 6,000 dead, one percent of the Jewish population at the time, and 15,000 wounded. The war consisted of 39 separate operations, fought from the borders of Lebanon to the Sinai Peninsula and Eilat, and was fought for about a year, until 1949.
Then followed seven years of relative quiet - during which there were "1,339 cases of armed clashes with Egyptian armed forces, 435 cases of incursion from Egyptian-controlled territory, and 172 cases of sabotage perpetrated by Egyptian military units and fedayeen in Israel," in which 101 Israelis were killed, as Israeli Ambassador to the UN Abba Eban explained to the Security Council on October 30, 1956. Eban gave these statistics the day after Israel began the Sinai Campaign - its military response to Egypt's violation of international agreements by sealing off the Israeli port of Eilat, effectively stopping Israel's sea trade with much of Africa and the Far East. A total of 231 Israeli soldiers died in the fighting. In March 1957, after receiving international guarantees that Israel's vital waterways would remain open, Israel withdrew from the Sinai and Gaza - yet the Egyptians still refused to open the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping.
The Six-Day War broke out on June 5, 1967. Despite the stunning victories, over 770 Israelis were killed.
Then began the period of the War of Attrition, which claimed 424 soldiers and more than 100 civilians. A ceasefire was declared on August 8, 1970.
Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, 1973. The IDF ultimately emerged victorious, but a total of 2,688 soldiers were killed.
In June 1982, in response to continued terrorist attacks from across the Lebanese border, as well as an assassination attempt upon Israel's Ambassador to Great Britain Shlomo Argov, Israel attacked the terrorists in Lebanon in what was known as Operation Peace for Galilee. Close to 460 soldiers were killed between June and December 1982, and another 760 in daily ambushes against Israeli forces over the next two and a half years.
Between December 1987, when the first Arab "intifada" broke out, and the signing of the Oslo Accords in late 1993, 90 Israelis were killed.
Between the Oslo signing and the beginning of what became known as the Oslo War (seven years), 251 Israelis were killed.
Another 1,287 have been felled by Palestinian Authority terrorists and gunmen since September 2000.
In the year 2000, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote to the bereaved families,
"We visit today the rows of graves that extend to infinity... we still refuse to believe and we refuse to be consoled. Because there is no consolation. Heavy, maybe too heavy, is the price we bear for our independence and building the 52 years of the State of Israel."
In contrast, the late Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the first Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces and the man who was responsible for setting the date of Remembrance Day, explained the day's significance differently:
"We view the warriors who fall in battle as those who sprout forth life. The life of a nation grew out of this blood... This day must be more than mourning: We must remember, we must grieve, but it must be a day of mourning, majesty, and vision."
Interestingly, Barak himself took a similar tone when he spoke at the Mt. Herzl ceremony in 2000, saying,
"...their deaths are the precious price of freedom and our re-establishment. It is my hope that a strong and secure State of Israel will be, with the help of G-d, the consolation of the bereaved families."
Rabbi Goren explained, in a 1974 speech, how he came to set Remembrance Day just before Independence Day:"The merit of doing this fell in my lot.. We first thought of setting Remembrance Day on Lag BaOmer, the day that historically symbolizes the Bar Kokhba war, and that which is still celebrated by Jewish children as the day of Jewish strength. In this way, we thought that we could combine the heroism of our early ancestors with that of our own children in this generation. But doubts crept in. Would we not cause harm to the general significance, shrouded in mystery as it is, of that historic day?
"One of the Fast Days, or during the Three Weeks in which we remember the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temples, was then proposed. But we could not accept the fact that the Day of Remembrance would be solely a day of mourning. It was felt that this day must be more than that. We must remember, we must grieve, but not only that - it must [also] be a day of... majesty and vision.
"We realized, therefore, that we could not assign this day to any existing holiday. But the first Independence Day was rapidly approaching, and so we did what we did - without announcing it formally and without setting any specific format for the day. I went to Voice of Israel studios on the day before Independence Day and read aloud the Chief of Staff’s Daily Military Order, which he wrote according to my request. And so I became the narrator and the one who set Remembrance Day on what became its date."
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom Hazikaron
The entire Jewish world will honor the memory of our fallen Israeli Soldiers & terror victims.Please pray for the souls of our fallen brave soldiers who died in the combat of defending the state of Israel & the victims of Arab terrorism.
Thanks to our dear soldiers, every Jewish person in the
world has Israel as his/her homeland.
Ever since 1948 (the foundation), the state of Israel
was forced to defend itself from attacks by it's neighbors, and time after time Israel has prevailed.
We all wish for true peace in the region and for no more fallen soldiers.
In Israel, the Independence Day is celebrated on the next day of "Yom hazikaron" to remind us all the price of our freedom and to honor the fallen soldiers who thanks to their bravery the state survived.
This year we will be celebrating the 59th Independence Day with many more to come!
Everybody must wave the Israeli flag with big proud
Am Israel Chai!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Holocaust Survivor, Professor Killed Helping Students Escape
A 76-year-old professor who survived the Holocaust was shot to death while saving his students from the Virginia Tech assailant, students said.
Liviu Librescu, an internationally respected aeronautics engineer who taught at Virginia Tech for 20 years, saved the lives of several students by barricading his classroom door before he was gunned down in the massacre, according to e-mail accounts sent by students to his wife.
"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," his son, Joe Librescu, said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."
The gunman, identified as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, an English major and native of South Korea, killed 32 people before committing suicide, officials said, in what was the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
On campus, students spoke of Librescu's bravery.
"He should be recognized as a hero," Virginia Tech graduate student Philip Huffstetler said. "We should be in such great debt to his family for the rest of our lives."
"He is the reason that the student could not get inside and shoot more people," said Asal Arad, a Virginia Tech student. "Obviously, he is a hero."
Librescu had known hardship since childhood.
When Romania joined forces with Nazi Germany in World War II, he was first interned in a labor camp in Transnistria and then deported along with his family and thousands of other Jews to a central ghetto in the city of Focsani, his son said. According to a report compiled by the Romanian government in 2004, between 280,000 and 380,000 Jews were killed by Romania's Nazi-allied regime during the war.
As a successful engineer under the postwar Communist government, Librescu found work at Romania's aerospace agency. But his career was stymied in the 1970s because he refused to swear allegiance to the regime, his son said, and he was later fired when he requested permission to move to Israel.
After years of government refusal, according to his son, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened to get the family an emigration permit. They moved to Israel in 1978.
Librescu left Israel for Virginia in 1985 for a sabbatical year, but eventually made the move permanent, said Joe Librescu, who himself studied at Virginia Tech from 1989 to 1994.
In Romania, the academic community mourned Librescu's death.
"It is a great loss," said Ecaterina Andronescu, rector of the Polytechnic University in Bucharest, where Librescu graduated in 1953. "We have immense consideration for the way he reacted and defended his students with his life."
At the Polytechnic University, where Librescu received an honorary degree in 2000, his picture was placed on a table, a candle was lit, and people lay flowers nearby.
"We remember him as a great specialist in aeronautics. He left behind hundreds of prestigious papers," said one of the professors, Nicolae Serban Tomescu.
Librescu published extensively and received numerous awards for his work.
"His work was his life in a sense," Joe Librescu said
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Never Again!
Today and all Monday, Israel remembered those murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.
6 million innocent men, women, children and babies were murdered and tortured by the Nazi in cold blood only because they were Jews.
Lets take a few minute to remember..
Yizkor-A Holocaust prayer
"God full of mercy who dwells on high
Protector of widows and father for the fatherless
Please be not silent and show no restraint
on behalf of the Jewish blood that has been spilled like water.
But grant perfect rest on the wings of Your Divine Presence
In the lofty abode of the holy, pure and valiant
who shine as the brightness of the heavens
to the souls of our brothers and sisters
Six million Jewish
men, women and children
Who were put to death, slaughtered, burned, starved, buried alive
Or who suffered other forms of unnatural death at the hands of the accursed Nazis
and their associates - may their name be wiped out!
In Auschwitz, Treblinka, Maydanek, Malthausen and in other death camps in Europe
And who gave up their lives in order to Sanctify God's name.
Because we are at one with their memory and we pray for the elevation of their souls
Their resting place shall be in the Garden of Eden.
Therefore, shall the Master of mercy care for them under the protection of His wings for all time
And bind their souls in the bond of everlasting life.
O Earth! Do not conceal their blood and let there not be a resting place for their cry
In their merit shall the remnant of Israel return to its rightful place
And as for the holy ones, their righteousness shall be in front of the Lord as an everlasting memory
They will come in peace and will rest in peace
They will meet their rightful destiny at the end of days
and let us say Amen.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Something... and Half of Something
Sanctuary!
So, according to the UN, the US has offered sanctuary to 7,000 palestinians from Iraq. Ain't that grand! Just think, no other country in the world will welcome them, but the US is throwing open its doors.
Just forget about all those "Death to America" chants and remember, palestinians are our friends.
In a perfect world, these palestinians would be settled in a blue state, preferably Massachusetts, but this is not a perfect world. Goodness knows where these palestinians might end up, but if you're lucky, it could be your state! And what if it is your state? What changes could you expect?
Well, in accordance with the demands made on Israel when it comes to the palestinians, we can assume that any state offering sanctuary to palestinians will provide the same fair and equitable treatment of palestinians that the world has demanded from Israel. Despite their "repuation" for blowing themselves up in discos and pizzarias and shooting rockets at hospitals and grade schools, you shouldn't worry, and your sensitivity to what has been described as their "natural reaction to oppression" will help them overcome these character flaws.
In accordance with palestinian religious beliefs, one of the first things the palestinians will want to do upon their arrival in your state will be to destroy any and all places of worship already existing in your state and to build a mosque on top of the land where they once stood. All religious books other than the Koran will be burned or otherwise destroyed. The fires are very pretty and will be enjoyed by your entire community.
Any attempt to stop the palestinians from exercising their religious freedom in your state will be considered an act of oppression and result in the immediate declaration of an intifada, and the lives (and the land) of its citizens will be forfeit. The declaration of an intifada means that the palestinians are now allowed to kill as many of your state's citizens as possible, using any and all ways and means available, while the rest of the world cheers them on. In accordance with condemnations of Israel for taking actions to protect her citizens, you can be sure that your state will not make any attempt to deter its palestinians from slaughtering its citizens in great numbers, and will to allow them to do so without any hinderance. In fact, your state will likely provide them with bus passes. Failure to do so will result in the immediate declaration of another intifada.
As a citizen of your state, you would do well to remember that once the mosque is standing, you will not be permitted to enter the grounds, lest you defile such a holy place. Should you, or any citizen who is not a palestinian, ever set foot on the grounds, another intifada will be declared.
Jews and Christians are offensive to palestinians, and your state should immediately relocate any and all Jews and Christians out of the state and to a place far away enough so as not to offend the sensibilities of the palestinians, perhaps the moon. Failure to do so will result in the immediate declaration of yet another intifada.
Once your state gets its intifada(s), the re-education of your children in the fine arts of rock throwing and suicide bombing will immediately commence. The palestinians will then smuggle weapons and arabs from other countries like Jordan and Syria and Iran to support the intifada(s) (which your state will have brought upon itself). Any such arabs who manage to sneak into your state to kill its citizens should immediately be considered just another one of your state's palestinians. Construction of a border fence to keep "future" palestinians out of your state and/or the failure to make these palestinians welcome in your state will result in the immediate declaration of another intifada.
In order to support the intifada(s), safe houses will need to be established to allow for the storage of munitions and the manufacture of suicide bombs, tunnels will need to be dug to transport them from one neighborhood to the next. The destruction of these safehouses and/or tunnels will be considered a massacre of poor oppressed palestinians and will result in the immediate declaration of another intifada. Any palestinians killed in the preparation of bombs will be considered to have been a freedom fighter killed by your state and their deaths will result in the declaration of another intifada.
Of course, eventually, your state should offer its palestinians their own state within your state, since the failure to do so would be considered an act of oppression and result in the declaration of another intifada. In order to establish the palestinian state within your state, your state should forcibly remove a large number of its citizens from their homes and businesses and put those citizens in tents, caravans and/or jail if they resist, in order to provide the palestinians with the free housing they deserve. Failure to do so will also result in the immediate declaration of another intifada.
Yes, there is much to look forward to if your state becomes a sanctuary for palestinians, I'm sure you will enjoy your new neighbors as much as Israel does.
Posted by LindaSoG at April 11, 2007 06:19 AM
So, according to the UN, the US has offered sanctuary to 7,000 palestinians from Iraq. Ain't that grand! Just think, no other country in the world will welcome them, but the US is throwing open its doors.
Just forget about all those "Death to America" chants and remember, palestinians are our friends.
In a perfect world, these palestinians would be settled in a blue state, preferably Massachusetts, but this is not a perfect world. Goodness knows where these palestinians might end up, but if you're lucky, it could be your state! And what if it is your state? What changes could you expect?
Well, in accordance with the demands made on Israel when it comes to the palestinians, we can assume that any state offering sanctuary to palestinians will provide the same fair and equitable treatment of palestinians that the world has demanded from Israel. Despite their "repuation" for blowing themselves up in discos and pizzarias and shooting rockets at hospitals and grade schools, you shouldn't worry, and your sensitivity to what has been described as their "natural reaction to oppression" will help them overcome these character flaws.
In accordance with palestinian religious beliefs, one of the first things the palestinians will want to do upon their arrival in your state will be to destroy any and all places of worship already existing in your state and to build a mosque on top of the land where they once stood. All religious books other than the Koran will be burned or otherwise destroyed. The fires are very pretty and will be enjoyed by your entire community.
Any attempt to stop the palestinians from exercising their religious freedom in your state will be considered an act of oppression and result in the immediate declaration of an intifada, and the lives (and the land) of its citizens will be forfeit. The declaration of an intifada means that the palestinians are now allowed to kill as many of your state's citizens as possible, using any and all ways and means available, while the rest of the world cheers them on. In accordance with condemnations of Israel for taking actions to protect her citizens, you can be sure that your state will not make any attempt to deter its palestinians from slaughtering its citizens in great numbers, and will to allow them to do so without any hinderance. In fact, your state will likely provide them with bus passes. Failure to do so will result in the immediate declaration of another intifada.
As a citizen of your state, you would do well to remember that once the mosque is standing, you will not be permitted to enter the grounds, lest you defile such a holy place. Should you, or any citizen who is not a palestinian, ever set foot on the grounds, another intifada will be declared.
Jews and Christians are offensive to palestinians, and your state should immediately relocate any and all Jews and Christians out of the state and to a place far away enough so as not to offend the sensibilities of the palestinians, perhaps the moon. Failure to do so will result in the immediate declaration of yet another intifada.
Once your state gets its intifada(s), the re-education of your children in the fine arts of rock throwing and suicide bombing will immediately commence. The palestinians will then smuggle weapons and arabs from other countries like Jordan and Syria and Iran to support the intifada(s) (which your state will have brought upon itself). Any such arabs who manage to sneak into your state to kill its citizens should immediately be considered just another one of your state's palestinians. Construction of a border fence to keep "future" palestinians out of your state and/or the failure to make these palestinians welcome in your state will result in the immediate declaration of another intifada.
In order to support the intifada(s), safe houses will need to be established to allow for the storage of munitions and the manufacture of suicide bombs, tunnels will need to be dug to transport them from one neighborhood to the next. The destruction of these safehouses and/or tunnels will be considered a massacre of poor oppressed palestinians and will result in the immediate declaration of another intifada. Any palestinians killed in the preparation of bombs will be considered to have been a freedom fighter killed by your state and their deaths will result in the declaration of another intifada.
Of course, eventually, your state should offer its palestinians their own state within your state, since the failure to do so would be considered an act of oppression and result in the declaration of another intifada. In order to establish the palestinian state within your state, your state should forcibly remove a large number of its citizens from their homes and businesses and put those citizens in tents, caravans and/or jail if they resist, in order to provide the palestinians with the free housing they deserve. Failure to do so will also result in the immediate declaration of another intifada.
Yes, there is much to look forward to if your state becomes a sanctuary for palestinians, I'm sure you will enjoy your new neighbors as much as Israel does.
Posted by LindaSoG at April 11, 2007 06:19 AM
Efforts to free Israeli soldier progress
Israel is reviewing the names of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners that Gaza militants want released in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier, security officials said Sunday, signaling a possible breakthrough in efforts to win the young man's freedom.
However, both Israeli and Palestinian officials said a deal would still take some time.
Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 20, was captured last June by militants linked to the Islamic militant Hamas group who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and attacked an army post. He has not been seen or heard from since then, but Israeli officials believe he is alive.
The militants holding Shalit have repeatedly demanded a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in exchange for the soldier. After months of deadlock, officials on both sides confirmed Saturday that the Palestinians had submitted a list through Egyptian mediators.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Sunday that the Shin Bet security service was reviewing the list and would soon give recommendations to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"It's true that the Palestinian side presented a list of names, but that doesn't mean that the Israeli side accepted it," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, an aide to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"I would be very wary ... because there is still a long way to go," Cabinet Minister Yitzhak Herzog told Army Radio.
Israel considers Shalit's release a precondition for any serious progress in peace talks with the Palestinians. A prisoner exchange also could lead to wider acceptance of the new Palestinian government, a coalition of the moderate Fatah party and Hamas.
Abbas, who belongs to the Fatah party, predicted last week that Shalit would be freed soon. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has also said he would like to see the issue resolved quickly, though he says he has no control over the captors.
Reports varied on the size of the list. A senior Palestinian official said it contained around 350 names, while Israeli newspapers said the Palestinians were demanding the release of as many as 1,300 prisoners, including some "with blood on their hands," a reference to those involved in attacks on Israelis.
Israel currently detains some 9,300 Palestinian prisoners on security grounds, one of the highest totals in nearly 40 years of its military occupation.
The Maariv daily said the list included Ahmed Saadat, the local leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader serving five life sentences for his role in the killings of four Israelis and a Greek monk.
Olmert has said Barghouti's release is "not on the agenda." But two senior allies of the prime minister recently said Barghouti should be freed to counter the growing influence of Hamas. Though Israel has repeatedly refused to free him, Barghouti is considered the Palestinians' top choice for a successor to Abbas.
Maariv quoted unidentified Israeli officials as saying "murderers" would not be freed, but Israel would be more flexible than in the past. For instance, Israel may consider releasing prisoners accused of minor involvement in attacks.
One security official told the newspaper that while the current list is unacceptable, it could be a basis for negotiations. The report said a special ministerial committee would discuss the names, and the Cabinet would have to approval the final release.
However, both Israeli and Palestinian officials said a deal would still take some time.
Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 20, was captured last June by militants linked to the Islamic militant Hamas group who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and attacked an army post. He has not been seen or heard from since then, but Israeli officials believe he is alive.
The militants holding Shalit have repeatedly demanded a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in exchange for the soldier. After months of deadlock, officials on both sides confirmed Saturday that the Palestinians had submitted a list through Egyptian mediators.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Sunday that the Shin Bet security service was reviewing the list and would soon give recommendations to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"It's true that the Palestinian side presented a list of names, but that doesn't mean that the Israeli side accepted it," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, an aide to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"I would be very wary ... because there is still a long way to go," Cabinet Minister Yitzhak Herzog told Army Radio.
Israel considers Shalit's release a precondition for any serious progress in peace talks with the Palestinians. A prisoner exchange also could lead to wider acceptance of the new Palestinian government, a coalition of the moderate Fatah party and Hamas.
Abbas, who belongs to the Fatah party, predicted last week that Shalit would be freed soon. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has also said he would like to see the issue resolved quickly, though he says he has no control over the captors.
Reports varied on the size of the list. A senior Palestinian official said it contained around 350 names, while Israeli newspapers said the Palestinians were demanding the release of as many as 1,300 prisoners, including some "with blood on their hands," a reference to those involved in attacks on Israelis.
Israel currently detains some 9,300 Palestinian prisoners on security grounds, one of the highest totals in nearly 40 years of its military occupation.
The Maariv daily said the list included Ahmed Saadat, the local leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader serving five life sentences for his role in the killings of four Israelis and a Greek monk.
Olmert has said Barghouti's release is "not on the agenda." But two senior allies of the prime minister recently said Barghouti should be freed to counter the growing influence of Hamas. Though Israel has repeatedly refused to free him, Barghouti is considered the Palestinians' top choice for a successor to Abbas.
Maariv quoted unidentified Israeli officials as saying "murderers" would not be freed, but Israel would be more flexible than in the past. For instance, Israel may consider releasing prisoners accused of minor involvement in attacks.
One security official told the newspaper that while the current list is unacceptable, it could be a basis for negotiations. The report said a special ministerial committee would discuss the names, and the Cabinet would have to approval the final release.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Hamas planned T.A. Passover bombing
The Shin Bet announced Tuesday morning that in late March it broke up a Hamas cell in Qalqilyah that had planned to detonate a car bomb in Tel Aviv during Pesach, apparently at the time of the seder, on the holiday's first night.
According to the details released by the security service, the driver, a suicide bomber, had managed to cross into Israel in a vehicle laden with about 100 kilograms of explosives. However, once he reached Tel Aviv, and for reasons that are still unclear, he changed his mind and returned to Qalqilyah.
Nineteen members in the cell have been arrested by the security forces. No names of the suspects were released for publication.
"The picture that emerges in interrogations of the members of the cell clearly signals that the Hamas organization in Qalqilyah has shifted from the stage of 'force building' to the operational stage and the carrying out of attacks, including suicide attacks inside Israel. According to information, they continue to work on planning and execution of significant attacks, including ones in the immediate future," the Shin Bet announcement read.
This latest incident has further boosted the evidence that Hamas has resumed its terrorist activities following a long hiatus that began with the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip last November.
Egypt recently arrested a Hamas suicide bomber who was trying to cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel through Sinai.
Hamas militants were also involved in a number of sniper attacks targeting Israelis driving close to the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. In one of the attacks, an Israel Electric Corporation employee was moderately wounded.
It is believed that behind the attacks is Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, who opposed the establishment of the unity government between his party and Fatah. Jabari is particularly dissatisfied with the fact that he and his men are not being awarded the positions of power they believe they deserve.
The degree to which Jabari and the Qalqilyah-based cell are linked is unclear. During the past two years, most of the Hamas cells operating in Samaria had followed orders originating in the Gaza Strip.
The suicide bomber, a member of the Qalqilyah cell, managed to enter Israel because he holds an Israeli identity card. Although a resident of Qalqilyah, he is married to an Israeli Arab from Taibeh - and received residency status as part of the program of reuniting families. The vehicle he was driving had Israeli license plates, and had collected intelligence on possible targets for an attack.
The terrorist changed his mind, returned to Qalqilyah, and left the vehicle in the backyard of a home. Arrests of suspects began shortly after his return, and then the vehicle exploded. There were no casualties as a result of the explosion.
The Shin Bet has described the explosion as a "work accident," euphemism for a technical malfunction.
The Qalqilyah cell is the largest Hamas grouping to have been exposed in the West Bank in recent years. The last time a Qalqilyah-based Hamas cell carried out an attack in Israel, 21 teenagers were killed in a blast at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, in June 2001.
According to the details released by the security service, the driver, a suicide bomber, had managed to cross into Israel in a vehicle laden with about 100 kilograms of explosives. However, once he reached Tel Aviv, and for reasons that are still unclear, he changed his mind and returned to Qalqilyah.
Nineteen members in the cell have been arrested by the security forces. No names of the suspects were released for publication.
"The picture that emerges in interrogations of the members of the cell clearly signals that the Hamas organization in Qalqilyah has shifted from the stage of 'force building' to the operational stage and the carrying out of attacks, including suicide attacks inside Israel. According to information, they continue to work on planning and execution of significant attacks, including ones in the immediate future," the Shin Bet announcement read.
This latest incident has further boosted the evidence that Hamas has resumed its terrorist activities following a long hiatus that began with the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip last November.
Egypt recently arrested a Hamas suicide bomber who was trying to cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel through Sinai.
Hamas militants were also involved in a number of sniper attacks targeting Israelis driving close to the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. In one of the attacks, an Israel Electric Corporation employee was moderately wounded.
It is believed that behind the attacks is Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, who opposed the establishment of the unity government between his party and Fatah. Jabari is particularly dissatisfied with the fact that he and his men are not being awarded the positions of power they believe they deserve.
The degree to which Jabari and the Qalqilyah-based cell are linked is unclear. During the past two years, most of the Hamas cells operating in Samaria had followed orders originating in the Gaza Strip.
The suicide bomber, a member of the Qalqilyah cell, managed to enter Israel because he holds an Israeli identity card. Although a resident of Qalqilyah, he is married to an Israeli Arab from Taibeh - and received residency status as part of the program of reuniting families. The vehicle he was driving had Israeli license plates, and had collected intelligence on possible targets for an attack.
The terrorist changed his mind, returned to Qalqilyah, and left the vehicle in the backyard of a home. Arrests of suspects began shortly after his return, and then the vehicle exploded. There were no casualties as a result of the explosion.
The Shin Bet has described the explosion as a "work accident," euphemism for a technical malfunction.
The Qalqilyah cell is the largest Hamas grouping to have been exposed in the West Bank in recent years. The last time a Qalqilyah-based Hamas cell carried out an attack in Israel, 21 teenagers were killed in a blast at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, in June 2001.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Israeli Army, The Most Humane army in the world
Israel - through its emergency rescue operations abroad and its foreign assistance missions - strives to realize the Jewish value of "Tikkun Olam", saving lives and making the world a better place for all its inhabitants.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Learn To Forgive
Consistently happy people are either in one of two conditions. Either no one has ever wronged or slighted them in any way. Or else they have forgiven those who have. Since it is almost impossible not to have been wronged or slighted, if you want to master happiness, you need to learn how to forgive.
Forgiving is like floating on water. You don't need to do anything. You just need to let go. When you were a young child of five or six, you became angry at your brothers, sisters, friends, and classmates. You might have even said, "I won't forgive you." Now when you look back at the vast majority of those situations, you will see that they were trivial. It is at present easy for you to forgive someone for not giving you a bite of their ice cream, not letting you play with their toys, or grabbing your ice cream or toys. Just as you have already forgiven them, you will be able to forgive others for more recent events when you realize that most things are trivial when compared to your emotional and spiritual well-being.
We all need our Creator's forgiveness. By forgiving others we elevate ourselves and render ourselves more worthy of being forgiven. When you find it difficult to forgive, pray with your own words for the strength to forgive
(From Rabbi Pliskin's "Happiness",p.171)
Forgiving is like floating on water. You don't need to do anything. You just need to let go. When you were a young child of five or six, you became angry at your brothers, sisters, friends, and classmates. You might have even said, "I won't forgive you." Now when you look back at the vast majority of those situations, you will see that they were trivial. It is at present easy for you to forgive someone for not giving you a bite of their ice cream, not letting you play with their toys, or grabbing your ice cream or toys. Just as you have already forgiven them, you will be able to forgive others for more recent events when you realize that most things are trivial when compared to your emotional and spiritual well-being.
We all need our Creator's forgiveness. By forgiving others we elevate ourselves and render ourselves more worthy of being forgiven. When you find it difficult to forgive, pray with your own words for the strength to forgive
(From Rabbi Pliskin's "Happiness",p.171)
2 Suicide Vests Found in Green Zone
Two suicide vests were found unexploded in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, a military spokesman said Sunday, less than a week after a rocket attack killed two Americans in the vast central area.
U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said the vests were found Saturday and the matter was under investigation.
"It reflects the nature of the security challenge that we're facing," he told reporters, without giving more details.
Two Americans — a contractor and a soldier — were killed in a rocket attack on the Green Zone on Tuesday.
Insurgents and militia fighters routinely fire rockets and mortars into the Green Zone, the nominally secure area in central Baghdad that is site of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government and parliament. The attacks seldom cause casualties or damage because they are poorly aimed and the zone contains much open space.
U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said the vests were found Saturday and the matter was under investigation.
"It reflects the nature of the security challenge that we're facing," he told reporters, without giving more details.
Two Americans — a contractor and a soldier — were killed in a rocket attack on the Green Zone on Tuesday.
Insurgents and militia fighters routinely fire rockets and mortars into the Green Zone, the nominally secure area in central Baghdad that is site of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government and parliament. The attacks seldom cause casualties or damage because they are poorly aimed and the zone contains much open space.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)