Shivat Tzion

I just checked in to my flight to England connecting to an El Al flight to Tel Aviv! I couldn't be more excited upon my return to Tzion!

Crossing the Line

Ma'ariv has crossed the line this time with their fictitious report claiming Rav Ovadiah Yosef is in support of a Jerusalem construction freeze. Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai confirmed that Rav Ovadiah has advised hem not to halt Jerusalem construction over the 1967 Armistice Line. This has always been Rav Ovadiah's position and is unlikely to change. What is most shocking regarding this false report is how the author though it would be tenable to even portray this as Rav Ovadia's opinion after his hard line stance against the disengagement. Ma'ariv has reached a new low with this article, and I no longer regard any of their articles as credible.

Settlers Who Attack Soldiers ARE Scum, But...

Recently Chaim Levinson from Haaretz wrote an article in reference to IDF-Settler violece near Yitzhar. He quoted an unnamed officer from the IDF who called the rock-throwing settlers scum, and I agree. We know from Rashi on Exodus that a Jew who raises his hand to hit another Jew is a Rasha.

But where is this tongue-lashing IDF officer when it comes to the daily rock attacks by Arabs? AN where is Haaretz's coverage of the daily rock attacks on CIVILIANS by Arab children?

Remembering our Heros

Today, Yom HaZikaron, is among the hardest days in the Israeli calendar. In such a small country virtually nobody is more than two steps removed from a fallen soldier. We remember our soldiers for their heroic deeds, giving their lives up to allow us to live safely in our homeland. As we appreciate our soldiers who have died, we must appreciate our soldiers who are still living as well. But not everybody shares that sentiment.

Throughout Operation Cast Lead, Haaretz reported Israel's use of disproportionate force, war crimes, deliberate attacks on civilian targets, along with many accusations. The IDF was portrayed in Haaretz as a racist apartheid force committing ethnic cleansing, and slaughtering Palestinian babies for the sport involved. And today, that all goes away... for a few hours.

Haaretz had the audacity to write an article today about the mother of two murdered war criminals soldiers, mouring the loss of her two children. The emotional article attempts to share with you a bit of Miriam Peretz's pain over the loss or her second son on the Gaza border a few weeks ago. Just yesterday, they published an article against a movement calling for the army to withhold from destroying her son, Major Eliraz Peretz's HY"D home. Such exploitation of the press for political gain on a day like this is painful.

But Haaretz showed their true colors in another article published a few hours later for the holiday of Yom Haatzmaut. The article decries that after 62 years "the mystical mode of thinking and the adherence to false beliefs - have, instead of disappearing over time, only gathered steam." So Haaretz took a break today. For a few hours they stopped bashing our soldiers, and targeted Judaism in its entirety. The modern day Erev Rav can't hide its true commitment, to attempt to destroy Judaism, and create a socialist secular environment to cater to the Islamic terrorists who want to occupy the Jewish homeland.

Happy 62nd Birthday to the young State of Israel. May we see the completion of the redemption speedily!

In Defense of Military Aid

When it comes to the seemingly large sum of $3 Billion, it seems like a fortune to give away, and it is. But the United States healthcare bill (H.R. 3962) grants $4 Billion to provide the entire nations of; Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, and Mariana Islands with entirely free healthcare. On page 266 of the 1,990 page bill, $3.7 Billion is granted to Puerto Rico, with the rest going to the other countries, along with a provision that this sum can be increased if necessary.

Although these territories are technically a commonwealths, they are only eligible to receive fundamental constitution rights according to 48 U.S.C. § 737. Therefore unless you consider healthcare a fundamental constitutional right, they are not entitled to it. Also, in 48 U.S.C. § 734, you will find that they are exempt from federal income taxes, thereby granting them privileges of the bill, while not incurring any iota of the cost of the multi-billion dollar bill on these beneficiaries.

On the other hand, the United States grants Israel $3 Billion in annual military aid to maintain a democratic island's qualitative edge in a volatile middle east. While this aid appears to be a transparent bequest to the Israelis, keep in mind that a whopping 74% of this funding never actually leaves the United States, and is pumped straight back into American defense companies through Israeli purchases.

Unlike the healthcare money, which affords no actual benefit to the private American taxpayer, the remaining 26% of this grant goes to fund scores of joint American-Israeli ventures in weapon development. These developments are in the realm of armor development for vehicles in Iraq (The V-hulled APC), development of anti-ballistic missile defenses (The Arrow missile battery, and the Patriot 3), along with multiple classified programs contributing to the mutual defense of democracy around the world.

This grant also fosters a thriving intelligence-sharing program that has assisted the United States in avoiding terrorist threats in America, and against our troops and embassies worldwide. In addition, the most high tech anti-terror training facility in Israel, a full size Arab village, built with this grant money, is often used to train United States marines in anti-terror operations before their deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But as history (and the United Nations) has/have shown us, it's easier to pick on Israel. So let the Puerto Ricans have their healthcare at my expense, but its okay to pick on an ally. Sudanese are being massacred by the thousands (By Muslims. Who would have guessed???) but the U.N. condemns Israel for defending the residents of Sderot from the deluge of terrorist missiles. All too typical.

Letter to Khaled Mashal from Noam Shalit

This letter first appearing in Maan News, is reportedly a letter from Noam Shalit, to the Head of Hamas Khaled Mashal, urging him to accept a prisoner swap. According to Maan, the letter was written in Arabic and delivered to Meshal in Syria. It's shocking how Noam ends the letter with a blessing for the terrorist Meshal, "God is the source of strength, may the peace and mercy of God be upon you." Only a Jew can end a letter to the terrorist kidnapper of his son, who has put him through that much pain with a blessing. Below is the text of the letter copied from Maan News.

Dear Mr Khaled Mash'al

Head of the Hamas movement politburo
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic

May God's peace and mercy be upon you,

On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners Day, 17 April 2010, and for the sake of hundreds or even thousands of Palestinian prisoners' families and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, I address you, on behalf of myself and my family, as the leader of the Hamas movement and one of the leaders of the Palestinian people.

A few months ago, German mediator Mr J. Conrad, who was selected by the German government and Her Excellency Chancellor Angela Merkel, presented a proposal for a prisoner exchange that would put an end to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. This offer, approved by the government of Israel, would see the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 450 prisoners demanded by Hamas' leadership, released in exchange for my son, Gilad Shalit.

Additionally, it is clear to everyone that implementing the deal will lift restrictions imposed on the population of the Gaza Strip, and ease the suffering that they have been subjected to in the years since my son Gilad was captured some four years ago.

It should be noted that shutting the door to the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners within this generous deal arranged by the German mediator, in joint cooperation with the Israeli and Hamas-led Palestinian negotiating staff, would amount to an additional punishment for the prisoners and their families, rather than releasing them, considering that the first penalty was the sentence imposed by the Israeli judiciary.

I must remind you, Mr Mash'al, that the detention of Gilad as a bargaining chip, without human rights, and as a prisoner of war as stipulated by the Third Geneva Convention, is a flagrant violation of international law.

I should also note that the Goldstone commission, which you recognized and whose work you encouraged, unequivocally stated the need to release Gilad, or until that time he be afforded his human rights in full. Within this context, the European parliament, in its its session on 11 March 2010, unprecedentedly affirmed the necessity of releasing Gilad and giving him rights afforded under international conventions. I pray that you do not ignore the decision of the European parliament, which represents half a billion Europeans.

Based on the aforementioned, I appeal to you today, on the eve of Palestinian Prisoners Day, to rise above the political considerations of the Hamas movement for the good of the Palestinian prisoners, and in the interests of Palestinians in general, and demonstrate leadership by calling for consensus among Hamas' leaders to approve the German mediator's proposal.

God is the source of strength,
May the peace and mercy of God be upon you,

Noam Shalit
On behalf of the Shalit family