I was kind of hoping that my blog will be about all kinds of cute things - fashion, travel, restaurants and stories about raising my two boys, however, my very first blog entry is about something that is so heart-breaking and so appalling, that I can't help but talk about it here.
Today, the Israeli Defense Forces began a ground operation in Gaza after a week of air attacks aimed at Hamas militants who two weeks ago tore up the cease-fire treaty between Hamas and Israel and demonstratively, on international television, tossed the treaty away.
I am shocked and ashamed of the American "objective" leftist media, who have reported nothing but negativity about Israel in yet another pro-Palestinian propaganda stint. I have been listening to CNN and FOX news for the past 4 hours and I am yet to hear anyone speaking out against Hamas or acknowledging that this terrorist organization uses innocent civilians as human shields in order to carry out their operations. What I do see are hoards of people all over the world protesting against Israel with slogans such as "Latinos for Palestine" and "South Africa will not be free until Palestinians are free". So I wonder - are people blind? Or do they just hate Jews so much that they are looking for any way possible to yet again do something against Israel and the Jewish people.
Although as a mother I feel terrible seeing the images of young children killed and wounded, I then remember other images, the ones of little Shalhevet Pass who was murdered in a park by Arab terrorists, the ones of Orli Ofir, a twelve year old girl having dinner with her family at a Haifa restaurant that was blown up by a suicide bomber and the massacre at Dolphin Disco night club where dozens of teenagers were blown up by yet another suicide bomber. And what about Sbarro's on Yaffo Street, which was one of my favorite hang-outs as a student in Israel? What about countless other places and countless other people that have been destroyed by terrorists? How can I have pity for a nation that encourages its sons and daughters to give their young lives by murdering innocent people? How can I have compassion for leaders who promise martyrdom and give money to anyone willing to murder civilians in the most grotesque ways possible?
But the media never remembers attacks against Israel, they don't even remember the very recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which were specifically aimed at Jews and Americans. What they do remember is that Israel is the "aggressor". An "aggressor" who should stand by and silently watch while Hamas, Hezbollah and others shower this tiny piece of land with rockets and missiles. A Palestinian activist protesting on the streets of Manhattan stated: "The aim of Arab civil rights organizations is never to hurt the United States or other countries, it is only to defend the Palestinian people". Are you kidding? What about 9/11? Did we already forget about that? What about the Madrid attacks and the Mumbai attacks? How is all that so quickly forgotten? A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council was just interviewed by FOX News and she stated that Hamas is not doing anything wrong because they were elected to power in Gaza in a democratic manner and now, Israel is prohibiting them from "democratically exercising their power".
As all of these thoughts are racing through my head, I remind myself that although all these awful things are taking place, the outcome is simply not up to us. The Almighty has already decreed what the end of this ordeal will entail. At this time the only thing that we as observers can do is to raise our eyes to the heavens and to plead with Hashem to protect our brothers, fathers, cousins, sons and daughters, friends and family who are fighting this never-ending war on terrorism and all of the innocent civilians who have to live their lives in fear daily.
It is said that King David's Psalm 20 is an appropriate thing to recite on an occasion such as this. I ask that everyone who reads this take a moment and say these all-powerful words in hopes that this conflict comes to a favorable end.
Until next time, and with prayers for a peaceful tomorrow, when I can write about something more positive, I leave you with the text to Psalm 20.
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
3 May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
Selah
4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.
6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
9 O LORD, save the king!
Answer [a] us when we call!
I don't understand the outrage at the media?
ReplyDeleteMedia reports current events and stories that would keep people glued to TVs (they got you to watch :) .) Sbarro's or Dolphin are terrible stories but their scale and the time that has passed since, are not as shocking as showing more massive loss of life and pain in Gaza.
The story is that there is a war and civilians get in the way. You should thank God that we don't see more Israeli victims on TV now because of apparent inexactness in Hamas' missiles. So in a way we should rejoice that we are not seeing Israeli victims now.
I see that one of the victims in these events is the certain degree of innocence (nothing to do with guilt here) that is lost by Isralis who's hand is being forced by Hamas to cause all this pain and suffering onto the other people. Calling them dogs and un-human, might be a way to block this pain in short term, but I think it is destructive in the long term.
Hamas won elections in Gaza with an overwhelming 65% of vote, however there is another 35% who voted for Fata. If there was a technology to spare the innocents among the terrorists, Israel would have surely employed it.
Bottom line, this is a horrible situation that Israel have been put into. Horrible pain and loss of life is taking place. Sugarcoating will not accomplish anything IMHO. Engaging in a competition of who provides a better spin that would mask the loss of life and pain is not productive. It is better to just remain steadfast and focused on the task at hand.