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The aftermath of the Israeli attack on a suspected Hezbollah missile site in the Lebanese town of Qfar Qana, has put the entire conflict into a state of (near) suspended animation. The condemnations, and political consultations involving U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has resulted in her statement this morning that an immediate ceasefire is being requested to both sides to refrain from continuing the military operations, including launching of Ketusha and other rockets toward Israel by the Hezbollah. Ms. Rice, by being asked by the Lebanese President not to visit Beirut, suffered a diplomatic embarrassment that was felt all the way to the Oval Office of the White House.

The quickly hammered out cease fire proposal, which calls for a multinational force to be stationed on the Israeli-Lebanese border, and formal talks between the two countries on a final boundary or ‘blue line’ between the two countries, resulted from the tremendous outcry resulted from the Qana attack in which nearly 60 people were killed, many of them small children. One issue left hanging (at least it wasn’t formerly mentioned) was the issue involving the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, which was the main catalyst that started this whole conflagration in the first place. That also includes, by the way, IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas Terrorists in Gaza over a month ago.

During the duration of this three week conflict, we the staff of OneJerusalem.com have tried to post articles that express different points of view, both positive and negative, and afterwards invited readers to express their comments and opinions, as is usually done with such matters. Many online newspapers, with special ‘talk-back’ sections, have similar forums as well, and these usually result in all kinds of comments being issued, many on the negative side.

Our web-blog does not currently have any set ‘rules’ involving the content of these comments; and readers can post virtually anything they so desire, even comments of a most unfriendly nature. For the attention, and hopefully benefit, of readers living outside of both Israel, the PA Authority areas, and, of course, Lebanon, we would like to point out to you as follows: There are no winners in such military operations, as war does create ‘winners’, only destruction and human suffering. The attack on the people who had taken refuge in this (Qfar Qana) building was horrible enough, and the entire circumstances of this tragedy are now under investigation. This event, however, was not the only sad event suffered, as other events were very tragic as well – and not just in Lebanon. Israel, though suffering less of a ‘body count’ in lives lost, has been inflicted very costly damage as well; physical as well as economic. And perhaps it is a good time to pull the brake lever in this “runaway train ride” that has been occurring.

What is sad, above all else, is the discovery that the world is still filled with much hatred and bigotry, that seemed to come out into the open following the posting of the article: Turning Point. Readers who live far way from what has been going on in this part of the world, for so many years, must be made to understand that only by living here and being constantly exposed to dangers of terrorism and war, is it possible see things differently than you do. Israelis and Lebanese living in bomb shelters for three weeks, afraid to come out even to buy food, or languishing in places like Cyprus with not much more than the clothes on their backs understand these issues a lot more than those living far away. With a chance now to send the ‘dogs of war’ back to their kennels, a healing process will hopefully begin. We would like to some day see Israelis and Lebanese coming to do business or holiday in each other’s country; and perhaps this may someday be a pleasant reality. At the moment, a lot of animosity and distrust will have to be eliminated, and Lebanon will need to take control of its own destiny and not be ‘controlled’ by forces like Hezbollah. All we can hope for, dear readers, it that you try to understand that there are two sides to every conflict, especially this tragic one.

Allison has a good story about Mel Gibson…apparently when under arrest he yelled “F*****g Jews… The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”

Mel seems to be a little stressed by the tension in the area - maybe he should come to Israel, “hang around” in Nazareth

Battles are not always fought with bombs and guns. They may also be fought with water, and a variety of chemicals, often dumped or sprayed from small aircraft. If you’re wondering who these ‘unsung heroes’ are, they’re Israel’s fire fighters. Though fires to buildings are not as common in Israel as they are in most Western countries, Israel’s fire brigades are still kept quite active, fighting fires in residential and commercial properties, occasional industrial accidents, multitudes of traffic accidents; and of course, fires breaking out or being set in Israel’s grasslands and woodlands.

The attacks on Israel’s heartland by Hezbollah launched missiles, have resulted in so many alarms being received by fire brigade stations that volunteers have had to assist from stations all over Israel to cope with the abnormally heavy incidences of resulting fires to personal and commercial property as well as to forests and other open spaces. “Most people only hear about calls to the police and to Magen David Adom (Israel’s emergency ambulance and paramedical service). But nowadays, we are receiving as many calls as the other emergency services – if not more”, said Yossi, a long term firefighter from Nahariya’s central fire station. “Every time a rocket hits a building or a parked car, the resulting explosion almost always causes fire to break out. Judging from the numerous direct hits that this northern border city has received, including several serious fires to apartment buildings, it a wonder how these men can cope at all with the ongoing situation.

Fire brigades have always been one of the first emergency units to arrive at the scene of a serious terror attack, and their duties have often been to help assist wounded victims as well as fight resulting fires. Using a variety of equipment, they often have to face very dangerous challenges like going into burning buildings to rescue trapped people inside. They often work long shifts with little time to rest before the next alarm goes off. One firefighter commander, Moshe Moscow, was recently quoted that “every ketusha attack results in fire at more than 90 % of the time. And what is going on in the north has created hundreds of fires.”

Forest and grass fires have so far destroyed thousands of dunams of national forests, with the most serious one occurring above the town of Kiryat Shimona, which blanketed the entire area in a thick cloud of smoke for two days and destroyed more than 2,000 dunams (500 acres) of beautiful forests. Using often inadequate equipment, including small aircraft normally used as crop dusters, firefighters work round the clock to extinguish such blazes, using both water and tons of chemicals.

The services these brave men perform, most of them older guys with families, are not often appreciated, however. Many of them working in small (and even not so small) communities are not paid regularly, and due to fiscal monetary problems of many municipalities, many have money owed to them going back several months. That and their heavy work loads have resulted in a terrible amount of stress, which could eventually affect the men’s overall performance. “Many new recruits have no idea what to expect when joining our units,” said Yossi, who had just gotten off a 20 hour shift. “I just wish more people would begin to appreciate the job we are doing. And it’s not just rescuing cats from tall trees!”

Severe reactions to an attack by the Israeli Air Force on the Lebanese town of Qana, located 16 km east of Tyre, has provoked widespread condemnation of Israel’s continuing military operation; and may even be a major ‘turning point’ in this 19 day old war. The air raid, occurring in the early Sunday morning hours, resulted in a basement shelter filled with refugees, many of them women and children, being hit by IAF bombs with more than 60 people reported killed and injured. As the bodies were continuously pulled out of the rubble, the angry outcry has resulted in a cancellation of a planned visit to Beirut by U.S. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice. Though Israeli military authorities reported that Qana had been used to launch Katyusha rockets into Israel, the resulting death and injury and of innocent civilians has created such a strong backlash against Israel that an immediate and unconditional ceasefire is now being demanded by world leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah, who called the attack “an ugly crime”.

Israel Defense Minister Amir Peretz has asked the IAF to investigate the cause of the attack and why this particular location (i.e. the shelter area) was attacked. This effort is not enough to placate an extremely agitated Lebanese populace who afterwards surrounded and broke into the U.N. Beirut headquarters, smashing everything they could lay their hands on, and waiving yellow Hezbollah flags, as well as shouting slogans tied to that organization.

The reverberations from this attack, called an international outrage by many, could well be Hezbollah’s “secret weapon” as they know that international public opinion is even more potent than their continuing to shoot their missiles into the Jewish State. Incidents such as this have always occurred during warfare; and a very similar one occurred in Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War when an American launched ’smart bomb’ struck a shelter in central Baghdad, killing more than a hundred civilians. That incident, and the public outcry it created, resulted in an immediate scaling down of U.S. attacks on the Iraqi capital, and may have helped keep Saddam Hussein in power, even after his army was crushed.

Hezbollah has successfully used civilians to keep their enemies at bay, and even in the initial attacks on southern Beirut, Hezbollah had used heavily populated areas to launch missiles, as well as hide militiamen and arms. This may have also occurred in what will now be referred to as the ‘Qana massacre’. And regardless of the outcome of Israel’s investigation, the international condemnation pouring out, with the help of zealous news medias, will most likely result in even Ms. Rice and U.S. President Bush calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Hezbollah, especially their leader Sheikh Nasrallah, couldn’t be more pleased, and are probably already making plans on how to exploit this event to the fullest. They even know that if an international peacekeeping force is sent to S. Lebanon (most likely composed of many American combat personnel, despite being stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan) will be to Hezbollah’s advantage, as a few well- orchestrated suicide terror attacks will make this force flee like the Americans did form Beirut in 1982. And Nasrallah also knows that he doesn’t even have to fire any more of his Katyusha rockets into Israel, as the ‘missiles’ of anti- Israel public opinion have already been very successfully launched.

This is a new bumper sticker going around.

“Goodbye dear twin. I felt, knew, and prepared myself for this event. They say that twins sense each other’s feelings; and how true this is! I broke my head trying to compose what I would say to you at your funeral. I woke up to this fact; and now I really know this is (unfortunately) real”.

These sad words were part of the eulogy given at the funeral of Paratroop officer, Lt. Yiftah Schreier by his brother, Yardan, also a lieutenant in the IDF, as he kissed his brother’s coffin before it was lowered to it final resting place. Yiftah, who was killed on Wednesday in a battle near the Lebanese village of Maroun a-Ras, grew up with his brother in Haifa, Israel’s embattled northern city. “We were called the ‘twins of Haifa’, and though were grew up different physically (I am tall and heavy-set, and Yiftah was short and thin) we were very close, and shared many things together. When we both began our army careers, we took different paths, but always kept close contact with one another. Though we were not religious, Yiftah so much loved being Israeli and felt close to his country.”

Yardan and his brother had been involved in the fighting since the conflict began, and his parents only received word their son had been killed when a group of soldiers came to their home late Wednesday night. Being so close to his brother, Yardan was given the honor to compose the eulogy usually said at a funeral. Having to do this for his beloved brother made it even more difficult. “I’ll never forget your mischievous grin, and now I’m at a loss for words. We were both born on September 11; a little ironic, no?” Their closeness was clearly evident when Yardan said brokenly: “I love you, brother. I’ll remember this till the end of my days”.

Shalom All,

Yes, I know it’s useless. I know that in our impossible reality, most of us think that there is no one to talk to on the other side. No one who will listen, no one to argue with, no use to waste words.

Still, I guess I can’t help myself. Some inner need makes me try, again, even if in a small way, to relate to things I hear or read.

This past Wednesday, Israeli newspaper “Maariv” published an article titled: “The destruction of a Nation”. The writer, a Lebanese reporter whose words were published “incognito, in order to protect her” (exact quote), describes the hell in which she has been living since the war began. She has nothing, G-d forbid, to say against Nassrallah or the Hezbollah, but she complains against Israel’s harsh response that is the reason she and her friends must currently live under fire. She writes:

“Life for us isn’t about the future any more. It’s about today. The safest way to go to work. Will I have time to stop at home and check if everything is still intact…I wonder who will stay today, will my friends leave will the thousands that are leaving…not all Lebanese people want the Hezbollah, so why should all Lebanese people have to pay?…today I am a refugee, since I can’t return to my home. Israeli airplanes have been throwing pamphlets, warning civilians to leave their neighborhood before it is bombed, a few hours later…I had where to go, others didn’t. So they stayed in their homes…and they are dying. They are dying in a war that isn’t their war…one morning we wake up after a good night’s sleep, the airplanes were quiet. The houses didn’t shake because of an attack. The nights are worst. The sound of the airplanes is terrifying. They fly above for hours before they hit, searching for pray. No one knows where the bomb will fall, and eventually you stop caring. You just want the noise to stop…

And the world is silent.”

A response is in place. True, my response isn’t complete, there are probably many aspects I haven’t discussed. And true, I am not an official representative of anything, just myself. The statement of an Israeli citizen who insists, sorry, on living here in this land. You may add, change or disagree. I am afraid that, in any case, our responses will have the same fate I mention in the end…

To the Lebanese reporter, Shalom,

It hurts, really hurts to read your words. It hurts first and foremost because your words sound so very, very familiar.

Life in the Galilee, and generally in Israel’s North, has become a long game of Russian Roulette. It didn’t happen in a week, it happened within a few minutes two weeks ago – and hasn’t stopped since. Every time you want to get out of the shelter, even for a few minutes, is a gamble: will the Hezbollah start shelling again just as I leave the shelter to get some milk and bread for my kids, who are sitting in it with me? And if it does – where is the closest hiding place? Is the local grocery store even open? Almost everything is closed. Summer tourism, that both you and me base quite a bit of our economy, is dead. Work is a forgotten dream, and those who still have jobs are afraid of the way back and forth. You see, on our side of the border, no one is throwing pamphlets to let us know when the next shelling will occur, and there is no advance noise to prepare us that the rockets are about to fall. They just do, out of the not-so-blue anymore sky. Eighty, a hundred per day. I completely understand when you say: when will this noise stop.

Of course, the roads aren’t safe either, and not only because of the bombs. If you are too close to a border, any border – and Israel is so tiny that almost always you are close to some kind of border – you must stay alert so no terrorist infiltrates and kidnaps you, or shoots you, or blows himself up with you and others. Our kids, even those who are not in shelters, know that they must be alert, suspicious, connected to the news and to their parents. That is daily life, everywhere, for all ages. They have grown accustomed, since they are 3 years old, that everywhere there is a guard that checks them and everyone else, that each little bag can become a dangerous parcel, that each smiling person can turn into the big bad wolf. It isn’t exactly the way to raise normal, healthy kids, but that’s our life and has been for a very, very long time.

More than half of the population in the north has left their homes and gone south. On our side, too, thousands can’t go home. But we don’t call them refugees. You see, for us they are simply our brothers and sisters, and Israelis everywhere are embracing them, trying to give them comfort and help till they can go back home. That’s what the citizens of a state are supposed to do for each other.

Not all of them could get away. Sorry to say, even we need time to get our act together sometimes, arrange safe transportation and secure places, especially when you need to do it under fire and while defending yourself. We have many volunteers, that is true, and they are doing miracles, but many of our elderly and needy have stayed in their homes, frightened by every explosion they hear, grateful when the blast is over, dreading the next one. We will have to deal with their trauma for many years to come.

Not all Israelis want war. Actually, I can tell you that almost all Israelis want peace, or at least quiet. And yet, all Israelis are paying the price. That’s how it is in a sovereign country, and that’s probably the main difference between us: if a group of people, big or tiny, had turned our life into hell, Israeli society and the Israeli government would do everything necessary to throw that group out. To destroy it. You can’t just sit passively, fumbling your fingers and crying: “but it wasn’t me” - that is a lesson we learned in kindergarten, when we learned another lesson, one of the most important lessons: social responsibility. If a group like that would drag all of Israel into a horrific war – and every war is horrific – without us doing everything to stop them, than the consequences would be our full responsibility and we would have absolutely no right to complain that “this isn’t our war”. It is. If it comes from within my sovereign state, by my citizens, it is indeed my responsibility, just like it’s my responsibility to take care of all my citizens – you know, those who need shelter, food. I can’t sit back while this malignant cancer grows in me, and then cry that it has taken over. It’s my responsibility to get rid of this malignancy on time, and if I don’t – the price is mine to pay. Or, in the case of Hezbollah, yours.

As for the world being silent – you shouldn’t be so surprised. Too many times that is the way of the world, being silent. We know, we have many, many years of experience.

I am thankful that your letter has been published in the Israeli media and that each of us could read it, freely, during these days of turmoil, even if it has to be undercover to protect you. In spite of what you may think, this is possible not because of who you are, but because of who I am. I have good reason to believe that my little letter to you won’t receive the same kind of treatment, and in my case – no undercover is necessary.

And that, I believe, is the whole difference in a nutshell.

Shabbat shalom,

Liat

p.s. I just got s call from the local grocery store. A family from Nahariya that left their home because of the bombs a week ago was about to go back when they were told to stay in the center, since the bombings are still bad. Don’t worry – they will spend the Shabbat here in Maccabim. Refugees?? No way. Guests.

This is a guide that was sent to me today. This is a step by step program that helps to deal with these people who believe that the army is over reacting and overly aggressive in its reaction to the situation in Lebanon. These would be the resident bleeding hearts that feel that what we are doing is violent and senseless.

Step 1: Get into the conversation and ask whether he feels that a military solution is acceptable.
Step 2: When the response is a resounding “No”, ask why not.
Step 3: Wait until he gets to the part “it just leads to further violence and the killing of innocent people…..”
Step 4: While he is in mid sentence, slap him hard on the face.
Step 5: When he tries to hit you back, bring his attention to the fact “that this is against his principles and that this reaction is dangerous and can lead to an escalation in violence”.
Step 6: Wait until he agrees to your explanation and promise to stop hitting him.
Step 7: Ask him another question and again hit him, but much harder this time.
Step 8: Repeat steps 5 to 8 until he realizes that sometimes you need to fight back.

Israel’s present conflict in both Lebanon and Palestinian ‘ruled’ areas adjacent to it is being called by a number of terms, including: Crises in the Middle East (CNN’s favorite), Armed Conflict with the Palestinians and Hezbollah, military reprisal operation, etc. All of these terms appear to be a way of glossing over what the ongoing events have really become; and that the correct term is really that age-old, three letter word: WAR. Most dictionaries, including time tested Webster’s Dictionary, define the conflict as follows:

War: Open armed conflict between countries or between factions within the same country. Another definition: Any active hostility, contention, or struggle. And a third definition: Military operations as a profession or science.
(more…)

I got this email, second email actually, from some worried friends in Canada. I just never got a chance to answer and my dear wife (bless her ) forwarded this to me and I of course forgot to answer. Second email came and sounded a little frantic:

Subject: How are you?

Hey,

We emailed wife’s email address but haven’t heard back so we thought we’d try you. Worriers that we are, we want to know that you are both okay and wife’s family is okay too. We can’t imagine what you’re dealing with on a daily, hourly basis, but are horrified by what we see on the news.

Let us know how you are when you get a chance.

Thanks

(friends in Canada)

======================================================

Hi Guys,

We are okay. The news always looks worse then it is, I thought I taught you that

Things are a little tense though I have to admit. We have seen some serious causalities yesterday as you may have heard (9 killed) and the fact that people are getting vaporized on their way to work is more then disturbing. We aren’t used to this
type of fighting and we are paying the price. We are a short distance sprinter that got thrown into a marathon, and we need to adjust our style of running and breathing habits.

I went to my brother in law’s surprise birthday party last night. It was at his home in a small yard and his girlfriend invited a few friends. I didn’t know most of them but it was interesting to listen to the conversations. At some point this guy next to me asked
his girlfriend if maybe they should just crash right here instead of heading back. Turns out they were from Haifa and I realized how close this all was. They drove an hour to get to Tel Aviv earlier that evening - an hour away. The difference is night and day. He showed me pictures he took with his cell of Katyusha rockets hitting the ground while looking from his office. Can you imagine doing that in Toronto. Imagine standing by the window at your office building on University Avenue and watching a car explode as its moving down Queen street.

This guy was born and lived all his life in Haifa and he hasn’t left. He lives in a building without a bomb shelter (which is very
common in Haifa) and he said that the sirens during the day are what disturb and scare him the most. That waiting for the drop 10-20 seconds after the siren and wondering if you’re next.

Yesterday he went to the street corner to get a Falafel. He said he was in mid bite when the siren started and he just threw it aside and ran for cover. “As you walk down deserted streets and the siren sounds, you just see people’s blood drain from their faces, everyone runs for cover and you look up with fear - as if you could see where the next time will be coming from.”

The problem is that the rockets that have fallen have been filled with thousands of tiny steel balls, when the rockets explode they spray everything in a very large radius and so a rocket that lands even 100 meters away is likely to severely injure and kill.
A bus that made it in time and hid under a bridge when the siren went off was sprayed by the pallets and the driver was badly injured, even though the rocket landed a 30 meters away and he was hiding behind the bus.

In Tel Aviv life goes on. We are all listening to the news all the time but keep living as much as possible as usual. There are lots of guests from the North and people have been great taking in friends, relatives and even strangers that just needed to leave the North. I know that Nasrallah is planning to attack south of Haifa. He promised and so far he has kept his word so I expect at some point we will get a few rockets south of Haifa and maybe as far as Tel Aviv. Still, its not going to matter, losing this is just not an option. We will overcome like we always have. It’s not like anyone is going to do this for us

Please send my love to the kids and thank you for the emails - promise to write more often

EB