Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

Picture: The Washington Post

In a mode that could clearly say: “I told you so”, critics of America’s involvement in Iraq are now saying that the U.S. Administration sent the troopers there for one primary reason: to shore up a reliable source of crude oil that would keep flowing into American storage facilities, and hence into American citizens gas tanks for at least another 15 to 20 years. With Iraqi petroleum reserves estimated to be at least 10% to total world supply, and if major American oil companies like Exxon-Mobil and Amoco controlling the pumping of fossilized, primeval Earth in most of Iraq, then it would be a win-win situation; the winners being Uncle Sam and Co. of course.

Unfortunately, for President George Bush (an oilman himself) and his assistant, Vice President Dick Cheney (of Halliburton Corp. fame); things didn’t work out the way they wanted them to. Now that Iraqi and (presumably) US forces are staging an operation against Shiite militiamen in the oil rich Iraqi city of Basra, this oil war doctrine seems to be more relevant than ever. Iraqi oil production has been plagued with a scores of problems in both Iraq’s southern region as well as in the northern, Kurdish controlled sector.

Maybe this explains why so many top American officials have made so many “surprise visits” to Iraq in this 2008 election year.

Ever since the invasion of March, 2003, production and exports of Iraqi crude oil have been beset by a combination of old production equipment in bad repair, as well as countless incidents of sabotage by Iraqi insurgents and foreign elements who simply do not want Iraqi oil to fall into the hands of “The Great Satan”, no matter what the price to Iraq’s own economy. As oil has been this country’s major export (and was used by Saddam Hussein to fleece his pockets during his 30 year reign) not being able to produce and export sufficient quantities has resulted in the country’s economy becoming an international basket case.

Now, more five years later and 4,000 American way dead, this precious resource seems even more distant from American and other Western automobile gas tanks. Countries like Israel, who once feared possible attacks from Iraq with weapons of mass destruction, called WMD’s for short, now fear another oil rich country, Iran, whose leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has often called for Israel to be “wiped off the face of the map”. Despite the fact that the U.N. Headquarters is still located in New York City, American governmental officials, and especially New York City officials should have been more prudent than to let this man come twice to address the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, as well as speak before such a pristine academic institution as Columbia University. For it is Iran’s sponsored militiamen who are now fighting Americans in southern Iraq, as well as providing training and arms to Hamas militiaman in Gaza and to the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Oil is now fetching more than $100 a barrel, and the U.S. Dollar is even weaker than currencies like the Israeli Shekel. It appears that the time has come for some serious stock-taking in regards to just why American forces went into Iraq in the first place, instead of simply letting Saddam Hussein and his cronies remain there as a possible buffer against the real world enemy – Iran.

The Tel Aviv Cinematheque is showing a new 30-minute comedy called Bombshell about a young Arab female suicide bomber who fails in her terrorist attack.

This is a story of a young female terrorist who plans to blow herself up on an Israeli bus. Her plan takes an unsuspected turn when she is running late and misses the bus. Meanwhile another woman, an Israeli, is on her way to a Leftists’ protest. Her name is Gali Fahima- a parody of Tali Fahima, a radical left-wing activist who has been accused of aiding a well-known terrorist leader Zakaria Zubeidi.

Terrorism and comedy - sounds like a paradox? Not to the creator of the film, Atar Offek: “A good satire, as I intended to make it, does not make fun at the expense of the weak ones but at the expense of the powerful forces in society.” “So here, too, the movie does not ridicule terror victims, it ridicules the terrorists and the (Israeli) army,” says Offek.

The movie satirizes the two sides of the conflict- Jews and Arabs who are both depicted as comical and absurd. The movie trailer introduces the audience to the “IDF absurd theater,” showing a Hamas woman with a gun who tells the viewers: “whoever doesn’t come to watch me is a smoked egg.”

This black comedy offers a different perspective on widely debated Jewish-Arab conflict. The relatively quiet period of the last four years has allowed this movie to pass under the sensitivity radar without raising too much public objection. Yet it managed to invoke considerable attention with its provocative outlook. But will people actually buy tickets to watch it?

Many Israelis look for escapism while others might not be so open to humoring this sensitive subject. An important quality of humor in our lives is that it acts as a great equalizer between people of different groups by bringing them to the same level of entertainment for the masses. Perhaps this is the recipe for making the enemy more of a human being and for normalizing life in the shadows of a violent conflict. After all, the basis of comedy is people and their human faults.

Tacking such a sensitive issue with black humor may seem out of line. But what is the purpose of art if not to provoke, shock and give a unique and unexpected perspective on life? The view taken in this film offers an attitude we may consider adopting though perhaps not to such a radical extent – despite the harsh reality we live in we should not loose sight of our humanity and our brilliant ability to make silly mistakes.

A report issued by a German Foreign Ministry delegation that deals with teaching the lessons of the Holocaust to German school children said that many children in the country are becoming weary of this subject, even to the point that they may be suffering from what is now being called “Holocaust fatigue”. The report was given by Dr. Benedikt Haller, a Foreign ministry official who is involved in relations with Jewish organizations in respect to issues involving the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.

The gist of the problem, according to Haller, revolves around a new generation of educators who believe that German children “must know the truth about what happened in their country before and during WWII”. Previously, not all the actual details had been conveyed to schoolchildren, perhaps for the reason that their parents and others of the same age group were embarrassed by what had happened during the Holocaust. This new idea of literally “bombarding” German children with literature dealing with this subject has now worked in reverse of what it was intended to do.

An example of this feeling was expressed in a recent cartoon in Der Speigel, one of Germany’s top newspapers. In this cartoon, a young, bewildered German student is standing in a bookstore that is literally crammed with books and other literature dealing with the Holocaust. This cartoon ironically came out on the 60th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.

A specially designed comic book, entitled “The Search”, has recently been introduced into German school curriculum, and deals with Jewish children of about the same age who became victims of the Holocaust. German schoolchildren are required to read the book and afterwards discuss it in class. German kids then give their ideas of what they would have done if in the same situation.

These issues come on the eve of German’s Chancellor Angela Merkel’s planned visit to Israel in which she addressed the Knesset in her native language – German. This has already been criticized by some officials in Israel, while others do not have a problem with it as German is, after all, Merkel’s native tongue. The German Chancellor visited Israel not long after she took up her post, and visited the Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem. Her uncomfortable feelings regarding her country’s past were very evident during this visit.

A new Holocaust remembrance and memorial office is soon to be opened in Berlin, which Haller is very proper since Berlin was the city where the Holocaust actually began during the1930’s and where acts of genocide against were later planned.

If German children are taught less about their country’s darker past, it could later reflect on how they feel about Israel and Jews in general, and could result in a rise in antisemitism in Germany. And as the well said saying goes: “he who forgets the lessons of history is doomed to repeat them”.

A few tips on how to negotiate a successful Yahoo! deal…

Picture: Nir Ben Yosef
The Israeli Air Force is studying how the drug Sildenafil sulfate, otherwise known as Viagra, may be beneficial to fighter pilots on combat missions. The drug, most commonly used by men to have better and longer erections may also be helpful in controlling a pilot’s blood pressure and functional capability during high altitude flights, when less oxygen is available.

Viagra and generic derivatives such as Tadalafel, from which Calais is derived, have become increasingly popular with men, especially those over age 50. Fighter pilots, who are usually in their early to mid 20’s, and at the height of their physical (as well as sexual) prowess Just like the drug is supposed to make men more “sexually aware” it also may sharpen a pilot’s awareness concerning sighting and closing in on his targets in the air.

Now why would this sort of thing be cool to must of us guys who aren’t “fly boys”? The answer is very simple: if this stuff helps fighter pilots “shoot straight” in a manner speaking, it should help us too, even though we’re not a “top gun” at the controls of an F-16A fighter jet. Many may be wondering if fighter pilots might even be too gung ho after taking these drugs prior to leaving on a mission. Flying a sophisticated aircraft, like an F-16, is not child’s play; and if these guys start thinking about the girl friends while hot-rodding their planes in the “wild blue yonder” it might result in some interesting “maneuvering”. Taking the drug prior to flying, might be embarrassing afterwards, though, especially wearing the normally tight flight suits that fighter pilots have to wear.

Using these drugs top enhance combat flying ability will be discussed further at an Air Force investigations conference that will deal with the matter of using Viagra as a performance enhancing drug. Whatever happens as to a final decision, one thing may be for certain. And that is the drug might be able to “free” the pilot’s normal appendages for manning the aircraft’s fighting equipment, since another “appendage” will be available to help fly the aircraft. After all, if one can play a piano this way, why not fly a plane?

Gambling has always been a popular pastime among Israelis. But one game, available “on-line” has turned out to be a “winner” for some and a nightmare for others. Unfortunately, I wound up being one of the “others”. It seemed very simple at first: just register and give all your personal information, including card info, bank account (for depositing all those winnings they hype about) and start playing. Americans who play the game find out quickly that the sporting events offered for playing are not those like the NFL or College football, or that Great American Pastime, baseball. Though some NFL games are occasionally offered, most of the sporting events are games that are popular with Israelis like basketball; and Israeli and European football leagues, otherwise known as soccer. Soccer also includes the new American National League Soccer matches played during the “off season” period for the NFL and NBA.

Ok, I grant you that there are plenty of NBA games to wager on, as well as Euro League baskeball matches, which are in the same league the Israel’s star hoopsters, Maccabee Tel Aviv, play in. For all the “punters” from the UK, there are all their football league matches too, including the Barclays Premier League, and other English, Scottish, and Irish Leagues as well. There are also European and South American football league matches, so nearly everyone can find something to throw their money away on.

Although the web site is noted as a safe site (regarding giving financial information) the ease of being able to “go online” to place a bet, instead of doing it at a local kiosk or sports betting store, and that bets on games played in North America can be placed until nearly midnight, made it very tempting to do this instead to humping it over to the nearby “Pitsuchim” nut and cigarette shop to wager on NBA teams like the Lakers, Nicks, or Celtics.

After more than six months of this business, I finally reached the point that I was ‘upside down’ in regards to my losses over winnings; and although I’m sure that some people do win at this game, they probably are sports mavens who follow all the games intensely both locally and abroad.

Online betting has become a phenomenon that has spread all over the world, and not only involves wagering of sporting matches, but literally all kinds of gambling, including horse racing and Los Vegas types of casino gambling on computerized versions of poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and of course, the “slots”.

Getting back to my own predicament, I have finally decided to go “off line”; and hopefully, I will think twice next time before walking through the rain and wind to the nut shop, at 10 p.m. at night, to place my 10 or 20 Shekel bet.

What a night. The deep freeze is here and there is snow in Jerusalem, the Golan and anything that sticks up a few meters over sea level. Wind, gusting winds, we got winter. The Electric company says we broke a record for consumption (again) and I better finish this before the OHH..
This winter is the nastiest I have seen in a while but as long as you have a roof over your head and someone to snuggle with, I love it. It’s still beats Canada any day of the week. Checkout the cool snow shots on Sabra at Heart…..

Hat Tip: Abba | Pictures: Spiegel Online

I got this in the email and probably never would have come across it, but its definitely worth a read. This is an article called A Visit to a Gaza Rocket Factory and I selected these excerpts…

The vehicle finally stops at a dirt track. The Islamic Jihad rocket factory is housed in a kind of garden shed. The hut measures five meters by five meters, metal pipes with small wings lean against the wall in the corner: Half finished Qassams. There are several tightly packed garbage bags on a shelf. “TNT,” says Abdul and produces a chunk. The explosive looks like lumpy sugar. A large cauldron is sitting ready on a gas cooker while bags with Hebrew writing are piled up high up against the wall. “Fertilizer for the rocket fuel,” Abdul says and grins. “We get it in Israel.”

The team can make up to 100 rockets per night shift, but today it won’t be more than 10. Instead of the usual 12, only three of Abdul’s men have turned up tonight. “The other guys are over in Egypt, shopping”

“The TNT comes to us from Sudan via Egypt.” Other elements arrive by boat across the sea to Gaza. “We get some from Eastern Europe.” The raw materials for one large rocket cost up to €500. The money to finance the operation comes the same route as the materials. “The Israeli blockade doesn’t affect us; it’s just intended to plunge the people into misery.”

A cauldron full of fuel is set on it, and one of the men stirs in a lump of golden syrup, while the others weigh the fertilizer, which contains nitrate. They explain that the nitrate has to be mixed very slowly with the sugar solution. “The thing is highly explosive.” Abdul admits that many of his friends have suffered severe burns or lost fingers. He shrugs his shoulders: “There is a local saying in Gaza: He who cooks poison has to also try it.”

Over tea on the porch Abdul tells of his career as a rocket maker. A few hours of theory, then he and his friends did their apprenticeship with an experienced rocket builder. He doesn’t want to explicitly say it, but it seems as if he also trained abroad. “I was in Syria, Jordan and one other country,” he says. In Iran? Abdul smiles slightly.

Following a series of explosions last night, a section of a security wall between Egypt and Gaza was blown up, allowing thousands of Palestinians to swarm into the Egyptian side of Rafiah to buy much needed food and supplies. With neither Palestinian or Egyptian security authorities making any effort to stop them, the frantic Gazans could be seen bringing back virtually everything imaginable, including cartons of Egyptian made cigarettes which cost a fraction of those available in Gaza.

Concerned Israel governmental officials are worried that not only can all kinds of contraband, including narcotics and weapons, can be literally carried back to Gaza; but that anyone desiring can just walk over the now unguarded border, including terrorists such as members of Al Qaeda.

The residents of Gaza were already in an unpleasant situation when Israeli authorities shut the border crossings between Israel and Gaza following a series of Kassam missile attacks Israelis. These missiles caused both personal injury and property damage to Israelis, especially in the town of Sderot.

Israeli government officials in Jerusalem were quick to point out that as previously agreed it is Egypt’s responsibility to maintain security along its border with Gaza. But this apparently is not working out with Egyptian police officials doing nothing from preventing people from bringing what could wind up being tons of arms and explosives into Gaza.

Following Israel’s complete closure of its border with Gaza this week, in the aftermath of more than 150 Kassam rockets being fired into Israeli territory, Prime Minister Olmert went one step further by shutting down the electricity grid and preventing supplies of fuel oil and gasoline from reaching Gaza, which virtually kept the Strip in the dark. Despite a slight let up by Israeli authorities to allow limited supplies of fuel and medicines into Gaza, residents of Rafiah decided to take measures into their own hands, which resulted in to explosions that opened a large section of the security wall. For most residents of Gaza, this is the first time they have been able to cross freely into Egypt, and this includes even students who had been enrolled in universities abroad. One Gaza man was heard saying that he planned to take his son to Cairo to board a flight to Morocco where he was supposed to be attending school.

What will happen next is very much up in the air, as Egyptian authorities do not seem willing to assert their authority following a riot at the border crossing the day before which resulted in a number of Palestinians being wounded when Egyptians opened fire in the air to prevent Gazans from breaking down the border gate. What now concerns Israeli authorities is the possibility of scores of terrorist of all kinds, including members of Al Qaeda, from literally walking into Gaza to assist them in their armed struggle against Israel. There is also the possibility of various types of armament being brought in to Gaza, including longer range rockets capable of reaching further into Israel.

Israeli government ministers said that they hold Hamas responsible for what has occurred, as “Hamas controls the territory”. Even before this event occurred, many say that it was easier to purchase arms in Gaza, including RPG’s, than to purchase soft drinks or medications.

Has Hollywood actor tom finally come “out of the closet in regards to his passion towards his membership in the International Church of Scientology? It seems so, ever since a video CD surfaced on the Church of Scientology’s website, and is also being talked about on news commentary programs not only in the USA but in other countries as well.

Cruise, who appears on the 30 minute video clip expressing his excitement and feelings concerning Scientology, appears quite sincere and frank when relating how he bas benefited from his being associated with the religion founded by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1953. Some of his quotations about his personal involvement in the study of Scientology include:

“I think its privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it’s something you have to earn, because a Scientologist does…has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions.”

“If you’re a Scientologist, you see life in all its glories and all its complexities. And the more you know about being a Scientologist you don’t become overwhelmed by it.”

“I have to do it because I can’t live with myself if I don’t – and that really is it”

“In regards to practicing Scientology, you’re either ‘onboard’ all the way, or you’re not”,

Despite Cruise’s “indoctrination video” his feelings are not being shared in the same way by those who criticize Scientology, however, and many former Scientologists are very critical of him and his adopted religion, saying it is not only a cult, but a dangerous one at that. Critics of Cruise and the video say that he is taking a big risk in regards to his future acting career.

Scientology preaches the study of a concept known as Dianetics, which is defined as a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between the spirit, mind and body ,in order to reach a state of “clear, or the ability to function at one’s full potential”.

Though not called a ‘church’ in Israel due to the word’s connection with Christianity, Scientology has been active here for more than 30 years, and claims to have several thousand members in its ranks from all walks of life, including wealthy businessmen and media personalities.

The two main Scientology centers or “missions” in Israel are in Jerusalem at 5 Narkiss Street, and in Tel Aviv at 107 Rothschild Blvd.. A new modern center is under construction in Tel Aviv. The church also has an international youth organization called the International Youth for Human Rights, which also has a branch in Israel, headed by Don Shaul. Besides trying to make people more aware of human rights abuses all over the world, including Israel, the organization also tries to dispel adverse publicity against Scientology itself.

Critics of Scientology, especially those who “left the fold” after being indoctrinated into it, say that it is not a religion at all but attempts to control it’s members by making it difficult to leave once one accepted into it’s ranks.

As for Cruise himself, whose wife Katie is also a Scientologist, he ended the video clip with the remark of his sincerity in being part of it: “I do what I can; I do it the way I do everything”. Then he laughs out loud and says: “there’s nothing part-of-the-way for me!”