Who Is The Enemy?

According to America’s liberal Democrats, President Bush engaged the country in a monumentally flawed and destructive campaign, described as an all-out effort against terrorism and terrorist groups of "global reach." It includes two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, a lethal counter-terrorism effort waged by the CIA and the Pentagon's Special Forces units, and a global effort to expand US military and intelligence ties to countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

America’s liberal Democrats accused Bush of rolling up Iran, Saddam's Iraq, Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Saudi Arabia's Wahhabis, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban, various Pakistani Islamist groups, and others into one big terrorist ball of wax. - They think that anti-American sentiment throughout the region reached all-time highs because of this approach.

May I interject: “Terrorism is a symptom, not the cause of today’s worldwide conflict? We are not engaged in a war on terror. Terror is only a tactic, one of many in the arsenal of radical Islamists.”

So, what does the newly chosen US President do? Barely in office, the new president and his secretary of state are moving fast to position themselves on the so-called Israeli - "Palestinian" conflict.

"I pledge my supreme effort”, Barack Hussein Obama declared, "in the search for peace and stability in the Middle East." We will - said Hillary Rodham Clinton as she introduced new envoy George Mitchell - be adopting a "robust" approach. Mitchell is due in Jerusalem tomorrow. It looks like Obama is already moving to engage the enemy here.

Who, one might ask, is the enemy?

Let’s examine Obama’s "friends."

Obama's first telephone call from the Oval Office last Wednesday, the day after his inauguration, was to Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The president promised the terrorist-in-a-tie that his new administration would be pushing ahead towards the "two-state-solution."

Obama’s first television interview was addressed to the Arab-Islamic world. "Americans are not your enemies," he told Al-Arabiya TV.

"We sometimes make mistakes — we have not been perfect." - Muslims attacked America on 9-11. Muslims have been triggering and waging war all around the globe, often aimed at America's interests, but the US president tells Muslims AMERICA has made mistakes!?

WHO is the enemy in Obama’s eyes?

Is it the Arab world, which for decades has asserted effort after effort to destroy the Israeli state which has 950-times less land than the Arabs do?

Is it the Arab regimes of Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, whose rejection of the Jews' right to their homeland has been the primary factor responsible for the instability in the Middle East?

Is it the people who break out in singing and hand out candy to celebrate jihadist attacks; the people who burn the Stars and Stripes and trample the ashes into the dirt while spewing out their hatred for the Great Satan?

Are these countries the enemy??

Or is the Obama administration soon to discover that it is Israel who will get in the way of its policies, program and "peace" plan for the Middle East?

Will the bad boy on the block for America quickly become the small state under its proud Star of David?

Will the enemy be the only Middle Eastern nation that shares America's values of democracy, freedom of the press and respect for human rights?

Will the - eventual if not immediate - enemy be the nation whose forefathers gave America the Bible on which their legal system and a great deal of their national history and values have been built?

Will the Obama administration's enemy be this little land whose people look, almost fawningly, to the US for friendship, swearing allegiance to the American flag in almost the same breath with which they swear allegiance to their own?

America, under its new liberal leaders, will soon begin to turn the screws on Jerusalem.
Please wake up from your slumber; change has come to America, and to the world!

Fighters' Jewish Spirit Returns

Tevet 19, 5769, 15 January 09 11:53by IsraelNN Staff
(IsraelNN.com)

An IDF rabbi shared this personal testimony...

I had the privilege this week [the week before the ground offensive into Gaza - ed.] of accompanying the Golani Brigade's Regiment 12 soldiers. I am the regiment’s rabbi, in reserves, and I was called up to serve just like the all the rest, to “aid Israel at its time of tribulation.”

As a long-time ba'al-teshuvah [returnee to observant Judaism], a rabbi in a yeshiva who usually walks around wearing a jacket and hat, I now had a major change of atmosphere: my black “uniform” became one of dusty dark green, the hubbub of the Torah study hall was replaced by not-so-pleasing army slang, and my wife's delicious food was given up for the “delicacies” of the mess hall, most of which I don’t eat because of one stringency or another.

We spent most of the week in wet tents, with the terrible cold preventing me from sleeping at night. (I apparently wasn’t working as hard as the other soldiers, because they fell asleep the second they hit the pillow.)

My work, as an official of the Army Rabbinate, was to give encouragement and strength to the soldiers, give out Books of Psalms [Tehillim] and distribute special prayers for those who go out to battle.

Psalms for AllAnd what did I discover down there in southern Israel? My brothers! The Golanchiks (Golani Brigade soldiers), about to go out to war, want to hold on to the Rock of Israel! There wasn’t a soldier there who didn’t equip himself with a Tehillim in his pocket or combat vest - but the big surprise we had was when we gave out tzitzit [four-cornered shirt with the required ritual fringes attached]. Usually only the yeshiva guys take them, but this time, every soldier there seemed to want one!

“Rabbi, bring me some tzitzit, my whole tent wants.” “Hey, achi [my brother], take one of these, it’s better than the ceramic vest!” These were the types of calls we kept hearing over and over. Every package of tzizit that we opened was snatched up within seconds.
There was one young fighter who came to the synagogue whose face fell when he heard that there were no tzitzit left. He was totally bereft, until one of the officers who wasn’t going out to battle took off his own tzitzit and gave it to him, saying, “Take it, achi (in the Golani you can’t say something without achi), you need it now more than I do.”

Email readers: Click here to watch video of tzitzit distribution in the IDF organized by Kulanuachim

The Ma'ariv evening prayer of Friday night, Parashat Vayigash, was simply unbelievable. The Rabbinate realized that the synagogue was too small to fit all the hundreds of soldiers, and so it turned the soccer field into an impromptu synagogue, with prayerbooks, Holy Ark, and everything else.

Whoever did not take part in that Kabbalat Shabbat [Sabbath Welcoming] service, is like one who never took part in a Kabbalat Shabbat service in his life! Almost the entire Golani Brigade, officers and soldiers, yelling out the Kaddish and Tehillim prayers. If it wasn’t for the uniform I was wearing, I could have almost thought that I was at a Yom Kippur service in one of the large yeshivot!

No Questions AskedOur loving Father, too, was there, enjoying every minute of His sons gathering around Him. Our Father doesn’t ask, “Where have you been until now? Why do you remember Me just when you go out to war?” He welcomes all His children and embraces them with love.

After the Sabbath meal, held in an atmosphere of a great “high,” we were privileged to be able to hold an Oneg Shabbat for the soldiers. Chief IDF Rabbi Avi Ronsky was with us the whole Sabbath, and he warmed our hearts with stories of the Nation of Israel, on compassion, on brotherly love, and more. We sat outside with cake and sunflower seeds in the cold, but inside our hearts it was warm.

During the Sabbath, we had to travel to the places from where the soldiers would leave for Gaza. We arrived and the soldiers were imbued with combat spirit, getting ready, trying to get in a last cigarette. Many soldiers tried very hard not to smoke that Sabbath, after I explained to them the importance of observing the Sabbath. They would come up to me every five minutes and ask if the Sabbath had ended yet.

We prayed Ma'ariv there, recited Havdalah [the Sabbath-ending blessing] over grape juice, a lighter [instead of a candle] and an orange [in place of spices]. And then it was time to go in. The Regiment Commander gathered everyone for last-minute words of strength, and explained to them about the “corrective experience” we were about to impart to the enemy.

When he finished, the Deputy Commander read aloud the prayer before going out to battle. “Repeat after me,” he ordered, and a whole regiment of hundreds of soldiers yelled out, “Ana Hashem hoshia na! Ana Hashem hatzlicha na! [O G-d, save us! O G-d, grant us success!]” After the prayer, the Deputy Commander asked me to blow the Shofar, just as thousands of years ago when we conquered the Holy Land.

Perfect CoordinationThough I’ve blown the Shofar in public before, this particular time was something that will remain with me my whole life. And then, as if I and the Israel Air Force were in perfect coordination, the very second that I finished blowing the Shofar, our planes bombed the enemy area, as if it were a signal to begin the ground offensive.

The soldiers lined up in two columns, and as I parted from them with handshakes, I thought to myself, “What a special nation we have! This is how a Jewish army looks as it goes out to war – not with boastful ‘We will win’ stickers, but rather ‘We will win with G-d’s help.’”

No DisputeI will just end by saying that where I live in Modi'in Illit, we have a clever interpretation of the verse ‘G-d’s voice is powerful’: The word for 'power' is spelled with the letters kaf and chet, which we say are the initials of kova and chalifa [hat and suit], our usual garb. But as of this week, we now know that they are also the initials of the kumtah chumah [brown beret] worn by the Golani soldiers. There, too, the voice of G-d is heard – and “lo pligi” (there is no argument between the two, both are right).

translated by Hillel Fendel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/
© Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com

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British Bus Campaign: "There's Probably No God"

It seems I just recently wrote a blog about city buses in America advertising Islam.

Now buses in England are also used as billboards. In January atheists launched a campaign posting the message: "There's probably no God. So stop worrying and enjoy your life" on the side of 800 British buses.

The campaign was conceived by Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer who dreamed of just one bus going around London with an atheist slogan after she saw a similar advertisement for Christianity on the back of a bus.

She was upset to click on the web link it suggested and be directed to a site prophesying a future of hellfire and brimstone for those who don’t believe. She determined to do what she could to offer non-believers a more life-affirming message and wrote about it in an online forum.

Her campaign sparked a massive and instant response and was taken up by the British Humanist Association and the scientist and Professor Dawkins, who pledged £5,500 of his own cash. According to The New York Times, the atheist campaign raised $150,000 in four days, providing the financing for the wider advertising effort.

A leading Christian activist made a formal complaint about the atheist bus adverts which were launched nationwide this week. Nevertheless, organizers are frustrated that their signs have not caused more outrage. This lack of outrage, some suggest, is just more evidence of Britain's growing secularity.

As The New York Times reported, "Although Queen Elizabeth is the head of the Church of England; Britain is a deeply secular country with a dwindling number of regular churchgoers, and with politicians who seem to go out of their way to play down their religious beliefs." Indeed, former Prime Minister Tony Blair's Director of Communications once famously quipped, "We don't do G-D."

Probably? Are British atheists allowing for the possibility? Hardly; British atheists have discovered a higher power. It's called the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing. Ariane Sherine, who came up with the idea for the atheist buses, said in her blog that "inclusion of the word 'probably' makes it less likely to cause offense, and therefore be in breach of the Advertising Code." In other words, she wants to avoid a law-suit.

The advertisement probably caused people to think about G-D who wouldn't have. As far as He is concerned, the wisdom of this world is nonsense. He knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless. (Isa 40:13)

I do not believe in G-D because I have become convinced that his existence is probably true, but because I am convinced that the existence of G-D is the first principle of all truth.

“As I live, says Adonai, every knee will bend before me, and every tongue will publicly acknowledge G-D.” (Isa 45:23) Only a fool says in his heart, there is no G-D. God said that in (Psalm 14) and he said it again in (Psalm 53) just in case we didn't get it!

The Human Shield

What on earth is a Human Shield?

The Wikipedia tells us: “A human shield is a military and political term describing the presence of civilians in or around combat targets to deter an enemy from attacking those targets. It may also refer to the use of civilians to literally shield combatants during attacks, by forcing the civilians to march in front of the soldiers”

This is done in the hope that the other party will be reluctant to attack them. Furthermore, if the other party attacks these targets anyway, the resulting civilian casualties have propaganda value.

Hamas militants used the school and hundreds of Palestinian civilians shelters around it as a cover to fire mortars at Israeli towns.

How terrible, civilians are used to cover terrorists? Where? - It’s hard to believe, but Hamas has been hiding in mosques, kindergartens and hospitals! – Don’t they have any respect for human life, especially that of defenseless children and sick people?

The following is an excerpt from a speech delivered by Hamas MP Fathi Hammad, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 29, 2008. Hammad explains that using civilians as a human shield is not an accident on Hamas' part; it is a strategic military and propaganda tactic.

"[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its [methods] of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahidin (ed., jihad warriors) and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahidin, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death like you desire life."’ (www.memritv.org/video.html).

Golda Meir was not a grand orator in any traditional sense of the term. But her words contained a direct and simple eloquence, reflecting her straightforward, no nonsense approach.
Naomi Reagan says: “All of us cry for the death of children. We in Israel recognize that thefastest way to save the lives of the children in Gaza, is for the Israeli army to crush Hamas which is using them as human shields. “

Ralph Peters wrote in the New York Post: “Israel hasn't killed a single civilian in the Gaza Strip. Over a hundred civilians have died, and Israeli bombs or shells may have ended their lives. But Israeli didn't kill them. Hamas did.”

What Happened to the Bug-Free Lettuce?

Listening to the American media, the worldwide propaganda assault against Israel seems to be growing exponentially as the current Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza continues.

Let’s not forget that Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and completely turned its administration over to the Palestinian Authority. Jews were forcibly removed from their homes, and all of the Israeli agricultural, commercial and residential assets – which were considerable – were left to the Palestinians.

What did they do with them?? - They quickly trashed and destroyed these valuable assets that would have greatly helped them feed their own people. - I remember the hothouses that grew bug-free lettuce on the sandy soil of Gush Katif.

In the Katif Bloc’s greenhouses, a uniquely developed advanced technology was used to grow bug-free leafy vegetables and herbs answering to the strictest health, aesthetic and religious requirements. Most of these organic agricultural products were exported to Europe. In addition, the community of Atzmona had Israel’s largest plant nursery, and with 800 cows, the Katif dairy was the second largest in the country.

The total sum of exports from the greenhouses of Gush Katif, which were owned by 200 farmers, came to $200,000,000 per year and made up 15% of the agricultural exports of the State of Israel.

Of Israel’s total exports abroad, Gush Katif exported:
95% of bug-free lettuce and greens
70% of organic vegetables
60% of cherry tomatoes
60% of geraniums to Europe.

The Economic Cooperation Foundation, funded by the European Union, purchased the greenhouses for $14 million and transfered ownership to the Palestinian Authority, so that the 4,000 Palestinians employed to work in them could keep their jobs.

But after the IDF left Gaza, thousands of Palestinians looted the area, and 800 of the 4,000 greenhouses were left unusable. After years of producing bug-free lettuce and other vegetables for Jewish farmers, the sands of Gaza have reverted to their old ways. PA farmers couldn’t keep the bugs away.

Could it be that G-d’s fourteen promises concerning blessings for obedience
are as real as the fifty-four curses for rebellion from G-D? (Deuteronomy 28)

– When I was visiting northern Israel, I noticed that the Israeli soil was green with vegetation and on the other side of the border it was brown. Brown and desolate was the soil in Lebanon or Syria.

I know that a lot of money was sent to help the “poor Palestinians.” What did they use it for?

Not to grow lettuce!! - They purchased weapons and munitions to equip their army. All of the economic development money was poured into terrorism! - They smuggled a formidable arsenal into Gaza and began to launch daily attacks on Israel's cities.

Well, if they want to create their own state, shouldn’t they build an economic infrastructure that would enable the Gazan citizens to support themselves?

Why is it that they can only find work in Israel and not in Gaza?

Not Until Hamas Is Removed From Power

Bold printed headlines in American newspapers read: “Israel rejects truce, attacks Gaza.” - That makes readers think that Israel is the villain, the aggressor. Hidden in small print, a few words simply mention that Gaza militants previously fired rockets into Israel. Most readers will read right over these words. The media fails to make it clear that Hamas has shelled Israel’s civilian population for eight long years before Israel finally decided to do something about it.

Just two weeks ago Hamas refused to extend even that partial cease-fire and began intensive rocketing Israeli kibbutzim, towns and cities on the average of 40-50 attacks a day. Why should Israel accept a truce with them now?

Hamas has long threatened to hit major Israeli cities. Their weapon of choice are Katyusha rockets manufactured in China and Iran, packed with screws, bolts and ball bearings to maximize casualties, and topped off with ammonia to increase explosive power.

Hamas fired 52 rockets on strictly civilian targets on Thursday, focusing on Israel's 5th, 6th and 13th biggest cities – Ashdod, Beersheva and Ashkelon. Yesterday our city of Beersheva was hit 8 times by Grad katyushas, while Ashkelon was hit 9 times.

The 122 mm Grad-model has been used recently to hit Sderot, Netivot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gan Yavne, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Rahat, moshavim just outside of Beersheva and now Beersheva itself. These rockets were smuggled through Yemen, Eritrea, and Sudan, and finally brought across the very porous border with Egypt. Hamas demands that these borders (the Philadelphi Corridor) be thrown wide open so they can resupply and continue rocket attacks against Israel. After all, the IDF was able to destroy some of their weapon smuggling tunnels.

Israeli intelligence reported that Hamas terrorists were hiding in hospitals and maternity wards, wearing the clothes of doctors and nurses. They were moving rocket launchers into crowded residential neighborhoods, - thus their success in shooting over 45 rockets into
Israeli towns this morning alone.

A mosque used for storing rockets was destroyed. In Muslim tradition, mosques have sometimes been gathering places for encouraging, stirring up and supporting jihad. They have been used to shelter combatants and as a base from which to attack unbelievers. In recent UAV reconnaissance flights over Gaza, Israeli drones have positively identified terror leaders gathering and using mosques as command and control centers – to brief ground forces and distribute rockets. Though such behavior is not an accepted part of modern Western culture, the Islamist use of houses of worship in jihad or holy war has definite historical precedent in the Middle East.

Though the IAF air attacks have been comprehensive, the military forces of Hamas are still untouched. This terror army is waiting for an Israeli incursion, convinced that they will be able to inflict heavy casualties on the IDF. Roadside IEDs (improvised explosive devices), huge explosives concealed under newly paved roads, anti-tank and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles certainly await the IDF.

There is something weird happening. The Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians are all saying that Hamas is the cause of this war. Why do they suddenly all agree on condemning Hamas? After all it is an Islamic Terrorist Group that wants to destroy Israel as much as they do.

I think there is something fishy going on. “Something is rotten in the State of
Denmark”.

Most of us know that Hamas and Hezbollah are puppet groups of Iran. Over the past few years Iran has been able to dominate Lebanon with Hezbollah and Gaza with Hamas. Both groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, are funded by Iran. - While the US and others keep trying to force the two-state-disaster on Israel, the fact that Islamic Terrorists are building strongholds in both Gaza and Lebanon with the assistance of Russia, China and North Korea seems to be over looked by the US Administration.

Bush hasn’t given up on his Road Map to Hell, and the two state solution. He also knows that there is no chance of that ever happening as long as Hamas is in charge of Gaza. BUT, if he can remove Hamas from power and the PA takes control, the door is wide open for the so-called “Palestinian” State to become a reality. While the rest of the world is calling for a cease fire, Bush is clearly saying: “Not until Hamas is removed from power.”

Which brings into question what are the Israeli goals? Are they to bring about a two state solution?

In the meantime over 15,000 well trained Hamas fighters are staying underground, waiting on the Israeli ground troops to move in, knowing they will lose their fight, but they are not afraid to die for Allah as long as they can kill some Jews. In fact they don’t care how many Arabs in Gaza are killed because - the higher the number - the better for the media war.

While we wish for an Israeli victory in Gaza, such an outcome could have a dangerous downside, the handover of Gaza to the PLO's Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority.