SIMMERING SUMMER
Summer is now in full swing in Jerusalem. The schools are on vacation and the streets are full of tourists, while the locals are flocking to the pools or the cool shopping mall, or just hiding from the heat indoors. However if you do venture into the city streets you are in for a delight. Many of the streets are brightly decorated with fun and colorful displays. Here are some of the things you might see:
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Colorful parasols decorate a Jerusalem street
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| https://rjstreets.com/2016/07/06/have-you-seen-jerusalems-new-colors/ben-yehuda-decorated-028b/#main |
Jerusalem is a city full of quirky imagination, creativity, color and the joy of life.
A kind of quiet settles over Jerusalem in summer as the heat drives us indoors. Many of the city's inhabitants travel abroad to visit family, take vacations or just to flee the heat. Tourist numbers drop. As a result Jerusalem takes on the appearance of a sleepy, peaceful town. However we can never forget that just below the surface violence is simmering away and could at any moment boil over. This week I read an article which claimed that Israel's real enemy was not Iran or the Palestinians but the idea of 'the Crisis' itself. It pointed out that,
"serious indignation is reserved only for the one true topic worthy of attention: The Crisis, a perpetual feeling of imminent doom that dominates the hearts and minds of leftists and rightists alike".
As a consequence a whole plethora of serious internal social issues are overlooked or ignored, and this has the potential of destroying Israel from inside. Some of the issues the article mentioned were :
" the soldiers in the asbestos-ridden tanks; the young Arab women and children in Umm al-Fahm, pushed by stupid neglect right into the arms of Islamic fundamentalists; the barely functioning police; the medical interns who are struggling with 26-hour shifts when their colleagues in Europe and America typically work between 12 and 16 hours at a time; the students down south who, unlike their peers in wealthier communities elsewhere in Israel, are repeatedly falling behind in math and other core subjects; the 150,000 toddlers who attend unsupervised day-care centers and receive abysmally unhealthy lunches; the residents of Jerusalem, many of whom are Arabs or fervently Orthodox Jews, more than half of whom are currently unemployed; the tens of thousands of Arab and Bedouin children in the Galilee and the Negev who benefited from three mobile libraries that the Ministry of Culture, for some reason, chose to shut down".
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/204146/israels-enemy-is-crisis-itself
And I could add many more neglected social issues - the fact that 1/3 of Israeli children still go to bed hungry, the gulf between the rich and the poor, the neglect of the elderly, the sick and the handicapped, the failure to get reparations to the desperately needy holocaust survivors, the teachers who get paid a pittance while being expected to teach 30-40 children in the classroom, the understaffed hospitals run by exhausted and underpaid doctors and nurses, and so on.
I think this article made a good point that perhaps one of the important consequences of terror and war is that important social issues are overlooked. Its the tyranny of the urgent over the important, or the immediate threat over the one we can push off to another day. It is however also true that in spite of the ever present 'Crisis' Israel has accomplished much. Take a drive around the country and you will see growing towns, green fields and vibrant agriculture, burgeoning industry, and a lot of happy and healthy people enjoying life.
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| A Tel Aviv beach in Summer https://www.facebook.com/ynetenglish/photos/a.384316348269521.94744.129653250402500/1204468559587625/?type=3&theater |
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| The longest bridge http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4825986,00.html |
That said, it is inescapable that we must always put our national security first. We can have no social stability or improvement without it. I fear that as a nation we are suffering somewhat from crisis fatigue. We have heard for so many years about the Iranian threat, the threats from our neighboring countries, the threats from Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIS, and the threat of ongoing terror, and as a result we have become a little complacent and disinterested. This is natural. One cannot live in constant state of anxiety and fear. One becomes to some extent habituated, as you do to an unpleasant odor or sound. I do fear however the risk of becoming complacent and failing to prepare for the 'next war'.
For years we have been listening to the rhetoric of Iranian leaders, and their constant threats to destroy Israel. Its like an annoying background hum that you eventually just tune out. It is tempting just to ignore it, to get lulled thinking it will never happen. However just this last Friday, during violent anti-Israel demonstrations in Iran on their Al-Kuds (Jerusalem) Day, the Deputy Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, General Hossein Salami, proclaimed that,
“Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes,”. He continued saying, "Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever". And he boasted "tens of thousands of destructive long-range missiles” are aimed at Israel from Islamic territories".
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| A statue depicting the US Statue of Liberty decorated with a Star of David on its head is set ablaze by Iranian protestors during a parade marking al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Tehran on July 1, 2016. (Atta Kenare/AFP http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-holds-annual-anti-israel-rallies-to-mark-al-quds-day/ |
There are no grounds for complacency in the face of such rhetoric. The IDF is busy planning for the next war and last Sunday realistic drills were held recreating a massive missile attack on civilian areas in the north and in the south. Since the War of Independence in 1948 there have been very few civilian casualties in the many wars we have fought, for example in the 1967 Yom Kippur War there were no civilian casualties (though 2,500 soldiers died) and in the 2014 Gaza war only 6 civilians were killed. Even the Scud Missiles of the 1991 Gulf war killed only two Israelis directly (though another 11 died from heart attacks or the incorrect use of the gas masks).
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| An Israeli family in a Safe Room during a scud attack in the 1991 Gulf War http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/History/Pages/The%20Gulf%20War%20-%201991.aspx |
We all know that in the next war however, if Hezbollah succeeds in releasing even a portion of its massive arsenal of missiles and rockets, we can expect massive civilian casualties and the IDF are putting evacuation and defense plans in place for the population in the north and south especially. However these will inevitably be sadly inadequate. Many, many homes in Israel do not yet even have safe rooms or bomb shelters within reach.
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A Haifa building damaged in a rocket attack during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Nir Kafri http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.72971 |
Analysts say that in the next Lebanon War
Israel could see 1,500-2,000 rockets shot across its borders per day, compared to the 150-180 per day we experienced in the Second Lebanon War of 2006. Todays rockets and missiles are more sophisticated, can be aimed more accurately and reach much greater distances - reaching every part of Israel - than those we saw in the Second Lebanon War.
Israel has also greatly increased its attack and defense preparedness but there is no way we could stop a barrage of rockets of such dimensions, and massive civilian casualties are expected.
Reports are coming in that Hezbollah forces have already amassed along the Israeli border taking over civilian homes in which they have hidden military equipment and weapons. http://observer.com/2016/07/third-lebanon-israel-war-not-if-but-when/. It is believed that Hezbollah now maintains a sizeable army of 40,000 to 45,000 soldiers evenly divided between conscripts and reservists.
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| Homes in southern Lebanon occupied by Hezbollah forces and separated from Israel only by this wire fence http://observer.com/2016/07/third-lebanon-israel-war-not-if-but-when/ |
It is important to understand that Hezbollah is essentially the striking arm of Iran. A colonel and brigade commander of the IDF put it this way,
"You also have to realize, that Hezbollah is the outpost of the Iranian empire. Iran does not govern Lebanon, but it controls Lebanon. Don’t be fooled. This, out here, [pointing to Lebanon] is not Lebanon—it’s Iran.”Earlier this month, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami declared at a sermon “Today, more than ever, there is fertile ground—with the grace of God—for the annihilation, the wiping out, and the collapse of the Zionist regime. In Lebanon alone, over 100,000 missiles are ready to be launched.” When it serves Iran's interests the command will be given and these missiles will “pierce through space, and will strike at the heart of the Zionist regime,” preparing the ground for its great collapse in the new era.” He also said that “Tens of thousands of other high-precision, long-range missiles … have been placed in various places throughout the Islamic world. They are just waiting for the command, so that when the trigger is pulled, the accursed black dot [Israel] will be wiped off the geopolitical map of the world, once and for all.”
At the same time as war preparations are being made in the north of Israel so too is the tension along the Gaza border continuing to build. Just this week a rocket hit a kindergarten in one of the southern towns. Fortunately no one was in the building at the time and only two people were slightly wounded. Hamas however is continuing to dig tunnels, arm and train its forces preparing for the next Gaza war.
Meanwhile civil unrest is growing in both Gaza and the West Bank as various factions express dissatisfaction with the current regimes. This could result in a chaotic situation in the Palestinian areas as warring factions vie for power such as we see in Syria today. http://www.brecorder.com/market-data/rates-a-schedules/118/65012/
All in all there is no room for complacency. Please pray for Israel. Our enemies outnumber and outgun us enormously but we have the LORD God Almighty on our side.
For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
16 For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.
16 For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.
But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.
19 The South shall possess the mountains of Esau,
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South.
21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the South.
21 Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
Obadiah 1: 15-21
Finally: here are some links to some interesting videos and articles you may be interested in seeing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYMviMHH0nc "Inventing the Palestinian People"- video about the origin of the Palestinians.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zNcXMXy1Jw "Palestine Festival for Childhood and Education" - video about the hate education and brainwashing of Palestinian children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwifGaSYaA Philistine Cemetery found at Ashkelon - archaeological discovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKEgjeCbgWQ video about Jerusalem
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/CNN-explains-U-turn-to-list-Tel-Aviv-terror-attack-in-graphic-459772 - article about biased reporting by CNN
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4826913,00.html - Talpiot bus terrorist sentenced
