July 28, 2006 – Av 4, 5766

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

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Obviously, Israel is our prime focus in this week’s special midsummer issue of the Shabbat-o-gram. We also have tisha b’av coming up next – a fast day that always seems to be disturbingly timely. Even those who don’t normally observe this little-known holy day might want to join us this Wednesday at 8 – and might also want to consider fasting – as we pray for Israel, past and present.

I also was happy to welcome this week our new educator, eran Vaisben, who began work officially on monday. Eran has just returned from the kulanu teen tour of Israel, where he (along with don adelman and others) did an amazing job of holding things together, so that the trip went off without a hitch, even during a time of crisis. I saw the teens this week as well – their recollections were inspiring.

Eran has asked me to share with you that we are looking for energetic and experienced applicants to join a quality teaching team at our innovative school.
Three positions are available:
• Teachers for Sundays 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
• 6th grade Hebrew/Judaic teacher for Sundays 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and Tues/Thurs
4-6 p.m.
• A creative and qualified Saturday Jr. Congregation Leader 10:30a.m. - 12p.m.
If interested, or if you know someone who is, please send eran an email to eddir@tbe.org

Also, we are looking for parents who would like to help to keep our youth groups as active and thriving as they have become. It is very important that parents step up now to help. Please contact me at rabbi@tbe.org if you are interested.

Tisha B’Av Services

including the reading of Lamentations, traditional dirges,

viewing slides of ancient ruins of Jerusalem –

(and reflecting on the images of destruction of the current conflict)

will be held here on Wed. August 2 at 8:00 PM.

We’ll be once again sharing the experience with

Temple Shalom of Greenwich

PLEASE BRING FLASHLIGHTS!

Dress is casual (ashes and sackcloth are not required)

Also, if you wish to share a brief first-person account from the attacks on Israel, one that has moved you, feel free to bring it.

Joint Statement of the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism

Recent terrorist violence in Israel and Israel’s consequent imperative need to defend its citizens, its existence, and its right to live in peace have attracted the attention of much of the news media and the world. From its inception, Conservative Judaism has emphasized the peoplehood of the Jewish People as a core principle of our belief and commitment. Grounded in this conviction, Conservative Judaism continues to support the right of our Jewish People to national self-expression in our ancestral homeland.

Israel, taking action rare among the nations of the world, willingly moved its troops out of Lebanon despite a history of using that territory to launch attacks upon it, and Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza to allow the Palestinian people the opportunity to realize their own national self-expression and to rise to the responsibility of living in peace. Tragically, the response from both borders has been unprovoked attacks, as Israel’s borders have been violated from Lebanon and from Gaza and innocent hostages seized. Iranian and Syrian sponsored Hezbollah has used Israel’s good will to launch hundreds of missiles on Israel’s cities, villages, and farms. This deliberate assault on civilians violates every international standard of legal warfare, as does Israel’s enemies’ insistence on placing their bomb labs, military supplies and centers amidst Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, putting them at great risk.

With Lebanon’s refusal (or inability) to prevent violence initiated from its own territory, and with the Palestinian Authority’s refusal (or inability) to prevent attacks launched from its own territory, Israel has been forced to assume responsibility for the safety of all its people – Jewish, Christian, and Muslim.

The Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism stands with Israel in its right to live in peace, its insistence on protecting its civilians, and on its pursuit of peace with its neighbors.

We affirm and celebrate Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state in the national homeland of the Jewish people.
We insist on the right of every Israeli to live in peace. We affirm that same right for every civilian in the Middle East.
We stand with the State of Israel and its citizens during this difficult and dangerous time. Our prayers for strength, well-being and peace go out to them. We pray that those in captivity be returned home soon; that those harmed will have their pain alleviated and that all in anguish be granted strength and courage.
We extend our love, care and support to our Masorti/Conservative communities, those in the north who have suffered and those who have provided homes and help to the displaced.
We deplore Hezbollah’s recourse to intentional assaults against civilians and its deliberate kidnapping of Israelis within Israel’s territory.
We deplore the morally- bankrupt equivalency that falsely equates the deliberate targeting of Israel’s population centers and its consequent murders with the tragic collateral loss of civilian life necessitated by Hezbollah’s criminal practice of putting innocent people in harm’s way by locating their weapon caches and missile manufacturing in the very center of residential areas.
We salute the Government of the United States, both the Executive and Legislative branches, for its stalwart support of its democratic ally and of Israel’s need to defend itself against terror and violence.
We express appreciation to those nations and international organizations that have recognized Israel’s need to defend its people and have condemned Hezbollah and Hamas’s criminal violence.
We salute the students of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Seminario Rabbinico, and the Schechter Rabbinical School who affirm their love of Zion and the unity of the Jewish people by continuing their studies in Jerusalem.
We salute the more than 800 teenagers of our movement participating on our Ramah and USY summer programs in Israel and their parents who are continuing their activities in Israel affirming their commitment and caring for the people of Israel.
We reach out to all men and women of good will, eager to see a peace in the Middle East that extends to all its inhabitants, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, to insist on an end to terrorism, and to advance the right of Israel and Palestine to secure and recognized boundaries.

The Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism

Cantors Assembly
Hazzan Steven S. Stoehr, President

Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs
Dr. Robert Braitman, President

Jewish Educators Association
Lonna Picker, President

Jewish Theological Seminary
Prof. Arnold Eisen, Chancellor

Masorti Foundation
Gloria Bieler, Earl Greinetz, Co-chairs, Board of Directors

Masorti Olami
Alan H. Silberman, President

MERCAZ
Rabbi Vernon Kurtz, President

NAASE
Glenn Easton, President

Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbi Alvin Berkun, President

National Ramah Commission
Morton Steinberg, President

Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
Rabbi David Golinkin, President

Solomon Schechter Day School Association
Andrew Cohen, President
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Dr. Raymond B. Goldstein, President

Women’s League for Conservative Judaism
Gloria Cohen, President

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies
Rabbi Bradley Artson, Dean

BE WITH ISRAEL, IN ISRAEL

From the W.Z.O and the American Zionist Movement

A Mega-mission endorsed by the Conservative movement as well

August 7 - 9, 2006 Jews from around the world will gather in Israel

to be "with Israel, in Israel."

Cost including airfare from New York is $1,549.00.

Land only: $400.00

Register now! at http://www.azm.org/mission_reg.shtml

Itinerary http://www.azm.org/mega_mission.shtml

For more information... - http://www.azm.org/mission_faq.shtml

MESSAGE FROM P.M. OLMERT

www.JerusalemOnline.com presents:
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert addresses Israel's supporters.
To watch the video – go to www.JerusalemOnline.co.il/4Israel.asp

PRAYER FOR ISRAEL

See three different alternatives at http://www.jrf.org/israel/independence-day-prayer.html

Recite a prayer for Israel every day!

Contents of the Shabbat O Gram:

(Click to scroll down)

Just the Facts (service schedule)

The Rabid Rabbi

Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities

Ask the Rabbi

Spiritual Journey on the Web

Required Reading and Action Items (links to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)

Announcements (goings on in and around TBE)

Joke for the Week

Quote for the Week

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.

-Stephen R. Covey

JUST THE FACTS

Shabbat Hazon

(literally, the Shabbat of the Vision – in this case a very foreboding one, from Isaiah in the Haftarah, foreseeing the destruction of Jerusalem. This portion and haftarah are always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av)

Friday Evening

Candle lighting: 7:57pm on Friday, 28 July 2006,- Havdalah is at 8: 58 pm on Saturday evening. For candle lighting times, other Jewish calendar information, and to download a Jewish calendar to your PDA, click on http://www.hebcal.com/. To see the festivals of other faiths as well, go to http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/

Kabbalat Shabbat: 6:30 PM – in the sanctuary (due to predicted storms)

For those who can’t get enough of Tot Shabbat, Nurit conducts Tot Shabbat Morning at 10:30 am every Saturday morning. All are welcome to attend.

AND SIGN UP NOW TO HOST A TOT SHABBAT FOR NEXT YEAR!!! Contact Jeff and Heidi Trell at jefft@acmesignco.com or contact our Tot Shabbat committee contacts:

Jeff and Heidi Trell 203-322-1531

Deb Goldberg: 203-323-3307

Stuart Nekritz: 203-322-0872

Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM – Mazal tov to Michelle Feit and Eric Isban who will be celebrating their Ufruf this Shabbat morning

Children’s services: 10:30

Torah Portion: Devarim Deuteronomy 1:1 - 3:22

1: 2:2-5
2: 2:6-12
3: 2:13-16
4: 2:17-19
5: 2:20-22
6: 2:23-25
7: 2:26-30
maf: 2:28-30

Haftarah Isaiah 1:1 - 1:27

See a weekly commentary from the UJC Rabbinic Cabinet, at www.ujc.org/mekorchaim. Read the Masorti commentary at http://www.masorti.org/mason/torah/index.asp. University of Judaism, JTS commentary is at: http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/. USCJ Torah Sparks can be found at http://uscj.org/item20_467.html. UAHC Shabbat Table Talk discussions are at http://uahc.org/torah/exodus.shtml. Other divrei Torah via the Torahnet home page: http://uahcweb.org/torahnet/. Test your Parasha I.Q.: http://www.ou.org/jewishiq/parsha/default.htm. CLAL’s Torah commentary archive: http://click.topica.com/maaaiRtaaRvQhbV2AtLb/. World Zionist Organization Education page, including Nehama Liebowitz archives of parsha commentaries: http://www.moreshet.net/web/index.asp?f=1 For a more Kabbalistic/Zionist/Orthodox perspective from Rav Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Israel, go to http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/index.html. For some probing questions and meditations on key verses of the portion, with a liberal kabbalistic bent, go to http://www.jewishealing.com/learning.html or, for Kabbalistic commentaries from the Zohar itself, go to http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/weekly/intro. To see the weekly commentary from Hillel, geared to college students and others, go to http://www.hillel.org/hillel/NewHille.nsf/FCB8259CA861AE57852567D30043BA26/DF7D129F15B3DF0885256AB80058E9C3?OpenDocument. For a Jewish Renewal and feminist approach go to http://rabbishefagold.hypermart.net/Torah1.html . For a comprehensive Orthodox viewpoint from the Israeli rabbi, Yaakov Fogelman, go to the Torah Outreach Program at http://israelvisit.co.il/top/previous.shtml. Guided meditations for each portion by Judith Abrams at http://www.maqom.com/kavannah.pdf

For online Parsha quizzes from Pardes in Israel, go to http://www.pardes.org.il/online_learning/parsha_quizzes/ Torah for Kids: http://www.torah4kids.net/ Weekly Lesson of Popular Israeli Rabbi Mordechai Elon: http://www.elon.org/archives/archives.htm - and his parsha sheets: http://www.mibereshit.org/special/download_eng_pdf.htm From Bar Ilan University: http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/; http://www.torahproductions.com/weekly_article.jsp

THE ENTIRE HEBREW BIBLE (AS WELL AS OTHER JEWISH SOURCES) CAN BE FOUND WITH SIDE-BY-SIDE TRANSLATION AT

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/

Morning Minyan: Weekdays at 7:30, Sundays at 9:30 AM

TO ENSURE A “GUARANTEED MINYAN” FOR THE DAY OF YOUR YAHRZEIT – GO TO THE ROSNER MINYAN MAKER AT WWW.TBE.ORG AND ALSO CONTACT ME AT RABBI@TBE.ORG.

Please sign up at www.tbe.org - Rosner Minyan Maker

We’ve had several people coming lately who are saying kaddish following recent deaths in the family. We want to make sure we have a minyan each day. Your presence any morning is greatly appreciated!

I’ve decided to shift the title of this section, from “The Rabid Rabbi” to “The Ranting Rabbi,” in the desire to “soften” the approach of these paeans of rabbinic passion. I thought of other possible titles, but “The Passionate Parson” just didn’t make past the guys in marketing. Either way, “rabid” or “ranting,” if you find, in the end, that these words have become any less passionate, you have permission to shoot me.

The Plague of Passivity

By Joshua Hammerman

From the Jewish Week – July 21, 2006 - http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=5201

     Perhaps the key question of the 21st century concerns the dwindling margin for error we have in responding to the growing threats around us. When a single individual or group can combine a malignant ideology with deadly technology to destroy numerous lives in an instant, and not even the strongest nation on earth can stop them, people naturally become squeamish. No wonder auto racing has never been so popular. Each waking moment we all feel like we are behind a NASCAR wheel, continuously straddling the precipice separating life from death, constantly forced to make instant choices between too-hasty action and fatal inaction. Our response time has become razor thin.

     In the face of extreme danger, intolerance infects us. Although I have issues with the Patriot Act, Guantanamo and the House’s xenophobic plan for immigration reform I can understand the fear that gave rise to them. We are petrified that some kind of mythical midnight is about to strike, and that fear is forcing us to act even at the cost of some of our basic human rights. If we need to err, let us err on the side of survival. There is no time to seek compromise. All that matters is to act.

     The dread of passivity crosses party lines. In his recent documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore employs a popular experiment to drive home his point that the human race is falling asleep at the environmental wheel. In this experiment, a frog placed into boiling water immediately jumps out, whereas a frog placed into cold water will not even flinch if the water is slowly heated to the boiling point. It will train itself to tolerate the discomfort of each incremental shift in temperature and eventually, this weakness will lead to the frog’s demise.

     Bad news for the frog; worse news for us. In fact, I’ve read claims that, given their druthers, frogs would rather not be boiled alive. Humans are another story entirely. Gore’s point is that we have tolerated a rate of global warming that has increased exponentially over recent years. Last year was the hottest on record, and scientists now expect the world’s temperature to rise 2 to 4 degrees by 2100, much more at the polar icecaps. Oceans will soon rise precipitously, which will dramatically change the map of the world, and the administration has been fiddling while Nome burns. Gore sees literally no margin for error at this point. All that matters is that we act.

     President Bush would say the same thing about Iran and North Korea.

     Frogs are nearing the boiling point almost everywhere we look. As if to underscore the point, according to this month’s Science magazine, up to 122 amphibian species have become extinct since 1980. And nearly a third of the more than 5,000 species that remain are also considered threatened. In an atmosphere of pending environmental catastrophe, frogs have become the proverbial canary in the mineshaft.

     Greenland is melting and North Korea is launching its calling cards into the Sea of Japan. Iran is nearly nuclear and is already test firing its missiles — at Israel, by way of Lebanon. Until now the world has been extremely tolerant of these provocations. In Israel, rockets on Sderot were tolerated, until they began raining down on Ashkelon, Nahariya, Safed, Haifa and Tiberias.

     The biblical plague of frogs, as we recall, was only the second of the 10 inflicted upon the Egyptians and a seemingly innocuous one at that. Exodus (8:2) tells us that the second plague began with only one frog. But when that frog was not properly dispensed with soon enough swarms of frogs were everywhere. Long before “An Inconvenient Truth,” the frog was symbolic of the horrible consequences of inaction.

     It’s rather fitting that the first surface-to-surface missile purchased for the North Korean arsenal was the FROG 5, delivered from the Soviet Union in 1969 and 1970. Then came the Scud, a plague inflicted upon Israel by Iraq during the Gulf War. Now we’ve gone beyond FROGS, Scuds, Katyushas and Kassams. If only the world had been able to stop things when we were just dealing with FROGS, we wouldn’t have gotten the Iranian Fajr-3s that are now being used against Haifa.

     This proxy war featuring Hamas and Hezbollah is a test run for the real thing, when the ante could be raised considerably with the development of Iranian nuclear capacity. That’s why it is now time for Israel and the world to jump from the quickly warming water, before it comes to its nuclear boil. Just as Israel crippled the Iraqi threat at Osiris in 1981, so does it now have the chance to win another war that the world needs so desperately to win.

     There are many legends about the plague of frogs, some touting the heroism of the frogs themselves. In fact, unlike Gore’s clueless amphibian, the frogs of the second plague took great pains to appear everywhere. They even jumped headfirst into blazing ovens and enmesh themselves in rising dough in order to ambush unwitting Egyptians cutting open their loaves of bread. These frogs were models for the proactive ethos this new century demands. But the frog also remains a reminder of the plague of passivity.

     I’ve developed a bi-partisan bias toward preemptive action, whether the enemy is Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Gore’s greenhouse gasses. The calendar is also helping to remind Jews as to the need to be proactive in the face of danger.

     The three weeks leading up to Tisha B’Av began this year, as if on cue, with the first strike on Haifa. Over the centuries, at times when the world seemed much larger and history moved more slowly, these three weeks have reminded Jews that the dreams of generations can go up in flames overnight. Now, in this hyped up, multi-tasking, 24/7, instant messaging, NASCAR era, “overnight” has just gotten a lot closer.

Summer Reading and Listening

While you travel or on the beach, here are a couple of fascinating podcasts to consider (programs to download on your iPod or mp3 player).

http://www.nextbook.org/ (A gateway to Jewish culture and ideas – especially books)

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/ (fascinating programs on faith, ethics and ideas)

If reading is your thing, some books I’m planning to take a close look or have recently read include:

Some books by the new chancellor-elect of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Arnold Eisen

The Chosen People in America: A Study in Jewish Religious Ideology (Modern Jewish Experience) by Arnold M. Eisen

Rethinking Modern Judaism : Ritual, Commandment, Community (Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism) by Arnold M. Eisen

The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America by Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen

The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt by Ruth Andrew Ellenson

Aliya : Three Generations of American-Jewish Immigration to Israel by Liel Leibovitz

A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1 : You Shall Be Holy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (which was interorduced right here last winter) – If you would like to host a monthly book group discussion of this important text at your office or home in the fall, let me know.

"Like a multi-screen theater,

Synaplex™ offers a variety of Shabbat experiences

for our diverse Jewish community."

-- starsynagogue.org

INTRODUCING

Save the date for our Grand Opening:

Oct. 27-28

Featuring

SHABBAT UNPLUGGED, THE FIRST ANNUAL TBE “ROSNER BOWL” TOUCH FOOTBALL GAME, TBE PET PALLOOZA, TORAH YOGA, and much more…

And save the following dates as well…

SYNAPLEX at TBE 5767

Friday and Sat., October 27-28 GRAND OPENING Synaplex Shabbat

(Including Shabbat Unplugged on Friday night)

Friday, December 8 - Synaplex Shabbat

(theme of diversity, exotic multi-cultural Shabbat dinner, December Dilemma)

Friday and Sat. January 19 and 20 - Synaplex Shabbat/Shabbat Unplugged

Scholar in Residence Dr. Benjamin Gampel

Fri and Sat. February 9 and 10 - Synaplex Shabbat

Sisterhood Shabbat

Scholar in Residence, Rabbi Burt Visotzky

Havdalah Unplugged

Friday March 9 - Synaplex Shabbat, Shabbat Unplugged,

Shabbat, April 7 – Beth El Cares Synaplex Shabbat - Passover

Friday May 3 - Synaplex Shabbat/Shabbat Across America,

Friday, May 10 – Synaplex Shabbat/Shabbat Unplugged

Shabbat, June 23 -Synaplex Shabbat, adult b’nai mitzvah

Download a volunteer form at

http://www.tbe.org/site/sog/SynaplexVolunteerPackage.htm

Fill it out and send it back – and join the dozens who have already stepped forward!

And for more general information about Synaplex,

go to www.starsynagogue.org

Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunties

Beth El Cares

Cathy Satz (968-9191; csscounsel@yahoo.com)

Cheryl Wolff (968-6361; cwolff@optonline.net)

BETH EL CARES co-chairs

FROM JACKIE SCHECHTER, BAT MITZVAH STUDENT

Dear Temple Beth-El families,

My name is Jackie Schechter, and I'm in 7th grade. In preparation for my upcoming Bat Mitzvah, I have decided to run a Jewish book drive to supply newly founded Jewish libraries in Nigeria. Yes, believe it or not, there are Jews in Nigeria. However, they don't have many resources from which to learn about their religion. Rabbi Howard Gorin of Maryland runs a program which brings books to fill these libraries. I'll be collecting Jewish books until July 8^th to donate to Rabbi Gorin's program. Books can span virtually any Jewish/Israeli topic, and can be in English or Hebrew. A drop-off box will be located by the office. For more information about the book drive, you can contact me at (203)-324-4594 or visit Rabbi Gorin’s website: http://rabbihowardgorin.org/Books4Nigeria.htm. Thank you for your participation.

- Jackie

From Lynn Pearce

Many of you have asked where you can send a donation
in memory of my father. Renee and I have set up a fund
at his temple in Buffalo. It was very important to my
father that every child who wanted one, could have a
Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah. This fund will ensure that
at least one child each year will be given the funds
to attend Hebrew School.

You can send your donations to:

The Allan J. Resler B'nai Mitzvah Fund
Temple Shaarey Zedek
621 Getzville Road
Buffalo, New York 14226

Attention: Rabbi Shalman

Thank you all for caring.

Lynn

HELP ME HELP OTHERS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY WHO NEED OUR ASSISTANCE

BY DONATING TO PERSON TO PERSON.

Person to Person located in Darien, Connecticut is an organization that collects new or worn items

such as clothing for babies, kids and adults.

They are looking for donations for only Spring and Summer items.

Needy families in emergency situations will go to Person to Person for assistance.

Person to Person services the Stamford, Norwalk and Darien areas.

You may donate clothing, food (canned items) and only brand new unopened toys.

We will be bringing a large donation of items on the first of every month.

Please help me with any donations that you would like to make.

I would greatly appreciate it.

I am hoping you can help me with this for my Mitzvah Project

because it is important for us to help others who may need it.

This is how you can help:

Please bring your donation to my house, 116 Wedgemere Road,

or e-mail coopbry@aol.com to make arrangements for us to pick it up.

We will do this during June, July and August.

Thank you so much for helping the needy.  Eric Cooper 968-9591

How Can I Help Israel?

Here are some suggestions from the United Jewish Communities website

10 Ways You Can Help Israel

Give.
Donate to your Israel Crisis Fund. Every dollar will help send children in the danger zone to summer camps in safer regions of Israel in the south and middle of the country. Visit www.ujc.org to donate now.
Rally.
Attend your local rally to express solidarity with Israel at this critical time. And get your friends and family to come as well. Visit www.ujc.org for more details.
Connect.
Ask your child's camp counselor to start a letter-writing campaign to children in Israel who are living on the northern border being sent away to summer camp in safe zones of Israel.
Buy.
Buy Israeli commercial products. Visit www.buyisraelgoods.org to see which local stores carry Israeli products.
Travel.
Travel, travel, travel to Israel. By plane, by hang glider, by kayak, anyway, anyhow you can get there, and bring others with you. Of course, UJC Missions are a great way to go. Visit www.ujc.org/travel.
Read.
Read Israeli publications - subscribe or log-on to their websites (English and Hebrew versions are available). Visit www.haaretz.com, www.jpost.com, www.ynetnews.com or www.globes.co.il. And respond. Monitor and respond to the media, especially smaller outlets (free weeklies, alternative press, local radio shows and cable access channels, etc.).
Write.
Write letters in Support of Israel’s Right to Defend Itself. And express appreciation to the US Administration for its steadfast support for Israel. Letters should be sent to President Bush, the Secretary of State, Members of Congress, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Click here for addresses.
Educate.
Host informal parlor meetings for non-Jews (colleagues and friends) and for other Jews less knowledgeable or connected to Israel. All of us are emissaries for Israel and all of us know such people. Contact your JCRC for help at jcrc@jewishfederation.com
Advocate.
Call the White House at (202) 456-1111 to encourage the Bush Administration to fully implement the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty and Restoration Act (SALSRA, P.L. 108-175). For more background information on the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty and Restoration Act, click here. For more contact information, click here. Sign Hillel’s online petition reaffirming Israel's right to self-defense at www.hillel.org/supportisrael.
Act.
Every action – big or small – counts. Tie a blue ribbon around a tree or mailbox in front of your home to raise awareness about the kidnappings and demonstrate your solidarity with the People and the State of Israel. Initiate, plan and attend Israel educational forums wherever they are -- synagogues, JCC's, college campuses.

Blogs on the Front

This war is the first one where we not only have embedded reporters, but we have numerous Israelis and others reporting from the front via blogs (individualized Web pages). Since Israel is so advanced technologically – and since many up north have little else to do while sitting in their shelters –

the results have been fascinating. Now we can share in their first-hand experiences.

A recent article about this said, “Trapped people are connecting with family and friends via e-mail, seeking advice from trauma teams that offer counseling online, and conducting a passionate debate about the war on dozens of blogs, including those run by the country's newspapers. And they are using the Internet to flirt, chat and gossip.

"This communication is playing a very important role, not just as a source of information, but as a source for social interaction and connectedness," said Ephraim Yuchtman-Ya'ar, a professor of social psychology at Tel Aviv University. "Just being in touch, even if it's by electronic means, gives you a sense you are not completely isolated."

Another article, at http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1537066/20060725/index.jhtml?headlines=true, from the MTV site, an Israeli blogger says, 'This is the first conflict where the citizens of enemy countries are blogging in real time to each other.' Here are excerpts from that article, giving us some suggestions as to some sources for us to look at.

One of Israel's leading bloggers, Lisa Goldman, thinks the proliferation of blogs covering the border war is a sign that a change is coming. "If you follow the voices, you can see that several Israeli bloggers switched from Hebrew to English early on to reach out to Lebanese bloggers in the hope that they would get in touch and leave some comments," said Goldman, a Canadian freelance journalist who moved to Israel in 2000 and runs the "On the Face" site. Examples of some of those sites include "Hello Lebanon, Hello Israel", which has featured an ongoing, mostly civil dialogue, and "Joint Voices", run by a 28 year-old male Beiruti named Bash and a 24-year old female university student from Tel Aviv named Lilu. In describing their page, the two wrote, "Looking for some intelligent dialog between nationalities — a place for anyone and everyone to speak their mind, and listen to other minds, and maybe some difference, no matter how small, will be made." Other sites, such as "The Truth Laid Bear", which features a cartoon logo that should not detract from its serious content) reach for a kind of evenhandedness by compiling material from Israeli and Lebanese blogs, with most of the posts bashing the other side in one way or another.

Once you enter the world of blogs, one leads to the next. There are so many wonderful ones out there. Here is an amusing excerpt from Lisa Goldman’s post of July 25, from the “On the Face” site.

The taxi driver who drove me to the studio where I was interviewed for Canada AM * had the radio tuned to a satire show. In an exaggerated Tel Aviv clubbers' drawl, participants were issuing mock instructions to the city's residents in case the hundreds of missiles currently landing daily all over the north of the country reach the centre, as Nasrallah keeps promising. "If you're told to take shelter, that means immediately. Do not stop for an espresso at Aroma or an almond croissant at Arcaffe. Immediately." Or, "In case of an attack, you must prepare yourselves for the worst possible scenario - the cancellation of the Depeche Mode concert." And, "If a missile falls on your neighbour's car, run fast and maybe you'll get his parking spot." Mwahaha.

We do have a tendency to make dark jokes and satire when we're under stress. Just before the coalition forces invaded Iraq in 2003, when there were concerns that chemical warheads might be launched by Saddam Hussein at Israel, I heard a couple of gas chamber jokes (all these Jews gathered in one place). And yes, we are under stress. Basically, we don't really expect to be attacked - but then again, you never know. We never thought that Haifa would be attacked, either - until it happened. On the one hand I've noticed that strangers are gentler with one another in face-to-face interactions, but on the other hand the drivers are even more maniacal and aggressive than ever: today I saw two drivers executing death-defying U-turns on North Dizengoff during peak rush hour traffic, and there seems to be a lot more overtaking and honking than usual.

You can also see homemade videos at YouTube, including this moving portrait of Israeli soldiers reciting the prayer for the journey (Tefillat ha-Derech) before heading into battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVEDm8K0ZvE&mode=related&search=IDF%20Sayeret

Thanks to congregant Rivka Lieber for sending me this link, which will bring you right into the heart of the Jewish world of blogging, something we all need to tap into right now : Click here: JBlogosphere: Live-Blogging the War & What We Can Do

Let’s begin with GOOD NEWS from Israel 21c and other sources

Stricken toddler receives gift of bone marrow from Israeli Air Force navigator
A reserve navigator in the Israeli Air Force who was called up to active duty to fight against Hizbullah, took a time out from defending his country in order to fight a more personal battle - by donating bone marrow to a toddler with leukemia. Thanks to a nationwide campaign for locating bone marrow donors in the IDF sponsored by Ezer Mizion, an organization which runs Israel's national bone marrow donor registry, the navigator was found to be a perfect match for the child. 'It was clear to me and my commanders that no matter what would happen on the same day - this takes precedence over everything else' More...

The way we war Etgar Keret - I suddenly see this whole conflict with Lebanon in a completely different light

Culture | Israelis persevere at home and at work
It may not have been business as usual, but Israelis in the north of the country - whether in the workplace, at home, or at universities - have displayed enormous fortitude, ingenuity and resolve since the outbreak of war. Intel Haifa's 2,400 employees are still on the job, the area's children have had the country's leisure and entertainment sites opened up for them, and the rest of the country has opened up their homes and hearts. More...

Culture | Despite war, experts say Israeli high tech investment to stay strong
Despite the warfare in the north of the country, the Israeli high tech sector is still ripe for investment and growth. That's what prestigious American venture capital firm Greylock Partners thinks - they've just launched the Greylock Israel fund which will invest $150 million in Israeli technology startups. Here's some more reasons why Israeli high tech is not going away because of the war. More...

This link is an exceptional solidarity video in support of Israel – forwarded to me by dozens of people already.

http://msmedia.a7.org/arutz7/eng-video/music/hazak-300.wmv

It features the stirring song “Hazak” done by an all-star collection of Jewish musical artists (sort of the Jewish version of “Live Aid”) called “Voices for Israel” Read about them at http://www.voicesforisrael.org/

From http://www.jewlicious.com/ (Jewlicious is a very funky site)

now for the rest

(prime source: Daily Alert of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

IAF targets Hezbollah hideouts in south Lebanon Rockets strike towns Friday across northern Israel (Ha’aretz)

IAF jets pound Hizbullah rocket base in Bekaa Valley (Jerusalem Post)

Broad consensus to bolster Lebanon (Ha’aretz Editorial)

With a thunderous roar - Yoel Marcus (Ha’aretz) With all the praise that Olmert and the Israel Defense Forces' top brass began to heap on the home front, suspicions began to creep in that maybe the army was not doing its job quite as well as expected.

Let's declare victory and start talking (Ha’aretz)

Editor's Notes: Anything but easy (Jerusalem Post)

Justified, essential and timely (Ha’aretz)

An International Force in Lebanon: Advantages and Disadvantages
- Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Moshe Yaalon and Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror

The Opening Round of Iran's War Against the West - Dore Gold

The Global Range of Iran's Ballistic Missile Program - Uzi Rubin

Rice Resists Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire at Rome Conference - Robin Wright
International talks on Lebanon in Rome Wednesday failed to agree on an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hizballah, but called for a new multinational force in south Lebanon. The U.S. opposed a cease-fire except as part of a broader arrangement that can endure for years. "We are all agreed that we want most urgently to end the violence on a basis that this time will be sustainable," said U.S. Secretary of State Rice. A large international force - with most estimates beginning at about 10,000 troops - will take significant time to organize, said Terje Roed-Larsen, a UN special envoy for Lebanon. (Washington Post)
See also U.S. Officials Hint It Could Take Weeks for Lebanon Peace Deal - Cam Simpson
Although the U.S. intends to push for a multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Secretary of State Rice still has not worked out key aspects of an American proposal to end the fighting, aides said Tuesday. The American "package is not put together yet," said Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the clearest signal from Rice's team so far that it could take weeks, if not longer, to broker a deal. (Chicago Tribune)

"Russian Roulette" with Rockets in Northern Israel - Jonathan Saul
Eliezer Asulin lives alone in the remains of his home in Safed, half-destroyed by a direct hit from a Hizballah rocket fired from Lebanon. "Every day we play Russian roulette even before we wake up," says Asulin. "I have sent my family south. Most of the town has left." In the mainly Christian Arab village of Gush Halav, 4 km from the border, many blame Hizballah. "I am an Arab and proud to be one. But make no mistake, I would like Nasrallah to be assassinated for what he has done to all of us," said Bashir Zubran, 24. (Reuters)
See also Besieged Residents of Northern Israel Hunker Down - Ken Ellingwood
For the last two weeks, Ludwilla Kuperstock, a 67-year-old grandmother, and her husband have spent their days and nights underground, sharing a three-room bomb shelter with other residents of the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. As more families have left the shelter for safer territory farther south, all that remains is a hardy group of Russian emigres bent on outlasting the barrages of Hizballah-fired Katyusha rockets that have picked up in recent days. (Los Angeles Times)
See also Residents Evacuate Northern Israel En Masse - Adam Pines
At least 250,000 Israelis have now evacuated from northern Israel and sought shelter farther south, Israeli government officials estimate. Residents in central cities like Tel Aviv and Netanya have opened their homes and taken in scores of their internally displaced compatriots. Televisions programs dedicate whole segments to finding northerners places to stay. Many northerners are sleeping on mattresses on the cramped living room floors of friends, relatives, and colleagues in the south. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

Why Israel Must Win in Lebanon - Ze'ev Schiff
Hizballah and what this terrorist organization symbolizes must be destroyed at any price. This is the only option that Israel has. We cannot afford a situation of strategic parity between Israel and Hizballah. If Hizballah does not experience defeat in this war, this will spell the end of Israeli deterrence against its enemies. If Israel's deterrence is shaken as a result of failure in battle, the hard-won peace with Jordan and Egypt will also be undermined.
Israel's deterrence is what lies behind the willingness of moderate Arabs to make peace with it. Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction, will be strengthened and it is doubtful whether any Palestinians will be willing to reach agreements with Israel. This struggle will also determine Iran's position in the Middle East and its role among the Arab states. Some Arab states recognize this and do not wish Hizballah to emerge victorious. Their stance does not stem from love of Israel, but from concerns for their own future. (Ha'aretz)

What They Will Say in Ramallah - Avi Issacharoff
Top Fatah officials in the territories who watched Arab television reports on the fighting in south Lebanon are aware that military achievements by Hizballah bolster support for Hamas among Palestinians. "Stopping the fighting now would be interpreted as an Israeli defeat, which would immediately affect events here, especially in the Gaza Strip," said a Fatah-Tanzim militia leader. "Islamic Jihad and Hamas will feel as if the victory were theirs, as will the Palestinian public - which equates Hizballah with Hamas. The moderate Palestinian camp will face collapse if Hizballah has the upper hand when this war is over."
On the other hand, the images from the Shiite quarter in Beirut and from other places in Lebanon have sent the Palestinians and Hamas a message about what could happen in the West Bank and Gaza should Israel take action against them. (Ha'aretz)

Wide Support in Israel for Campaign in Lebanon - John Ward Anderson
Yossi Beilin, one of Israel's most prominent peace activists, says, "People like myself led the movement to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000, and when we were asked what would happen if they continued to use violence against us and shoot at us from Lebanon, we said that when we leave Lebanon according to a UN agreement, then we will have a free hand to use against those who act against us....It is clear-cut that there was no Israeli provocation."
Two weeks into the war, Israelis have shown extraordinary unanimity in backing the military campaign to inflict a punishing and perhaps lethal blow to Hizballah, despite a rain of rockets into northern Israel. The current campaign "is an old-fashioned war where we are right, and we were attacked for no reason whatsoever. This is probably the most justified war in our history," said Ari Shavit, a columnist for Ha'aretz. (Washington Post)

Malicious Intent - Frederick Grab
The notion that war is an appropriate response to attack is recognized in the UN Charter. And so Israel is now at war with Hamas and Hizballah. I believe that the acceptable level of retaliation primarily hinges, not on the relative degree of damage, but on the intent of the parties involved. In our own criminal justice system, intent is often an important element. Those responsible for the current attacks on Israel have the stated aim of its destruction. On the other hand, Israel has shown many times that it has no intention of destroying any of its Muslim neighbors. Its goal is simply to be allowed to live in peace. At present, death and martyrdom are major themes in radical Muslim rhetoric. How does a nation fight against an enemy so motivated which hides among a supposedly innocent civilian population?
The answer: by means of war. Casualties in this conflict are disheartening, but not extreme by the standard of any previous regional conflict. They would be reduced to zero if Hizballah and Hamas released their hostages and ceased their actions directed at the destruction of Israel. The writer is a former California deputy attorney general. (Washington Times)

Iraq's Hizballah - Dan Senor
During his trip to Washington earlier this week, Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki again failed to condemn Hizballah and instead focused exclusively on the "destruction that happened to the Lebanese people as a result of the military air and ground attacks." Maliki - who is competent, tough, and genuinely committed to a democratic Iraq - is responding to pressure from radical Shiites in his own country. Moqtada al-Sadr and his Sadrists, the Sadriyyun, are as powerful and destructive as ever, forcing the prime minister's hand on Israel and other issues. Sadr's militia, the Mehdi army, has been responsible for a considerable share of Iraq's sectarian strife, not to mention the deaths of American soldiers in 2003 and 2004. His power is derived from a combination of family lineage, violent intimidation of rival clerics, and agitation on behalf of Iraq's Shiite underclass.
Both the Sadriyyun and Hizballah are funded by Tehran, and both represent the same ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic demographic within their respective countries. And much like Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in southern Lebanon, Moqtada al-Sadr has tried to establish a state within a state inside Iraq. Both Nasrallah and Sadr have dual-tracked political strategies: While they seek to establish their own autonomous governing structures, they also influence the national political process by electing allies to the parliament and bargaining for appointments to ministerial posts. While 12 Hizballah loyalists now sit in Lebanon's parliament (as well as two ministers), over 30 self-identified Sadrists are members of Iraq's 275-seat National Assembly. The writer was based in Baghdad as an adviser to the Bush administration from April 2003 to June 2004. (Wall Street Journal, 27Jul06)

Is Israel Now the Lesser Enemy for Some Muslims? - Mai Yamani
Is the Sunni-Shiite divide in the Middle East now deeper than the antagonism between Israel and the Arabs? Arab denunciations of Hizballah suggest that the Muslim sectarian divide, already evident in the daily violence in Iraq, is deepening and intensifying across the Middle East. The region's Sunni Arabs perceive Israel and the West as being only one threat, the other comprising the so-called "Shiite crescent" - the arc of land extending from Lebanon to Iran through Syria and Iraq that is inhabited by the allegedly heretical Shiites.
As the Shiite arc rises in the east of the Arab Muslim world, the U.S. is attempting to strengthen its protection of the Sunni arc - Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia - in the region's west. Israel, the once implacable enemy of the Arab cause, now seems to be slotted into this defensive structure. But such a defensive posture is bound to be unstable, as ordinary Arab citizens see Hizballah as a heroic model of resistance. (Daily Star-Lebanon)

Why Israel's Reaction is Right - Matthias Kuntzel (Der Spiegel-Germany)

On the third day of the current crisis, fully three-quarters of all Germans polled were convinced that Israel was overreacting and using too much force in its response to Hizballah. I disagree:

o First, Israel is fighting a just war. Germany and the EU should unequivocally back Israel. Islamism has attacked Israel from both the south and the north. Islamism is out to completely eradicate the country and Israel has no choice but to react.

o Second, Israel wants peace. The goals being pursued by the Israeli military operation are to achieve the implementation of UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of Hizballah, and UN Resolution 5241, which calls for south Lebanon to be solely under the control of the Lebanese army.

o Third, there is no alternative to Israel's current military operation. Will Hizballah ever willingly give up their weapons? Not a chance. A UN force would never be able to achieve what Israel could. The demand for an immediate cease-fire is the equivalent of a plea for saving Hizballah.

o Fourth, Israel's military operation has already resulted in positive effects. For the first time in the history of the Middle East conflict, an overwhelming majority of the Arab League distanced itself from Hizballah's "dangerous adventurism."

It is terrible to look on while southern Beirut is turned into piles of rubble and to know that civilians on both sides - as well as Israeli soldiers - are being injured and killed. Even worse, though, is the realization that Iran could very well emerge as the victor in this war and use the current conflict to justify future attacks.
The pacifist reaction that the Israeli defensive war has triggered in Germany and Europe is not well thought out, and is also counter-productive. An immediate cease-fire would merely result in a worse conflict in the future.
Israel is fighting genocidal Islamism as the proxy for the rest of the Western world. The least Israel should be able to expect from the West is that it not be betrayed.

See also The Truth Is that Israel's War Is Our War - Michael Portillo
The proper question has to go beyond "how many civilians are dying today?" to "can Israel's actions contribute to eventual peace?" Israel is not only attempting to disarm a well-equipped hostile force. It would also marginalize a group that opposes the two-state solution, endorsed by most Arab countries. (Times-UK)

Hizballah in Tyre - Moshe Elad (Ynet News)
The southern Lebanese city of Tyre and the surrounding towns have many rocket launchers and ammunition depots, but the level of soldiering in those areas is lower than that of operatives based in Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbail to the east.
Some of the Tyre area warriors fought alongside Israel in Southern Lebanon Army (SLA) Shiite units; others are the sons of PLO members.
Those who launch rockets from this front are mercenaries rewarded with a smuggling "franchise."
Col. (res.) Moshe Elad, who served many years in Lebanon, is a researcher at the Samuel Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies at the Technion in Haifa.

Israel: Myths and Facts

MYTH #229

"Israel deliberately targets Lebanese civilians."

FACT

Israel does not target civilians. Israel has no claim to Lebanese territory and no dispute with the people or government of Lebanon. Israel’s enemy is Hizballah, a terrorist organization that has been launching unprovoked attacks against Israelis since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.

It is one of the horrible consequences of war that civilians die. In Lebanon, Israel has gone to great lengths to avoid harming civilians. What other army drops leaflets telling civilians to leave an area, thereby giving away the element of surprise, in the interest of protecting innocents?

Let the critics of Israel’s campaign explain how they would respond to a barrage of more than 2,000 rockets on their cities. How would they stop the rockets without hurting any noncombatants when the rockets are being fired from civilian neighborhoods rather than military bases?

Meanwhile, look carefully at the television pictures of the destruction in places such as Beirut. While the commentary by reporters often suggests Israel has bombed targets indiscriminately, what is remarkable is how precise the attacks actually have been. Frequently you see only a single building or a couple of structures damaged while the rest of the area is untouched. Israel could have easily leveled entire neighborhoods, but it did not.

Listen carefully as well. When reporters go to neighborhoods in Lebanon they are being guided by men from Hizballah who show them only what they want the reporters to see and tell them what Hizballah wants them to hear. The Hizballah terrorist says the building was a civilian residence, but the reporter has no way of knowing what was in the buildings, whether it was a rocket workshop, a hiding place for katyushas, the home of a Hizballah leader, or a command center. In fact, he doesn’t even know if the Israel was responsible for the destruction that he is shown. Does it make any sense that Israel would pick out a single residence in a Beirut neighborhood to bomb for no reason?

And notice too that the only people around are from Hizballah. The civilians are gone, so when the Hizballah terrorist tells the reporter they have to keep moving because the Israelis might strike, he knows that he and his fellow terrorists are the only targets.

Tragically, many civilians have died, but history has shown that the terrorists are very good at fabricating statistics. At one point, it was reported that something like 300 civilians had been killed and only one member of Hizballah. Does it seem plausible that in all of Israel’s attacks it only managed to kill one terrorist? Is everyone a civilian that the Lebanese claim is a civilian?

In war, mistakes are sometimes made. In some cases, troops kill each other in friendly fire incidents. In others, civilians die, as was the case when the United States killed 48 people at a wedding during fighting in Afghanistan. No one seriously believed the United States bombers had targeted people celebrating a marriage and no one should believe Israel has any reason to target trucks of food and medicine as the Lebanese president has alleged, or any other purely civilian target.

Besides the ethical and moral restraints, Israel has very good political reasons not to hurt noncombatants. Israeli officials know that a mistake leading to a large number of civilian casualties will hurt their image and provoke greater demands that they cease-fire before accomplishing their military objectives. An Israeli pilot openly admitted this consideration:

It’s strange how the focus in these missions is not to succeed, hit the target precisely, but rather – not to make any mistakes. The message is clear all the way from the Squadron commander to the last pilot. One mistake can jeopardize the whole war, like Kfar-Kana, in one of the last operations in Lebanon, where artillery bombarded a refugee camp, killing over 100 people, which resulted in international pressure that halted the operation. Hitting the target is expected, no misses are acceptable (Jerusalem Post, (July 18, 2006).

The main reasons Lebanese civilians are in danger have nothing to do with Israel. First, the Lebanese government failed to fulfill its obligation under UN Security Council Resolution 1559 to disarm Hizballah and deploy its army in southern Lebanon. Second, Hizballah has so little regard for civilians that it purposely bases its weapons and fighters in their homes and neighborhoods where they will be put at risk. Third, the civilians themselves have allowed Hizballah to create a state within Lebanon and to carry out terrorist attacks. Finally, if Hizballah had not attacked Israel, not a single Lebanese civilian would have been hurt. If Hizballah returns the soldiers it kidnaped and disarms, not one more civilian will die.

This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths2/exclusives.html#a57

Hizballah Terrorist Attacks Since May 2000

(July 24, 2006)

24 Jul 2006 - Hizballah fired more than 70 Katyusha rockets into Israel, several of which landed in Nahariya, Safed, and Kiryat Shmona. Medics treated at least 49 people who were lightly to moderately wounded. More than 2200 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities since July 12, killing 17 Israelis, all of them civilians. 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in other incidents.

23 Jul 2006 - Shimon Glickblich, 60, of Haifa was killed Sunday morning (11:00) while driving his car in Haifa. Habib Isa Awad, 48, of Iblin, was killed while working in the carpentry shop in Kiryat Ata. Another 12 were wounded in the morning barrage in Haifa, and more later in the day as over 90 rockets were fired at Haifa, Akko, Kiryat Shmona, and elsewhere in northern Israel. .

20 Jul 2006 - Five IDF soldiers were killed and five wounded in continuing exchanges of fire in the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras, near Avivim, where two soldiers were killed on Wednesday. The body of the fifth soldier, St.-Sgt. Yonatan (Sergei) Vlasyuk, 21, of Kibbutz Lahav was retrieved on July 22. At 16, Yonatan immigrated alone to Israel through the Jewish Agency's "Na'aleh" program. He was adopted by Dalia Gal, a member of Kibbutz Lahav in the Negev. An IDF officer was killed and three soldiers were wounded as two Apache (Cobra) combat helicopters on their way to Lebanon to assist IDF forces operating against Hizballah terrorists near Avivim collided and then crashed south of Kiryat Shmona.

19 Jul 2006 - St.-Sgt. Yonatan Hadasi, 21, of Kibbutz Merhavia and St.-Sgt. Yotam Gilboa, 21, of Kibbutz Maoz Haim were killed and nine soldiers were wounded in exchanges of fire between IDF and Hizballah in south Lebanon, near Moshav Avivim. The Israeli force had crossed the border to destroy the Hizballah rocket-launching position at the former IDF outpost of Shaked. Rabia Abed Taluzi (3) and his brother Mahmoud (7) who were playing soccer outside their house were killed and dozens were wounded in two Katyusha rocket attacks on the Israeli Arab city of Nazareth.

18 Jul 2006 - Andrei Zelinksy, 36, was killed Tuesday evening in Nahariya outside a bomb shelter. Though he managed to save his family by rushing them into the shelter, he returned home to get a blanket for his daughter and was killed. Some 130 rockets were fired at the north on Tuesday, 100 of them within one hour and a half - also landing in the Haifa area, Karmiel, Tiberias, Safed, Maalot and Rosh Pina. About 60 people injured were evacuated to hospitals in Safed and Nahariya.

17 Jul 2006 - Over 50 rockets were fired towards the eastern and upper Galilee on Monday night. A Katyusha rocket hit the external wall of the Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed, causing damage to infrastructure; five patients, two doctors and two other hospital employees were injured. Earlier, 11 people were wounded in Haifa when a 3-story apartment building was hit by missile. The Israel Air Force destroyed at least ten long-range Iranian-made missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv, by targeting a Hizballah truck carrying the missiles before they could be launched. To date, missiles have been fired up to 40 kilometers into Israel.

16 Jul 2006 - Eight killed, 50 wounded in Hizballah rocket attack on Haifa - Rockets began falling on the Haifa area shortly after 9:00 a.m. Eight employees of Israel Railways at the Haifa train depot were killed in a direct hit by a Fajar missile made in Syria. A total of over 50 people were wounded in Haifa and the Haifa Bay area.

15 Jul 2006 - Katyusha rockets landed for the first time in Tiberias, located 35 kilometers from the Lebanese border on the Sea of Galilee, as well as in nearby communities.

14 Jul 2006 - Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday night an Israeli navy ship was severely damaged by an Iran-manufactured missile fired by Hizballah. Four IDF soldiers were killed: Staff Sgt. Tal Amgar, 21, of Ashdod; Yaniv Hershkovitz, 21, of Haifa; Shai Atias, 19, of Rishon Lezion; and Dov Steinshuss, 37, of Karmiel. Omer Pesachov, 7, of Nahariya, and his grandmother Yehudit Itzkovitch, 58, of Moshav Meron were killed by a Katyusha rocket in Meron early Friday evening. Roni, Omer's older sister, was badly wounded, and the grandfather, Naftali, was lightly hurt. The family had fled the Katyushas in Nahariya to spend a quiet weekend with their grandparents.

13 Jul 2006 - Monica Seidman (Lehrer), 40, of Nahariya was killed in her home by a Katyusha rocket Thursday morning. In the evening, Nitzan Roseban, 33, was killed in Safed by a direct rocket hit. On Thursday evening Katyushas landed in Haifa.

12 Jul 2006 - Hizballah terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory and attacked two IDF armored jeeps patrolling the border with Lebanon, killing three soldiers and kidnapping two. Ground forces entered Lebanon in the area of the attack. A large explosive device was detonated underneath an Israeli tank, killing all four of the tank crew. An eighth soldier was killed when IDF troops entered Lebanon to try to retrieve the bodies of the tank crew. Throughout the day, Hizballah terror organization fired Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at Israel's northern borders' communities and IDF posts.

27 May 2006 - An IDF soldier was wounded when Katyushas were fired at an army base at Mt. Meron in the upper Galilee.

27 Dec 2005 - A branch of a Palestinian organization connected to Al-Qaida fired 6 Katyushas, damaging a house in Kiryat Shmona and a house in Metulla. In response, the IAF attacked a training base of the Popular Front, south of Beirut.

21 Nov 2005 - An attempt to kidnap an IDF soldier was foiled when paratroopers patrolling near Rajar village discerned a Hizballah unit approaching. Private David Markovitz opened fire, killing all four. In a heavy attack of mortars and Katyusha rockets that ensued, nine soldiers and and two civilians were injured.

29 Jun 2005 - More than 20 mortars were fired from across the border. Cpl. Uzi Peretz of the Golani Brigade was killed and four soldiers wounded, including the unit's doctor. Fire was exchanged and helicopters and planes attacked five Hizballah outposts in the Reches Ramim area.

24 Apr 2005 - Several explosive devices exploded near the Lebanese-Israeli border, in the Mount Dov area. Officials believe the devices were planted by Hezbollah, but this was not confirmed. No injuries were reported in the explosions.

7 Apr 2005 - Two Israeli-Arabs from the village of Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped by Hizballah operatives and held in captivity for four days. The men, identified as Muki Ben-Jamal and Nuef Maharj Ben-Ali, said they were interrogated by their captors who wanted information on Israel. They were later released. Israeli officials did not believe that any security information had been compromised.

9 Jan 2005 - An explosive device was detonated against an IDF patrol at Nahal Sion. One Israeli soldier was killed, and a UN officer was killed.

20 Jul 2004 - Hizballah sniper fired at an IDF post in the western sector of the Israeli-Lebanese border. Two IDF soldiers were killed.

7 May 2004 - Fire in the Mt. Dov sector. IDF soldier Dennis Leminov was killed, and two other soldiers were severely wounded. The IDF returned fire.

19 Jan 2004 - An anti-tank missile was fired at IDF D9 while neutralizing explosive charges near Zari’t. An IDF soldier, Yan Rotzenski, was killed and another soldier was severely wounded.

6 Oct 2003 - Staff Sgt. David Solomonov was killed when Hizballah fired at an IDF force south of the Fatma Gate in the eastern sector. In addition, the Hizballah fired missiles and rockets at an IDF post in the Reches Ramim area.

10 Aug 2003 - Haviv Dadon, 16, of Shlomi, was struck in the chest and killed by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft shell fired by Hizballah terrorists in Lebanon. Four others were wounded.

20 Jul 2003 - Hizballah snipers fired on an Israeli outpost near Chetula, killing two Israeli soldiers. The IDF retaliated with tank fire directed at a Hizballah position, killing one operative manning the post. That night, there were multiple Israeli flights over Lebanon, two of which generated powerful sonic booms over Beirut.

7 May 2003 - Hizballah attacked IDF positions in the Sheba' farms with heavy rocket, mortar, and small arms fire. One Israeli soldier was killed and five others were wounded in the attack. Lebanese authorities asserted that the Hizballah firing had been preceded by an Israeli army foot patrol crossing the Blue Line.

5 May 2003 - A cycle of armed exchanges across the Blue Line began. Israel carried out more than 20 air sorties over the country. Subsequently, Hizballah fired several anti-aircraft rounds with shrapnel landing inside Israel.

22 Mar 2003 - Hizballah fired rockets and mortars at Israeli army positions in the Sheba' farms and adjacent areas. This attack followed eight incursions into Lebanese airspace by Israeli aircraft.

6 Jan 2003 - Hezbollah fired anti aircraft shells in the vicinity of Birait in the western sector of the Lebanese border. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.

29 Aug 2002 - Fire at an IDF post in the Mt. Dov sector. IDF soldier Ofer Misali was killed, and two other soldiers were lightly wounded.

12 Mar 2002 – Infiltration: In a shooting attack on the Shlomi- Metzuba route. Six Israelis civilians were killed, among them IDF officer Lt. German Rojkov.

7 Aug 2001 - Two houses belonging to senior members of the former Israeli-allied South Lebanon Army militia were blown up using explosive devices. One of the houses belonged to Robin Abboud; the other to Samir Raslan. Hizbollah is suspected.

28 Apr 2001 - A 60 year-old Israeli man was found stabbed to death in Kfar Ba'aneh, near Carmiel in Galilee. The terrorists responsible for the attack were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hizballah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of the organization.

14 Apr 2001 - Fire at an IDF post in the Mt. Dov sector. IDF soldier Elad Litvak was killed.

1 Apr 2001 - A 42 year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death in Haifa. Her murder was the initiation rite of a terrorist cell, whose members were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hizballah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder, originally thought to be criminally motivated, were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of one of the terrorists into the organization.

16 Feb 2001- Fire at an IDF convoy on Mt. Dov. IDF soldier Elad Shneor was killed, and three other soldiers were wounded.

26 Nov 2000 - A charge was detonated near an IDF convoy. IDF soldier Khalil Taher was killed and two other soldiers were wounded.

7 Oct 2000 - Kidnapping: Three IDF soldiers: Adi Avitan, Omer Soued and Binyamin Avraham were kidnapped by the Hizballah from the Mt. Dov sector.

Sources: Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Foreign Affairs Summary of Events; RAND Terrorism Database; The Institute for Counter-Terrorism; U.S. State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2004

Fact Sheet

Proportionality

Israel seeks peace and is still waiting for leaders of the Palestinians and the other Arab states at war with Israel to step forward and follow the examples of Anwar Sadat and King Hussein by ceasing their support for terror and resuming negotiations. Until that happens, Israel must take prudent security measures to protect its citizens.

In responding to the acts of war perpetrated by Hamas and Hizballah, Israel has launched a military campaign to end the threat posed by these two terrorist groups that have each kidnaped Israeli soldiers and unleashed a barrage of rockets on the civilian population of Israel. In prosecuting the war, Israel has come under fire for using “disproportionate” force, but how do you determine the proportionate use of military force?

Since Hizballah’s stated objective is the destruction of Israel, isn’t the appropriate response the destruction of Hizballah? Wouldn’t random missile strikes on Lebanese and Palestinian cities be proportionate to Hamas and Hizballah rocket attacks on northern and southern Israel? Can you imagine any of Israel’s critics accepting those responses?

When Palestinian terrorists plant bombs at Israeli shopping malls and kill and maims dozens of civilians, would the “proportionate response” be for Israelis to plant bombs in Palestinian malls? No one in Israel believes this would be a legitimate use of force. Thus, Israel is left with the need to take measured action against specific targets in an effort to either deter Palestinian violence or stop it.

What would America do if terrorists bombed civilian targets? After 9/11, we saw that America took the same type of action as Israel by launching military strikes against the terrorists. U.S. forces used overwhelming force and, though they never targeted civilians, some were inadvertently killed. Americans believe in Colin Powell’s doctrine, which holds that “America should enter fights with every bit of force available or not at all.”

The United States uses overwhelming force against its enemies, even though the threats are distant and pose no danger to the existence of the nation or the immediate security of its citizens. The threat Israel faces is immediate in time and physical proximity, and poses a direct danger to Israeli citizens. More than a thousand rockets have now fallen on Israel’s cities, not its military installations, its civilian centers. Approximately one million Israelis have fled south or are living in bomb shelters. Still, Israel has not used its full might as the Powell Doctrine dictates. The use of force has been judicious and precise.

Israeli soldiers do not deliberately target noncombatants. The murder of innocents is the goal of the Lebanese and Palestinian terrorists.

IDF activities are governed by an overriding policy of restraint and a determination to take all possible measures to prevent harm to innocent civilians.

No innocent Palestinians or Lebanese would be in any danger if the Palestinian Authority took steps to stop terrorism and the Lebanese government had fulfilled the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for the disarming of Hizballah and the deployment of the Lebanese army in south Lebanon. Israel would have no reason to take military action if its citizens were not under constant threat.

No innocent Palestinians or Lebanese would be in danger if terrorists did not deliberately hide among them. If the peace-seeking Palestinians and Lebanese prevented the terrorists from living in their midst, Israel would have no reason to come to their neighborhoods.

It is a tragedy whenever innocent lives are lost, and Israelis have consistently expressed their sadness over Arab casualties. By contrast, when innocent Israelis are murdered by terrorists, Hamas and Hizballah hold rallies to celebrate the murders.

As a democracy, when Israeli soldiers make mistakes in battle, they are called to account for those errors. On those occasions when noncombatants are unintentionally injured, investigations are launched and the Israeli public debates the military’s actions.

Fact Sheet

Hizballah

Hizballah makes no secret of its objective, namely, the destruction of Israel. It committed an act of war by crossing the international border and attacking soldiers in Israel and kidnaping two of them. It escalated the war by indiscriminately firing missiles at Israeli cities.

Toward the end of 1982, Iran sent fighters to assist in the establishment of a revolutionary Islamic movement in Lebanon. The radical Shi’ia Muslim group that emerged was Hizballah. Led by religious clerics, the organization aspires to create an Iranian-style theocracy in Lebanon and, ultimately, establish an Islamic government across the Arab world. In recent years, Hizballah has become part of the Lebanese political process, but it also uses terror as a means to achieve its goals.

As the organizational infrastructure developed, Hizballah, with Iranian and Syrian assistance, began to establish an extensive military network in the Ba’albek area. Its militias have since spread into the Shi’ite neighborhoods in southern and western Beirut as well as into southern Lebanon.

Hizballah has repeatedly carried out terrorist actions against Israelis and launched rockets into northern Israel. Israelis have not even been safe outside their homeland. In 1992 and 1994, Hizballah bombed the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. Eight days after the AMIA bombing, the Israeli Embassy in London was car bombed by two Palestinians linked to Hizballah.

According to Hizballah, the United States was to blame for many of the country’s problems. Israel was seen as an extension of the United States and a foreign power in Lebanon. The immediate threat is to Israel, but Hizballah has also repeatedly targeted Americans. Here’s a partial list:

1982-1988 — Hizballah held David Dodge, acting president of the American University in Beirut, captive for a year; kidnaped and murdered Malcolm Kerr, a Lebanese-born American who was president of the American University of Beirut; abducted Jeremy Levin, Beirut bureau chief of CNN, who later escaped; held Reverend Benjamin Weir for 16 months; seized diplomat William Buckley and he was never heard from again; kidnaped Frank Reed, director of the American University in Beirut, and held him 44 months; held Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University in Beirut for five years; and abducted and murdered Col. William Higgins, the American chief of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization.

April 18, 1983 — A truck-bomb exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 employees, including the CIA's Middle East director, and wounding 120.

Oct. 23, 1983 — A truck loaded with a bomb crashed into the lobby of the U.S. Marines headquarters in Beirut

, killing 241 soldiers and wounding 81.

April 12, 1984 — Hizballah bombed a restaurant near a U.S. Air Force base in Torrejon, Spain, killing 18 servicemen and wounding 83 people.

September 20, 1984 — A suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in East Beirut killed 23 people and injured 21.

December 4, 1984 — Hizballah terrorists hijacked a Kuwait Airlines plane and murdered American passengers Charles Hegna and William Stanford.

June 14, 1985 — Hizballah members hijacked a TWA flight and murdered Robert Stethem, a U.S. Navy diver.

It is tragic that Lebanese civilians are harmed, but the only ones showing concern for noncombatants are the Israelis, who are pinpointing their attacks rather than carpet bombing areas where they know Hizballah has bases. Hizballah has no regard whatsoever for innocents and that is why it operates inside residential neighborhoods. Of course, they care even less about innocent Jews than they do their own people and indiscriminately fire their rockets into Israeli cities.

Former diplomats are calling for political intervention, but just what is Israel supposed to negotiate with a group bent on its destruction? The diplomats’ answer is to capitulate to Hizballah demands and trade dozens of Arab prisoners for two soldiers, a formula that would give the terrorists an incentive to continue to kidnap Israelis and do nothing to eliminate the ongoing threat that Hizballah has proven now extends to the heart of Israel.

Diplomats also appeal to the major powers to take political steps to stop the violence, and emergency sessions are called at the UN. But we’ve seen this movie before. In fact, the world did come up with a diplomatic “solution” in 2004 – UN Security Council Resolution 1559. The resolution specifically called on the Lebanese government to disarm Hizballah and to deploy its army in the south. The international community did nothing, however, to enforce that resolution, and the Lebanese government proved unable and/or unwilling to fulfill its duty.

The violence can only be stopped if there is a clear, unified message from the world’s leaders that terrorism and unprovoked acts of war on sovereign nations will not be allowed to stand. Israel must be permitted to eliminate the rocket threat posed by Hizballah. Then Hizballah must release the Israeli soldiers unharmed and the Lebanese government must implement UN Resolution 1559. If the international community is to end the crises in the long-term, it must be prepared to deal with the countries that helped precipitate this war, Hizballah’s patrons in Syria and Iran.