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Last night, Nissim must have spent the better part of two hours crying due to what we think was a sore tummy, or bad gases. Now I did my best to relax him but the crying just really bothers me. I know it's natural but to see him in obvious discomfort & pain and not be able to do anything just upsets me. I guess I'll have to find ways to adjust to this and my only hope is this is the worst 'discomfort & pain' he goes through in his life.
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I didn't cry at the events in Mumbai. I've seen far too many of these events already in my lifetime and unfortunately, I've become rather numbed to them 'sadness' wise. I do mourn the loss of innocent life and get really angry that the 'free world' still hasn't realized what it's up against, but sadness? No, for some reason, I save my tears for other events.
A few points about the atrocities that claimed so many innocent lives in India this weekend:
- The Indian press doesn't need to get so touchy about Israel criticizing their rescue operation. It was planned too slowly and with little chance in surprising the terrorists, failure was unfortunately the most likely outcome. For the Indian press to start blabbering on about how Israel has a bad record in hostage-rescue operations, aside from the successful Operation Entebbe in 1976 shows complete ignorance to other rather successful hostage rescue operations (Sabena ... Savoy ... Misgav Am rescue ... Bus line 300 rescue). These operations are always tricky - and unfortunately, hostages will almost always die, but if a country wants to attempt a rescue mission, do so professionally (don't blow up the bottom floor when your commando units haven't landed on the roof, and clear all bystanders from the rescue site) and with the idea that the hostage are alive. As Lior Lotan, a former senior officer in the army's elite Sayeret Matkal unit, said, "When you're rescuing captives, you enter fast, with maximum force, and try to reach the hostages as quickly as possible, even at the price of casualties. Here, they operated much more cautiously."
- The lone surviving terrorist now claims that these attacks were directed specifically at Israelis due to avenge "atrocities" against the Palestinians. I'm not so sure this is true, however if it is, I think Israel needs to start taking more steps in better protecting her citizens abroad. We'll always be targets - it's part of the 'parcel' of being an Israeli and a Jew, but that doesn't mean we need to be easy game for these animals.
- The world still hasn't quite got what they're up against. This radical element within Islam, numbering in the millions, isn't about compromises over land or troop withdrawals from Iraq and Mars. This isn't about that, it's about an ideology that wants to dominate and rule the world no matter the cost. The sooner the world realizes it, the sooner there can be a united front to win this battle. Just because there isn't one crazy dictator with a small mustache declaring war on all of Europe doesn't mean we aren't in the middle of major war.
2 comments:
Spot on about the sadness bit; that is, I see where you're coming from, but I myself got a bit teary-eyed watching live footage of the news of the death of the hostages on Indian TV. Those watery-eyes, I suspect, were a combination of homesickness, despair at the fate of the Rabbi, his wife and the others (it's no consolation to me that he died 'in the line of duty'), and pent-up anger at the atrocity. It's enough to make one chafe at being Chosen; this is our lot, to walk around with targets perpetually upon us?
As for the terrorists specifically targeting Israelis and Jews due to "atrocities" against the Palestinians, that's a tried and true method the Islamists have of diverting responsibility for their actions. Anything they do can be brushed aside by claiming, "It's for the Palestinians." Don't forget, the UN has a day of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Terrorists know this, know they can get away with almost anything by repeating the mantra.
And no, the world doesn't know what it's up against because it doesn't want to know. The world wants easy answers, but it wants the answers it expects, not the actual ones. It doesn't want to contemplate literal evil; it prefers evil in abstract.
Well...I cried too when I watched the footage from Mumbai...and when I saw little Moshie crying for his mother.
As for the concept of why terrorists do what they can...it is because they can. What the world is very slowly learning is that what starts in Israel - often travels around the world. That is the lesson of 9/11, Bali, London, Madrid, Sinai - and yes, now Mumbai.
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