The Celebration of Hannukah in Mumbai December 26, 2008

I did not blog on the murder and mayhem in Mumbai. What happened there was yet another shameful episode where the finger is once again pointed at Muslim extremists – this time they are associated with a group that has been outlawed in Pakistan – a group with links to Osama Bin Laden.

One of the targets in that attack was Chabad house which was the centre run by a Jewish group. The rabbi and his wife Ritvka were amongst the dead on that dreadful day. However, their 2 year old son survived and was rescued by his nanny. He is now safe in Israel.

So now we come to the Christian celebration of Christmas that coincides with the Jewish festival of Hannukah – a festival of lights that commemorates the cleansing and rededication of the Temple after it was defiled by the pagan Greeks.

In Mumbai the fathers of those slain have lit the mennorah:

The rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his wife, Rivka, were among six people killed when attackers assaulted the Chabad House, one of several targets hit in the coordinated terrorist strike.

Holtzberg, who was affiliated with the Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement, in past years was the one to light the Hanukkah candles at those same places.

In addition to commemorating the slain, the ceremonies underscored the religious movement’s determination to rebuild the center, continue its activities and impart its spirit in Mumbai, where it has served the Jewish community for many years.

The Chabad Web site said Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, Rivka’s father, lit the menorah at the Gateway to India, a stone arch near the Taj Mahal Hotel that was the entry point for the people who launched the attack.

This is a people who have not given up hope despite the terrible deed that was done to them. The lighting of the mennorah on the 5th day of the festival is a sign of hope, a symbol of peace.

Israel responds to constant mortar attacks from inside of Gaza November 28, 2007

 

An Israeli air strike on Wednesday has successfully hit an Hamas controlled post where rockets are being constantly fired into Israeli territory.

Despite the bleating about the alleged “oppression” of Palestinians, there is in fact very little evidence to prove the complaints. Instead, the Hamas controlled Palestinians have been constantly firing their rockets at the town of Sderot, and threaten the lives of at least 300,000 citizens at intervals of every 3 hours.

If Hamas refuses to be a part of the present peace process, then there is little chance of any resolution to the conflicts, because the aims of Hamas happen to be that they should be the ones who control the whole region. As a result Israel’s existence remains threatened, first by the existence of Hamas, and secondly by the backers of Hamas, Syria and Iran.

GAZA CITY (CNN) — An Israeli airstrike Wednesday hit a Hamas post in southern Gaza, killing two Hamas security men in Khan Yunis, according to Hamas sources.

Hamas members in Gaza City watch TV coverage of the Mideast summit on Tuesday.

The Israeli army said the airstrike — the third in Gaza this week — was in response to the firing of mortars into Israel.

According to the Israeli military, 11 mortars and Qassam rockets were fired into Israel on Wednesday.

Reacting to incessant rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel’s government labeled the Hamas-controlled region a “hostile territory” in September, setting in motion a wide-ranging crackdown that includes military operations and limiting Gaza’s power supply.

Gaza militants fire rockets into Israel every three hours, on average, according to the Israeli military.

Speaking at the Mideast peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said “the continued shooting of Qassam rockets against tens of thousands of residents in the south of Israel, particularly in the city of Sderot, serves as a warning sign — one which cannot be overlooked.”

He said the ongoing attacks are a hurdle to achieving peace with the Palestinians and are the result of “the absence of governmental institutes and effective law enforcement mechanisms” in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Lebanese troops fire on IAF jets – are we heading towards another war? October 26, 2007

 

Officials: Lebanese troops fired on IAF jets – Israel News, Ynetnews

I bet the MSM will remain quiet over the fact that Lebanese troops, (probably ones not loyal to the government but to Nasrallah) fired upon Israeli aircraft doing routine reconnaissance. This might be a situation that needs to be watched more carefully because it could signal another “war”, and yes Syria and her master Iran want that war to take place.

CAIR gloats over HLF mistrial but the celebration may be premature October 25, 2007

 

Jihad Watch: CAIR gloats over HLF mistrial, but the celebration may be premature
The HLF verdict ended up as a mistrial because of jurors changing their minds after the initial verdict was made (were they paid off or threatened?). CAIR and those who were placed on trial are celebrating what they see as a victory, but as Jihad Watch observes, the victory celebration might be a little bit premature:

CAIR gloats over HLF mistrial, but the celebration may be premature

“War is deception” is, of course, a quote from Muhammad himself. “Motion For Retrial,” from Investor’s Business Daily (thanks to Doc Washburn):

Trail Of Terror: The Council on American-Islamic Relations is cheering a mistrial in a major terror case as a “stunning defeat” for the U.S. government. But the celebration may be premature.

Federal prosecutors say they’ll retry the case against leaders of the Holy Land Foundation, the nation’s largest Muslim charity, which they accused of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas terrorists.

CAIR, an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, also cheered a similar outcome in a federal case against Muslim activist Sami al-Arian in Florida. As in the Holy Land case, jurors deadlocked on several terror counts. But prosecutors threatened a retrial and al-Arian later pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

He was defended by the same lawyer defending one of the accused Holy Land leaders, Ghassan Elashi, who happens to also be a founding member of CAIR.

Barring plea bargains, the U.S. will narrow its charges and refile them — hopefully with a new judge. U.S. District Judge Joe Fish barred key evidence helping prosecutors prove willful intent to support terror on the part of defendants.

For example, he threw out a dozen documents seized by the Israeli government in raids of Hamas fronts that would have tied the Dallas-based charity closer to the terror group. Fish also allowed defendants to intimidate jurors.

Not long after the trial opened, after a morning of testimony by government witnesses, a visibly angry Elashi shouted and pointed as jurors exited the courtroom for lunch. The judge scolded him for the outburst — which included a rant about “a Zionist conspiracy” — but decided not to kick him out of the courtroom.

[...]

No doubt they’ll streamline their evidence, highlighting the more powerful exhibits, including:

• FBI wiretaps of a meeting in Philadelphia between Holy Land and Hamas big shots in which Holy Land’s director is overheard scheming to disguise payments to Hamas as charity, noting that “war is deception.”

• Testimony from FBI agents that Holy Land flew Hamas clerics to the U.S. to help raise funds at mosques.

• Videos of a Holy Land defendant pretending to kill an Israeli during a Hamas fundraising skit held at one mosque.

• Key chains, videos and posters praising suicide bombers found inside the Hamas front “committees” that Holy Land helped bankroll.

The defendants also kept two sets of records at their Dallas offices — one in English, the other in Arabic — which they destroyed during the FBI’s probe.

Lawyers for the accused expect us to believe that all this suspicious activity was merely an attempt to help needy Palestinians with “vaccinations” and “rice.” Civil juries haven’t fallen for the subterfuge.

[...]

The evidence is clear. Now it’s up to the PC-plagued Justice Department to present it to jurors in a way that doesn’t make their eyes glaze over. Retry the case. Only this time, don’t try their patience.

The evil of Syria and Iran go hand in hand October 23, 2007

This is old news, and yes, Israel did make a raid inside of Syria. It seems that the target was a munitions factory. There is very little information that has become available about what really happened and why the raid took place. What we have learned though, is that Syria has been attempting to manufacture nuclear weapons with the aid of North Korea:

 

Signs Show That Syria Is Ramping Up For a Major Conflict

Syria said that it fired on Israeli planes today.
The Syrian government reported that Israeli aircraft dropped “munitions” inside Syria overnight- AP.
Reuters misreported the incident (with an anti-Israeli slant):

Syria accused Israel of bombing its territory on Thursday and said it could respond to the Jewish state’s ‘aggression and treachery’. (Graphic/Reuters)
Israellycool noted that the Syrian government reported that the munitions were “dropped” -Not that Syria was “bombed!”
(Via Instapundit)
After the news that Syria had fired on Israeli planes,
Daniel Diker from the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs authored this analysis of the current situation by Yaakov Amidror the former Head of Intelligence Assessment of the Israel Defense Forces:

Anatomy of Syrian Israel Tensions.
Major General (Res)Yaakov Amidror
The recent aerial incident involving reported Israeli airforce activity over Northeastern Syria along the Turkish Syrian border comes in the context of disturbing trends in Syrian military behavior. It is important to recall that Syria has served as a primary conduit to building up Iranian backed Hizbullah prior to the outbreak of the second Lebanon war in July 2006. Damascus supplied the majority of the heavy payload rockets Hizbullah fired at Israel including Grad-type 122mm Katyushas “220mm rocket,”(probably Syrian-manufactured Russian “Ouragan” Multiple Launch Rocket System [MLRS]) and “B302″ 302mm rockets. Syrian supplied rocket warheads usually contained anti-personnel munitions, of a mixture of lethal explosives and steel balls or fragments.
It should also be noted that Syria has increased the tempo of its military exercises and has removed road blocks that existed for years between Damascus and the city of Kunetra that is adjacent to its front line with Israel.
Historically, The Syrian Israeli military balance has been characterized by a gross asymmetry in Syria?s favor in the standing active service formations along the Syrian Israeli border. While Syria maintained its army in battle ready status, the bulk of the Israeli army was and continues to be organized around its army reserve forces that are only mobilized in the event of an imminent attack. For example, in October, 1973, Israel was forced to repel a massive Syrian ground assault with only 177 tanks against a total Syrian force of 1400 tanks that stretched back from the Golan Heights to Damascus providing an advantage of more than eight to one in Syrian armor.
At present, Syria?s behavior is a function of the following factors:
1. The Syrian perception that it has a realistic military option against Israel based on their view of Hizbullah?s successes in last summer?s war.
2. Syria?s continued sponsorship of radical Palestinian Islamic terror groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP, and other Jihadi organizations.
3. A massive Syrian military build-up focusing primarily on scud (B,C,D) heavy rockets and chemical warheads with a massive commensurate increase in military spending over past ten years.. The primary Syrian armament build of the past few years includes a major investment in chemical weaponry in which Syria has become a regional superpower. It is important to stress that Damascus? strategic decision to build up its military arsenal preceded the US decision to provide advanced military weaponry to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Syria?s recent military build up is all the more destabilizing in view of the decision by Russia to upgrade its influence in the region by providing state of the art Russian weaponry and military technologies and to reopen a Russian Naval base on the Syrian Coast. Additionally, Iran?s huge petro-dollar driven financing capabilities has played a major role in Syrian weapons procurement.
Current Syrian Israeli tensions are also punctuated by the additional Syrian strategic need to free itself of international pressure in the context of its continuing involvement in destabilizing Lebanon as well as Damascus? interest in shaking off ongoing international pressure stemming from Syria?s suspected main role in the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Syrian concerns over its deepening international isolation is also a function of its key role as a primary line of supply of weaponry and volunteers that continue stream unfettered over the Syrian Iraqi border to the Iraqi insurgency against US coalition forces as has been confirmed By General George W. Casey Jr, former US Commander in Iraq.
Yaakov Amidror was former Head of Intelligence Assessment of the Israel Defense Forces.