Israellycool

Someone else who is very aptly named is Samir Kuntar. In order to keep this a PG-rated site, I will not elaborate on this except to allow Smadar Haran’s words do the talking:

Abu Abbas, the former head of a Palestinian terrorist group who was captured in Iraq on April 15, is infamous for masterminding the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. But there are probably few who remember why Abbas’s terrorists held the ship and its 400-plus passengers hostage for two days. It was to gain the release of a Lebanese terrorist named Samir Kuntar, who is locked up in an Israeli prison for life. Kuntar’s name is all but unknown to the world. But I know it well. Because almost a quarter of a century ago, Kuntar murdered my family.

It was a murder of unimaginable cruelty, crueler even than the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, the American tourist who was shot on the Achille Lauro and dumped overboard in his wheelchair. Kuntar’s mission against my family, which never made world headlines, was also masterminded by Abu Abbas. And my wish now is that this terrorist leader should be prosecuted in the United States, so that the world may know of all his terrorist acts, not the least of which is what he did to my family on April 22, 1979.

It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border. Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer. As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door.

Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. “This is just like what happened to my mother,” I thought.

As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl’s skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar.

By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.

The next day, Abu Abbas announced from Beirut that the terrorist attack in Nahariya had been carried out “to protest the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty” at Camp David the previous year. Abbas seems to have a gift for charming journalists, but imagine the character of a man who protests an act of peace by committing an act of slaughter.

Two of Abbas’s terrorists had been killed by police on the beach. The other two were captured, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Despite my protests, one was released in a prisoner exchange for Israeli POWs several months before the Achille Lauro hijacking. Abu Abbas was determined to find a way to free Kuntar as well. So he engineered the hijacking of the Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt and demanded the release of 50 Arab terrorists from Israeli jails. The only one of those prisoners actually named was Samir Kuntar. The plight of hundreds held hostage on a cruise ship for two days at sea lent itself to massive international media coverage. The attack on Nahariya, by contrast, had taken less than an hour in the middle of the night. So what happened then was hardly noticed outside of Israel.

One hears the terrorists and their excusers say that they are driven to kill out of desperation. But there is always a choice. Even when you have suffered, you can choose whether to kill and ruin another’s life, or whether to go on and rebuild. Even after my family was murdered, I never dreamed of taking revenge on any Arab.

But I am determined that Samir Kuntar should never be released from prison. In 1984, I had to fight my own government not to release him as part of an exchange for several Israeli soldiers who were POWs in Lebanon. I understood, of course, that the families of those POWs would gladly have agreed to the release of an Arab terrorist to get their sons back. But I told Yitzhak Rabin, then defense minister, that the blood of my family was as red as that of the POWs. Israel had always taken a position of refusing to negotiate with terrorists. If they were going to make an exception, let it be for a terrorist who was not as cruel as Kuntar. “Your job is not to be emotional,” I told Rabin, “but to act rationally.” And he did.

So Kuntar remains in prison. I have been shocked to learn that he has married an Israeli Arab woman who is an activist on behalf of terrorist prisoners. As the wife of a prisoner, she gets a monthly stipend from the government. I’m not too happy about that.

In recent years, Abu Abbas started telling journalists that he had renounced terrorism and that killing Leon Klinghoffer had been a mistake. But he has never said that killing my family was a mistake. He was a terrorist once, and a terrorist, I believe, he remains. Why else did he spend these last years, as the Israeli press has reported, free as a bird in Baghdad, passing rewards of $25,000 from Saddam Hussein to families of Palestinian suicide bombers? More than words, that kind of cash prize, which is a fortune to poor families, was a way of urging more suicide bombers. The fortunate thing about Abbas’s attaching himself to Hussein is that it set him up for capture.

Some say that Italy should have first crack at Abbas. It had already convicted him of the Achille Lauro hijacking in absentia in 1986. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi now wants Abbas handed over so that he can begin serving his life sentence. But it’s also true that in 1985, the Italians had Abbas in their hands after U.S. fighter jets forced his plane to land in Sicily. And yet they let him go. So while I trust Berlusconi, who knows if a future Italian government might not again wash its hands of Abbas?

In 1995, Rabin, then our prime minister, asked me to join him on his trip to the White House, where he was to sign a peace agreement with Yasser Arafat, which I supported. I believe that he wanted me to represent all Israeli victims of terrorism. Rabin dreaded shaking hands with Arafat, knowing that those hands were bloody. At first, I agreed to make the trip, but at the last minute, I declined. As prime minister, Rabin had to shake hands with Arafat for political reasons. As a private person, I did not. So I stayed here.

Now I am ready and willing to come to the United States to testify against Abu Abbas if he is tried for terrorism. The daughters of Leon Klinghoffer have said they are ready to do the same. Unlike Klinghoffer, Danny, Einat and Yael were not American citizens. But Klinghoffer was killed on an Italian ship in Abbas’s attempt to free the killer of my family in Israel. We are all connected by the international web of terrorism woven by Abbas. Let the truth come out in a new and public trial. And let it be in the United States, the leader in the struggle against terrorism.

George Soros, the billionaire currency speculator, marked a rare appearance in front of a Jewish audience by blasting Israel, accusing its policies for anti-Semitism.

When asked about anti-Semitism in Europe, Soros, who is Jewish, said European anti-Semitism is the result of the policies of Israel and the United States.

“There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe. The policies of the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that,” Soros said. “It’s not specifically anti-Semitism, but it does manifest itself in anti-Semitism as well. I’m critical of those policies.”

“If we change that direction, then anti-Semitism also will diminish,” he said. “I can’t see how one could confront it directly.”

Soros, who has himself been the subject of anti-Semitic comments by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahitler, also conceded that he is partly to blame for anti-Semitism!

“I’m also very concerned about my own role because the new anti-Semitism holds that the Jews rule the world,” said Soros, whose projects and funding have influenced governments and promoted various political causes around the world.

“As an unintended consequence of my actions,” he said, “I also contribute to that image.”

These comments reveal that Soros, who hardly ever gives charity to Jewish organizations, is ashamed of being Jewish. Given that he survived the Holocaust, I would have thought that his views on the roots of anti-Semitism would be more sophisticated than placing the blame at Israel’s feet. Furthermore, he displays a certain level of ignorance when he decries the “new anti-Semitism” that “holds that the Jews rule the world.” There is nothing knew about this.

The Yiddish word for “trouble” (based on the Hebrew word “tsarot”) is “tzoros.” Methinks that George Soros is very aptly named.

As I have blogged about in the past, PLO Arab poverty can be attributed not only to their own terrorism but also to Afatrat’s corruption. Now an investigative report by 60 Minutes confirms that Afatrat has diverted funds earmarked as aid for the PLO Arabs for his own use.

I won’t say “told you so”..but I guess I just did.

Those Pesky Jews are at it again. Not content with trying to taking over the real world, they have now set their sights on taking over the matrix world.

The most apparent Zionist hint in the movie, according to the article, is the city of Zion - the city which Morpheus, a ‘goodie,’ strives to reach. “This is the last city for humanity…the one place left for us on Earth,” says Morpheus, played by renowned actor Lawrence Fishburne. The article claims Zion is in fact Mount Zion - the Temple Mount, the Jewish people, the Temple of God.

The character of the Chosen One - Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, resembles the religious Messiah, according to the article.

Hamas says Hollywood film-makers generally reflect the political mood of the United States. “Hollywood films are now turning to the extreme right, and are orchestrated by Messianic-Zionist circles in Washington.”

“Zion represents the Promised Land, Morpheus represents John the Baptist, Neo is the Messiah and Nebuchadnezzar [Morpheus’s vehicle] is made by the United States,” the magazine says.

I suppose that is why he is called Neo to begin with; short for “neoconservative”.

During synagogue services this morning, an alarming announcement was made - Remedia’s soy-based baby formula was tampered with by terrorists, and six babies had already been affected, with some of them dying. I immediately ran home and was relieved to find that we do not use this brand nor soy-based formula for our eldest child.

This followed a police car with a loudspeaker driving through our neighborhood and announcing something last night. While at the time we could not discern the announcement, it was revealed that the police car was announcing this alarming development.

Ha’aretz are not reporting the terrorist spin. Which begs the question: was the synagogue announcement a knee-jerk reaction to the revelation that babies had been poisoned, with no additional proof of terrorism, or did the police specify this to the synagogue officials and the neighborhood since they have real evidence?

If this is indeed terrorism, can you imagine the implications?

In any event, for all of my Israeli readers, please stay away from Remedia soy-based baby formula. And please pass on the word.

Update 9/11: Still no mention of terrorism, although Ha’aretz are now reporting the loudspeakers (not the police but rather Arab drivers sent by Zaka) and the synagogue announcements in light of efforts to immediately notify religious neighborhoods (in which the residents observe the Sabbath and hence do not watch the television nor listen to the radio).

Update 10/11 9:00AM: Apparently it was not terrorism. The cause of the infant deaths is said to be due to the fact that the product contained no vitamin B-1. So I guess the announcement in synagogue that terrorists had tampered with it was indeed a knee-jerk reaction. Which goes to show you the psychological effect that the violence and terror has had on our lives.

Update 10/11 6:30PM: The plot thickens. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Mossad and Shin Bet secret service agencies have been called in to investigate. Sabotage has not been ruled out.

PLO Arab Hanan Ashrawi has reacted to criticism against her selection as the recipient of this year’s Sydney Peace Prize by implying that she has faced more hatred in Australia than in Israel.

“I was amazed at the degree of, not just negative response, but a certain degree of hatred, which I don’t find even with my discussion with Israelis,” she said.

“I felt that the further away people are from the situation and the conflict the more licence they give themselves to distort and to interfere negatively. I don’t know why feelings are so high here.”

Apparently, criticizing her selection reflects hatred, rather than a legitimate, well informed opinion. Here are some reasons why I am personally against her selection as the recipient of a “peace” prize:

(1) She is clearly against the peace process, as her words at the so-called World Conference Against Racism indicate:

“The so-called generous offer of Barak has been exposed for the sham that it is an occupiers version of whats good for the natives, based only on whats good for Israel, thus ensuring further conflict and instability rather than cementing a fair and durable solution. Having been historically the victims of war and conflict, we found ourselves the victims of a flawed and unjust peace process.”

Talk about rotten luck…

Gordon Young and his wife Bev were planning to spend their recent $800,000 Tattslotto jackpot win on a dream tour around Australia when they were struck and killed by a car during an afternoon walk on Tuesday.

The death of the recently retired couple from near Leongatha, both in their early 60s, stunned Mr Young’s older brother Eric.

Another brother, Keith, died from diabetes after sharing a $1 million Tattslotto win about seven years ago.

“It’s really a freak coincidence that Bev and Gordon died after winning the money, especially as Keith died a few years after winning $200,000,” Mr Young told AAP.

“I will never buy a Tattslotto ticket again because that’s now two brothers who have died and I don’t want to be next.”

Meanwhile, here in Israel, there is no bad luck involved with this mishap - just gross negligence.

Mark Hamill, the actor who played “Luke Skywalker” in Star Wars, takes a subtle jab at Jewish Hollywood personalities.

“I don’t mind the Hollywood caste system. I know the tenuous position I’m in on the entertainment food chain. I don’t get invited to A-list affairs. Me? I’m listless,” he says. “If anything, it hardens my resolve to say, ‘Ah, you’re wrong. I’m going to show you by doing this or that or the other.”

“But when you do it to my children, that makes me go berserk. And she started being excluded from this one’s birthday party or that one’s bat mitzvah because I’m not A-list. It really burns my hide when it comes through because they’re not in show business - I am.”

I hope the ADL do not give him a hard time about this comment, which is clearly not anti-Semitic. Hamill is disappointed with Hollywood snobbery, and criticizes Hollywood players, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. He was probably not even thinking in terms of “Jewish” and “non-Jewish”, but merely in terms of the types of events from which his children are excluded. And you can bet there are plenty of bat mitzvahs!

Muammar Gaddafi’s son also has problems with the truth.

Environment Ministry: Dead Sea is dying

Hmm……

Of course, I blogged about this a while back, when Al-Crapeeza found it fit to blame Israel for the Dead Sea’s predicament.

Why do we even bother? The newly-approved Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Rafik al-Natsheh supports continued violence and said he was “encouraged” by the recent EU poll fingering Israel as the primary threat to the world. He also advocates PLO Arab non-compromise on the issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

Arutz Sheva reports that Irineos (or as I like to call him, “Urineos”), the unrecognized leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and a candidate for the post of Greek Orthodox Patriarch, was caught lying to IDF soldiers and trying to smuggle in a gun to Yasser Arafat.

Urineos has in the past claimed to remain impartial in the conflict.

“I am not pro-Palestinian, nor pro-Israeli, nor pro-anything. I am only pro-God…There is only one viable solution in every conflict between human beings: discussion and mutual concessions.”

But as Arutz Sheva mentions, this is far from the truth.

In the past, Irineos has offered to grant church-owned lands in Jerusalem to the PA. The church’s large holdings include such properties as those on which stand the Knesset, the Prime Minister’s Home and the President’s Residence. Irineos has also written blatantly anti-Semitic remarks. On July 17, 2001, he wrote, “You [Arafat] are aware of the sentiments of disgust and disrespect that all the Holy Sepulchre fathers are feeling for the descendants of the crucifiers of our Lord… actual crucifiers of your people, Sionists [sic] Jewish conquerors of the Holy Land of Palestine.”

It is bad enough having PLO Arabs hide weapons in baby strollers and under baby cribs, as well as in ambulances and hospitals. Now they have men of cloth helping them in their efforts to murder as well.