I've been attacked by the Slashdot idiot squad. After all Saddam was a nice dictator and GW Bush is the source of all evil in the world.
Oh and for the record, I'm 30, live in Jerusalem and studied physics.
Bashar Assad is probably realizing he is up shit creak about
now. Lets be honest dictators are out of fashion these days, and
those that train terrorists even more so. It is common knowledge that
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, Hizballah et al are based in Syria
and Syrian-occupied Lebanon, and funding is channeled threw Syria
from Iran to these groups.
For those of you not used to the mid-east you have to understand that
this area is not very big, its maybe 300km from Damascus to
Jerusalem, and maybe 50 from the Golan to Damascus. In other words
minutes in a modern fighter jet. Beirut is not much farther, maybe 60
km from the border.
A military conflict between Israel and Syria probably will not
happen, unless Israel wants it to. Syria will not start a war with
Israel for one good reason. They will loose. in the 1980's the
Israeli and Syrian air forced fought over Lebanon, the result 79
top of the line Syrian MiG's reduced to litter on the floors of the
Beka valley. In those dog fights 1 Israeli jet was hit by a SAM.
In addition Syria can't help but notice the US forces in Turkey and
Iraq. As well as US naval forces in the Mediterranean and the Gulf.
The world seems to be urging us (Israel) to respect international
law. Which seems odd, International law seems to be quite firm on the
fact that nations have a right and a duty to protect
themselves. Israel is in a war for its very existence, and has been
since we were a country. Our enemies have never been shy about their
goal of driving us into the sea. So far the only thing that has
stopped them from doing this is the fact that our army is better then
their army. I firmly believe that if they thought they could get away
with it Syrian tanks would be crossing the border to attack us, like
they did 30 years ago. And I don't think the world would do much to
stop it.
Thankfully our army is stronger then theirs.
I don't have much time, as Yom Kippor starts soon, but our air force has responeded to yesterday's bomb in Haifa. The Israeli air force has destroyed a Islamic Jihad training base in Syria.
Fast starts in just over an hour. I will write more tomrow night.
Another day another bomb in Israel. After Shabbat ended and I logged onto my computer I saw the news, 20 dead in a resturant in Haifa. It may be more, who knows. The great Irony is that the resturant was owned by Arabs, who were probably decent folks just trying to make a living. But Hamas and the other murderers don't care, they just want to kill and to maim and to inspire fear. 3 of the dead may be children.
In Gaza they are probably dancing in the streat now. Dead Jews is a cause for celibration there, ofcourse they danced on 9/11 too, dead Americans are almost as good.
The war on terror is not a war like World War II, Like WWII it is a battle of good and evil, and like WWII only one side will still be standing when it is over. The West or radical Islam only one will walk out of this one alive. Unlike World War 2 this is not a stand up battle of armies.
Twice before Islam has tried to take over Europe, in 711 the armies of Islam crossed into spain and quickly took control, and were only prevented from the conquest of Europe by the army of Charles Martel who defeated them at the battle of Pointers in 732 ce. In the 16th century the Ottoman empire was at the doors of Viena when they were stopped.
This time they are trying to do it differently. Muslims are already the largest minority in many parts of Europe. Many of them are young, disafected and radical. How long until they start trying to elect an Islamist goverment in Holland or France? Or until some form of Islamist revolt breaks out into open warfare on the streats of Paris or Amsterdam?
More later, I am off to brave Jerusalem's busses for a date.
L'Shana Tova
To all my friends (and everyone else here) i would like to wish you a L'Shana Tovah, Happy New Year, Rush Hashana 5764.
I will be offline from now to sunday night.
Jerusalem is rather large city. We have about 600,000 people here but it seems like a very small town. It seems that everywhere I go I seem to run into people I know. And I've only been here a month. I was leaving the Kotel (western wall) last night and as i was leaving on the number #1 I saw a friend out the window. I was litterally in the middle of saying how often I run into people I know when I saw her. The only problem was the bus was pulling out so I didn't have time to get her contact info.
Every few weeks I have to venture out of Jerusalem down to the Tel Aviv area for something. This time I had to go to Rush HaAyin to get a new power supply for my iBook (the old one had died). So after waiting for 2 hours in the Jerusalem central bus station.
The Central bus station is itself an interesting expreience. The security there is if anything as tight as many airports, metal detectors and x-ray machines and the like. In israel we take security real seriously, Having been here a month I now instinctivly open my backpack for inspection whenever I go anywhere (Mall,resturant, Shuk etc). And ofcourse inside the bus station are a lot of young israelis in army uniforms all with their rifles hung over their back. If anyone tried to shoot up a long distance bus here he might well get a real shock as 20 soldiers started returning fire.
So I finally get to Rosh haAyin and have to take a cab to the place I am going. Get my power supply. Getting home I can't figure out how to get to my bus, so I take a local bus to the train (I had never been on a train here before, they don't come up to Jerusalem) and take that to Tel Aviv and then the 480 back here to Jerusalem.
Every time I have to go to Tel Aviv I am hit by one thought,
G-d am I glad I live in Jerusalem.
Its a bit of Irony, at a cafe in Jerusalem named for one of the Jewish People's greatest sages (Hillel) a most unholy act happened when a Palistinian Muslim decided to blow himself up and murder as many Jews as posible. He managed to kill a young bride on the night before her wedding and her father a doctor and rabbi who touched the lives of thousands her in Jerusalem and other people, as well as 5 other people.
I live about a mile up the road from Cafe Hillel in Katamon, and over this Shabbat I attened "Shir Hadash" a Shul (Beit Kenneset) about 100 meters from Cafe Hillel. The room was packed and standing room only, and we sang as loud and with as much ruach (spirit) as we could posibly manage.
After Shul on Saturday morning the entire congrigation walked the 100 or so meters down Emek Rafaim to what is left of Cafe Hillel and standing on the walk outside we studied a passage from the RAMBAM (12 century rabbi) on what it means to sanctify G-d's name and living as a Jew.
It was an amazing and powerful experience here in Jerusalem, a city in Kadusah is in the very stone of the building.
I'm off to Ben Yahuda to show the world I'm not afraid, and maybe get a shwarma.
A little while ago a bomb went of at Cafe Hillel on Emek Rafim st in Jerusalem's German Colony. Cafe Hillel is about a 20 minute walk from my flat and I ate dinner there with a friend last week. Normally I hear about these things on the Net or via TV and Radio. This one I found out about by hearing the ambulances drive by my window, I was trying to go to bed at the time.
If you here one ambulance here it may be someone having a heart attack, but when they start going one after another you know something is up.
I'm still glad I moved here.
I've been here almost 10 days and I'm starting to get a handle on the city. First thing for those of you who have never been here it is an amazing city. Jerusalem is about 3000 ft above sea level in the Judean mountans. everything by law has to be built out of Jerusalem stone which is pink and gold and just glows in the sun. There are flowers and trees everywhere. And lions, the mascot (heraldry?) of the city features a lion and there are lots of decorated lions all over the city. There is one not far from my flat in a Superman outfit and in lots of other designs.
Some friends of mine are in town from the USA so we met on Yaffo st and went out for dinner on Ben Yehuda st. Before dinner I davened Mincha (Afternoon Prayers) at this little synagoge (beit Kenneset) in a back alley. except for the electric lights and fans It is much of what I imagine a synagoge would have looked like in Iran 200 years ago. I think it was Persian. No one else spoke english and my hebrew is not so good yet, so I wasn't able to ask. But it was very pretty and very much what I'm not used to fromt he USA. It was in a back alley, so I'm not sure I'll ever find it again.
We then went out to a nice place on Ben Yehuda, which is a Pedestrian mall in the center of west Jerusalem. Jerusalem has lots of good food and almost all of it is Kosher. (McDonald's isn't kosher but Burger King is). After dinner we were forced off Ben Yehuda by the Army Bomb Squad. I'm not sure exactly what happened but there was a bomb scare. The BDU folks came in and delt with it. In truth they probably disarmed someone's school books or groceries. But there have been enough real bombs here that we take them real seriously.
There are pictures of Jerusalem on my web site.
I made it, I'm in Jerusalem! In fact I have been in israel a week (but was just able to get on the net today).
More later!
I read in this morning's Jerusalem Post about 17 Jews from Bagdad who just arived in Israel, the last few of a community that 100 years ago counted amoung its members 1/3 of the people of the city of Bagdad. it is a community that has been there since biblical times and produced the Tamud and sages like the Ben Ish Chai in the 19th centruy. Its gone now, forever.
A few weeks ago I read about several hundred olim from the USA and canada that flew on a plane chartered by Nefesh b'Nefesh for a number of reasons having to do mostly with timing I was unable to go on that flight. A 747 full of people wanting to imigrate will make the front cover of the newspaper, one guy showing up with his cat, won't.
Thats ok, I don't need to make the front page of the Jerusalem Post or Haaretz in my Aliyah. I will just show up with my stuff and my cat, I will be met my a cousin and taken to my new flat in Jerusalem.
I never wanted fanfare, and I'm not going to get it. I will take living in the most Holy place in the world. With luck in time I will find a nice girl and get married to her, and have some kids to add to the color of life in Israel.
Kleeneness is next to Godelness.
