Trucks to Gaza.
It is the last day of 2008 and another day without school and kinder garden for the people living within the 40 kilometers limit to Gaza. We understood the positive consequences of that decision this morning as rockets were fired on Beer Sheva and one of them fell into a class room. The only reason why Israel has not suffered greater damage and loss of lives has to do with precautions of this kind.
.
People all over the world are concerned about the sufferings caused by Israeli air raid and the desperate lack of food, medicine and medical supplies. We are concerned too and a great deal of the news reports actually is about this. Israel has Arab news reporters and Jewish reporters with Arabic as their mother tongue. We know that the situation is critical at every hospital in Gaza. There are too many wounded and basic lack of everything.
In the middle of such circumstances we were informed by one of the Arab reporters today that Hamas activists are hiding in the hospitals dressed like doctors and that this particular reporter was not allowed into the hospital to take photos of the wounded.
It is not true that there are no trucks entering into Gaza . The Israeli army has a concern for the sufferings of the civilians and do let some trucks pass . The problem is that the needs are enormous and every truck has to go through a security control. Israel reported that it will consider cease fire and to open the crossing points for trucks equipped with supplies from international health organizations to get into Gaza if Hamas will stop the rockets from being sent into Israeli territory. Hamas has refused and is doing exactly the opposite. From their safe bunkers the leaders are ordering more attacks on Israel.
In order for a Western mind to understand this it is important to know what Hamas is. The word in Arabic actually means “zeal” It is an “Islamic Resistance Movement” which does not recognize Israel and has as its goal to eliminate Israel and to replace it with an Islamic state. It is widely known as a terrorist organization supported by Iran.
Hamas won the election in 2006, but was not recognized neither by the States or other countries in the West for the above reasons.
So why did they win the election???? ---- I'll tell you why : Hamas ,just like other similar organizations in the Islamic world, go for the weak, poor, uneducated and miserable people in their society. (I hope you have paid attention to the fact that the majority of the people fall into this category in Moslem countries….) They help them get food on the table , and by doing that the battle is won.
Do you remember Mr. Arafat ? Did he care for these people or was it more important for him to make sure that his foreign bank accounts were “gaining weight”, for him to have nice cars and houses and to make sure that the needs of those few close to him enjoyed similar standards. The UN representative to the Middle East back in those days was Terje Roed Larsen . I remember him making some very interesting statements : “Arafat never did anything to prevent terror !” was one of them.(He said that one year before Arafat passed away) The other one was : “Yassir Arafat never stopped lying” (He said that in an interview after Arafats death.)
The reason for mentioning this has to do with the fact that Fatah ( Arafat`s organization ) has been the strongest Palestinian alternative to Hamas. After Hamas won the election, Fatah , led by Mahmud Abbas was still considered the “Palestinian Authority ”
Going back to June 2007 when Hamas went to war on their “brothers” in Fatah and actually took over the reign in Gaza their brutality went beyond imagination. 161 people were killed within 6 days of fighting( we are talking about Palestinians fighting Palestinians here…) including 7 children and 11 women. People were pushed from roofs of tall buildings. They shot dead at close range already wounded or wounded to ensure permanent disabilities. They attacked people in their homes ,in hospitals and attacked ambulances and medical crew. We saw Palestinians tearing the houses belonging to Fatah members apart and stealing whatever could be useful to themselves.
(You may be interested to know that the son of West Bank leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef has become a Christian . An interview with him can be found in the internet edition of HAARETS.com for Mon.September 15,2008
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1007462.html )
Do you get the picture ? I have till now never seen any Palestinian leader really caring for the Palestinian people. I have not seen any Arab country really showing interest in their fate. What I have seen is a people being used in the most cruel way in a political “ ping pong game” which is aiming at the destruction of Israel.
Elin Elkouby
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Bomb shelter.
Every private house in Israel has got one, and for those living in apartment buildings there is one in the basement. Last night we had to enter our bomb shelter for the first time for security reasons. The alarm went and our daughters told us to wake up and to get moving...
I went to bed early last night as it was the last day of the school holiday and I knew that I would have to get up early the next morning. Earlier the same evening we had been following the news reports for what was going on. As we were watching we all of a sudden felt the house shaking. We had heard no alarm.... A few minutes later we were informed on TV that Kassams had been fired and that one of them landed in our neighboring town called Ashdod ( number 5 in size in Israel, south of Tel Aviv by the sea ) More than 60 Kassams were fired off yesterday and the one that landed in Ashdod resulted in 1 dead, 1 seriously wounded and another 3 wounded.
Let me tell you this : To live close to where this is happening and to know that we are within the limits for where these Kassams can reach is everything but pleasant. But, (and this is not easy for me to admit) it is somehow good to know that the Israeli army is trying to put an end to this terror.
I know that the information given on news reports all over the world have not bothered telling about the sufferings these Kassams have caused for the last 7 years. Many foreign reporters have dealt with them as if they were fire works. ( the Norwegian Press loves to deal with it this way...) We know that what we had a little "taste" of yesterday is something that our relatives in Nir Am have had to face on a daily basis for the last too many years. They have spent every night sleeping in bomb shelters, their children have not left for school in the mornings (as it is in a neighboring kibutz and because a Kassam actually fell into one of the class rooms )and the alarms have been heard several times during the day. They have been informed that if a Kassam hits a house directly there is no way to prevent them from going through the wall or roof, but it is possible to protect oneselves from the pieces of metal,bullets and nails that are being spread around once the Kassam explodes.The small children in the kibutz` kinder garden have been trained what to do when the alarm goes....get down on the floor, under a table and cover the head.
The kibutz had built a banquet hall for weddings and similar events as an income source .......The thing burned to the ground as it was hit by a Kassam. They invested money in a tourism project including rooms for over night stays, but people have been too afraid to come.... We know that most Kassams have actually landed on open fields and immidiately take it for "no damage made", but kibutz Nir Am has had acres of crops being burt off as the result of this. Who cares out there .......???
So, waking up this morning was a little different......I actually woke up to the sound of a loud speaker informing us at 6.30 in the morning that there would be no school today.---This information does not turn my life around, but there are lots of parents who have smaller kids that cannot be left at home alone as their parents go to work......
We have actually been asked please to stay inside our houses so that in case the alarm goes we will be close to the security room. ( we have 45 seconds to get to a safer place ).
I know that our situation cannot be compared to the situation inside Gaza right now. My heart was crying as we watched the news yesterday and heard of the 5 sisters that were killed as their house came down on them. Also this morning we were informed about the two children that were killed as they tried to get to a "safer haven" .
We saw an old Arab lady from Gaza receiving treatment at an Israeli hospital. She has not been informed about the situation "at home". She does not speak any Hebrew and the doctor treating her is an Israeli Arab. We also know about the sitation in hospitals and the exstreme lack of medication and medical equipment. A doctor from Gaza was interviewed yesterday on the news so I believe that when it comes to information through the Israeli mass media we get more balanced information than you do out there.
The most cruel thing that is happening now is that the Hamas leadership has gone under ground. They have made sure to prepare for themselves safe under ground bunkers. They do not want any cease fire unless Israel accepts their terms (opening up all the crossing points between Gaza and Israel.) In the mean time they are sending messages to encourage more Kassams to be fired. They are well aware of the fact that the more Kassams that are being sent into Israel the more Israeli air attacks there will be on Gaza and , as a result ,the number of casualties will grow. The Hamas does not have any problems with this as they believe that they actually arrange a "free ticket to Moslem heaven" for the ones that die and that is, according to them, not a bad alternative to their present situation. They also know that the international community will put pressure on Israel as the number of dead is growing. This is Hamas "math"....
Elin Elkouby
Every private house in Israel has got one, and for those living in apartment buildings there is one in the basement. Last night we had to enter our bomb shelter for the first time for security reasons. The alarm went and our daughters told us to wake up and to get moving...
I went to bed early last night as it was the last day of the school holiday and I knew that I would have to get up early the next morning. Earlier the same evening we had been following the news reports for what was going on. As we were watching we all of a sudden felt the house shaking. We had heard no alarm.... A few minutes later we were informed on TV that Kassams had been fired and that one of them landed in our neighboring town called Ashdod ( number 5 in size in Israel, south of Tel Aviv by the sea ) More than 60 Kassams were fired off yesterday and the one that landed in Ashdod resulted in 1 dead, 1 seriously wounded and another 3 wounded.
Let me tell you this : To live close to where this is happening and to know that we are within the limits for where these Kassams can reach is everything but pleasant. But, (and this is not easy for me to admit) it is somehow good to know that the Israeli army is trying to put an end to this terror.
I know that the information given on news reports all over the world have not bothered telling about the sufferings these Kassams have caused for the last 7 years. Many foreign reporters have dealt with them as if they were fire works. ( the Norwegian Press loves to deal with it this way...) We know that what we had a little "taste" of yesterday is something that our relatives in Nir Am have had to face on a daily basis for the last too many years. They have spent every night sleeping in bomb shelters, their children have not left for school in the mornings (as it is in a neighboring kibutz and because a Kassam actually fell into one of the class rooms )and the alarms have been heard several times during the day. They have been informed that if a Kassam hits a house directly there is no way to prevent them from going through the wall or roof, but it is possible to protect oneselves from the pieces of metal,bullets and nails that are being spread around once the Kassam explodes.The small children in the kibutz` kinder garden have been trained what to do when the alarm goes....get down on the floor, under a table and cover the head.
The kibutz had built a banquet hall for weddings and similar events as an income source .......The thing burned to the ground as it was hit by a Kassam. They invested money in a tourism project including rooms for over night stays, but people have been too afraid to come.... We know that most Kassams have actually landed on open fields and immidiately take it for "no damage made", but kibutz Nir Am has had acres of crops being burt off as the result of this. Who cares out there .......???
So, waking up this morning was a little different......I actually woke up to the sound of a loud speaker informing us at 6.30 in the morning that there would be no school today.---This information does not turn my life around, but there are lots of parents who have smaller kids that cannot be left at home alone as their parents go to work......
We have actually been asked please to stay inside our houses so that in case the alarm goes we will be close to the security room. ( we have 45 seconds to get to a safer place ).
I know that our situation cannot be compared to the situation inside Gaza right now. My heart was crying as we watched the news yesterday and heard of the 5 sisters that were killed as their house came down on them. Also this morning we were informed about the two children that were killed as they tried to get to a "safer haven" .
We saw an old Arab lady from Gaza receiving treatment at an Israeli hospital. She has not been informed about the situation "at home". She does not speak any Hebrew and the doctor treating her is an Israeli Arab. We also know about the sitation in hospitals and the exstreme lack of medication and medical equipment. A doctor from Gaza was interviewed yesterday on the news so I believe that when it comes to information through the Israeli mass media we get more balanced information than you do out there.
The most cruel thing that is happening now is that the Hamas leadership has gone under ground. They have made sure to prepare for themselves safe under ground bunkers. They do not want any cease fire unless Israel accepts their terms (opening up all the crossing points between Gaza and Israel.) In the mean time they are sending messages to encourage more Kassams to be fired. They are well aware of the fact that the more Kassams that are being sent into Israel the more Israeli air attacks there will be on Gaza and , as a result ,the number of casualties will grow. The Hamas does not have any problems with this as they believe that they actually arrange a "free ticket to Moslem heaven" for the ones that die and that is, according to them, not a bad alternative to their present situation. They also know that the international community will put pressure on Israel as the number of dead is growing. This is Hamas "math"....
Elin Elkouby
Shalom. 28.12.08
The first Kassam missile has landed not far from where we live. We are used to hear about attacks on towns and Kibbutzes near Gaza, but this is the first one to land in our town Gan Yavne.
Israel has suffered from these attacks for the last 7 years, and the towns and Kibutzes close to the Gaza border has been terrorized on a daily basis. Last summer a cease fire was signed by Hamas. It has been more quit for the last half a year than before this agreement, although it was obvious to every Israeli that this calm would be temporary and that what was actually going on was that the Hamas prepared themselves for attacks further into Israeli territory. The Hamas expected the Israelies to answer by bringing soldiers into Gaza and had been preparing for that as well.
Yesterday the Israeli Army decided to attack Hamas “strongholds” from the air. It is clear to everybody that any action aimed at Hamas will cause suffering to innocent sivilians
The Egyptian foreign minister expressed on TV yesterday that Hamas had been warned and that they will have to take responsibility for what happens to them now. Egypt has sent soldiers to the border next to Gaza in order to prevent Palestinians from trying to get into Egypt.
Not only Israelis are suffering from Hamas terror, but also people inside Gaza itself. Whoever does not agree with Hamas is being black listed and will be “wiped out” sooner or later. ( when the Hamas went to war against the Fatah they were not “soft spoken”)
We know that the evangelical Christians inside Gaza are traumatized. Since the attacks on the Bible Society and the brutal killing of Rami (last year), the activities that were run by the Bible Society ( humanitarian aid) have been forced to stop, pastor Hannah has left with his family to the States and at least 9 other families have been moved to safety in Bethlehem.
There are lots of secular Moslems who are sick and tired of hate , bitterness , killing, suffering and who would prefer to work for a better future for their children by other means.
The world press have been very clever informing the world about the Israelies preventing trucks with supplies to enter into Gaza. They have not, however, been as clever informing about the fact that many such trucks have been targeted and shot at by the Hamas upon entering. The Hamas are using methods that western mentality does not understand and therefore do not report. The Hamas will do everything in their power to cause the whole world to criticize Israel and to blame the lack of food and medical supplies on the Israeli closure of the border crossing points.
We have family in a Kibutz close to the Gaza border. Yesterday as we watched the news we were informed that there might be a need to evacuate people living within a 10 km distance from the border. We immediately rang our relatives to inform them that they can come and stay with us. ( Nissim has an uncle , aunt and their daughter with husband and two children living in Kibutz Nir Am close to the border.) The answer that we got back was that they were waiting for busses to pick them up and to bring them to a kibbutz near Beer Sheva. I spoke with them again this morning to check if they are OK.
They do not know for how long they will have to be away from their homes.
Please, ( whatever you do out there…Do not make too quick conclusions. There are people suffering on both sides of the border….. Personally I believe that the biggest curse on the Palestinians is for them to be controlled by fanatic Moslem groups like the Hamas.
Elin Elkouby
The first Kassam missile has landed not far from where we live. We are used to hear about attacks on towns and Kibbutzes near Gaza, but this is the first one to land in our town Gan Yavne.
Israel has suffered from these attacks for the last 7 years, and the towns and Kibutzes close to the Gaza border has been terrorized on a daily basis. Last summer a cease fire was signed by Hamas. It has been more quit for the last half a year than before this agreement, although it was obvious to every Israeli that this calm would be temporary and that what was actually going on was that the Hamas prepared themselves for attacks further into Israeli territory. The Hamas expected the Israelies to answer by bringing soldiers into Gaza and had been preparing for that as well.
Yesterday the Israeli Army decided to attack Hamas “strongholds” from the air. It is clear to everybody that any action aimed at Hamas will cause suffering to innocent sivilians
The Egyptian foreign minister expressed on TV yesterday that Hamas had been warned and that they will have to take responsibility for what happens to them now. Egypt has sent soldiers to the border next to Gaza in order to prevent Palestinians from trying to get into Egypt.
Not only Israelis are suffering from Hamas terror, but also people inside Gaza itself. Whoever does not agree with Hamas is being black listed and will be “wiped out” sooner or later. ( when the Hamas went to war against the Fatah they were not “soft spoken”)
We know that the evangelical Christians inside Gaza are traumatized. Since the attacks on the Bible Society and the brutal killing of Rami (last year), the activities that were run by the Bible Society ( humanitarian aid) have been forced to stop, pastor Hannah has left with his family to the States and at least 9 other families have been moved to safety in Bethlehem.
There are lots of secular Moslems who are sick and tired of hate , bitterness , killing, suffering and who would prefer to work for a better future for their children by other means.
The world press have been very clever informing the world about the Israelies preventing trucks with supplies to enter into Gaza. They have not, however, been as clever informing about the fact that many such trucks have been targeted and shot at by the Hamas upon entering. The Hamas are using methods that western mentality does not understand and therefore do not report. The Hamas will do everything in their power to cause the whole world to criticize Israel and to blame the lack of food and medical supplies on the Israeli closure of the border crossing points.
We have family in a Kibutz close to the Gaza border. Yesterday as we watched the news we were informed that there might be a need to evacuate people living within a 10 km distance from the border. We immediately rang our relatives to inform them that they can come and stay with us. ( Nissim has an uncle , aunt and their daughter with husband and two children living in Kibutz Nir Am close to the border.) The answer that we got back was that they were waiting for busses to pick them up and to bring them to a kibbutz near Beer Sheva. I spoke with them again this morning to check if they are OK.
They do not know for how long they will have to be away from their homes.
Please, ( whatever you do out there…Do not make too quick conclusions. There are people suffering on both sides of the border….. Personally I believe that the biggest curse on the Palestinians is for them to be controlled by fanatic Moslem groups like the Hamas.
Elin Elkouby
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