Who’s talking???

Turkish MP Erdogan left the stage at the World Economic forum yesterday night after shouting at Israeli President Shimon Peres. Peres had been defending Operation Cast Lead when Erdogan shouted “You are killing people” and pointed his finger at him.
Shimon Peres pointed his finger back at Erdogan and said that he would have done the same if rockets had been hitting Istanbul. Peres continued saying “ Do you understand the meaning of a situation where hundreds of rockets are falling a day on women and children who cannot sleep quietly, who need to sleep in shelters? What is the matter with you? You don’t understand, and I am not prepared for lies.”

Who is talking?????”
I know people who do not want to go on holidays in Turkey because of the countries bad reputation when it comes to human rights.
One of the first widely acknowledged modern, systematic genocides was the Armenian genocide.
Towards the end of the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire the Armenians experienced a systematic, organized plan to eliminate them. They were forced to leave their homes and were driven to march thousands of kilometers without food and water. Rape and other kinds of sexual abuse were common and the ones who didn’t die during the march were massacred. The Armenians claim 1.5 million Armenians to have perished as a result of the genocide.
The Armenian communities in various places today are results of this genocide. There are still people living in Jerusalem who are survivors from this period. That happened a long time ago and most people have forgotten or have never even known. But in the Armenian soul it is still hurting. The Armenian genocide was an “example” to Hitler because the world so quikly forgot.
The Turks today live in a land earlier dominated by Armenians, Greek, Kurds and Arabs.
The Armenians are still struggling for the Turkish government’s recognition of these historic facts.
The Armenians were the first nation to accept Christianity. Together with them the Ottomans also persecuted the Greek and the Assyrian Christian communities.

The Kurds represents the biggest group of non Turks living in today’s Turkey. There are some 12 mill. of them in the southeastern region and they have had a centuries long struggle for a land to call their own. The Turkish army is responsible for burning almost 3000 Kurdish settlements and displacing two million people. More than 35.000 people have died in the Kurdish conflict with Turkey.

So, again……who was it that was speaking against Israel yesterday in Davos????

Elin Elkouby

This “peace” is fragile.

When Israel decided on a one sided cease fire and withdrew all the troops from Gaza, Ehud Barak, the security minister, said he believed that Israel would have calm for a long time. He did not explain exactly what he meant by a “long time”, but most people thought it reasonable to believe that it would be quiet for at least a year.

The situation, however, is far from peaceful.
Two days ago a soldier was killed and two other wounded, one of them being in critical condition. A bomb had been placed just next to the dividing fence between Gaza and Israel. Four Israeli army trucks were patrolling on the dirt road running alongside the fence when the bomb went of. One of the trucks were hit.
The army immediately checked the area for more bombs and found another three close to the one that exploded.
Hamas has fired rockets into the Mediterranean lately obviously in order to get an idea how far they can reach.
Two Kassam rockets were fired towards Israel this morning.
Hamas has taken control of all the smuggling tunnels left and decide what shall be transported through them.
The “war” between Hamas and Fatah is continuing.

Israel has “answered” by bombing a tunnel with a fuel pipe and by bombing on of the people in charge of placing the bombs by the security fence.
All this is happening just half an hour car ride from where I live.
It seems to me that the news reporters are trying to prepare us for the possibility of another major army operation in the near future.

As I am writing this I watch people working just outside my house. I live in a new neighborhood. Most of the houses in our street have been finished so they have started working on paving the street and preparing the playground right next to my house.
There are about 20 people out there and at least half of them are Arabs.
Some of them are religious. It is easy to know as they get down on their knees to pray at least twice during their working hours.
I have no fear of them. They are regular people who are working to feed and house their families just like the rest of us..
It shouldn’t have to be much more complicated than this.

Elin Elkouby

Two Druze soldiers were killed in the war.

One of the soldiers died from a rocket fired into Israel.
The other one was killed by “friendly fire” inside Gaza. He was serving in an elite unit called “Golani”. His father told reporters at the funeral that his son wanted to make a contribution to the country. There were no other option but the “Golani” for him and he did not give up until he was accepted into the unit. The platoon leader, being badly wounded, called the soldiers father from the hospital and told him that his son had saved his life by falling and covering him when the shell was fired.
His father said to the reporters that his son died as a hero and that their home is “the most Zionist home in the country.”

The Druze are known to be loyal citizens. They are neither Arabs nor Moslems and always represent a minority in the countries in which they live. They have always lived in areas with an Arab majority and therefore all their wars have been against Arabs.
The Druze community in Israel counts 100.000. They live throughout the Galilee usually in mixed villages and can be found as far south as to Mount Carmel.
The Druze signed an agreement with the Jews as early as in 1929. They felt threatened by the Arabs surrounding them and decided to team up with the Jews.

After World War I the British had changed the Ottoman Turks as rulers of the area. It was 1917 and ended a period of 400 years of Moslem, Turkish rule in this land. Freedom of religion was one of the first changes brought to the region by the British. This was welcomed by everyone except from the Moslems.
Towards the end of the 1920’s and the early 1930’s there were Arab riots in many towns. The Arabs felt threatened by all the non Moslem newcomers. Some of these were Christian but the far majority were Jews.

After the State of Israel was proclaimed the Druze entered into what is called the “blood covenant”. It was signed in 1956 and ever since the Druze have taken their part in defending the land as soldiers in the Israeli Army.
Today 83 percent of Druze boys do army service.
Somewhere between 33 and 40 percent of the Druze work as professional soldiers, police or other kinds of security officials.

Elin Elkouby

Israel’s “big mistake”, according to Fatah.

A Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah said that Israel made a “big mistake” by ending Operation Cast Lead without overthrowing the Hamas regime in Gaza. He continued by saying that it is bad for all that Hamas is still in power.

Since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in early summer 2007 there has been a constant fight between the two groups for sovereignty in the Palestinian areas. Both groups have used the Israeli military operation as a shield for their own activities.
Fatah has arrested and tortured hundreds of Hamas followers in the West Bank. Palestinians from the Fatah controlled areas said that they were not allowed to demonstrate against the war in Gaza unless they would carry Fatah flags and sing Fatah slogans.
Yasser Abed Rabbo said that Fatah will not allow Islamists to destroy their national project. He accused Hamas of trying to establish an “emirate of darkness” in the Gaza Strip. He also said that Hamas is using the sufferings of the civilians in Gaza to cover up for their plan to split the Palestinian territories. He claims Hamas has turned hospitals, schools and universities in the Gaza Strip into temporary centers for holding and torturing Fatah members on suspicion of collaboration with Israel.

Hamas has been busy declaring their “victory” since Israel decided on a one sided Cease Fire. The one to withdraw is always considered weak and to be the looser in this part of the world.
Both local and the Damascus based Hamas leadership have turned down all reconciliation talks with Fatah and are urging world leaders to give their donations to “the legitimate authority in Gaza” and not to the hands of “the corrupt”.

Some say the future will be exactly like the past only more expensive.

Elin Elkouby.

Smuggling tunnels.

The Philadelphi Corridor is a 14 kilometers strip of land along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The Corridor was under Israeli control until the evacuation of the Jews from Gaza.
I could not believe my eyes when I watched the IDF withdrawing from this piece of land in 2005. It was more than obvious to me that this would be a security threat to Israel.

Just a few months earlier I had been driving through this area on my way to the Egyptian border at Rafiah in order to cross over into Egypt. I was on my way to Cairo with my eldest daughter. It was her Bat Mitzva trip and I had decided for us to go to the Egyptian capital by bus. In those days busses were connecting Tel Aviv and Cairo three times a week.
We went during the Jewish Passover holiday. Half of the travelers were Arab men from Israel. As I spoke to some of them I understood that they were going to visit their wife and children in Egypt. They had another “set” of wife and children in Israel. (Moslems are allowed to marry more than one wife) The other half were either Israeli Jews or foreigners.
We had joined a bus which brought us to the entrance gate to the Philadelphi Corridor. As the army had to clear the way for us to reach the Border Station we had to wait.
Driving through the Corridor took about 10 minutes. It was a “no-mans-land” with border on both sides.

During the time when Israel controlled this strip of land they destroyed 90 tunnels made for smuggling between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Most of the entrances to these tunnels were from houses alongside the border. During an army operation in 2004 these houses were destroyed.

When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in the late seventies and the beginning of the eighties lots of Bedouin tribes were left in a vacuum. They were no longer under the protection of the Israeli society and the Egyptians didn’t consider their needs when they started introducing new people to the area. Many Bedouins had lost their source of income and were desperately looking for ways to survive. Some had already been involved with the smuggling of drugs and prostitutes into Israel so the idea of doing the same into Gaza was not a “far thought”.
During the last war in Gaza the IDF claims to have destroyed 240 of 300 smuggling tunnels. Smugglers from the area say that 9 out of 10 tunnels have been destroyed but claim that there were as many as 1000 tunnels before the operation.
A smuggling tunnel starts with a shaft opening going 15 meters down and continues running several hundred meters underneath the border. The tunnel itself is 1,5meters high. Some of the stuff being smuggled are innocent and even necessary supplies for the people such as food and medicine, but as the business is risky the smugglers like to earn as much as possible. This causes the prices for regular goods to go up. On the other hand, however, it makes it more attractive to smuggle weapons and ammunition.
Egypt is supposed to control this industry from their side, but as it keeps whole tribes in business they most likely won’t. It would cause “humanitarian” problems on their side of the border if they do.

Smugglers claim that they are back in business and that they are repairing the ones which were damaged. Some say Hamas used to have their own tunnels, but as they have been destroyed they have now taken over all the others and have made arms import a priority.

So where exactly are we at considering a peaceful near future?

Elin Elkouby

We are rich.

Every Sabbath during the service, money is collected to cover the expenses of the congregation. We receive no governmental support so everything has to be paid by the members. Most of the people in our congregation are either students or young families with small children. The rest are pensioners .The majority belongs to the category of “low income citizens” . There were probably 100 people present (not counting the children) yesterday at the meeting.
The money for our congregation is being collected in the beginning of the service and yesterday was no exception. Dr. Naim Khoury did not ask for money but rather shared his testimony and explained about the situation of Arab believers in Bethlehem.
I think we were all moved by what we heard and so our pastor suggested that we should do a second collection of money to bless our “brothers and sisters” in Bethlehem.
7000 shekel was the result. ( equal to US$ 1800,- )
I watched my daughter emptying her pockets to give.

“Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Jesus sais that.

Elin Elkouby

Dr. Naim Khoury.

As usual on a Saturday morning we left to Tel Aviv for our Sabbath service. We had a guest coming to speak to us from Beit Lehem ( Bethlehem ) Was he Jewish ? No….
He is as Arabic as a man can possibly be and came to share with us his testimony.

Dr. Naim Khoury was born into a family of Greek Orthodox in the old City of Jerusalem. His father was a priest and so were 11 other members of the family.
41 years ago (1968), he was in a meeting in Jerusalem. He walked out from there a new man because “ the holy Spirit spoke and I gave my life to Jesus”. This was the beginning of a long walk on a narrow path…
It was not well received in his family that he had become a believer. The Greek Orthodox Church is very traditional. It’s a “suit” but not a “heart”. Being the youngest of 10 children it was not easy to convince the rest of the family that he had “something” that was worth seeking. They rejected him, but he continued to pray for them in spite of all the harsh conditions.
After 7 years his mother became a believer. From this point on they were two praying for the others in the family.
The last one to join them was his oldest brother. It took 27 years from the meeting in Jerusalem in 1968 until the entire family of Greek Orthodox had been “born again.”
His oldest brother had lived with his family on the Mount of Olives in a Moslem neighborhood for 7 years. When the neighbors got news about his faith they asked him to move, but he refused. One day when he returned home after dark he was met by three Moslems from his own neighborhood equipped with axes. He had entered the gate to his house when they jumped on him and killed him.
Dr. Naim Khoury started his work in Beit Lehem 31 years ago. He was well aware of the words to Abraham from Genesis 12.3 “ I will bless those who bless you” , and therefore decided to include the blessing of the Jews as Gods chosen people in his ministry.
He was very much criticized from other Arab Christians because of this. Many Arab Christians do not at all read the Old Testament and relate to it as a Jewish book with no relevance to Christians. They seem to have missed the point that this was Jesus’ Bible and that all His teachings was based on it.
Dr. Khoury's congregation was hit by bombs 14 times. Four years ago a Moslem shot in order to kill him and he lives with constant persecution and threats to his life.
In spite of all the difficulties his congregation is growing and so do other ministries connected to it. One of his sons is pasturing a congregation in Jerusalem.
For more information check http://www.theanchorchurch.org/

This is what I call Good News.

Elin Elkouby

What is a democracy?

In a democracy the power is supposedly in the hands of “the people’ as they are part of a free electoral system. There are many definitions to what a democracy is as the nature of a democracy may differ from country to country. There are two principles, however, that all claim to stick to and those are that “all members of society have equal access to power “ and secondly that “all members enjoy universally recognized freedoms and liberties.”

We have inherited the democracy from the ancient Greek.
Reading the story of how Cleisthenes changed and reformed the government of Athens some 2500 years ago is more than interesting. Up to then Athens had been ruled by what we would classify as being a dictatorship.
He knew that in order to bring a real change there were certain patterns in the society which had to be broken. It had to do with strong tribal and family traditions. As long as the dividing lines in the society continued along side these old patterns the changes would be merely theoretical. That’s why he destroyed what used to be the base for former group identity and created smaller entities based on completely different criteria. He changes the focus of the people from being tribe orientated to be area of residence orientated.
Along with other reforms the democracy was being introduced but I believe this to be the most important one.

We like to believe that we have rights and that we can make free choices.
In order to choose we need to know what the choices are. We make up our minds according to the information we are given. There has to be a certain base of knowledge for us to ask questions and the questions we ask will change as we learn more.

Sometimes democracies are full of people who wants to be heard but who do not want to listen.

In 1990 , during the first Intifada ( which started in 1987) the Palestinians killed more Palestinians than Jews. It was before the Palestinian Authority and Area A,B and C. I had still not moved to Israel but had taken some time off from work and was travelling in the Land interviewing lots of people about the situation.
What bothered me had to do with the fact that so many Arabs had to die because they were considered collaborators by “somebody” which nobody seemed to know who was. There were “invisible” people who gave orders concerning when to close the shops, when and where to throw stones and whom to kill.
All the Arabs that I spoke to had the same answers to all my questions. They all said that the reason for Arabs killing Arabs had to do with the fact that “you have to remove the rotten tomato from the bag in order to prevent the others from rotting.” Not even one could answer how they knew who was “the rotten tomato” .
When I asked what exactly a Palestinian State would be like, they all said that it would be run like a democracy. When I continued asking whether it would be like the Syrian, the Iranian or the Egyptian “democracies”, I got no answer.

Does the fact that there are elections make the state a democracy? What about if there is no freedom of speech and expression, the mass medias are controlled and people who do not agree with the leadership are “taken care of” and never returns?

“There’s a long way to Tipperary”, but if it is worth getting there then “Yallah……at least try to make a move in the right direction.”

Elin Elkouby.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

There were many violent demonstrations just a week ago in many different cities in Europe. They were demonstrating against Israel and for peace. At least that’s what they think they were doing.
We get the same kind of idea from Hamas. They kill so that the Palestinian people can get a better future.
They teach their people systematically to hate the Jews. The Palestinian mass media is very much controlled by their leaders and journalists do well in reporting what these men like to see. The schoolbooks are full of propaganda. There is no way to escape being under this negative influence unless they learn to ask questions and not to accept everything they read and hear.

I remember a movie I saw some years ago. It was actually a psychological experiment put on screen:
A woman woke up in the morning and got ready for work. She felt just like any other day by the time she left the house.
At work her colleges had been instructed by a psychologist what to say to her as she arrived. He had “distributed” sentences like : “ Wow, didn’t you sleep last night? “, “Are you OK? “, “Are you sure everything is all right with you? “, “You don’t look good”,
“ Oh, you look terrible today” ……. and so on.
In the beginning she smiled back and said that she felt great. It didn’t take long, however, till she actually felt bad and told her boss that she needed to see a doctor.

It will take more than food distributions and the rebuilding of houses to change the lives of the people in Gaza. Even to move them out and back to where their grandparents (or grand grandparents ) fled from , if that had been possible, is not the answer to their problems.
They call Gaza a prison. The fact is that their imprisonment is more a ”state of mind” than a physical condition. Their problem is that they are stuck in a certain way of thinking and that there will be no freedom or peace until that condition is being dealt with.
One definition of a fanatic is “one who cannot change his mind and who won’t change the subject.”

We know no freedom if our minds are not free and we cannot be peacemakers unless we have peace.

Elin Elkouby.

I thought I was doing OK.

Life is getting back to normal. My children went to school this morning.
All of a sudden I found myself in a position of asking myself: “So what do I do now?”

We have spent more than three weeks inside house. TV has been on all the time and there has been no good news. We have not listened to music out of fear that we would not hear the rocket alarm if we did. We have spent every night in the basement where the bomb shelter is.
To watch the sufferings of the civilians in Gaza has been heartbreaking.
We feel pain about all the killed and wounded Israeli soldiers and their families.
Words cannot describe the “heaviness” surrounding the fact that Gilad Shalit is still in the hands of Hamas.
We suffer with the Israelis who lost family members and with those who still do not know if they will get their dear ones back from the hospitals. We watch mothers on TV begging us to pray for their children to come back to life.
Many Israelis are traumatized and it will take them months and years to recover.
The towns and villages of the south are still not safe.

We have been informed that Operation Cast Lead is considered to have been successful, but I know for sure that to solve the problems with our neighbors requires much more than this. It’s like pulling weeds out of a garden. If you don’t manage to pull the entire root out the plant will grow again and appear much stronger than it was in the first place.

The future has changed again.

Elin Elkouby

The good guys and the bad guys.

The human brain has a tendency to make adjustments to what we see and hear around us so that it can easier fit with what we already think we know. We like to organize information in “black” and “white” categories and we often relate to groups of people as either “good” or “bad”.
We educate our children from an early age to understand the world around us in a certain manner. It may differ from group to group what goes into which category but the principal of it is the same.
Lots of children’s programs are made around the idea of “the good” fighting “the bad”. I have been amazed to see how evil “the good” are allowed to be in their efforts to do so.
The reason for this introduction has to do with what’s going on right now. The world has decided that Hamas represents “the bad guys” and Fatah “the good guys”. I can easily agree to the first one, because they have a religious aspect to their fighting which makes them shun nothing that stands in their way. On the other hand, however, Hamas has offered practical help to many families.
Fatah, on the other hand, has “dirty wings” as well.
The reasons why the Palestinians voted for Hamas and caused them to win the election in 2006 have to do with the fact that Hamas helped people get food on the table and that Fatah was known for being corrupt. The best there is to say about Fatah is that the organization is run by secular Moslems and that they have nationalistic motives for their actions and are not driven by fundamental Islamic ideas.
But it should be known to everyone that also Fatah consists of militant groups, some of which support terror and suicide attacks. “Force 17”, “Tanzim” and “the El Aqsa Martyrs Brigade” all exist under the umbrella of Fatah.
When Israel started Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Fatah members were celebrating. One of the ways they did so was by arresting hundreds of Hamas activists and sympathizers. One can just imagine how they were being treated once they were brought in …
They threatened journalists or prevented them from reporting if they had reason to believe that what they wrote would be in favor of Hamas. They made sure to enforce full control of the media.
Fatah has lots of reasons not to deal with Hamas in a soft way. They claim Hamas to have killed at least 700 of their people since the beginning of the Second Intifada (Arab uprising) in 2000. (The foreign media simply decides to skip these “details’ as they report from this part of the world.)
So what do we have here ?
We have two organizations claiming that they represent the Palestinian people. Hamas was chosen by the people through a democratic, legal election to be their voice to the world. The world decided to neglect their choice.
Fatah lost to Hamas but was put in position to govern by state leaders who claim to represent the world’s democracies.
Not too simple, is it ???

Elin Elkouby

Hypocrites on the world’s stage.

It is amazing to follow the news these days. Politicians come in “busloads” to stand up for the good cause. They are all so concerned about the Palestinian people and the situation in the area.
I am moved to tears….
Europe’s leaders are getting together to form a solid unit in worlds policy. They want to be the future’s strong fist in the Middle East talks. It is obvious that as one U.S. president is busy packing his bags to leave and the next is on the train with his suitcases heading for the White House, this is the perfect time to ensure strategic positions for the future.
Every Prime Minister knows that to be taken seriously he must make sure to be standing in the front line and next to either Olmert or Mubarak on the group pictures. All of them know that the one who speaks on behalf of the others is secured even more time in the focus of the worlds attention.
Israel has decided on a one sided cease fire . The Minister of Defense said that the army has reached its goals and that if there is a possibility for an agreement to ensure the country’s security the IDF will withdraw completely.
Hamas claims that the victory belongs to them. One day after, and independently of Israel, they have announced cease fire. Hamas leader, Ishmail Haniyeh gave a speech in which he said that “the enemy did not achieve what they aimed at.” “ He praised the heroic fighting of Hamas and added that “in spite of the wounds, the people did not put their heads down (give in ) but rather kept an upright position which will be remembered for generations to come.”
Fatah is celebrating Hamas defeat and have arrested hundreds (at least 600 )of Hamas activists on the West Bank. They consider this a new opportunity to get up from the bench and take part in the game.
The Palestinian civilians are still suffering as they are being pushed around by both their own leaders as well as foreign politicians.
The show must go on…

Elin Elkouby

Life.

I always pay attention to what choices people make when it comes to clothes and jewelry.
( I don`t look very fancy myself…)
On my first trip to Israel in 1976 most people were wearing silver or gold chains around their necks with pendants on them. I was familiar with the star of David but the other most frequent pattern was completely unknown to me. The shape was not beautiful in particular and some would wear a thick chain with a BIG pendant. It was made of two Hebrew letters, חי , which means life. When I got someone to explain the meaning to me it still didn’t make sense why people would walk around demonstrating the importance of life.
I grew up in beautiful Norway and the only experience I had with war was “snow ball war” during the winter and “water war” in the summer. My life was OK and I took it for granted.

I stayed in Israel for six weeks spending four of them working on a kibutz and the rest of the time travelling. At work I met with holocaust survivors who looked more dead than alive. They were stuck in the horrors of the past. It looked as if the past was more real to them than the present.
I also met with people who had lost husbands, fathers and brothers in the Israeli wars.
Something that was new to me was to see how much time families would spend together. They would make sure to have hours of quality time with one another every day.

I returned to Norway a different person. I had seen and experienced things that gave me a lot to think about for years to come.

To have an eternity aspect on life does not mean that life on earth is unimportant. As least to me it doesn’t. When I read the first chapters of the Bible it makes me understand that this world with everything that it represents is of great importance to God. He knows and cares about details that scientists have yet to discover. My Bible tells me not only that God started it all, but also that He will see through that His intensions for this world once will be fulfilled. There will come a day when people will use their time building each other up instead of tearing each other apart. Very often, unfortunately, it takes reaching “ground zero” for people to realize that a change of direction is necessary for life to grow forth.

Elin Elkouby

Said Siam is dead and so what ?

Said Siam was my age. It is always special to hear about people who were born the same year as oneself but into a completely different reality. There are lots of circumstances in life that we do not control and it begins with what place on earth and to which family we are born into. We make lots of choices along the way as we are growing, but the options differ from person to person. What we are taught as children both from our parents and the surroundings color the paths of our lives.
My path has been mainly “green” while Said’s path got stronger and darker “red” as he went along.
To Hamas in Gaza he was number three in the leadership and in charge of more than 12.000 Hamas gun men. He was the one who pushed for the bloody Hamas coup in Gaza the summer of 2007. He was feared by many as a merciless killer.
Said was born in a refugee camp in Gaza. He was close to Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin (who was assassinated by Israel in 2004) .He was imprisoned both by the Israelis and by Fatah for illegal activities and he was considered an enemy both of the State of Israel and of the Palestinian Authority. Fatah is celebrating his death while Hamas has promised revenge, and the one who informed the Israelis on Said’s where about was one of his own body guards. With other words; his life was about killing until he himself got killed.

By many young men supporting Hamas he is considered a martyr and as such a hero and an ideal. There is no lack of new potential “Saids”.

“How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? “
And the answer is that it is still “blowing in the wind” and that this wind is constantly gaining speed and is turning into a hurricane….

Elin Elkouby

3 weeks without school.

My children have lost 3 weeks of teaching. The reason for them not returning to school is that there are not enough bomb shelters. The schools in the south have had to cope with this problem for many years and so their schools have been secured, but for us the situation is new.
The fact that our children are at home has saved lots of lives. Rockets have hit schools in Beer Sheva, Ashdod and Ashkelon as well as kinder gardens.
We have had less rockets the last week. This is creating a dangerous situation as people feel more safe and leave their houses more frequently. The chance to get hit grows when the distance to safe havens is longer. Two incidents yesterday show this. In Sderot a house was hit directly. The people were at home but entered the security room when the alarm was heard. That not only saved their lives but also protected them from injury.
Some people in Beer Sheva were not so fortunate later in the afternoon as they were out of the house when the alarm was heard. Two people, among them a 7 year old boy , were seriously wounded and were brought to the hospital. 5 others got lighter wounds. The bombs are filled with all kinds of bullets and other metal pieces which are scattered as the rocket hits the ground. Despite his mother’s attempt to shield him shrapnel penetrated the boy’s head.

The Israeli Army succeeded in killing Said Siam, a Hamas key person in Gaza. He was killed together with other Hamas top activists by an IDF strike on his brother’s house yesterday. The IDF hit as soon as Siam entered…which shows that they are being informed from sources within Gaza.
The UNWRA head quarters was hit yesterday as Israelis fired back at gunmen taking shelter in the UN facilities. The foreign reporters do not understand (or refuses to understand) that it is part of Hamas’ strategy to create situations which will cause the Israelis to fire at places like this.
In the middle of all the things that are happening there are cease fire talks. Some Israeli army experts say that it is OK to stop the operation now while others disagree.
I am not an expert on army matters but just a simple mother who would like things to be quiet. I do realize though that there is a need to secure the border between Egypt and Gaza so that the transportation of weapons and ammunition will stop. That alone is not enough to stop violence. We have a serious problem here with hate based on lies. It will take more than cease fire talks to get to the bottom of that problem…

Elin Elkouby

Gaza ist Judenrein (or Gaza is clean from Jews)

I remember all the positive voices three years ago when the Jews of Gaza were being evacuated and their housed were destroyed. Representatives from the Palestinian Authorities explained about plans to build a University with student accommodations where the Jewish villages had been. Although the houses were demolished all the water pipes and sewage systems were still there to be taken advantage of. The Jewish villages in Gaza had been governmental projects and the Palestinian Authority got the maps showing all the details.
Many of the Jews in Gaza were growing vegetables and fruits in hothouses. Tons were being transported into the Israeli marked every day and the produce of Gaza was known for its high quality. 3000 Palestinian worked side by side with Jews making a living from this business.
When the order to evacuate was being forced on the Jews a rich American bought the hothouses so that the Palestinians could continue working .
As I was watching these news reports three years ago I thought to myself that at least some Palestinians would be blessed by the fact that Jews had been living there.
However…..
As soon as the Jews were out Palestinians in hundreds came to the hothouses tearing them apart. It seemed like nobody trusted that any of it would be kept for the better of the Palestinian people and therefore whoever could carry would load as much as possible on cars and drive away with it. It all happened quickly as if they were afraid that someone would try to stop them . Within hours these hothouses were ripped of everything that had value to it.
I have seen no University coming forth from the ruins of the Jewish community…..What I have seen was one of the Hamas leaders having lunch on top of the rubble one year after the evacuation. He was interviewed on Israeli TV and he said that he used to drive out to one of the demolished former Jewish villages and sit on top of what once had been a Jewish home. He expressed great comfort in doing so and said that this was just the first step. “Sooner or later the Jews would all leave Palestine. It is just a matter of time.” He considered it a great victory for Hamas and said that their methods had produced fruits.

We heard the same kind of message from Hizbulla as the Israeli forces left Lebanon. They consider withdrawal to be a sign of weakness and it gives them the push to continue terrorizing.

So leaving Gaza was not a step closer to peace with our neighbors.

Elin Elkouby

The world is against Israel.

We have had a quiet day with only one alarm. The number of rockets from Gaza has been less since the soldiers went in. Tanks have blocked and separated the southern Gaza Strip from the northern part and as a result we get less rockets fired at us .
There were 16 of them yesterday and there has been 18 of them today, but most of them have been fired at areas closer to the border . In addition to that we have had some “air mail” from Lebanon but again they didn't fill in the “sender” part…

It is not quiet inside Gaza.
Israel is being criticized from the Western World, but it has been amazing to learn that Egypt does not easily join in….
The Western mind does not grasp what is happening. People simply do not comprehend what is really going on…They see civilian casualties and sufferings and take to the streets as they shout and demonstrate against Israel. I do not understand why they do not shout at Hamas….???
Hamas is aiming at destroying Israel but Israel is not interested in conquering Gaza in order to widen the countries borders.
Israeli soldiers are trained from age 18 while children in the Palestinian territories are taught to hate and kill from the moment they are born.
Hamas is supported from Iran and I doubt that other countries would have enjoyed living with a “branch of Iran” as their closest neighbor.
Israel wanted cease fire and Hamas refused. It is important to remember that during the 6 months of cease fire Israel still had rockets being fired from time to time.

Once a war is started there is a need to continue until certain goals are reached. Israel has not asked for this….

I just had a letter sent to me from the Bible Societies ( the Israeli, the Israeli Arab and the Palestinian Bible Societies ) They are joining forces to help some of the families hit by the war. I believe that this is a good way to give practical help. The letter is in Norwegian For those living in other parts of the world please contact the Palestinian Bible Society at
http://www.pbs-web.com/ for information.

Midt i mellom


Et felles initiativ fra Det Palestinske Bibelselskapet, Bibelselskapet i Israel og Det Arabisk Israelske Bibelselskap


Mens krigen og drepingen fortsetter og politikere sitter fast i sine posisjoner, eller føler seg maktesløse, føler vi en sterk forpliktelse til å være til velsignelse for våre folk i Jesu Kristi navn. For å nå dette målet har vi samlet oss om et felles initiativ som også er et uttrykk for at vi er ett i Kristus. Vi ønsker å bidra til å lindre både den fysiske og åndelige nøden i Gaza og Israel gjennom humanitært hjelpearbeid og bibelprosjekter. Den humanitære hjelpen består av både kortsiktig nødhjelp og mer langsiktig gjenoppbygging. Her følger en oversikt over prosjektene:

Prosjekt 1. Elsk din neste
(Samarbeid mellom Bibelselskapets folk og kirker og lokale grupper i Gaza/Vestbredden og Israel.)
1. Nødhjelp til familier i Gaza. Matkuponger og økonomisk hjelp til innkjøp av nødvendige varer.
2. Nødhjelp i fire måneder til familier som har flyktet fra Gaza og nå bor på Vestbredden.
3. Støtte til gjenoppbygging for 100 familier i Gaza. Økonomisk støtte i seks måneder, mat, klær og medisiner for 300 andre familier. Midlertidige hjem for familier som har mistet alt. Støtteprogram for barn og familier med psykiske skader (post traumatic stress disorder program - PTSD).
4. Støtte til kristne og muslimske familier som har mistet sine kjære under krigen.
5. Støtte til barn i israelske barnehager og barneskoler, til handikappede og eldre som bor i sør- Israel og som har tilbrakt dager og netter i tilfluktsrom i frykt for raketter fra Gaza.
6. Medisinsk hjelp til sykehus i Gaza. Samarbeid med Røde Kors, FN og Israelske myndigheter.


Prosjekt 2. Trøst mitt folk
(Samarbeid mellom Bibelselskapet og kirkene i Gaza/Vestbredden og Israel.)
1. Messias og Miskunn. Utgi og dele ut 100.000 hefter med utdrag fra Salmenes bok der løftene om Messias trykkes med rødt. Deles ut i Sør-Israel og blant soldater.
2. Gud er vår tilflukt. Utgi og dele ut 100.000 bibelhefter på hebraisk og arabisk til palestinere og israelere.
3. Kristus for Alle. Plakater på busser og oppslagstavler samt i palestinske aviser og på lokale nyhetssider på internett, med budskapet: Stol på Herren og søk Ham for trøst og frelse.
4. Rop det ut til Jerusalem. Bibelvers på multimedia skjerm utenfor bibelbutikkene i Jerusalem, en på Jaffa gaten og en i det gamle Jerusalem: Gud har omsorg for sitt folk.
5. Elsk dine barn. Utgi bøker på hebraisk og arabisk om fred og krig, vold, smerte og forsoning som foreldre kan lese for barna sine.
6. Ny internettside på arabisk og hebraisk der vi deler våre fortellinger om felles lidelse, håp og gjenoppbygging i Kristus.
7. Lage en DVD på hebraisk og arabisk om tilgivelse, forsoning og det å akseptere hverandre. Beregnet til bruk også på TV stasjoner.

Du kan sette inn penger til Det Norske Bibelselskapets konto: 3000.16.16869. Merk gaven med
"Gasa/Israel"

Elin Elkouby

The 18’th day.

This is the first day I have been outside my home all day. I cannot tell you how good that was….
Since the war started we have spent most of our time inside house for security reasons. TV has been on non stop in order to get the latest updates. We have seen so much misery…..
I don’t think any other country has covered what’s going on in any way similar to the Israeli news. We see all the terrible pictures of civilians suffering, bombed houses, funerals , children crying.... We hear conversations with Arab doctors from hospitals inside the Gaza Strip and from reporters living there explaining about lack of electricity and water and a whole lot of other things that we just take for granted.
On the other hand we see Mosques full of weapons, schools with bomb traps and store rooms with weapons and subterranean tunnel systems.
We have lots of soldiers fighting with Hamas activists face to face. These young men are somewhere between 18 and 21 years old (… that’s as long as their army service lasts for: 3 years. ) I don’t have any sons , but I can tell you that I cannot afford losing even one of them…. We want the parents to pass away before their children are being buried.
There are no celebrations in Israel when Arabs are killed. It does not make us happy to see Arab funerals on TV. Israel is not “thirsty for Arab blood”.
Unfortunately we know that when Jews are killed in suicide attacks, blown up, stabbed to death, run over by vehicles of various kinds or as a result of rockets our neighbors are celebrating.
There are some extreme right wing Jewish groups, but they do not have any support from the rest of the Jewish society.

I remember watching a Palestinian peace activist some months ago. She was a religious Moslem with husband and children. Some years ago she “signed up” to become a “shaheed” (a Moslem martyr by wearing explosives on her body in order to blow herself and others up ) The morning she left for her mission she told her 7 year old daughter that she did it “for her future”.
Luckily this woman did not succeed and was sentenced to some years in prison. While in jail she got to know a female Jewish prison officer. By the time she was released her view on “how to solve problems between people” had changed a little…
In the TV program both the woman and her daughter were interviewed. The daughter, now a teenager, said that her reaction to her mother wanting to blow herself up was anger. It had been very hard for her to be without her mother while she was imprisoned but she said that she preferred a mother in prison to a tomb.
The Moslem woman still disagrees with a lot of things in the Israeli society and she is busy working for her children to have a better future. ( I wouldn’t mind to team up with her !!!)
I believe in women like her and I do believe that there is more energy in dedicated women than in a belt with explosives…..

We are not that much different when it comes to the bottom of it !!!

Elin Elkouby

What is a refugee ?

The most common definition of a refugee is “a person who fled to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution”
Crisis in various parts of the world are “producing” people who fit into this category non stop and has been doing so constantly throughout the last century.

UNRWA’s, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, has a very different definition when it comes to Palestinian refugees as it also covers the descendants of persons who became refugees in 1948 regardless of whether they live in areas designated as refugee camps or in established, permanent communities. This is what we call a major exception to the normal definition.
We know that approximately 800.000 Arabs fled or were driven out from this area during the war in 1948. Non of them would have had to leave, but the leaders of the Arabs in the region decided not to accept the new born State of Israel and decided to go to war against it. They also encouraged people to leave their homes for as long as the war would last for and then to return when the Jews had been driven out.
The ones who decided to listen to these Arab leaders lost their homes while the ones who decided to stay are still living here. 60 years and some generations later the descendants of those who fled are still considered refugees……????? The reasons for that can best be described with Abba Eban’s words which stated that the Arabs of this region “never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

As Israel was proclaimed a Jewish state persecution of Jews living in Arab countries was intensifying. Eventually it caused more than 850.000 Jews to flee. They had only one place to flee to and they arrived empty handed as they had to leave both property and belongings behind. Israel’s population is mainly made up from people who were forced to leave the countries in which they had lived for generations. This country can easily be considered as “one big refugee camp”. The number of Jews arriving Israel as refugees is much bigger than the ones who arrived for Zionistic reasons.
Once in Israel what was waiting for them was wars and hard work for them to have a place on earth to call home.

The greatest “blessing” on the Jewish refugees since arrival has been that nobody felt sorry for them. They knew that if they did not do anything to change their situation for the better there would be nobody there to do it for them……

Unfortunately the Arab refugees were not as “fortunate”. Arab hospitality was not practiced on them. They were not received as brothers by any of the surrounding Arab nations but were rather considered a threat. The Arab community consists of tribes and family clans which are not easy to break in to.
The reasons why there still is “a Palestinian refugee problem” has to do with the fact that they have been forced into self pity by the International community as well as by their religious leaders and are being educated to look back and not forward. They are used by Moslem leaders who are bothered by the fact that Muhammad has lost a stronghold in the Middle East.

Elin Elkouby.

Children on their way back to school.

Children living in the southern parts of the country have lost two weeks of learning because of the war so far. The Israeli Government informed us that it will take time before the situation gets back to normal but as there are less rockets being fired at us some schools started teaching again today.
Children in 11’th and 12’th grade have exams to pass this spring. Therefore the schools are going to be opened for them first. All teaching will be done in the schools’ bomb shelters and they will be transported both ways in small groups lead by soldiers.
A school in Beer Sheva and a kinder garden in Ashdod were hit today by rockets. The kinder garden was empty but it did great damage to the building . The children at the school did not get hurt as they were inside the bomb shelters. We feel the ground shaking when bombs fall in Ashdod. You can only imagine what it feels like to be in the very same building when it happens…….
So far six schools and kinder gardens have been hit directly. The only reason why Israel has not suffered greater human losses has to do with people following the instructions for safety.

Our news reporters inform us about what the Israeli soldiers are facing as they are entering refugee camps and Gaza city itself. I have already mentioned that Hamas has developed a tunnel system connecting bunkers, store rooms for weapons and ammunition functioning as a subterranean city. The ones that are being used as “protecting shields” are the civilians living on top of these “safe havens’ for Hamas fighters. Once hit by Israeli fire these store rooms will cause extra damage as they explode.
We have been watching a video filmed by Israeli soldiers today showing a children’s school with explosives being connected with wires “waiting “ to blow up whoever enters. Soldiers were searching a neighborhood and told that 30 out of 50 houses were prepared the same way.
It is obvious that Hamas has been preparing for the Israeli soldiers to enter by foot. They were not prepared for the first stage of this operation when Israel decided to attack by air.

It seems like the Israeli Army learned something from the Jenin operation back in 2002 when 23 soldiers were killed within a little more than a week in the beginning of April.
I remember well how the Palestinians had prepared themselves to “receive” the soldiers back in those days. There were wires everywhere connected to bombs under cars, at entrances to houses and in the streets leading from one house to the other. The whole world was screaming at Israel as rumors had it that thousands were being massacred. In the end the Palestinians killed numbered 53.

War is cruel….. it doesn’t matter from what angel you are watching. One way or another civilians are suffering. It can be directly by being killed or indirectly by their loved ones being killed. The main difference between the two groups in this war can best be described with the words spoken by Hamas MP Hammad :” We seek death like you seek life”

Elin Elkouby

The world is furious…

We continue receiving rockets of various kinds in Israel. Yesterday they numbered 30. During the first days of war there were 50 or 80 or 100 rockets every day.
The Israeli Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, tells us that the war will continue and that it will take time.
Every Israeli either lost or knows someone who lost, family members in wars or terrorist attacks. Although I did not grow up in this country I know three such families myself. Israelis are familiar with the feeling of pain and do also not have any problem identifying with other peoples pain.
We watch funerals of fallen soldiers these days. There are no cries for revenge or expressions of hatred but rather endless sorrow and grief. It is very different to watch a Palestinian funeral…
Many Israelis spend hours in front of their TV every day and we know about the sufferings of thousands of Palestinians. We do not enjoy watching it…….
There are demonstrations all over the world against Israel. I cannot remember that anyone demonstrated against Hamas for terrorizing both their own and Israel during the previous 7 years.
There is no way to understand what is going on and what Israel is fighting unless one knows what Hamas stands for and what they are aiming at. The only way to find that out is to lend an ear to people from within….. You do well in checking the video clips called “Escaping from Hamas “ with Musab Hassan Yousef. Click in to www.comeandsee.com

Elin Elkouby

Entering into the third week of war.

I introduced you yesterday to Mo’een. Today he called my husband. He said that he has hardly been out of the house since the war started. The situation is very difficult with lack of almost everything. He said that to his luck he had bought a sac of flour before all this started and that it keeps them from starving, but he tells his kids to eat slowly…..
He also said that he can see the Israeli soldiers as they walk the streets outside his house, but that he is not afraid of them. What he fears, however, is that Hamas will bring launchers to shoot from into their quarter in order to fire rockets and that Israel will fire back. He asked my husband to help him load his Israeli cell phone with “talk time” which he of course did.

The most difficult thing for us now is that there is no way that we can offer any practical help. We know that lots of civilians are suffering, but we cannot get to them. The only thing we can do is to pray for Mo’een’s sac of flour not to get empty, and that Hamas will stay away from his house.Please join us in that prayer….

Elin Elkouby

Katyusha rockets hits northern Israel.

The alarm woke me up this morning. We felt the ground shaking as the rockets landed and turned the TV on to find out where about it was. They call our area “close to Ashdod” and the reporters have stopped giving street names when rockets hit buildings so that this information shall not get to Hamas. We do not want to help them being more clever as they point the launchers at us .
What’s new today is that 4 Katyusha rockets were fired this morning from Lebanon. Israel has a “friend” up there who is the head of one of the other Iran supported terrorist organizations in the area. His name is Hassan Nasrallah and his organization is Hizbullah. He was on TV yesterday threatening Israel saying that if the Israeli Army enters into Lebanese territory they will be met by “Hizbullah surprises” that will make the war in 2007 look like a picnic . Nasrallah does not take responsibility for the rockets fired this morning.
One of the rockets hit a home for elderly people. Severe damage was made to the building but nobody got seriously wounded.

The bombing of Hamas strongholds in Gaza continues. The people in the southern part of Rafiah , the town next to the Egyptian border, were warned yesterday that the area will be attacked by air.
It is important for people to know that the Israeli army gets much of the information of Hamas’ whereabouts from Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. These are people who are sick and tired of the cynical use of civilians by both Fatah and Hamas . Many Palestinians speak Hebrew fluently and have good relations with Israelis. They are well aware of the fact that the border to Israel has been closed for them, and together with it their possibilities for work, because of a few fanatics. These fanatics are terrorizing Israelis as well as their own people.Fundamental Moslem have forced a more religious lifestyle upon lots of secular Moslems who simply wish to live in peace and to take care of their families.
I remember Mo’een, a very nice man from Gaza who did a lot of work on our house. He had been working in Gan Yavne from age 14 and had lots of good friends here. We started building after the outbreak of the second Intifada ( Arab uprising ) in 2000 . As all my tourist groups had been cancelled due to the situation I was out of work and could be with the workers at our house. That made Mo’een my “boss” and me his “assistant” . He enjoyed very much working with me because the whole situation was odd me being a woman doing “mens work”. He used to joke a lot about that.
Our work days were from 08.00 am till 05.00 pm every day for several months (…and afterwards as we had money to continue new projects ) and we had a lot to talk about : We both had small children and were busy trying to help them get a good future. My husband worked long hours away from home just like Mo’een and returned home “more dead than alive” every evening. ( Mo’een had to get up at 4am every morning in order to get through the security check at the border . To get back into Gaza was less time consuming. )
I had a break around lunch time in order to receive my children as they finished kinder garden and school and to prepare food for all of us. I remember the first time I asked Mo’een what he would like to drink with his lunch. He suggested a bottle of cold beer, while laughing. ( Moslems do not use drinks containing alcohol ) I told him that beer definitely was an option and he grabbed the opportunity to order one. I will never forget the expression on his face when he sat down to eat his lunch holding the bottle of beer. It was to him like a demonstration for freedom. When he was together with other Arabs he would ask for Coke.
Mo’een told me that he was not religious in particular, but that his wife had to dress like a religious women to protect her from having acid sprinkled on her face and legs from Islamists within Gaza.
During the years we were busy building our house I got to know many workers from Gaza. My “ boss” Mo’een was the one that I got to know the best. During these days they, and him in particular, are heavy upon our hearts and minds….

Elin Elkouby

More rockets, more weapons, more ammunition, more hatred…more dead…..

We were shocked to hear about the bombing of an UNRWA ( United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.) school in Gaza yesterday. We had been informed earlier this week that lots of Palestinians were taking refuge in schools and institutions run by the UNRWA . In the beginning we thought that the Israeli army had made a target mistake, but later we learned that Hamas activists were hiding there as well. This was not much of a surprise as we, unfortunately, know from previous incidents that this is part of Hamas’ strategy. It is a rule and not an exception to use civilians as shield for their activities. –The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) claim that they fired in order to kill two named Hamas activists, but that the explosion was so powerful once the bomb hit that it most probably also hit explosives stored in the building.
Nevertheless we feel pain. We may know some of the people who took refuge there… Many people from Gaza used to work in Gan Yavne until 2004.

Since the Israeli soldiers entered into Gaza we have heard about bomb factories and store rooms for weapons in the basement of regular apartment buildings. Hamas has developed a sophisticated system of subterranean tunnels and bunkers to be used for protection and escape routes for their own throughout the city of Gaza. No wonder they needed a six months cease fire with Israel….
We also know that more than 100 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt have been bombed. These tunnels have been used for the smuggling of weapons, ammunition , drugs and people from Egypt to Gaza. There are lots of Sinai Bedouins that are involved doing business of this kind with Palestinians from Gaza.

And there is still more…We were introduced to another two rockets this morning. The alarm went and we entered the bomb shelter to wait for the boom…We can both hear and feel them, and depending on how “strong” the feeling is we can tell how close it is. So, we knew that two rockets had landed in Gan Yavne. I am still amazed by the fact that these rockets seem to being “avoiding” people.
I got a phone call soon after the "booms" from my youngest daughter. She went on a trip today arranged by the community to visit with school children her age away from “rocket reach”. She wanted to know if everything was OK and told me that all the kids had been inside the bus ready to leave when the alarm went.
Later my husband called to check about the same.

Since the events this morning it has been a “less noisy day”.

Elin Elkouby.

Rockets reaching further.

One of the first news reports for today was that a house was hit in a place called Gedera. People there thought that they were out of reach. Again, as by a miracle, nobody got killed but a one year old baby got minor wounds .
Gedera is a little north- east from us.
We were actually expecting this to happen as a representative from Hamas was on TV yesterday saying that Hamas have rockets that can reach much further and that they will be “introduced to us shortly”.

The reactions from the world to what is going on remind me of a Dry Bones comic strip. It shows two people sitting in a boat with sharks all around them:
A:"Yikes. We're surrounded by sharks in a feeding frenzy. "
B:"So let's give them a leg to eat that might satisfy them."
A:"Where did you get a whacko idea like that ?"
B:"The Bill Clinton Manual for Jewish survival."
( You can look it up at http://www.drybones.org.il/ go to ...Cartoon Gallery and look up Dec.28.2000)

During the years 1978 and 1979 the Camp David agreement was worked out and signed. It resulted in all the Jewish settlements in the Sinai to be evacuated and destroyed.
It was in this period that the Israeli government encouraged Jews to move and settle in the Gaza Strip. It has been Israeli politics to settle Jews in areas with many Arabs in order to “soften up” the relationship between the two groups. Many of the Jews which were evacuated from the Sinai resettled in the Gaza Strip back then.
I know some of these people and know that it was not hatred towards Arabs that brought them to Gaza. Jews back in those days would do their shopping in Arab towns, would receive dental treatment at clinics run by Arabs and would often work side by side with Arabs.
In 2005 the Israeli government decided to evacuate all the Jews from Gaza in order to achieve peace. The situation had been growing “sour” since the Intifadas from 1987 and 2000 and moving the Jews out was seen as a solution to the problem in this area. 21 legal settlements and something like 2000 houses were destroyed as 8000 Jews lost their homes. 3000 Arabs who had been working in Jewish owned hothouses lost their jobs and income.
I heard no people having a problem with this out there……People didn’t even see anything extraordinary about it.(…. although no other government have ever done anything similar to what the Israeli government did….)
Since 2005 the rockets fired from Gaza at Israel became more frequent and also more sophisticated.
We cannot say that Israel’s efforts have been “blessed with peace”.

I am not smart enough to understand why Israel should have to accept a situation like this as I know for sure that no other country on earth would have reacted differently. The only difference is that they would have started a military operation much earlier.

We hear about the losses and our hearts are crying ….but there is no other alternative.
It is amazing how Hamas manages to do all their dirty works from the very center of civilian population.
So can I see no mistakes done by the Israelis ? Oh yes I do, and they make me cry…, but to start this military operation and to continue it is not to be counted among them.

Elin Elkouby

Another kinder garden hit.

Words cannot express how grateful I am to the fact that the Ministry of Education in Israel decided that the children in the South shall not attend neither kinder garden nor school as long as rockets are being fired at us from Gaza. Today another rocket hit a kinder garden in Ashdod. It caused great damage to the building, but as it was closed nobody got hurt.
Many parents are under pressure as they have to leave their children at home when they go to work. Many kids are afraid to be at home without their parents and call them several times during the day. Not much fun being a mother under such circumstances….

It is not much fun for kids to be home all day neither. That’s the reason why many communities are arranging trips for children in the South and bring them north of “rocket reach”. My daughter will go on a trip like that tomorrow.

It is nothing but a wonder that the rockets fired at us do not do greater harm. Every day Hamas fire some 30-70 rockets at Israel. They are aimed at civilians…… Since I started my blog at the very end of December, 4 people have been killed and many have been wounded. One of the problems, that people do not pay much attention to, has to do with people suffering from shock. These wounds do not show on the flesh , but they take a long time to cure. It’s like the fear takes a solid grip on the soul and just refuses to leave.
Lot’s of Israelis (many of them being children) suffer from this.

I have a hard time understanding the argumentation when people compare Israel with Hamas, claiming that Hamas is the weaker part as they have less sophisticated weapons …… Hello……where are you?

Is it possible to compare an organization which is aiming at civilians with an army hitting targets to prevent them from doing so ? Can you compare the fact that thousands of Palestinians are willing to blow themselves up as suicide bombers, with bombs that are aiming at the factories that are making those explosives these people are willing to “dress up in”? (...some of these factories being inside mosques ...)
Do you know that some of the bombs which Israel is using cost up to 250.000 dollars a piece? There is no reason for anyone to believe that the Israelis do not consider very carefully when and where to drop them.
Have you ever heard of any country at war calling people by phone to warn them before the house is being targeted or that Israel has bombs that “knock” on peoples roofs in order to warn them before they explode.
Israel has nothing to gain from killing civilians.

I watched TV today as Jordan’s queen Rania appealed to the world for the situation of the people in Gaza. She was herself born to Palestinian parents, but spent her childhood in Kuwait studying at an English school and continued her studies in Cairo at an American university there. She is a beautiful young lady which has contributed a lot by speaking up for Arab women’s rights. It would be great if she could take some time trying to speak to the leaders of the Palestinians about some even more basic human rights.
Jordan has often been criticized in the Arab world for having too much of a Western focus. That was one of the issues in the late 1960’es when the Palestinians living there were trying to take over Jordan and actually made several attempts to assassinate king Hussein ( Rania’s father in law who passed away in 1999) The king decided ,back then ,to go to war against the Palestinians and killed somewhere between 2000-3000 people in an operation later to be remembered as “Black September” ( Arafat, of course, claimed 12.000-13.000 people to be killed) So the king considered it his right to fight the people who threatened the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and its leadership….
I wonder if Rania is familiar with this part of “black Palestinian history” and whether she agrees with the way the king dealt with the problem back in those days…!!?

Elin Elkouby

Do Arabs love their children ?

Israeli TV channel 2 announced yesterday that they will start broadcasting a series of lectures for the children in the South as they cannot go to school .
First one out was Shimon Peres , Israel’s 85 years old President. He spoke about the real values in life. He encouraged the students not to waste the potential within them and not to waste time. He said that every single one of them has greater abilities than they themselves are even aware of and that they can contribute to the future for a better world. He said that the reason why the Jewish people have made progress in many different fields has to do with always trying to get better and to reach further.
He spoke about the hardships of this nation always having to defend itself, and explained that the reason why Israel had not attacked Gaza earlier has to do with the fact that the government has tried to get to the ears of Hamas using nonviolent methods. The present army operation is a result of not succeeding doing that. It is every country’s responsibility to secure its own citizens.
He ended his lecture saying that he had not taught them theories but that he had spoken to them from his heart.

Lecture number 2 was with Haim Yavin. He ended a 50 years media career in August 2007 and has been busy ever since doing his own recordings using a small private video camera to show less sympathetic angels to the Arab/Israeli coexistence. He is known as “Mr. Television” .
He started saying that no media give objective views. Every journalist and news reporter has his/her own personal opinions and that this will color their presentation of the “truth”.
That is probably the most important thing for everybody to know as we watch TV, listen to radio or read the paper.

Israeli Television always had lots of discussion programs. People with opposing opinions are invited to the studio for a discussion broadcasted straight to the watchers. These days every news report consists of a reporter sharing table with three or four experts on different areas (one of them being Arab). In addition to this we get updates from doctors and journalists from Gaza about the situation almost at every news report.

Israel is a society that consequently teaches its inhabitants to question the situation.
I remember a few years ago when a Chinese restaurant owner was interviewed about how it was for him to live in Israel. While asked about differences in mentality from what he grew up with , he answered as follows; “ When I was a boy and my father told me to do something , I turned around immediately to do what I was told. When I tell my son to do something , he turns around and asks me “Why ?”.
I remember my own confusion back in the early nineties as I was studying to be a tourist guide. The “poor” lecturers had to answer for everything they did, both in the class room and on field trips. They were just constantly being bombarded : Why do you say that? Why did you stop here ? Couldn’t you find a better argument ? Are you sure that what you say is based on facts ? I don’t agree with you. ......
I sometimes thought to myself : “Why can't you just shut up and make notes? “
It seems to me that the number one favorite occupation in this land is to sharpen ones mind.

So what does this have to do with whether Arabs love their children or not? …Well, a lot actually. I have always claimed that the main problem for the West understanding what’s going on here has to do with completely different mentalities. A Western mind cannot understand how mothers can send their sons and daughters to die as suicide bombers. They also have problems understanding how organizations like Hamas actually are using civilians every age as human shields for their operations. ( …as do Al Qaida, Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah and any other fundamental Islamic organization. )
Let me tell you that every Arab mother loves her children just like you and I do. Every Arab mother is concerned about her children’s future. By claiming that they do not love their children the Western mind simply reveals lack of understanding for different mentalities.
Are you still with me ? I guess not. Please try for a few minutes to consider the following: Moslems believe that a human being is an eternal being with life on earth being just a small part compared to eternity. ( Up to this point it does not differ much from what the Bible teaches. ) Life on earth is like a “testing period” for how and where eternity is going to be spent. Every good Moslem is “ one who submits to the god of Islam” and as this god is the “boss” in eternity they do well in being at good terms with him. A “short cut” to good conditions in eternity is by “dying for the good sake”. Whoever dies as a suicide bomber has been taught that the best place to spend eternity has been secured by the willingness to sacrifice ones life.
When life is lived under miserable conditions the wish to go for “short cuts” is growing. The only thing that keeps them from doing it has to do with “fear for the unknown”………

The reasons why the Islamic leaders have succeeded in convincing the majority of the people that they are right about the way they think, has to do with controlling education at every level as well as information through the mass media.
(If you wish to get deeper into this I can recommend entering a Google search for video clips with Wafa Sultan)

Elin Elkouby

Another rocket fell down close to my house.

Many people have left the southern part of Israel for the week end. ( about 1/3 ) We left our home for Tel Aviv about 10.15 this morning. A few hours later my daughter called one of her friends and was told that a rocket had hit Gan Yavne. It landed about two hundred meters from our house…...….
To our great luck no people were hurt as it fell on an area which has not yet been built. Just next to this open space is a childrens play ground, but as no children leave the house to play it was empty.
The rockets fired from Gaza used to be Kassams. Today we were informed about the difference between a Kassam and the new rockets which can reach up to a distance of 40 kilometers. They call them “Grad” and they are “made in China”. These rockets have most likely been entering into Gaza through the many tunnels dug between Gaza and Egypt during the 6 months "cease fire" since last summer . They are factory made while a Kassam is “home made” . So I’m learning…..

Close to 20 rockets of this kind has been fired at Israel today. One of them hit an apartment building in Ashdod and the other a house in a place called Netivot closer to the border. The house was completely destroyed and one person was lightly injured.
To their great luck the family living at the top floor in Ashdod had left town for the week end. They were watching the news on TV when they realized that it actually was their own home that was hit. Two of the inhabitants in the building were wounded, but not seriously.

It has been another tough day on the inhabitants of Gaza as well. We were informed that 150.000 people have left their homes and are seeking refuge in buildings or institutions run by the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees)
People need to stay in line for hours in order to buy bread.
What can I tell you……..

Arabs are demonstrating in many places within the borders of Israel. The leader of Hamas has expressed disappointment about lack of support from Arab countries . He is on TV from Gaza trying to trigger the third “Intifada” ( Arab uprising )
The two previous ones brought no blessings upon the Arabs. I have lots of Arab friends who wish with all their hearts that they could turn the time back to the situation before the first “Intifada” . I miss "the good old days" myself...

Egypt is being criticized for not doing anything. The Egyptian president and the foreign minister have been very clear from the beginning of this military operation that Hamas is to blame for the present situation in Gaza.

We have just now been informed that Israeli ground forces have entered into Gaza….

Elin Elkouby

People flee the southern part of Israel.

It is a very strange experience to leave the house. No kids go to school and kinder gardens, but there is no feeling of school holiday . As I left for the super marked this morning to do shopping for the week end, there were no people walking the streets and no children in parks and on play grounds .
At the super marked I saw one child with her father and I met two mothers with children my girls age. I asked them how things were going and they answered that the situation is driving everybody crazy. When I suggested that their girls can come to play with my daughter one of the mothers told me she prefer her children not leaving the house. The distance between our houses is 60 metres.
1/3 of the inhabitants have left the area for the week end .Some people with rooms or cottages for rent up in the north have been offering them for free to people from the south. When I hear such things I fall in love all over again with this country............
We've had a quiet day. There has been no rockets close to where I live, but the people in Ashkelon and Sderot have had them all. The difference between them and us is that we have 45 seconds to get to a bombshelter or security room while they have 15 seconds only.

People in general are tense. We are all aware of the sufferings of Palestinian sivilians, and know that there is no way to prevent them from being hit when attacking by air. Although Israel has let more than 2000 tons of supplies through it is still not enough to meet their needs. On the other hand we also know that many of these sivilians are both willing and prepared to sacrifice themselves and their families as suicide bombers once the Israeli soldiers start the army operations from the ground. I thank God for the fact that I have no husband or son in the army and at the same time I suffer with the ones that do.....

Elin Elkouby

The true face of Hamas.
I brought my girls to Tel Aviv last night for them to meet with other youth and to celebrate the end of 2008/ beginning of 2009. I hope that in the middle of all the misery and all "the dark clouds" above us in this area, we will have the strength to look forward with appetite for life.

As we got up late today we heard that an apartment building had been hit in Ashdod. With so many people staying home I was sure that this would mean lots of wounded and even dead, but to everyones surprice not even one got hurt. The people living in this building had used the staircase for bombshelter. They didn't realize that their building was hit and that there was a need for them to be evaquated. ...
Later we were informed that the top floor had been completely destroyed. The lady living there was not at home as the rocket hit. She was interviewed by the time she got back and told the reporter that she had left for the bank. She is a physiotherapist and had a clinic at her apartment. Because of the situation she had cancelled all the treatments for today. She was on her way back to her home as the alarm went . After the "bom" she received phone calls telling her that she didn't have a home anymore.Nothing is left from her flat. The top part of the building collapsed completely and all the rubble is now in the 8'th floor. Every inhabitant has been evaquated due to severe damage.
When asked about how she felt about having lost all her belongings, she answered "That belongs to the past, now is the time to think forward."

I would like to draw your attention to a web-site called "Palestinian Media Watch"
http://www.pmw.org.il/ You will find enough there to give you a deeper understanding of what I wrote about yesterday. The following has been copied from there.

A Palestinian girl whose family members were killed yesterday in Gaza:"I say Hamas is the cause of all wars."
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Dec. 29, 2008
A Palestinian girl whose family members was killed yesterday in Gaza after an Israeli air attack was interviewed today on Palestinian TV and placed the blame for the war on Hamas:
[Girl] "We were sleeping 7 girls in the room. We were asleep and didn't know what was happening. In the morning all the bricks were on top of my head, and the heads of all my sisters. My 4 year old sister next to me was dead."
[Interviewer] "How many were you?"
[Girl] "Seven.In the other room were my mother, my father, my yonger brother and another sister, who is 13 days old. I say, Hamas is the cause, in the first place, of all wars."[PATV (Fatah) Dec. 29, 2008]
To view video in English click here.

PMW archives:Hamas explains using civilians as human shields: "We desire death as you desire life." [Feb. 29, 2008]
by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Dec. 29, 2008
The UN announcement that 51 civilians have died in the conflict in Gaza must be understood in the context of Hamas's declared ideology to use civilians as human shields for Hamas fighters.Indeed, Hamas continues to emphasize and promote the religious ideology that death for Allah is an ideal to be actively pursued. The goal is to convince Palestinians, including women and children, not to fear death but even to face it at the front to protect Hamas fighters.Hamas's placement of its military installations and fighters among civilians reflects this ideology, and has led to these 51 deaths.A Hamas representative in the PA legislative council this year expressed pride in the fact that women and children are used as human shields in fighting Israel. He described it as part of a "death industry" at which Palestinians excel, and explained that the Palestinians "desire death" with the same intensity that Israelis "desire life."The following is the full text of the comments by Hamas representative Fathi Hamad:"For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly [Palestinians] created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: We desire death as you desire life."[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) Feb. 29, 2008]To view video in English click here.
To download the clip in high quality to your computer contact our office.

Mahmoud Abbas: Hamas responsible for violenceby Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, Dec. 28, 2008
In a news conference today from Cairo, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas placed the blame for the violence in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. He described how he repeatedly made contact with Hamas and implored them not to break the ceasefire. He lamented that the violence in the Gaza Strip could have been avoided had Hamas not broken the ceasefire.The following is Mahmoud Abbas's statement at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit."I say in all honesty, we made contact with leaders of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. We spoke with them in all honesty and directly, and after that we spoke with them indirectly, through more than one Arab and non-Arab side... We spoke with them on the telephone and we said to them: We ask of you, don't stop the ceasefire, the ceasefire must continue and not stop, in order to avoid what has happened, and if only we had avoided it."PA TV Dec. 28, 2008

Elin Elkouby.