A short time after sending last week’s blog in which I mentioned the terrorist attack in India, we heard of a something similar from Thailand, but this time an aborted terrorist incident which turned out badly for the perpetraters. This time two of them were caught, and yes, they possessed Iranian passports. Evidently three potential terrorists rented an apartment near the Israeli embassy, but they had what we call “a work accident” when some of their explosives blew up inside the bulding and they had to run out. So far one got away, another was arrested at the airport in his attempt to leave the country and the third one had even worse luck with explosives he had hidden on his body, he got badly wounded and lost a leg.And whilst on the subject of terrorism, the shooting of rockets from the Gaza Strip continues, more this last week, reaching even near the towns of Be’er-Sheva and Ashdod. They also fired at our troops patroling near their border. Our air force retaliated, but as usual only mildly, in order not to hurt innocent civilians, although the shooting mostly takes place from their midst.The senseless massacre of civilians in Syria continues daily, now Iran is helping President Assad, and two Iranian naval ships have been sent, via the Suez Canal and are now anchoring in a Syrian port, surely unloading weapons.I heard rumours this morning that they are as usual trying to blame Israel for what is happening there, which is a ridiculous assumption.The so-called “peace talks” in Jordan have been discontinued - when the Israeli delgation arrived for a meeting last weekend in Amman to present their latest security proposals, the Palestinian veteran negotiator Saeb Erekat refused to enter the room. He is refusing to take the talks seriously, probably because of their now so-called “friendship” between the Fatah Palestinian authority and the terrorist Hammas organisation in Gaza. This does not bode well for Israel.There is growing suspicion that the Palestinians are working on the basis that if they draw out the process, they will be able to make a better deal later. But I repeat, the real enemy in the Middle East today is Iran, and not Israel!Posted in Observations
Israeli embassies all over the world are now on alert, after the latest terrorist attack in New Delhi, India, in which the wife of an Israeli diplomat was seriously wounded after a magnetic explosive device which had been attached to her car, blew up with her in it. Passers-by said they had seen a motor bike stopping there briefly a short time earlier and Prime Minister Natanyahu said that surely Iran was behind this attack, and another attempted similar attack in Georgia (Country which formerly belonged to the Soviet Union) at about the same time, but this attack luckily failed as the explosives were discovered before being set off.Last Wednesday the Israeli Trade Unions (Histadrut) started a country-wide strike , mostly in aid for the many people working for contractors, who do the same work as those employed on a permanent basis, but get less pay and worse conditions. All government and municipality offices , transportation, some schools and kindergardens, banks, post offices and more were closed. The strike lasted for five days, all dustbins were overflowing and the streets were filled with garbage - but it was for a good cause. The minimum wage has been raised a bit, some contract workers will be directly employed, other will get better conditions, but of course not all demands were met, but hopefully the poor people will profit.
In Syria, Israel’s neighbouring country, the “massacre” of innocent civilians is still going on, a number of thousands so far - men, women and children - and no end seen to it. President Assad seems to think he can hold on to his rule, although most of the people are rising up against him.The Security Council wanted to denounce this killing strongly, but for strange reasons, Russia and China vetoed the decision.And in Egypt all is not quiet either, and not only for political reasons. Last week their favourite soccer team lost against the Port Sayeed one,and their supporters started demonstrations, attacking players and onlookers with sticks and stones,. Forty-eight people were killed and hundreds wounded. It was said that many of the victims had died in the crush of people in the stadium. Is that considered ”sport”?And security in the isolated desert region of Sinai has also deteriated since the overthrow of former President Mubarak. A party of five tourists travelling to the Saint Catherine’s monastery were stopped by armed men, who first took all the tourists’ money and valuables and then kidnapped two of the women for whom they later demanded ransom. And the gas line leading to Israel and Jordan has now been blown up again, for the 11th time. Israel can no longer depend on this gas supply, is using fuel from other sources and the price of electricity amongst other things, is going up.
January 27th was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration (death) camp, and in many countries, the USA and mostly European ones, special gatherings were held on that day, some with prayers. It is a day to remember the Nazi “Final Solution” of exterminating the Jews. It is needless to say that the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum held a special ceremony, although Israel’s personal Remembrance Day is actually on another date. It is so important that the holocaust which cost over six million Jewish lives should not be forgotten. Israel school children have special lessons on this subject although in Arab schools here it is usually not mentioned, and in many Muslim countries they insist that the holocaust never happened. Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein, addressed the European Parliament on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and said that Israel will make sure that another Holocaust never happens again. He also mentioned the Wannsee Conference on January 24th, 1942 in which the fate of millions of European Jews was sealed.
The computer hacker problem here is still not over, there were more attacks from the Saudi Arabian attacker(s) and in return Israeli hackers brought down the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Iran’s Press TV and more. If the Arabs continue, the Israeli hackers say they will do so too, and in harsher fashion. So we hope this will stop.
Posted in Observations
European countries, especially France, Germany and Britain have imposed new sanctions on Iran, on their central bank and they will stop buying oil, but this will evidently only start in June or July. Hopefully Iran will now stop developing nuclear weapon power, but so far they have only said they will close the Straights of Hormuz if sanctions are imposed, but Britain and others will see to it that they are kept open. About 15.5 million barrels of oil a day, or a sixth of global consumption, flow through the Straights from countries surrounding the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia will then supply oil instead of Iran, but prices will probably rise.
The Jerusalem Mufti (religious leader) Sheikh Muhamed Hussein gave a speech a few days ago and quoted a supposed passage by the Islamic prophet Muhammad that calls for the killing of Jews. Prime Minister Natanyahu called for an investigation of this incitement, saying,”These are grave words that the world needs to condemn.”
On Sunday, a new arrangement between the Israeli Defence Forces and Israel Railways came into effect, eliminating free rides on most trains between the hours of 6 and 9 a.m. on Sundays. This arrangement is evidently to save the IDF money and to reduce overcrowding during those hours , as so many soldiers return to their bases after weekend passes. Extra buses (without need to pay) were supplied, but many soldiers arrived late and there was much disorder. Maybe next week the arrangements will be better.
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Tags: A planned missile defence drill together with Israel and the U.S.A. which was to take place in April has suddenly been postponed by the US till later in the year. Evidently they don’t want to anger Iran or some Arab states just now, because of the present tension in our region, and don’t want to add to it? The drill was supposed to see the deployment of a great number of American troops and different sophisticated US missile defense systems in Israel.Three illegal new settlements in the West Bank were lately demolished by Israeli forces, much to the anger of the Jewish settlers. The evacuated settlers responded angrily, but the Police said the evacuation was carried out as usual. However this goes to show that nothing new is allowed to be built there.There is now a municipal strike all over the country, which includes nearly all municipal services like parking inspectors, garbage collecting, school buses, security guards at educational institutions, social services and more. The union organizing this strike say it is protesting against a recent decision to increase property tax, as well as “populist laws” that direct money away from education, transportation, welfare, the environment, pensioners, culture and many others. A union member said,” The government is taking money from its citizen’s pockets in order to fund others. We will not allow them to hurt our residents.” Since the strike started two days ago, garbage is already piling up in the streets. Hopefully an agreement will be reached soon.