If you're wondering where I've been, I'm swamped with work and have borrowed one of my wife's computers because mine is being repaired (long overdue). So I haven't had time to post today.
But I'm sure you've heard of the return of ecoterrorism. We have fires all over the country - much of the city of Haifa has been evacuated. It's dry and windy - a recipe for fires as it is - and when you add 'Palestinian' use of fire as a weapon against us, it's been a disastrous couple of days.
Fires from an estimated 220 points of origin have broken out throughout central and northern Israel since Wednesday and assessments by police have strengthened suspicions that many were deliberately set and were nationalistically motivated.
Boaz Ganor, founder and executive director of the International Institute for Counter- Terrorism, told The Jerusalem Post that, “even if a portion are intentional, it is not organized.
It’s not that you have a terrorist organization giving orders to their members to carry out fire attacks, though maybe in a few hours you can have groups like Hamas claiming the fires.”
But “one thing is clear,” Ganor said. “It is not a new form of terrorism. Arson attacks and setting fires in populated areas or forests are a well known modus operandi of terrorist groups, and not only in Israel.
In the ninth issue of the English-language Inspire magazine, released by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula in 2012, a significant portion was dedicated to attacking the United States by starting wildfires. The magazine listed instructions on how to ignite forest fires and the materials required, and instructs readers to look for two factors needed for a successful wildfire: dry conditions and high winds.
“When we define this phenomenon as ‘fire intifada’ – words used by the media, politicians and laypeople – we are overestimating the phenomenon,” Ganor told the Post. Nevertheless, Ganor explained that the pictures on social media networks of flames in the center of Haifa and surrounding Jerusalem are “heaven for those who may want to join the so-called ‘fire intifada,’ especially if you add the false reasoning of revenge for banning the call to prayer.”
...
Ganor says “we should not exaggerate the terrorist motivation behind the wildfires,” stressing that “the conditions right now are perfect for fires, with an extended period of dry weather and strong winds.”
Michael Horowitz, director of intelligence at Prime Source, a Middle East-based geopolitical consultancy firm, agreed. “It is too early to conclude that this is a “new form of terrorism,” but it definitely can turn into that because of the virality of the trend,” he told the Post, adding that “it’s been praised by Hamas, and the hashtag “Israel is burning” is trending in Arabic. The mere perception of success can be enough to encourage copycat attacks.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday visited the Fire and Rescue Service’s coastal district forward command center, where was briefed on the efforts to put out the fires, many of which he said are “deliberate acts of arson.”
In Haifa, senior firefighter Shimon Ben Ner, told Army Radio that “I know for a fact that they tried to set fire to the department’s station in Haifa deliberately, to cause the Haifa fire department to be paralyzed.”
Earlier this evening, there were reports on Israel of 'Palestinians' celebrating the massive fires, many of which are now burning out of control around the country. Stay safe, especially those of you up north.
The picture is from the Carmel forest fire a few years ago and not from today. But it's a scenario that could God forbid repeat itself at any time. Unconfirmed reports indicate that three Hamas rockets reached the Haifa area in the last hour. One reached Zichron Yaakov, which is about 45 kilometers south of Haifa, while the other two reached the Hof HaCarmel area on Haifa's southern edge. Haifa is 165 kilometers (102 miles) from Gaza. The rockets involved are likely Syrian-made M-302 rockets.
Rocket alert sirens sounded in Zichron Yaakov on Wednesday, some 120 km north of the Gaza Strip.
Channel
2 reported that two rockets had fallen in open areas of Zichron Yaakov ,
lightly injuring one person, while Channel 10 reported that 2 rockets
had fallen in the Hof Hacarmel region south of Haifa.
The IDF has not yet confirmed that rockets fell in the area. A Code
Red siren sounded in nearby Binyamina on Tuesday, but that proved to be a
false alarm.
Channel 2 suggested that the rockets may have been the Syrian-made M-302 type rocket, which was used to target Hadera on Wednesday.
Sirens sounded near Haifa in Hadera, Zikhron Ya'akov, Caesarea and
Hof HaBonim on Wednesday afternoon - at least 45 kilometers (almost 30
miles) north of Tel Aviv, and the farthest attack recorded from Gaza in
the ongoing rocket barrage.
Two rockets landed in the sea near Haifa, reports AFP, noting the city is 165 kilometers (102 miles) away from the Hamas stronghold of Gaza.
...
Hamas has taken responsibility for the rocket fire close to Haifa, according to Walla!, stating that the rockets fired were of the R-160 model.
The IDF needs to finish this off quickly. If people feel that they have to flee to the north and Hezbullah gets involved (which is what happened in 2006 when we had a skirmish with Hamas and then Hezbullah got involved), we could God forbid be in big trouble.
In other news, Iran, Hamas's arms supplier, has condemned Israel's 'savage aggression' against Hamas. And the UN has not gotten involved yet, so we must not be winning yet. What could go wrong?
In what the police are immediately assuming is a 'price tag' attack by right wing Israelis, the grave of Muslim preacher Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the inspiration for the Hamas terror brigade by the same name, was defaced in Haifa overnight Thursday night according to a report on Israel's Channel 10 news.
One of the graves was spray-painted with the words "Tag mehir (‘price tag’) Tzipi Livni," while another read "Thanks for Memorial Day" along with the name of US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Meanwhile, a 19-year old Afula woman was murdered on Thursday in Migdal HaEmek, possibly by terrorists, as she talked on the phone with her cousin.
"We started to worry. At 2 p.m. we realized something happened," the father told Arutz Sheva,
recalling the events of how his daughter went missing after leaving for
a job interview. "We contacted the police and I gave a description (of
Shelly), and then they told us to come to the station, and I realized
something had happened."
Regarding the motivation behind his daughter's murder, he said "I
believe it was nationalistic, and still can't digest (her murder). She
was a very responsible girl."
"They shouldn't rest until they find her phone, maybe there are
fingerprints on it," added the bereaved father, noting that she had been
in the middle of a phone call with her cousin apparently at the time of
the murder.
While on the phone, Shelly said "there is someone scary here,
I'm being strangled!" Shelly appeared to be referring to a woman
[extrapolated from Hebrew grammar - ed.].
"There's no security in this country," said Shelly's father. "My
message to parents is not to send your children alone, we don't digest
the fact that in the state of Israel you go to your workplace and don't
come back. They just butchered my girl."
The funeral of Shelly Dadon will take place on Saturday after Shabbat, at 10:30 p.m. in Afula's cemetery.
The murderer apparently fled to a nearby Arab village. But the government seems to be much more interested in the 'price tags' than in Shelly Dadon.
Shelly's cousin Alon noted there has been a remarkable lack of condemnation of the attack from Israel's government.
"I want every MK to know what is going on here," he said. "If this
had been a 'price tag' graffiti incident, the whole State would have
been up in arms. But when a young girl is murdered on her way to a job
interview, they are all silent."
"We demand that they bring [the killer] to justice," he added.
By contrast, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and others were swift to condemn an
alleged act of "price tag" vandalism earlier this week, especially in
light of a damning report from the US State Department over the "Jewish
terrorism."
Netanyahu called the latest attack "outrageous," vowing, "we are using ISA (Shin Bet) resources for this purpose.”
Unfortunately, the Israeli government has applied terrorist rhetoric to 'price tag' attacks. It is grossly out of place.
Iranian television airs 'simulated' attack against Israel and US aircraft carrier
They surely have 'peaceful' intentions. But just in case the US or Israel attack them first, on Friday, Iran aired a simulation of their response on local television.
Let's go to the videotape.
In case you're wondering, the attack shows Tel Aviv, Haifa and the USS Lincoln. More here.
Following the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, NATO member
Turkey adamantly opposed Israeli involvement – “even the most innocent” – in any
NATO programs, he said. These programs included joint exercises, intelligence
exchanges, and research and technological development programs.
“We were
hoping that after the arrangement between [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu
and [Prime Minister Tayyip Recep] Erdogan in the spring, Turkey would pull back
a little and allow some of the programs,” he said. “But there is
nothing.”
By not allowing Israel’s participation in NATO programs, he
added, Turkey was blocking participation with other Mediterranean countries,
because Israel and other nations in the region – Jordan, Egypt, Morocco,
Mauritania and Algeria – took part in NATO projects as a bloc.
“We can’t
cooperate with any of them, because the programs are all blocked, nothing can go
through,” he said.
Lampridis said he was surprised by the continued
Turkish opposition, especially since practical cooperation between Turkey and
Israel was taking place on a daily basis, “like where Turkey has an advantage,
of course, and Israel is demonstrating goodwill.”
For example, since
Turkish goods can no longer be transported overland through Syria to the Persian
Gulf, every week hundreds of Turkish trucks arrive via ferry to the Haifa Port
where they then proceed across the country to the Jordan border crossings,
carrying millions of dollars worth of goods to Jordan and onward to the
Gulf.
...
The Greek ambassador also took Erdogan to task for blaming Jews and Israel for
the unrest over the summer in Turkey and for the overthrow of Egyptian president
Mohamed Morsi.
“You just don’t say such things,” he said.
Asked if
he thought Erdogan was an anti-Semite, he replied, “Even if he is, is it the
position a prime minister takes? He can do it privately if he wants. You don’t
do it openly and expose a whole country – a country that has never been
anti-Semitic in the past, to tell the truth, especially under the Ottoman
Empire, when it was a haven for Jews. Other countries were not, Turkey was.
What’s wrong with the guy? It really beats me.”
I wonder why it doesn't violate the Arab boycott to have goods transported through Israel.
Breaking: IAF shoots down hostile drone off Haifa coast
IAF F-16's have shot down what's being called a hostile drone off the Mediterranean coast near Haifa.
Shortly after 1 p.m. on Thursday the Israeli Air Force identifid a drone
flying in Lebanese airspace south towards Israel. The drone was flying
along the coast line.
A squadron of F-16s and IAF helicopters were scrambled to engage the drone.
IDF
spokesman Brig-Gen Yoav Mordechai said that after the Air Force ensured
that the aircraft was hostile, the commander of the IAF gave the order
to shoot it down.
An F-16 fired a missile and struck the drone some five miles from the coast of Haifa over the Mediterranean.
The drone was at 6000 feet when it blew up.
It was not immediately clear whether the drone was armed or not.
Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that "Israel is prepared
to deal with any threat posed from Syria or Lebanon in the air, land or
sea."
He added that he views "with utmost severity the attempt to
breach our borders. We will do what it takes to defend our citizens."
'Unprecedented support for Israel,' my tuches: Hagel tried to shut USO port in Haifa
The Obama administration tells us over and over and over again about their 'unprecedented support' for Israel. Tonight, we have more proof that's a load of crap. Chuck Hagel, President Hussein Obama's putative nominee for Secretary of Defense, attempted to shut the USO Haifa Center (in Haifa, Israel) between 1987-90, when he headed up USO (Hat Tip: Sunlight).
Hagel, who served as president and CEO of the World USO from 1987 to 1990, expressed intense opposition to the USO Haifa Center during a tumultuous 1989 meeting with Jewish leaders, according to multiple sources involved in the fight to keep the post open.
“He said to me, ‘Let the Jews pay for it’,” said Marsha Halteman,
director for military and law enforcement programs at the Jewish
Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), which led the battle to
keep USO Haifa operational.
Hagel’s campaign to close the storied USO port struck many observers,
including the U.S. Navy and congressional leaders, as misguided. Those
same critics argue today that Hagel’s animosity toward the Jewish state
leaves him unsuited to be the nation’s next defense secretary.
“He essentially told us that if we wanted to keep the USO [in Haifa]
open—and when I say ‘we’, he meant ‘the Jews’—he said the Jews could pay
for it,” said Halteman, who recalled being taken aback by the comment.
“I told him at the time that I found his comments to be anti-Semitic,” she said. “He was playing into that dual loyalty thing.”
...
Those present at that 1989 meeting over Haifa described the encounter
as an indicator of what they said is Hagel’s hostility towards the
Jewish state.
“An indication of Hagel’s early less-than-warm feelings toward Israel
came in the late 1980s when, as the president of the USO, he sought to
defund the popular USO facility in the Israeli port city of Haifa,”
JINSA wrote in a recent newsletter.
The USO port in Haifa quickly became a popular destination
for the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet upon its opening in 1984. American
soldiers and sailors were treated to tours of Israel and mingled with
Haifa’s eclectic population.
The port soon became a symbol of the burgeoning military relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
“One of the most visible signs of the U.S.-Israel strategic
cooperation has been the regular calls of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in
Haifa,” a 1986 news report stated.
But budgetary constraints at the USO in the late 1980s led Hagel to put the Haifa port on the chopping block, sources said.
“There were a few USOs that showed up on his list as being in trouble
financially and that he thought he needed to cut,” Halteman said.
“But even at the time, there were not budgetary problems at the Haifa
USO,” she said. “In fact it was thriving. Hundreds of people were going
through those doors weekly.”
When news of Hagel’s decision to close the port reached Capitol Hill,
a delegation of lawmakers and others expressed fierce opposition,
according to news reports.
“The closure decision came under heavy fire from the citizens of Haifa, the Sixth Fleet and American-Jewish circles,” the Jerusalem Postreported at the time.
Nearly everyone but Hagel supported the base, according to one Jewish communal official who is familiar with the controversy.
“The backlash was so vociferous—including from the Navy and from
Congress—that not only did the closing get reversed but [Hagel] had to
expand the base,” said the source.
However, sources said Hagel refused to permit the USO, which was
teetering on bankruptcy at the time, to fund fully the Haifa port.
“Chuck Hagel said the Haifa port is costing the U.S. too much [and]
that if the Jews wanted one, the Jews should do the fundraising,” said
one source involved in protecting the port’s funding.
A Jewish member of the USO’s board ultimately volunteered to secure funding for the port.
Apparently, all records of this meeting have been disappeared down the memory hole at the USO. What a coincidence!
Two Israeli soldiers were assaulted at 2:00 am Saturday morning outside Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The assailants were 'Israeli Arabs.'
Two IDF soldiers in civilian clothing were viciously attacked by a group of Arab-Israeli men early Saturday near Haifa's Rambam Hospital, with guards deployed in the area narrowly averting a lynching.
Police forces detained four suspects on suspicion of taking part in the assault and expect to make more arrests.
The uncle of one of the soldiers said the assailants asked the victims whether they were Jewish before attacking them.
"They beat the hell out of them, using bats and stones, and resorting to kicks," the uncle said.
The soldiers attempted to escape in different directions, at which point some 20 attackers assaulted one of them, the uncle added.
"One of the attackers pounded my nephew's head against the ground and engraved his head with a knife," he said. "Security guards in the area arrived at the site, put him in a wheel chair, and evacuated him for treatment at the emergency room."
The government was scheduled to publish its first tender today for a rail connection that will eventually reach across the country from Haifa to the Jordanian border.
A year after the Israel National Roads Company Ltd. was given the task of handling construction of the new Jezreel Valley railway line, as part of the Netivei Israel plan, the first tender for the project will be published today. The tender is for the construction of a 6.5-kilometer stretch of the line between Kfar Baruch near Migdal Ha'Emek, and Nahal Adashim near Afula.
This is the first railway tender that the National Roads Company is responsible for. The value of the tender is lower than the subsequent tenders for the Jezreel Valley railway, which are due to be published later this year. However, sources inform ''Globes'' that Danya Cebus Ltd. (TASE: DNYA), Shikun u'Binui Solel Boneh Building and Infrastructure Ltd., and Shafir Civil and Marine Engineering Ltd. plan to bid in the tender, and that other large contractors are also considering participation.
The estimated cost of the Jezreel Valley railway is NIS 4 billion (out of the NIS 27.5 billion budget allotted for the Netivei Israel plan last year). The railway is scheduled to be completed in 2016. The new line will parallel the historic railway line.
The Jezreel Valley railway will run 60 kilometers from Haifa to the Sheikh Hussein Bridge over the Jordan River in the Beit She'an Valley. The railway is due to continue to Irbid in Jordan, where it will link with the Jordanian railway system. Incoming Israel Ports Development & Assets Company Ltd. chairman Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad, is responsible for cooperation with the Jordanian government.
I have to get you into the mood for this one first.
Let's go to the videotape.
Is Pirates of the Caribbean coming to Israel? Well, maybe (Hat Tip: Jameel).
New Lineo Cinemas (2006) Ltd., owned by the Edery family and Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) investment arm Shamrock Holdings, will build a NIS 600 million 25-screen multiplex and Disney amusement park at the Check Post exit from the Carmel Tunnel in Haifa. New Lineo owns the Cinema City Ltd. multiplexes in Ramat Hasharon and Rishon LeZion.
The entertainment complex will be built on an 80-dunam (20-acre) site and will include 50,000 square meters of cinemas and shops and a 30,000-square meter Disney amusement park. The land is owned by a local family.
The new complex will be near the Cinemall, which has stores and a 23-screen Yes Planet multiplex.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said, "This plan expresses confidence in our plans to turn Haifa Bay in a thriving business area. The plan began with the municipality's assistance in the building of Cinemall and the upgrade of the mall, previously known as the Lev Hamifratz Mall, and the building of the transport hub for the cable car, which carries passengers up to the Technion and Haifa University."
Nevertheless, it was clear to me - and to all others afraid to talk about this openly - that the huge blaze in the Carmel Mountains would kindle all sorts of other fires far away from the range of its sparks. It makes no difference if it started in a garbage dump or by arson. It makes no difference because we all know that most of the fires in Israel are caused by arson - arson perpetrated by Arabs, not by crazies or criminals; arson motivated by nationalism. Yes, arson by Arab citizens of Israel.
Everyone is busy figuring out how many tons of fire extinguishers we must keep in storage, but they are afraid to touch upon the real reason for the fires. So the question begs: Who is setting these fires, and why?
Arson in Israel is generally perpetrated by Israeli Arabs. Not all of them, of course. But somehow, those guilty of arson are generally from the Arab sector.
Why would they do it? After all, life is good for Arabs in Israel. There is no Arab state where an Arab can enjoy absolute freedom and economic wellbeing like in Israel. Why do they hate us so much? Why do they burn the land that is showering them with so much good?
I do not think that they do it because they are bad people. I have gotten to know quite a few Arabs with hearts of gold. They also do not do it because of some dark primitivism. And they are not stupid.
But they have a problem with the Islamic religion and culture.
When a doctor from Kfar Saba's Meir Hospital murders his sister for "family honor," he is motivated by a very problematic cultural background.
"The Arab is not the son of the desert, but its progenitor," said the first British commissioner of the Sinai, Sir Charles Darvis. Wherever the Arab goes, he brings the desert with him. Now he has brought the desert to the evergreen Carmel Mountains.
Take Israel-hater Arab MK Azmi Bishara, for example. If his dream comes true and Israel is defeated, he will lose his fat salary and the other benefits that he has. Why is he cutting off the branch upon which he sits?
The answer is that questions like that are irrelevant in a culture of robbers. In Arab countries, there is no middle class. In the Middle East, either you are one of the lucky few partaking in the feast, or you belong to the masses that are part of the menu. For this reason there is not, and there never will be, democracy in the Arab states, and their economies will never flourish. Israel produces more than all of its neighbors combined. That is not because we are extremely industrious. It is because true economic vitality cannot exist in a culture of robbery.
"The Jews' goal is to establish a Jewish state in the Land of Israel," explained former British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ernest Bevin to the UN, "while the goal of the Arabs is that there should not be a Jewish state in the Land of Israel." Bevin cannot be counted as a friend of Israel. But he, like Darvis 30 years before him, understood that there is no struggle taking place in Israel between nations and cultures that desire to settle and develop the land. Rather there is only one side that wants to do so - while the other side has no positive intentions. Its only goal is the elimination of the first side's goals.
Video: Ambassadors from more than 20 countries plant trees in Carmel forest
The ambassadors to Israel from more than 20 countries that helped fight the Carmel forest fire came together near the Carmel Forest Hotel to plant trees and revitalize the forest on Monday.
The diplomats included ambassadors from the US, Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania and the Ukraine, as well as a representative of the Palestinian Authority.
The seedling-planting ceremony was held near the Ye'arot HaCarmel hotel, a location that the JNF's firefighting force played an important role in saving from the fire.
...
The Director of the Greek Foreign Ministry, Konstantin Papadopoulos, spoke on behalf of the ambassadors. "We will always stand beside you," he said. "One never knows when we might need help. This is an act of human solidarity, and in Greece we remember how Israel did not hesitate to aid us three years ago in putting out the huge fire that raged in our country."
Let's hope that a fire like this does not happen again.
You will recall that Jeffrey Goldberg wrote a post last week in which he urged us all not to support the JNF because it is paying for items that ought to be paid for out of the budget of the Israeli government. After all, argues Goldberg, Israel is a 'rich country.'
I took Goldberg to task as did many other bloggers. Over the last week, the controversy has not died down, with many bloggers weighing in either for or against Goldberg, and some of them attacking him personally. Goldberg has posted on the issue at least two more times, and I had those posts open on my screen for a while, but never got around to writing about them.
Jonathan Tobin does a great job in Commentary/Contentions in summing up why Goldberg is wrong.
But as much as foreign supporters of the Jewish state ought to share the frustration of Israelis about all this, Goldberg is still wrong about boycotting the JNF. The fund cannot guarantee that the trees Americans pay for won’t burn in a future fire, but that doesn’t mean that Israel’s forests shouldn’t be replanted. To punish the JNF because of governmental failures would be no different from a call to stop funding charities that served the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina because of the colossal failures of local government to protect their citizens as well as for the mistakes the Army Corps of Engineers made in estimating the damage that a storm might do to the city’s levees. Giving to the JNF is not, as Goldberg says, co-opting Diaspora Jews into supporting a cover-up of governmental failures. To the contrary, such donations will help fund the cleanup and recovery.
Goldberg is right when he says Israel should fully fund its fire-fighting capability, but the country’s mistakes on this issue will be rectified for the same reason that New Orleans’s flood prevention has been improved: it took a disaster and a bitter public backlash to force the government to prioritize this issue. This is the way with all democracies. Just as the defeats suffered during the Yom Kippur War and the Second Lebanon War prompted army reform in Israel, you can bet that Israel’s fire service will never be shorted again, or at least not anytime soon. This proves that for all its specific problems, Israeli democracy is not much different from the kind we practice here, where our leaders are just as guilty of fighting the last war rather than planning for the next one as they are in Jerusalem.
Jeffrey needs to calm down a little bit. Yes, the government should have dealt with this a long time ago - it's an issue that was raised in the aftermath of several fires started by Hezbullah missiles in the Second Lebanon War. But it's not the JNF's fault that the two governments since the War have not take the issue seriously enough. And given how little real influence Israelis have over their government, it's not really Israelis' fault either.
Two more 'Israeli Arabs' arrested and charged with arson
Two more 'Israeli Arabs' have been arrested and charged with arson in responses to what was apparently a coordinated effort to set additional fires while fire fighters were responding to the massive Carmel forest fire outside of Haifa last week.
Two Israeli-Arab teenagers were arrested for attempting to spread the Carmel fire as the fire still raged, police revealed Wednesday. The two, residents of Nazareth ages 14 and 15, are accused of setting fires in the Ilut forest.
The two young arsonists set a fire in Ilut on Friday, then fled from the scene. The fire caused significant damage, and forced firefighters to abandon their efforts fighting the Carmel fire in order to battle the blaze in Ilut.
The two were arrested on Monday. They were taken to court Wednesday for an extension of their remand.
Several smaller fires broke out as rescue workers battled the Carmel fire, and police suspect a coordinated arson effort. Fires were reported near Basmat Tivon, Usafiya, and the northern border.
I received the following email from one of my LinkedIn groups in 'real life.'
The Yemin Orde Boarding School – supported by Ivy Israel - Israel - was destroyed in the Carmel Forest Fire over the weekend. 500 Children – most without parents or a home in Israel where evacuated on Thursday night; by late Friday there was still poetic hope that two Greek fire-fighting planes dedicated to save the Youth Village during Hanukah had succeeded in beating back the fire but on Shabbat the Village burned down. The School on a height near where the Prophet Elijah dwelt (the Prophet who cares for Children) looked as if the earth vomited black on a once verdant campus.
Several Ivy Israel members met the school's headmaster Dr. Chaim Peri when he spoke in the States last month. Dr. Peri has met with Ivy Israel members in Israel several times over the past year; including during a day of service at the School organizaed by Yale over the summer.
The children, staff and the many graduates who rushed in from all over the country to help are safe. For now, the Village is uninhabitable and we moved 100 children to Yemin Orde Initiatives' sister school Neveh Amiel while the army searches for an installation where the entire Village (500 students and 130 staff) can stay together until the campus is rehabilitated.
As always, the priority remains to care for the children who themselves come from brokenness (many from Ethiopia; Russia, Brazil and children at risk from Israel). Deep inside, we instill in them a trust that after ill fortune strikes, new opportunities open. When there's life, there's hope! The community we built far outlasts any edifice. 1000s of graduates have come to help the high schoolers in need who are given a value-laden education to look-outside of themselves and embrace children from Darfur in need (who are Muslim refugees in Israel and learn at the Jewish Religious school). The graduates also teach at a boarding school in Rwanda for the Tutsi orphans built by Penn Alumnae Anne Heyman. The Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel, The Dali Lama and scores of social thought leaders are actively involved with the school. The US UN Ambassador recently spent a day at Yemin Orde to see how immigrant children are embraced and accelerated into being the most productive members of society.
Personal Note: I am on the Board of Directors of Yemin Orde Educational Initiatives – the organization that teaches teachers throughout Israel the Yemin Orde pedagogic approach and for 25 years I have had the privilege of working with the School's Director Dr. Chaim Peri (two time Israel Prize Nominee) including during a period when I was involved in bringing 1000s of Jewish children from Ethiopia who studied at the school.
My hope is to strengthen the ties to the school during this season when it is very much in the media and in need. To also enlist you to participate in future activities we conduct with the school.
Please see background on various sites.
Background and US site: http://www.yeminorde.org/index.aspx
Updates and eyewitness accounts of the fire: http://www.yeminorde.org/pages/villagefire.aspx
Donations (Tax Deductible) with Credit Card (Hebrew) http://www.yeminorde.co.il/1833
Dov Hoch - President – Penn Club of Israel Board Member - Yemin Orde Educational Initiatives
I hope there's something here we're not being told, and that our government is at least supplying temporary shelter.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with director-generals of government ministries to discuss assistance for those affected by the Carmel range wildfires. Netanyahu instructed the Finance Minister director-general to allocate an immediate grant of NIS 2,500 ($690) to each citizen who lost his or her home, in order to help them buy essentials and school equipment.
Where are these people staying? Are they giving this allowance per kid or per family? Anyone know?
For those wondering why people aren't insured.... Most Israelis only carry insurance on the structure in which they live - and then only because the banks won't give a mortgage without it. Contents insurance is something only the Americans bother to buy, although more Israelis are buying it now than did 20 years ago when we arrived here. It's quite expensive because it takes some doing to get them not to insure everything you list at replacement cost.
You can file claims for lost property with the tax authority and you will get some money back. But it's nowhere near covering your loss. You can only come close to covering what you lost with private insurance.
Yes, this is one of the vestiges of being a socialist paradise.
14-year old 'Israeli Arab' admits starting Carmel forest fire outside Haifa
A 14-year old 'Israeli Arab' from the village of Usfiya has been arrested after confessing to starting the Carmel forest fire outside of Haifa.
A 14-year-old resident of Usfiya was arrested on Monday on suspicion of hurling a charcoal from a water-pipe into a forest clearing near Usfiya on Thursday morning, witnessing the ignition of a large fire, and fleeing the scene. Police suspect the boy's actions directly led to the Carmel forest inferno.
The youth confessed to the suspicions against him and reenacted his alleged actions on Monday, police added.
After witnessing the flames grow out of control, the youth became panicked, "ran back to his school [in Usfiya], and did not report the fire to anyone," police said.
The youth will appear before the Haifa Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning for a remand hearing.
Hof police spokesman Mor Inbar told The Jerusalem Post that four additional Usfiya youths were questioned in recent days in connection with the water-pipe incident.
They included two brothers aged 16 and 14 who were arrested on Sunday, and who were released by the Haifa District Court on Monday after Judge Avraham Elikim accepted an appeal by attorneys representing the brothers against a decision by the Haifa Magistrate's Court to keep them in custody until Wednesday.
Judge Elikim noted that police suspect the minors of causing death through criminal negligence, but added that the suspects' young age represented an alleviating factor in the suspicions against them. "There is no disputing the trauma caused by the fires to many people, but we should not place a national disaster on the shoulders of two minors," Judge Elikim said during his decision on Monday.
Two additional minors were detained for questioning - though not arrested - by officers from the Hof police sub-district's central unit on Monday and released, before the 14-year-old suspect was arrested.
Meanwhile, Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a total of four suspects around the country have been arrested in recent days on suspicion of deliberately setting off smaller fires. Two suspects were arrested in the Jerusalem area and two more were arrested in Acre on suspicion of arson attacks.
Israeli and Turkish reps meet in Geneva but Erdogan still hates Israel
Representatives of Israel and Turkey met in Geneva over the weekend in a bid to reduce tensions after the Turks provided equipment to fight the fire in Haifa, but Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is still insisting on total Israeli submission regarding the Mavi Marmara before he will consider restoring any kind of relations between the two countries.
Officials from Israel and Turkey met in Geneva on Sunday to help reduce tensions, according to a CNN report, as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demanded an apology for the IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara. Erdogan also stated on Sunday that Israel must pay damages to those wounded and the families of those killed during the operation.
Yosef Ciechanover, the Israeli representative on the UN flotilla probe, was reportedly asked by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to travel to Geneva to attend the meeting.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry sent Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu to meet with Ciechanover, CNN reported.
"The two met in order to find ways to promote appeasement and diminish the tension between the two countries," an Israeli official told CNN.
"We regretted the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries and we of course like to see an improvement of the relations," he added.
On Sunday, Erdogan stated that despite Turkey's recent provision of firefighting assistance to Israel's efforts to the control the blazes that broke out in the Carmel region, a new page in Turco-Israeli relations would be possible without addressing the outstanding Turkish requests made in the aftermath of the failed May 31 attempt to break the Gaza blockade."If a hand is outstretched towards us, we will not leave it hanging in the air," Erdogan was quoted by Israel Radio as saying in a speech delivered in central Turkey. He continued, " but we want to see an indication that it is a sincere gesture."
Also on Sunday, Army Radio reported on a Turkish CNN interview with Erdogan, where the leader explained Ankara's decision to send aid to Israel.
"We will not stand aside at a time when people are being killed and nature destroyed," Erdogan was quoted as saying. "A day will come when we will turn the page [on diplomatic relations], but first Israel must apologize for the incidents of the Gaza flotilla and compensate [the families] of those killed."
As if they were all complete innocents and what they did wasn't an act of war. /sigh
Haifa Deputy Police Chief dies of injuries from fire
Haifa Deputy Police Chief Ahuva Tomer, the first woman commander in the police force, died this morning (Monday) of burns sustained in Haifa's Carmel forest fire. Her funeral will be held at 3:00 Monday afternoon.
Tomer had been in critical condition since rushing into flames to check the condition of the dozens of Prisons Service cadets trapped in the deadly Carmel blaze on Thursday.
Responding to news of Tomer's death, Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said Sunday, "Ahuva our friend, decorated commander, brave and beloved iron woman, that stood through difficult tests of fire and prevailed, she lived and died as a hero." Cohen continued, "The entire Israel Police family is suffering with sadness and pain today."
Tomer was captured on camera minutes before the tragedy, driving together with a staff officer toward the blaze, telling reporters that she was on her way to check first-hand what the situation was in the Carmel Forest. Seconds before she sped off in her police car, Tomer expressed concern for mothers and children in nearby Kibbutz Beit Oren, who were being evacuated.
Tomer continued to issue commands over her field radio until she became trapped in the blaze, and the commands became urgent cries for assistance. By the time rescuers reached the senior commander, she was badly burned all over her body.
After being rushed to the hospital, medical teams spent two hours resuscitating her, then transferring her to the burn unit at Rambam.
In an era when senior police officers tend to reach the headlines for negative reasons, Tomer has consistently made headlines as a groundbreaker in the Israel Police.
In 1997, Tomer became the first woman commander of an Israel Police station, taking command of police in the northern city of Nahariya. In December 2006, Tomer became the first female district-level operations commander in the Israel Police, serving as operations commander in the Northern District. The Northern District is comparable to the Northern Command in the IDF, and no woman in the IDF or in the police had ever held such a high rank in the field of operational command.
Less than three years later, Tomer again made history when she was appointed to lead the massive Haifa Station and became the first woman to command a major police station, with over 500 police under her direct command.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
