Israel Matzav

Just an ordinary day for an 8th grader in Israel

No further explanation necessary.

Labels: Israeli children, Palestinian terrorism, Tel Aviv

Breaking: 4-year old boy killed by mortar in southern Israel

A 4-year old boy was killed a few moments ago when the car in which he was riding in southern Israel was hit by a mortar shell.

Medical officials in southern Israel announced the death of a four-year-old Israeli boy who suffered serious injuries when a mortar launched from the northern Gaza Strip directly slammed into a car before sundown on Friday.

According to Channel 10, Magen David Adom rescue services rushed the boy to hospital, listing him in grave condition. A short time later, the boy was pronounced dead.

Rocket sirens were activated in Tel Aviv just before sundown on Friday as Palestinians in Gaza launched at least three projectiles at central Israel.

Witnesses reported hearing at least three explosions overhead. No word yet on whether any injuries or damage resulted from the incident.

Sirens were also heard in the adjacent suburbs of Tel Aviv, including Ramat Gan, Holon, Bat Yam, and Givatayim.

May God Have mercy.

Labels: civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, Israeli children, mortar shells

To all the children of Gaza

This needs no explanation or commentary.

Let's go to the videotape.

Post by Israeli Children For Peace.

Labels: civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, human shields, IDF, Israeli children, Operation Protective Edge, Palestinian children

What the kids do during a rocket alert

I think I posted this during Operation Pillar of Defense a year and a half ago, but it's worth another look.

Six years ago a kindergarten teacher wanted to do something to help the children in her class deal with the ongoing air raid sirens and rocket attacks against Israel.

This song is that much more relevant today.

Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Gershon D).

Have to tell my daughter-in-law and son about this. My 4-year old granddaughter has been in quite a panic every time the siren goes off.

Labels: Hamas rockets, Israeli children, Operation Pillar of Defense, Operation Protective Edge

One boy 'strongly resisted' the kidnappers

The Hebrew news site Walla is reporting that one of the three murdered Israeli teens 'strongly resisted' the 'Palestinian' terrorists. The source for the story is someone who was involved in the identification process at the Abu Kabir forensic institute. The report (link in Hebrew) does not say which boy resisted or how.

The boys' bodies were only examined from the outside. Identification was made via DNA samples and dental x-rays provided by the families. In keeping with Jewish tradition, a full autopsy was not done.

The fact that DNA samples and dental x-rays were required does not seem consistent with the reports that the boys were each 'shot in the head' or simply 'shot' as has previously been reported. Although the media isn't saying it - and probably won't for a couple of days - it sounds like the 'Palestinians' took the trouble while they were supposedly fleeing to mutilate the boys' bodies. We have seen that before, and it took a few days to come out there too. The 'Palestinians' have a fetish with mutilating Jewish bodies.

Labels: Israeli children, kidnapping, murder, Palestinian terrorism

Livestream of funeral for Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach HY"D

There is a separate ceremony taking place for each of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach HY"D (May God Avenge their blood) in the towns in which they lived.

The three will be buried together in the town of Modiin, which is about mid-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

You can watch the ceremony in Modiin via Livestream beginning at 10:30 am Eastern, 5:30 pm Israel time here.

Labels: funeral, Israeli children, kidnapping, murder, Palestinian terrorism, terror victims

No, it wasn't 'activists' who told 'Palestinians' to destroy CCTV footage of the kidnapping - it was the official Fatah Facebook page

There have been a lot of stories in the media about Hamas or Hamas and Fatah 'activists' encouraging shopkeepers in the Hebron area - from which the three boys were kidnapped - to destroy their CCTV footage from their security cameras to obstruct the search for the boys. This story from JPost is typical.

Fatah and Hamas activists called on Palestinian shopkeepers and businessmen in Hebron to destroy any CCTV footage that could be used by the IDF to locate the three missing yeshiva students.

They posted their call on social media networking, especially Facebook and Twitter, after IDF soldiers reportedly confiscated some security cameras from a number of businesses and homes in Hebron as part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the students.

Eyewitnesses said Fatah activists in Hebron confiscated some security cameras to prevent the IDF from laying its hands on them.

But the story is hiding the truth. The picture at the top of this page is from the official 'Palestinian Authority' Facebook page. It was posted on Friday afternoon, and as you can see, it is plainly calling on shopkeepers to destroy their CCTV footage so as not to help the IDF in its search.

That's right, our supposed 'peace partner' whom the 'international community' wants us to give a 'state' alongside us is calling to obstruct the search for three teenage boys.

It's long past time to start practicing defenestration on the Fatah elite, starting with Abu Bluff and his buddy Saeb.

Labels: Hebron, Israeli children, kidnapping, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian terrorism

What do your children learn in Kindergarten?

Don't tell me Israel has no right to defend itself (Hat Tip: Jack W).

Labels: Israeli children, rockets

Yachad kids in Jerusalem Marathon

Jerusalem is having a marathon on March 1, and here's one of the kids who is running in it. I just received this email from my dear friends Bernie and Iva K.
Dear Family and Friends:

On March 1st our dear and brave son, Zev Chaim, will be participating in the Jerusalem Marathon. A number of volunteers from Yachad will be pushing his wheelchair for 10 kilometers in order to raise funds for this wonderful organization whose goal is to assist people with all types of disabilities. I am asking you to please help Yachad's activities by donating any amount you can. It is easy: just go Zev Chaim's personal marathon page via the following link and follow the instructions: http://jerusalem.teamyachad.com/runner/lion1

On behalf of Zev Chaim, we kindly thank you.

Sincerely,

Iva and Bernie K

Those of you who can, please think about sponsoring Zev Chaim.

Labels: Israeli children, Jerusalem Marathon

Sad video: Israeli kids 'playing' tzeva adom (color red, i.e. rocket warning) in the park

Why is Operation Pillar of Defense necessary? Because rockets have become too much a part of the reality of daily life for kids in southern Israel.

Danielle Schreiber writes: "We took the kids away from the bombed south during operation Pillar of Defense. Even in safety, they still sense the threat. Take a look at their playground games..."

Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: David B).

My 8-year old walked in here while I was watching this video (with headsets on, but he reads English and could understand the subtitles). He asked me what the kids were doing, and I told him they were 'playing' tzeva adom (all Israeli kids know what tzeva adom is, even if they don't live in the south). His response was 'why would they do that?'

For the same reason my 27-year old used to 'play' pigua (terror attack) when he was 10. In the spring of 1996, there were two suicide bombings on Jerusalem's number 18 bus on consecutive Sunday mornings. Son # 1, child # 2 coped with that by building elaborate street scenes with his Lego set and then shouting pigua and knocking them down. Basically, they're coping by turning their reality into a game. Around that time, we stopped the younger kids' riding the public buses to school for several years.

Labels: Hamas rockets, Israeli children, Operation Pillar of Defense

Huh? New York Times calls Israel 'deeply humane'

I guess this proves the theory that even a broken clock can sometimes be correct. The New York Times has called an Israeli policy 'deeply humane' (Hat Tip: Mrs. Carl).

Unlike countries where couples can go broke trying to conceive with the assistance of costly medical technology, Israel provides free, unlimited IVF procedures for up to two “take-home babies” until a woman is 45. The policy has made Israelis the highest per capita users of the procedure in the world.

“It’s amazing when you think about it,” marveled Keren, 35, who asked to be identified only by her first name. She was seated in a waiting room at Assuta’s in vitro fertilization clinic, a beige canister of her husband’s frozen sperm at her feet. The sperm had been delivered from another hospital where she had her first IVF attempt three years ago, resulting in the birth of her daughter.

“I want at least three kids, and if we had to pay so much money I’m not sure we would be able to do this,” she said.

Although the procedures account for one of the country’s largest public health expenditures, the policy has drawn little debate or criticism, one of the few issues nearly all sectors of the typically fractious Israeli society seem to agree upon.

...

A survey published by the journal Human Reproduction Update in 2002 showed that 1,657 in vitro fertilization procedures per million people per year were performed in Israel, compared with 899 in Iceland, the country with the second highest rate, and 126 in the United States, which trailed far behind European countries.

Experts say Israel’s rate still far outstrips the rest of the world. Four percent of Israeli children today are the products of in vitro fertilization, compared with about 1 percent estimated in the United States.

...

While the procedure is entirely state-paid at public hospitals, at private hospitals like Assuta patients using supplementary insurance may be charged a modest co-payment of $150 or so. Patients must also pay for their hormone shots, which are also heavily subsidized by the state.

The Health Ministry says it spends about $3,450 per treatment, although some critics say the real cost may be higher.

In the United States an average treatment or cycle, from egg retrieval to embryo implantation, costs $12,400. Insurance companies that do cover treatment, even partially, usually cap the amount of cycles they pay for.

Dr. Elizur said the success rate tended to drop off after the sixth try but, he added, “It’s very hard to tell a couple that the only reason they cannot have kids is the money.”

Mira Huebner-Harel, the Health Ministry’s legal adviser, said that Israel was the only country to cover not only unlimited IVF treatment until age 45, but to make treatment available for all women regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation. She said a state committee was considering whether to open coverage of fertility treatments to gay men using a surrogate.

“We are very sensitive here to the desire of people to have a family,” she said. “I think our country can be proud that a woman who wants to be a mother can try do so.”

Still, the policy is not entirely without its critics.

...

“There is something deeply humane about this policy, this idea that people have the right to be parents,” she said. “It’s something that characterizes life here: the value placed on life.”