ISRAEL AT WAR
We interrupt Wayne Edwards’ sermon series to bring you Joan Swirsky’s compilation report of Hezbollah’s failed rocket attack launched against Israel. Congratulations to Joan who is doing a magnificent job of tracking the progress of Israel’s fight since the October 7th attack. There is a short (3 minute video giving a synopsis of the history of Israel, well worth watching and keeping) it is a live link at about a quarter way through. This reports is a most thorough explanation of where the Nation, known as The Apple of God’s Eye, stands now at the summit of History.
Gibber! Gibber!
Chugley
August 25, 2024
Subject: The Ragen Report by Naomi Ragan
We didn’t even have time to get scared this morning. By the time we woke up, the attacks and counter attacks were over. We are grateful that Hezbollah’s “revenge” was limited and unsuccessful in terms of killing Israelis. Minister of Defense Gallant said the Hezbollah attacked with only half the force they intended.
Now, Hezbollah is proudly showing videos of the chicken coop they destroyed. Many anti-Hezbollah sources are having great fun with this, posting pictures of chickens in a boardroom discussing their revenge against Hezbollah.
However, it is no laughing matter that the people of Israel have been forced to endure ten months of artillery fire at our northern communities, resulting in refugees, destruction of property, and the wildfires that torched our precious forests. I am grateful for the IDF’s preemptive strike against the missile batteries aimed at Tel Aviv. But why not target all of them shooting at the north as well?
Having failed at actually harming anything of note in Israel, Nasrallah in his speech an hour ago has leaned back on the time-honored Muslim terrorist tradition of lying through his teeth, claiming there was no preemptive strike, that his 300 missiles landed successfully, etc. Too bad the Internet messes up his fairy tales with actual videos of the Israeli destruction in Lebanon, and where Hezbollah rockets actually landed. What lying buffoons!
Israel’s losses in terms of our dear soldiers are each a dagger in our hearts. Six soldiers were killed in Gaza last week, and one naval seaman today from friendly fire. The IDF is investigating the possibility that an Iron Dome interceptor launched to take out an enemy drone malfunctioned and switched targets, hitting the navy boat instead. We mourn every single one lost in this senseless war started by our hate-filled, degenerate Muslim enemies. Just as Israelis are being targeted, the same hatred saw a bomb explode in front of synagogue in France, and a frenzied knife attack in Germany, which killed three and injured eight.
When will people understand who the bad guys are and whom they are targeting? Wherever you live, whatever religion you practice (even if it’s Islam, Israeli Arabs are also targeted by terrorists) these Hitler-worshipping Nazis are your enemy. I do not use these words lightly. Dr. Matthias Kuntzel, Senior Research Fellow at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and author of Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism and the Middle East: The 1948 Arab War against Israel and the Aftershocks of World War II recently said: “The ecstatic nature of the October 7 massacre, the desire to kill Jews wherever they are, is proof positive in my eyes of that Nazi-inspired antisemitism is flourishing in our world.” The popularity of Mein Kampf, translated into Arabic, and found everywhere in Gaza, as well as Egypt and other Arab nations, cannot be ignored.
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “We are operating in self-defense against Hezbollah—and any other enemy that joins in their attacks against us—and we are ready to do everything we need to defend the people of Israel,” the Israeli military said.”
ISRAELI JETS ON OPS
Hezbollah declares attacks over over for today,’ after IDF strikes Hezbollah missile launchers and rockets, destroying thousands of projectiles.
By World Israel News Staff
Hezbollah terrorists launched roughly 320 rockets towards northern Israel Sunday morning, shortly after Israeli forces bombed numerous rocket and missile arsenals and launching sites used by the Iranian-backed terror group in southern Lebanon.
Roughly one hundred Israeli warplanes began striking Hezbollah missile and rocket launchers and storage facilities across southern Lebanon at just before 5:00 a.m. Sunday, as part of a preemptive strike prior to an impending Hezbollah attack, the IDF said.
“This follows more than 6,700 rockets, missiles and explosive (drones) fired by Hezbollah at Israeli families, homes and communities since Oct. 8,” Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Israel claimed that Hezbollah had planned to strike major strategic targets in northern and central Israel, reportedly including the headquarters of the IDF’s elite 8200 intelligence unit and Mossad headquarters in Glilot, along with strikes on Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel’s largest air travel hub.
“We are operating in self-defense against Hezbollah—and any other enemy that joins in their attacks against us—and we are ready to do everything we need to defend the people of Israel,” the Israeli military said.
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “The Lebanon-based Iran proxy said it hit 11 military targets but reports surfaced that Hezbollah caused damage to chicken farms in northern Israel.”
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/arabs-mock-nasrallah/202/08/25/id/1177799
Arab World Mocks Terror Org: ‘Nasrallah the Chicken Hunter.’
By Mark Swanson
Hezbollah’s highly anticipated retaliatory rocket attack on Israel was met with disdain and mockery in the Arab world Sunday, with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist group, derided as the architect of a the “chicken massacre,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel largely fended off Hezbollah’s launch of 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at the Jewish state on Sunday in response to the assassination of Senior Cmdr. Fuad Shukr last month. The Lebanon-based Iran proxy said it hit 11 military targets but reports surfaced that Hezbollah caused damage to chicken farms in northern Israel.
“The chicken massacre was not a coincidence, but a strategic plan! The goal? To prevent the opponents and enemies of the ‘resistance’ from gloating after every bombing and saying they didn’t even hurt a chicken,” read one Arabic-language post with more than 44,000 followers.
And this: “A chicken coop was destroyed, killing a number of chickens and chicks and breaking thousands of eggs. Damn you scoundrels, you and the Iranian Houthis, you laugh at the Arab peoples, you and the Zionists are two sides of the same coin, implementing one project and one goal,” read another post to X, with 83,000 followers.
Israel thwarted what it said was a larger Hezbollah offensive by taking out more than 40 launch sites in southern Lebanon via 100 fighter jets. Israel said it destroyed thousands of launcher barrels.
Hezbollah promised Sunday’s attacks were just the first phase to answer for Shukr, one which did not impress.
“Allahu Akbar! Hassan Nasrallah’s response! Hezbollah’s response! The number of chicken injuries rose to 27 chickens, 5 of them are critically injured, with first-degree burns to the wings and beak, after the chicken pen was targeted in response to the assassination of Fuad Shukr,” read another post.
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: Thousands of Chickens Killed in Rocket Strike by Hezbollah – Hamodia.com.
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: Very Good News Israel
Please recommend www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com and forward this email to friends, family and colleagues.
Click here to keyword SEARCH almost any topic in the IsraelActive archives (over 25,000 articles).
To be added to the free email subscription list, either click here or send a request (with your name and the subject “Subscribe” to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com.
POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
Oct 7 hero rehabilitates IDF soldiers. On Oct 7, Lt Yehonatan Skariszewski fought Hamas terrorists and guided over 100 Nova festival survivors to safety. He now works for NGO “For the Home, For Tomorrow,” training ex-combat soldiers in manual skills as therapy to counter anxieties following their active service.
https://www.jns.org/oct-7-hero-saved-dozens-at-nova-festival-now-rehabilitates-combat-soldiers/
Inspiration from Israelis returning home. (TY Ruth Kaplan) On Oct 7, residents of Kibbutz Magen fought off dozens of invading Hamas terrorists (video link below). They were then evacuated to the Dead Sea, from where 90% have since returned to their Kibbutz. Their stories of resilience give strength to Jews everywhere.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/kibbutz-magen-first-border-community-to-return-home-inspires-boston/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_nBmWIVPDU
Resilience in the North. While Israeli citizens in the South are returning to their homes, many in the North have never left. The residents of this region – Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze alike – have become the guardians of their homeland, refusing to abandon the land they love, even in the face of unimaginable adversity.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/07/23/the-unbreakable-bonds-stories-of-resilience-from-israels-embattled-north/
Far-seeing enhancement. (TY UWI) While regular IDF soldiers have modern weapons, reservists lacked precision scopes for their Negev guns. So, several Israeli civilians voluntarily developed the Tomer Adapter, named after Tomer Nagar – a “Negevist” who fell while bravely defending the Kissufim military post on Oct 7.
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/idf/its-saving-our-lives-israeli-hack-gives-precision-to-first-generation-machine-gun/2024/07/30/
Donations for Northern hospitals. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) is donating $1 million to the Tzafon Medical Center (Poriya) to bolster its Trauma Unit. It is also funding $620,000 worth of new equipment and medical supplies at the Italian Hospital in Nazareth.
https://israfan.com/p/ifcj-boosts-northern-israels-medical-infrastructure-162m-donation
Thousands of American volunteers. (TY Stefan) Another article publicizing the work of volunteers from America. They include some 3,500 who came on missions organized by JNF-USA since Oct 7, helping repair, rehabilitate, and rebuild Gaza border communities and giving vital motivational support.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-810564
Helping rebuild Israeli communities. Russell Robinson, CEO of JNF USA, describes how his organization is building a community center 2km from Gaza. Self-funded volunteers on JNF-USA trips are cleaning up schools so that children can resume their studies. In the north, JNF-USA is building culinary and medical centers.
https://video.i24news.tv/video/brightcove/6360820023112/6360820023112_hls
Reduced university tuition fees for reservists. Some 500 Tel Aviv University 1st-year students beginning their studies in the coming academic year who have served at least 30 days in the reserves since the beginning of 2024 will be entitled to a tuition discount of NIS 2,500, covering about 25% of total tuition fees.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-811913
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “Most people today do not know the simple fact that the Jewish people’s connection with the Land of Israel existed for more than 1,500 years (really 3,000+ years) before the advent of Islam.”
Naftali Bennett Shut Down the Anti-Israel World with This 3 Minute History of Zionism.
This oversimplification of Jewish History in the Land of Israel is actually a very important must-watch video for most young people today. Most people today do not know the simple fact that the Jewish people’s connection with the Land of Israel existed for more than 1,500 years (really 3,000+ years) before the advent of Islam. But in actuality, the most important part of the argument for the Jewish right to the Land of Israel is skipped over in this important clip.
Skip.
The original pioneering Jews in the mid-19th century returned to an empty Land that they found devoid of people and civilization. A few small and ancient cities existed. That’s it. But when the Jewish pioneers brought with their idealism some financial investors from Europe, that attracted Arabs from Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia to live a better life than their present situation. Ultimately, the trickle of Arabs coming turned into a stream, and within a few decades the Arab population had grown rapidly, while the Jewish population continued to grow due to antisemitism in Russia and idealists from all over the world who immigrated.
But one thing is crystal clear – there is only one indigenous people to the Land of Israel – the Jewish people.
Video at link.
END
August 25, 2024
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “thousands of years of Jewish history, combined with the newer Israeli history, have trained us to do what it takes to exist. Don’t be surprised when we do it.”
https://www.futureofjewish.com/p/lets-give-israelis-more-dignity-honor
No other country is infantilized as much as Israel. Let’s give Israelis more dignity, honor, and respect.
The Israeli flag (photo: Levi Meir Clancy/Unsplash).
During the last 11 years of living in Israel, I have spoken to many people across the world who, more often than not, talk about Israel as if its roughly 10 million people do not seem to know what’s good for them.
It feels like no other country is infantilized as much as Israel.
Many Americans, for instance, think they can project whatever tickles their fancy onto Israelis because of the nearly $4 billion in annual military aid that the U.S. offers Israel, yet plenty of them do not realize that this money is not actual aid in the altruistic sense of the word; it is a mutually beneficial arrangement in which the U.S. receives all types of assets (e.g. technology, defense, intelligence) for literal pennies on the dollar.
Skip.
Unsurprisingly, at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the Democratic Party unveiled its official “platform” which includes an entire section on the Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah war. It notes, among other items, that a ceasefire deal “will lead to a more secure Israel.” The arrogance and incompetence is pungent, as I have come to expect from the Democratic Party for which I used to exclusively vote.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Democratic Party has zero insight into what will actually “lead to a more secure Israel” — definitely not a premature ceasefire that they are trying to force down Israel’s throat.
And I can also tell you with absolute certainty that this prescription is a disingenuous attempt at appeasing extremist leftists amongst the Democrats — extremist leftists who are slowly but surely hijacking the entire party with their desire, among other things, to effectively eliminate support for Israel from the entire Democratic platform, or at least make U.S. support contingent on ridiculous demands and expectations that grossly compromise Israel’s basic security.
But it is not just Americans who overwhelmingly infantilize Israel. Brits, Australians, South Africans, Argentinians, Canadians, French, and many others talk about Israelis as if we are purely incapable of making our own decisions.
Part of this mentality can be explained by Diaspora Jews and others who have given or continue to give money in some form or fashion to Israel. Accordingly, they feel (or at least act) entitled to speak about Israel and Israelis in certain ways because of their (apparently strings-attached) gifts.
In some respects, I can understand this mindset, but in other respects, it feels like many people cross the line by not differentiating between respectfully having an opinion about Israel and Israelis, versus prescribing us something we probably do not need and certainly do not want.
Skip.
Yet so many people, including those who consider themselves staunch supporters of the Jewish state, condescendingly converse about Israelis as if we are collectively a 6-year-old boy who can barely tie his shoes and still waters his bed from time to time.
Skip.
Israelis are mostly conservative, both religiously and socio-politically, because we have to be. Show us another country that has fought defensive wars against warmongering, genocidal enemies literally every decade on its own soil for the full 76 years of its existence — and is not only standing but remains one of the world’s strongest nations.
Skip.
Israelis are mostly decent, peaceful, family-oriented, warm, hard-working people. But we are also Jews. And thousands of years of Jewish history, combined with the newer Israeli history, have trained us to do what it takes to exist.
Don’t be surprised when we do it.
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “America’s recent policies of appeasement have only served to embolden, strengthen and build up Iran and its terrorist agents.”
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20886/confronting-iran-threat
Confronting the Threat of Iran’s Regime
By Majid Rafizadeh
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu. Follow Majid Rafizadeh on X (formerly Twitter).
The exorbitantly lenient approach of the Biden-Harris administration has allowed Iran to reach unprecedented levels of power, influence and bellicosity.
- Iran and Qatar have for decades been the source of all the instability in the region and much of it beyond.
- Qatar has been poisoning American education with at least $6 billion in unreported “gifts and agreements,” and Iran, while building forward bases in Cuba and Venezuela, is busy cyber-hacking the U.S. and trying to assassinate U.S. officials on American soil.
- It is clearly time for America to go back to the policy of peace and prosperity in the Middle East and a pro-freedom agenda in American universities – as opposed to financing terrorists, their sponsors and especially Iran’s virulently anti-Western and anti-American nuclear weapons program.
Pictured: The USS Enterprise, which played a key role in Operation Praying Mantis, in the Persian Gulf on December 15, 1998. (U.S. Navy photo by Michael W. Pendergrass).
The exorbitantly lenient approach of the Biden-Harris administration has allowed Iran to reach unprecedented levels of power, influence and bellicosity, as it pursues its ultimate goals of annihilating Israel and disabling the United States.
In 1988, Reagan launched Operation Praying Mantis, retaliating against Iran for its attack on a U.S. Navy ship, and sending a strong message to Iran, and reducing the threat posed by Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf.
Skip.
During the engagement, U.S. forces sank or severely damaged several Iranian naval vessels, including frigates, gunboats, and speedboats. Operation Praying Mantis aimed to demonstrate U.S. resolve in protecting its and its allies interests and maintaining freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf.
U.S. forces suffered no casualties. For the remainder of Reagan’s term, there was not one further provocation from Iran.
Skip.
The policies of the Biden-Harris administration, including turning a blind eye to Iran’s nuclear advancements, its destabilizing actions in the Middle East and the release of billions of dollars to the Iranian terror empire, have undoubtedly empowered Iran’s regime, granting it the freedom to pursue its Islamist fundamentalist ambitions, including its ultimate goals of annihilating Israel and disabling the United States.
Skip.
President Donald J. Trump took a similar firm stance as Reagan against Iran by cutting off the financial lifelines of its regime. Through a “maximum pressure” policy, Trump imposed a series of economic sanctions that targeted Iran’s primary source of income: its oil exports. Those sanctions led to a record low in Iran’s oil sales and crippled its economy. The Iranian regime faced substantial economic challenges, both domestically and abroad, and was severely limited in its ability to finance its proxies and their military and terrorist operations.
Skip.
America’s recent policies of appeasement have only served to embolden, strengthen and build up Iran and its terrorist agents.
It is perplexing why Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris chose destabilizing policies of empowering terrorist groups and their sponsors, Qatar and Iran, rather than continue Donald Trump’s policy of peace and prosperity, which was in place and humming when the Biden-Harris administration took office in 2021.
Skip.
It is clearly time for America to go back to the policy of peace and prosperity in the Middle East and a pro-freedom agenda in American universities – as opposed to financing terrorists, their sponsors and especially Iran’s virulently anti-Western and anti-American nuclear weapons program.
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
END
August 25, 2024
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “In early July, the NEA [National Education Association] was to hold votes on several resolutions hostile to Israel.”
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/teachers-unions-are-fueling-anti-israelism-heres-how/
Teachers’ unions are fueling anti-Israelism. Here’s how.
By Dr. Mika Hackner
Dr. Mika Hackner is Senior Research Associate at the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
Groups like BAMN and Educators for Palestine use the unions as vehicles to push radical curricula in K-12 schools across the US.
We Jews tend to have a deep appreciation for the role of teachers in our children’s lives. We want teachers to be adequately compensated and held up as role models. This is why it is so bewildering for many of us to reckon with the fact that many teachers’ unions have been captured by radical actors and have become vehicles for the spread of illiberal ideology and anti-Israel activism.
A casual observer might be surprised to learn that both the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) had the Israel-Hamas war front and center during their conventions this year. And they might be surprised that a concerted effort by activists has introduced radical, anti-Israel and antisemitic curricula and teacher training in K-12 schools across the country.
Where does all this hostility toward Israel come from? There has been for decades a concerted effort to establish a radical progressive agenda within teachers’ unions and associations that has conditioned teachers to be advocates for a simplistic oppressed-oppressor binary. Teachers’ unions such as the NEA and AFT have jumped on the “anti-racism” bandwagon. The NEA adopted Tema Okun’s White Supremacy Culture framework, which holds that “white supremacy culture” upholds “negative” values of “objectivity,” “worship of the written word”, “perfectionism” and “either/or thinking.”
The embrace of such binary oppressed-oppressor thinking has dire consequences for Jews and perceptions of Israel, as we’ve seen on full display since October 7th.
A network of progressive left organizations and activists are influencing unions to further their political agenda. In early July, the NEA was to hold votes on several resolutions hostile to Israel. These efforts were ended only by an unrelated NEA staff strike that brought the convention to a halt. The resolutions were publicized by “Educators for Palestine,” a group within the NEA.
At the AFT convention, seven resolutions on Israel, including a resolution against the “weaponization of antisemitism” to defend Israel were suggested but ultimately, for procedural reasons, not brought to the floor.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies gives the example of Tania Kappner, an eighth-grade history and English teacher in the Oakland Unified School District, who is a member of Equal Opportunity Now/By Any Means Necessary and is standing for election to the NEA executive committee.
BAMN describes itself as a coalition ‘to defend affirmative action, integration, and immigrant rights’ by “any means necessary.” It states, “Our movement fights for open borders, for a definition of citizenship that says if you live here, work here, go to school here, contribute to this society, you are a citizen and should have full citizenship rights.”
BAMN is also preoccupied with Palestine. On October 15, 2023, BAMN published a statement declaring, “Victory to the Palestinian Struggle! By any means necessary, end the genocidal Israeli invasion and occupation of Gaza.” The document calls to “Renew the Palestinian intifada.” BAMN argues that “Zionists must either stand with the oppressed and defenders of democracy or be recognized as oppressors and enemies of democracy.”
Skip.
Teachers’ unions have nurtured an ideological environment in which teachers have been primed to embrace all manner of ideological claims of oppressed versus oppressors as irrefutable truths. This same skewed logic is applied to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
This process is supercharged by motivated anti-Israel activists who care more about their political objectives than your children’s education. Jewish parents had better get active in their kids’ schools and run for school board, lest we wake up one day and find the education system completely inhospitable to Jewish children.
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: The Trojan Horse of Anti-Semitism.
END
August 25, 2024
Subject: “As many as 109 hostages remain in Hamas custody in the Gaza Strip, but some are believed to be dead, according to Israel Today.”
Hamas ‘affiliates’ reportedly call hostage families with threats, harassment: ‘you won’t see your loved ones.’
The families received some of the calls from their loved ones’ phones.
Peter Aitken is a Fox News Digital reporter with a focus on national and global news.
Families of hostages held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack have reported receiving threats and demands in calls, some of which have come from their captive loved ones’ phones.
Israeli news outlet N12 reported that families have received messages that order them to “fight the government” or “you won’t see your loved ones return” in addition to ransom requests. The families turned over the information to Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet, according to The Jerusalem Post.
An initial investigation has determined that those sending the messages are either of Iranian origin or affiliated with Hamas.
As many as 109 hostages remain in Hamas custody in the Gaza Strip, but some are believed to be dead, according to Israel Today.
The hostage situation remains a source of frustration for the American and Israeli governments as families grow increasingly desperate almost a full year after the attack and kidnappings. Both Democrats and Republicans featured hostage families at their conventions this year and made strong statements about foreign policy that focused on Israel.
The Republicans featured the parents of Omer Neutra, a 22-year-old hostage who was manning a base near Kibbutz Nir Oz when he was taken captive. Neutra grew up in Plainview, N.Y., on Long Island before he moved to Israel and joined the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Neutra family spoke about their support from former President Donald Trump, who they said “called us personally right after the attack when Omer was taken captive,” assuring that “he stands with our American hostages,” according to the Jewish Journal.
The Democrats in turn featured the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old hostage taken from the Nova Music Festival. During the introduction at the convention, attendees chanted, “Bring them home!”
“The families of the eight American hostages meet every few weeks in Washington,” Jon Polin, the hostage’s father, told the crowd. “We’re heartened that both Democratic and Republican leaders demonstrate their bipartisan support for our hostages being released.”
Families of hostages who were kidnaped by Hamas in the Oct. 7 deadly attack and supporters hold signs and U.S. flags during a demonstration outside a press event by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on August 19, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images).
Skip.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, react as they speak on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, August 21, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar).
More at link.
END
August 25, 2024
END
Joan Swirsky is a New York based journalist and author. Her website is www.joanswirsky.com, and she can be reached at joanswirsky@gmail.