Shofar Av/Elul 5770
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
August 2010
From the Rabbi’s Desk Recently, Israel was in the news, and it was not good for our tiny Jewish state. The Israeli navy intercepted a flotilla of ships bringing materials to the Gaza Strip, despite a blockade intended to prevent that from happening. This brought the blockade to world attention, and unfortunately, the event was mishandled by the Israelis so it resulted in a lot of negative publicity for that country. The blockade is intended to prevent other countries from providing weapons and other military items to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. The blockade went into effect when the residents of the Strip elected a Hamas government; Hamas is a terrorist organization with the stated goal of destroying Israel. From the Gaza Strip they and their supporters have, for years, fired rockets into southern Israel. You may recall that we contributed money to the JNF project that built an underground indoor playground for the children of S’derot, because that little town, very close to the Strip, has been the primary target of rocket fire, and it was not safe for the children there to play outdoors. The blockade has been criticized because the list of items it intends to keep out of the Strip includes things like chocolate and concrete. I have no idea why chocolate would be interdicted, but it seems clear that the Israelis fear that concrete, which can be used for building innocent things like houses and schools, can also be used to construct bunkers. In recent days, as I write this, the Israelis have agreed to lighten the blockade. It should be noted that Israel is not the only country trying to contain Hamas. The southern end of the Gaza Strip has a nine mile border with Egypt, and the Egyptians have attempted to keep Hamas out of their country by a blockade similar to what the Israelis have imposed. Egypt regards the extreme Islamic terrorist organization, Hamas, as a threat to its fragile non-Islamic government. At the same time, the Palestinians in the Strip have dug an elaborate system of tunnels to give them a route into Egypt, where they buy arms and all sorts of other things. From the Rabbi’s Desk Service Schedules The President’s Message Oneg Schedule Early Childhood Center The Religious School Social Action Committee
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Egypt is in the process of building barriers to those tunnels, to prevent more access by Hamas to its population. Yet one never hears about this in the media. No one decries the effort of the Egyptians to protect their citizens from Islamic extremism. There have been no UN resolutions reprimanding Egypt for its blockade. The incident involving the flotilla resulted in nine deaths. This apparently resulted from weak intelligence that the Israelis were operating from. It gives a real black eye to the otherwise amazing Israeli intelligence and military services. The deaths make the whole incident tragic, and they prevent Israel from presenting a good case for the blockade to the world public. Unfortunately, the event was mishandled by the Israelis so it resulted in a lot of negative publicity for that country. The blockade has not prevented humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, as some people have asserted. Basic food and medical supplies have always been allowed through. But it is also clear that weapons and ammunition have also entered the Strip, via the tunnels, because the rocket fire has not ceased. When then candidate Obama visited Israel before the election, he went to S’derot, and commented that he too would feel compelled to protect his children, as the Israelis are trying to do against the rocket fire from the Strip. Though we should all deplore the deaths that happened during the flotilla incident, we should also try to understand the history behind the blockade, and consider what it must be like to live within range of those rockets. We should be aware that Iran has said it will defy the blockade and deliver, by ship, arms for Hamas. We should reflect upon the serious threat that Israel faces from all its neighbours. And we should also try to create practical and imaginative strategies for Israel to employ in its own fight for survival. We should certainly do that as much as we criticize Israel.
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