The Quiet before the Storm

Do you hear that? Listen, sshh…. Seems quiet, doesn’t it.

I have been told that the eye of a hurricane can be very deceiving, apparently also regarding a few months prior to congressional elections.

The sudden drop in pressure and calm from DC does not calm me down, indeed, I take it as a warning to the continuation of the storm, just like the passing of the eye of a hurricane, I’ve been told the storm is usually much worse in the second half.

The best advice would seem to be to take advantage of this calm and inspect the damage sustained, batten down the hatches, shore up the loosened boards, and strengthen the weak parts of the house. Because, have no doubt, the storm will be back.

The waters of the political arena in the US regarding Israel are definitely stirring, there is an undertow that could drag a buffalo down to the abyss. It seems quiet to those of us that aren’t aware of the “ins and outs”, but never less, the quiet waters are dangerous, shark infested too.

Congressmen realize that their seats may not last forever, President Obama is not a duck fan, especially not a lame duck fan, and the “Minyan” (quorum) on Pennsylvania Ave. also does not wish to leave the “Bimah” (prayer platform) in shame.

Quite suspiciously “pressure” is being put on PA Prez Abbas to start direct talks, I know he is laughing, in fact it is the big laugh at the new Gaza Strip Mall. When this White House starts showing hints of even “miniscule” support for Israel, time to watch out. The game is called, “lets fool the Jews again”, and it’s played with loaded dice.

Pretend Palestinian President Abbas claims to have found new friends in the US. We know Peace Now and J Street are his natural allies, but now Abbas claims that the leaders of AIPAC and the “Conference of Presidents” also back him in his claims and desires to set up a new Arab entity in the Middle East on Jewish land.

The scary part is I haven’t heard any denials yet…. The worse part is that I believe him.

I believe most people are sitting back in disbelief… that is those that care.

Divide and conquer aren’t just words, they are a proven strategy. It is a strategy that our enemies have adopted and are working overtime to fulfill.

The division of our land, our people, anything to weaken us has now become a “cause”, hey! Even Oliver Stone is getting involved.

Most of the Jews in the Diaspora do not understand the depth and danger of the “Two State Solution”, indeed, most of them do not even venture out (when in Israel) to their own historical sites, their own heritage. They have been infused with fear, and deceit, not just by our enemies, but also by our own.

The “Conservative and Reform Jewish” movement in the US wont even cross the “Green Line” to show it’s youth our rich history, in our land, stating its dangerous and the political over and undertones. They prefer to keep them afraid in their own land. Is it no wonder that they are loosing so many each year to assimilation? They wont even show their young their own identity and where they came from. It is not from Europe, nor the concentration camps…IT IS ISRAEL! SHOW THEM!

Imagine if a few years back if we would have acted the same way, I doubt we would have had a nation today.

I am amused how we in Judea and Samaria are often described as “Religious fanatics”, I admit to taking pleasure telling the 50% of secular Jews out here that fact. It is no surprise though, especially when the media outlets of the world focus on a few individuals to describe over 300,000, so much for objective and honest reporting.

It comes down to this, there are whole bunch ‘o bad folk out there whose main purpose and focus in life is to make life for the Jews difficult. If we stand by quietly, idly and do nothing, they will succeed and the price we pay will be in blood.

There are plenty of “Think Tanks” out there, brilliant Columnists and Bloggers, all ready and willing to give you every bit of information you may need to understand the situation better, but you must make the effort. And when the words do not suffice, and you hunger for more, then you must come and see for yourself.

We must take full advantage of this illusion of calm and act, learn, see, shout, speak, write and do, and now.

If your “movement” will not show you, we will.

If your “leader” will not guide you, we can.

If you want to know where you are from, come visit.

We are here and welcome you with open arms.

The storm is not over, get ready and be prepared.

By the way, I love duck.

Keepin' it real

The headlines are full of evasive maneuvers being used by our politicians, the Op-Eds are full of advice to be taken, and proper instructions and lessons are given on how to run the country, are rampant in Café’s, Shuls and all sorts of demonstrations.

Give up, release, don’t release, land for, no land for, solutions, one state, two state, red state, blue state.

Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn’t want to embarrass President Obama, (No) Defense Minister Barak will do anything to embarrass Netanyahu.

Double, triple, and quadruple standards are practiced to show how “nice” we are.

All so far away from ground level, so far away from the mean streets.

The other night some Arabs decided to infiltrate into a community in Judea and Samaria. They succeeded. Not only did they succeed, but also managed to steal a weapon. Thank Gd they decided to make a run for it and not go to the street where tens of teenagers were taking their Shabbat “rounds”. Whether the infiltrators were spooked or whatever motive guided them, the situation that was a hairbreadth away could have been horrendous.

This is the way it is, this is the way it was, and this is the way it will be…for now. Whether it is in Judea and Samaria, the Gazan border, the center or north of the country, this is the reality. There are many people out there that want to kill us, simply because we are Jews, and simply because we are in our land.

Give them land you say? When did that stop them before? Here we are, all yelling for, and against, attending world conferences, listening to so called “leaders”, while losing touch with reality on the ground.

In the north, the Arabs steal land away from us in front of our eyes while we discuss the situation. Hezbollah builds an arsenal. Abbas tells us that he will allow us to keep the Kotel (Western Wall), then Erakat says no. Hamas smuggles in untold amounts of weapons and rockets. Our enemies, whose soul intent is to remove our presence from this land or worse, procure more and more weapons and equipment and I ask you… what are we doing?

The world continues to gang up on us and we continue to apologize… for what? For living in our land? For not surrendering? For not dying?

I am not against the conferences. I believe in writing our opinions, expressing our thoughts, even giving and taking advice, and that all favorite pastime - arguing. But we must not lose touch with the ground level. We must always remember what our enemies truly want. And whether you believe it or not, most of them, an overwhelming majority of them, harbor the desire that Jews not be here at all - and will do whatever they can, to further that desire.

You can pretend to be in another world; you can think that it won’t happen to you, but one day it might, and all because the obvious signs were ignored; the dots were not connected.

There are terrorists and enemies out there that want to kill us, they rejoice in any harm they can cause us, wherever we are.

This is what we must never forget and this is what we must fight against.

We spend so much time and effort working to solve the “big picture”, while the little picture is lost sight of. We worry about world opinion, about other world leaders. We fight each other, we take sides against each other, all this while our enemies laugh and consolidate more to join their ranks.

We must protect ourselves first, we are the priority, and we have no other land or place to go.

I am thankful and grateful that I can tuck my children into their beds at night, this is not the case for everybody and it can all change in the flash of a moment.

Our reality over here is not exclusive to Israel… you will share it one day.

That reality depends on all of us.