On All Fronts

The problems of the world are all based on Israel giving up its historic heartland, everybody knows that. The peace loving Arab nations are willing to let bygones be bygones, and are willing to live in peace, side by side in harmony with their Jewish neighbor Israel…NOT. I am constantly amazed by those who believe in that scenario. Time magazine has clarified the issue for many by explaining how we Jews in Israel are not even interested in peace, you see we like sending our children to the army, we like terror attacks against us, you know you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a bus load of people blow up in front of your eyes.

This battle is on all fronts now, in all locations, so many fail to notice it, so many innocent fall victims to the treachery and lies. In true Arab custom, the weak are targeted, those that lack strength or means to truly defend themselves, no, I am not just talking about the Jews in Israel anymore, I am talking about Jews throughout the Diaspora.

College campuses have become the new killing fields, the targets – unaffiliated Jews, Jews who are ignorant about their faith and their history, children of Israeli immigrants and a slew of others who tend to be oblivious to the reality in Israel.

Various Islamic groups along with supposed “Human” rights groups and others who claim to champion justice ambush these unsuspecting souls in the name of the school of progressive and liberal thought, often turning them into violent and extreme adversaries, brainwashed to hate themselves, their history and their identity. Bastions of safe Jewish havens such as Hillel houses have become bases of operations against any hint of Zionism or support of Israel.

Most are not even aware of the dangers present and all too often fall into these traps. Funding for these anti-Jewish workshops supposedly comes from sources ranging from foreign governments to our own quasi Jewish Funds, masked efficiently to hide their true intentions of harming the Jewish State of Israel by alienating these young people from themselves and the possibility of a future strong Jewish leadership in the Diaspora.

The Arab nations have always been an enemy to the existence of the State of Israel, nothing has changed, and peace is not in their lexicon regarding Jews ruling over the Land of Israel. Growing up in Israel prepares you for this reality, it is one of the advantages of being surrounded by bullies whom only wish you harm and worse. But most Jews in the Diaspora are not prepared for this aggressive behavior that they witness on their campuses. Their reactions vary, most either hide their identities and thoughts waiting quietly for still waters, while others join this parade of hatred, fooling themselves into thinking that they are a part of a new order that will bring a just change to a region, culture and in many cases, a people they do not even know.

There are of course the few, the minority that does fight back, that attempt to stand strong. These smaller Israel Advocacy groups lack the numbers, funding and fashionable stance to compete and present a viable challenge to this on going and growing threat. Never the less they do try and at times, just like Israel, they are victorious against what is perceived as overwhelming odds.

It used to be that for many American Jews, the problems and challenges that Israel faces are far away, not their problem, not their concern, …no longer.

If you are Jewish, you have no choice but to ultimately, eventually face the same challenges, the same enemies that Israel must contend with, the same challenges, the same enemies that our people have contended with throughout history, wherever you are.

We will do this together.

The Once and Future Battle

The “spin” has begun. The new illusion of hope among the feeble-minded is called the “Direct Talks”. Meanwhile all involved are already working on “exit strategies”, in essence the talks have yet to go anywhere and they are already nowhere. The PLO will pull out if there is any building, anywhere and Bibi has basically said, though not officially, that the “Freeze” will continue in all places besides the larger blocs, (which he says Israel is keeping).

Sounds like negotiations, doesn’t it… The sad and absurd is that both of these leaders, aren’t leaders at all, nor do they have the majority backing of their people.

Abbas hangs on only due to US support, both militarily and financially. The Arab dream of throwing the Jews into the sea, or worse has yet to subside. Hamas licks their chops on the sidelines and from within at this point. They simply wait and pray (prey) that the US will succeed in pressuring Israel to give up its heartland, before they pounce. Their sight and sites are set on Israel’s coast, Ben Gurion Airport and our main infrastructure facilities… it’s just a matter of time.

Bibi continues to play the poodle in hopes of US assistance against Iran, a big deal we know, but it seems to be too late at this point.

Don’t get any of your hopes up, these talks will yield “bupkas”, “gurnish”, “nada”, nothing. The majority of military experts in the world state that Israel is putting itself in self destructive suicidal danger, a new Muslim state in the Mid East will turn quickly into another Islamic Extremist presence, a de facto base for terrorism, first against Israel, than the West.

I know, I know, it has all been said before, boring I admit, but we have to keep on saying it. You see, many do not care for what is just or for what is right, even George Will thinks the Two State concept is idiotic, I know, still boring.

What about the plight of at least 100,000 Jewish refugees that would (Gd forbid) be created by this “solution”, oh, that’s right, silly me, I forgot, Jewish refugees do not merit, (where are all of you “rights” people now?). The Arabs always bring up the “plight of the Palestinian refugees”, well, what about the Jews that were thrown out of the Arab lands, they don’t count?

No, truth does not matter, only the creation of a new Islamic nation is important. The West needs a foster Muslim nation after they screwed up Iraq beyond repair, and something to distract the world from the butt kicking they will be getting in Afghanistan.

The Arabs of Israel make the perfect poster child for them, especially with Achmadinejad using the UN as a urinal. I can already see the rallies in the new Mosque at ground zero in NYC… “Come out and support the 23rd Islamic nation of the Mid East, special guest speakers The President of Iran and the Leader of Hezbollah”.

Not to mention the incredible amount of life that will be lost in and around Israel by the world attempting to force us into a suicidal corner that will only lead to regional violence.

Hey, but that’s good for business. The US will continue to arm all sides, and promote unrest in Israel, where they can, and those that the US does not arm will get their wares from Iran, Russia and wherever.

This is all in line with the continuing growing strength of Islam in the West… even CNN has a “Muslim” section now.

Israel is the price the West is willing to pay for what they think will bring Peace and Quiet… boy, that is going to be one big ole “I told you so”.

Yes, the world is laughing at us and I know many Jews in the world are detaching themselves (mind you, many are not!) from us. Let me tell you this, we may be a mess of different opinions, we may not know how to present our side properly, our government may get their cues from Barnum and Bailey’s three ring circus, but the world is forgetting one thing…we Jews of Israel (and the world) are not going down.

We may stumble, and fall down a bit, but I can promise the world one thing, we will get up and we will fight back, but this time you will have to deal with a different Jew.

A friend of mine in the IDF came home and said the other day, “every one I meet seems to be right-wing”. Guess what, it is not right wing, it is simply more and more Israelis are getting tired of being treated like a dirty rag, they are waking up to the intentions of the Arabs, and certain Western leaders… There has been enough left wing/Islamic anti-Israel rhetoric, enough criticism from the world and definitely enough of being put into a corner. Be it on College Campuses in Israel or the US, in front of Embassies and yes, even throughout Israel (even Tel Aviv) our people are getting stronger and starting to fight back, and this is only the beginning.

You may not see it so clearly outside of Israel and a better future may seem far off, but even though it is an uphill battle at this point, we will fight it, and the view from the top is beautiful, and it is ours.

If you ignore it, it won’t go away.

For years many Jews in Israel’s North and South considered the “problem with Arabs” to be isolated to Judea and Samaria. Terrorism, theft, rape happened “over there”, not in “my neighborhood”.

Separating themselves from the heartland of Israel, many of those living “inside the line” thought that themselves different. The “Green line” became more than an ink mark on a map, it became a cause, a wall, a place not to go, not really the state.

Boy, did that back fire!

Those who harbor an elevated intellect and intelligence realize that there is no difference between the Jewish people who live on either side of the line, that all are part of Jewish history and heritage and Israel today. Mind you the same goes for the Arab residents, except for the part of Jewish History and heritage (then again, their views regarding the erasing of our presence and history here are pretty much the same).

Over the past two and a half years I have been working with various security and emergency projects in the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley as Director of Security Projects for One Israel Fund. I am proud to say that there has been much progress. Terrorists and thieves have been caught trying to infiltrate communities, standards in Emergency and Medical response rose to new and admirable heights, lives have been saved, Jews have been protected, Thank Gd, and we have been making progress and will continue to work hard to achieve even more.

Recently I have been turned to from communities from the Galil, from the Negev, the Dead Sea region, all looking for the same type of assistance and guidance we have been providing to Judea and Samaria. They all came to me with the same horrendous stories, theft of land, livestock, produce and more, farmers being beaten, infrastructure being destroyed… all while “Israel” sleeps.

It was ironic for me to hear these stories, they were of course not news to me, and having lived in Judea and Samaria for so many years, I was used to them, of course the only difference was that the Arabs in Judea and Samaria often used guns and bombs against us to achieve their heinous goals. The irony was that for years these same folk viewed the Jews living “over the Green Line” as different, not one with them, as the “settlers”, often forgetting their not to distant common past with these “settlers”.

There are many levels of terrorism, the common denominator is that it affects our daily lives and how we live them. We often classify it by the costs involved, the highest cost being in blood and lives. This is the cost we in Judea and Samaria have learned most this is the cost our children have learned. In the North and South the cost has been in land stolen, Jews run off their land by having their crops and livestock destroyed or stolen and then only to be arrested by our own police when trying to defend that which we all hold so dear to ourselves… our homes.

There is a saying in Hebrew, “Ha Kol l’Tova”, it is all for the good, so where’s the good you ask?

More and more Jews from these areas have been coming to the realization that there is no “Green Line” and that we are all in this together, one people, one land, one state. By ignoring their brothers in Judea and Samaria, the see that the problems of terror have spread to them also. It has now become more common to hear of arrests of terror cells in both the north and south. Communities living along this invisible political entity of a line are now afraid of becoming new “Sderots”, they are even looking into forming first response teams to answer various “incidents” in their regions.

When they called out looking for assistance in manpower many from the heartland responded to their calls, and the borders came down, the line disappeared and bonds were formed and these bonds are growing stronger. It is indeed heartwarming to be “welcomed” back. After years of being looked at like a creature from beyond, to be viewed once again as a brother was a pleasure.

It seems that the lessons of the expulsion from Gush Katif have been learned by a large part of the country; of course most of those that have yet to learn do not live within any proximity of a possible danger…yet, mind you, they choose to keep their heads stuck in the sand. But the facts remain, that we in Israel are waking up.

In the discussions that have been ongoing regarding the problems mentioned, it seems that those that are causing the most harm are not the Arabs, in fact it is agreed by most, the Arabs are simply doing what they have been doing for years, being our enemy and trying to drive us from our land, all of our land.

The problem seems to rest mostly within the authorities and Arab and “Peace” groups from the outside. The actions, or lack of action by the police, the land administration, the government all seems to add to the motivation of the Arab perpetrators, while their funding goes unhindered. Sure there are successes here and there, crimes and terror are stopped, but far from satisfactory levels.

This symptom of a lack of proper response has been the main culprit in the escalation of terror in Judea and Samaria, Gaza in the past. It continues to feed the rockets down south and propagates a new and possibly explosive situation in the north and south of Israel.

While pointing a finger is the easiest path to take, I will change directions in pointing and look to point that finger towards the mirror, not just at myself, but also at all of us. Not in blame, but in a “call to arms” to coin a phrase.

The challenge of holding onto Israel did not end in 1948, 56, 67, 73,82, 91, 2000, etc., etc. our homeland has still far to go. It is still going on, it is just hidden in the fog, out of sight to many and barely visible outside the country. Every ethnic group has at least one place to call home, we Jews only have Israel, we Jews only have ourselves and maybe a few real friends, we can’t forget that.

Our fight to hold on to our country is far from over.

I know that the halls of the Knesset do not always represent that, I know that in many Café’s in Tel Aviv, you won’t find it, but it is here in Israel and it is strong and growing stronger.

The change in Israel will come from within, it must, and it will then shine outwards. But “within” must be within all of us as a people. If we want to have the luxury of sibling rivalry, we must first have the luxury of safe surroundings, safe surrounding in our homeland, our country, and that we achieve by having “Achdut”, by having Unity.

Our enemy is out there trying to take our land from us, lets make them stop, and stop now. Do not stand quiet, stand strong, and stand together, and continue to build Israel, continue to fight for Israel, for all of Israel

We can then offer them an Olive branch if they want, if they are ready.

As we are in the Hebrew month of Elul, heading towards a New Year and Rosh Hashanah, I would like to mention a thought. The first letters of the word “ELUL” are often referred to in Psalm 6:3, “Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Lee”, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. Usually this refers to the Jewish people's connection with Gd. Throughout the Torah our people's connection with the Land of Israel is mentioned time and time again. In the book of Devarim (the last book of the Torah, that which we are reading from now), everything is leading up to our return to Israel.

A thought... if we as Jews feel about our connection with the Land of Israel as we feel about our intimate connection above during this month of Elul, maybe we can bring about a change for the better sooner and make the world safer and a better place for all of us.

The Demons Among Us

Settlers, Jewish Extremists, Messianics, religious extremists, etc… etc., words often used to describe the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. What about the visuals? Guys with big knitted kippahs (Head Coverings), Peiyot (hair side locks), Girls with long flowing skirts, scarves on their heads, all of them yelling, screaming, cursing, kicking and punching soldiers, police, Arabs, you name it. Their houses are caravans haphazardly stuck on some hilltop in the middle of a barren landscape.

That’s the picture, that’s the visual that most Jews in the world have of the Jews living in Judea and Samaria, in fact, that’s how most people view the Jews of Judea and Samaria. Yup, all of them are of the Jews are like that, all 300,000+ of them, they are all the same, crazies, fanatics, violent people who are stealing land from the poor Arabs who are guilty of only trying to live in peace and serenity.

Well, if you believe that one, I have a bridge to sell you, good price too!

Here is a scoop for all of you that have become victims of the media, Arab propaganda and left wing spin- NOT TRUE, WRONG, MISTAKE, BAD, STEROTYPE, RACIST!

The Jewish make up of Judea and Samaria is no different than the make up of the rest of Israel, for that matter, much in common with every other Jewish community in the world. The faces vary in color and shape, the dresses go from long to short, just like the pants, the heads are covered, uncovered, Shabbat is observed and not observed, Kashruth is kept and not kept, you get the picture. A region as diverse in people as the rest of the country, and world. Yes, some areas have more religious than others, some have no religious, all of them just people, some crazy, some not, some professional, some not. Our kids serve in the IDF, all over the IDF, protecting and defending all of Israel, not just part. We have Artists, Musicians, Writers, Professors, Doctors, Trash men, Teachers, Hippies, Geeks, existentialists, and so on and so on.

Hey, just like where you live, no?

What kinds of synagogues make up your area? Do you all get along?

The only difference that sets these “folk” apart is that they believe that Judea and Samaria is part of the Jewish homeland, and do not see a “Green line” that separates them. Sort of like the decision that the world made in 1922 at the San Remo conference, you know, where the land west of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean would be the Jewish homeland.

Don’t believe me? Come out and see for yourselves.

I honestly feel sorry for most of Diaspora Judaism, at least those who have bought into the Left Wing/Arab propaganda. They have had their history and identity stolen from them, right beneath their eyes, with out even asking them.

One day we are all one country, the next “Two States for two people”, what happened? No, the answer is NOT that we woke up - it is that we fell asleep.

So if this is the way it is, why are the media, the Arabs and the left presenting us with the wrong picture? Simple, if they present and show you a wrong and deceitful picture, they can convince you to join their camp and assist and back them in their devious plans to ethnically cleanse Jews from their land and thereby damage the reality of a Jewish Land, and any chance of peace in the region.

Nasty, isn’t it.

But again, don’t take my word for it, come out and meet the people yourselves, why don’t you even ask them what they think. People are under the impression that Judea and Samaria is some sort of fanatic religious stronghold, I must remember to tell that to all of the secular Jews and communities that have been forgotten by the other streams of Judaism.

You will find that opinions vary, just like everywhere. Remember, there are all types of people, some just like you all throughout Judea and Samaria, whoever you are.

No “Green Line”, just Israel.

I am often told that I don’t supply an answer of “what to do”. There is so much and so many with varied answers and solutions. Some suggestions:

Come out and see what is going on, do not be afraid anymore. Others aren’t afraid, why are you?

Do not follow Left-Wing/Arab funded propaganda blindly - decide for yourselves.

Challenge your leaders to take you out and see for yourselves, with open eyes and hearts and not be guided by “Anti” organizations. Remember this is OUR history, our BIRTHRIGHT.

Get your neighbors to think again.

The media does not supply you with an accurate picture of Judea and Samaria, and I am sorry to say, neither does Israeli politics, but that will change soon.

Judea and Samaria are not separate from Israel, we are as much apart of Israel as the Galil, the Negev, the Golan, the Coast, and we are one state. We have problems, no one is denying that, but we are one state, and we have only one land, just like we are one people.

So the next time you hear about the “Demons” in Judea and Samaria, and visualize what the media and others wish you to see, remember that is not the full picture, not near it, there are many Jews that make up our heartland, the majority, the minority, the diversity, the unique, the people who are just like you and me, whoever we are.

A Deafening Quiet

The quiet is deafening. Quite suspiciously the world is relatively quiet in its hobby of ranting against and condemnation of Israel. Even the new Caliphate of the EU remains disconcertingly still.

Of course barely anyone has what to say regarding the latest provocation by Hezbollah, sorry I meant to say, the Lebanese Army, against Israeli troops on the northern border. The UN for some strange reason actually spoke out against Lebanon, again, very suspicious.

The pressure now is supposedly on Abbas to start in with direct talks with Israel, maybe that is the cause of this entire ruckus? We wouldn’t want to disturb his thought process, as he figures out a way to continue to deceive the world and the Arabs into continuing the cash flow to his “virtual entity”, and keep his puppet government around under the threat of Hamas.

Even the Left Wing demonstrators, J Street, American Friends of Peace Now and all of the others have toned down their actions so as not to create more waves than necessary, less they, Gd forbid, shake the boat too much and cause Abbas and his henchmen to get confused and show the world that they (all of them) really are not interested in a peaceful coexistence with a Jewish State or Jews, heaven forbid.

Even a bit more worrisome is the reports that Haim Ramon and Kadima, supposedly with the backing of Prez Peres, are advising the Arabs not to negotiate with Prime Minister Netanyahu, hmmmm.

With all of these actors in this play acting in near perfect sync like a well choreographed musical, it might well lead one to think that there is someone behind the scenes, pulling the strings, or yanking the cords. I wonder who has been footing the bill for this production?

On the other side, we continue to see more and more Jews, both from Israel and the outside waking up to this façade. I marvel at the ever-growing amount of Israeli Media people warming up to Yehuda and Shomron. More Jews are beginning to ask their “leaders” from the Conservative and Reform movements why they have abandoned their homeland and their history, and have been asking to come out, once again to see where they come from.

Of course this is a major pain for the Israeli Left Wing, and they do their utmost to hide it, and act against it. Of course they have no limit to funding, as long as oil can be made into gasoline, so I am told.

Many of the local Arabs are even getting tired of the charade of their own and the world, and are indeed upset at the way they have been led down the wrong path, again and again. So many of them long for when we were at “war” with them, at least then they could travel around Israel, at least then millions of Israeli (Jewish) dollars flowed into Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem and the other major cities of Yehuda and Shomron every weekend, and of course they did not have to pay taxes. There were fewer acts of terror and much more cooperation between Jews and Arabs, not perfect, far from it, but still, much better than post-Oslo.

But that was war, and not peace, like we have now.

This quiet still disturbs me.

I have yet to see anyone work towards a true peace in this region that includes the basic rights of Jews to live here, only towards the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their historical homeland. The activists on the left side with their allies who dream of an Israel-free Middle East have no moral borders as they seek to wrench and displace over 300,000 (500,000 according to them) Jews from their homes and turn them into refugees. Lessons from the expulsion from Gush Katif fall on deaf ears, perhaps shedding light on ulterior motives behind that heinous crime.

Tensions are high, Hamas aches to show its muscle, Hezbollah boosts its ability to continue to kill Jews, and a mystery man fires missiles on Eilat, thank Gd not harming anyone in Israel.

Recent polls in Israel have shown that Israeli’s are waking up and realizing some of the mistakes made and working towards changing them, there is growing support for Yehuda and Shomron and realization that a possible expulsion and disengagement from Yehuda and Shomron would be a mistake, a big mistake… despite what you may read in Ha’Aretz.

The coming months may very well dictate changes in our everyday life, not just in Israel, but also all over the world.

We are waking up here, Wake up over there.

Time to get to work before it is too late.

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.