The Implications and Consequences of Expulsion for the Jewish People
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Katyusha [Grad] Damages Ashkelon Garage [Friday; Grad Rocket Landed in Ashkelon Cemetery]
Kassam Fired From Gaza Lands in Sdot Negev Area; No Casualties
Gaza: Three Terrorists in Critical Condition [Seven Islamics Injured]
IDF Troops Nab Two Terrorist Infiltrators [Who Entered North of Kissufim] From Gaza Strip
Related report; Soldiers Find Infiltrators, Search for Weapons
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Commentary:
This is a tough piece to write. But then, the headlines both during the weeks before Pesach and during Chol HaMoed are tough to come to grips with.
In rapid -fire succession; the “supreme court rulings” permitting hametz to be sold, as long as not in the public domain, i.e. in restaurants and granting citizenship to “Messianic Jews” as long as at least the father is Jewish. Then there is all of this talk about both “truces” or “ceasefires” with Hamas, the latest version being a six month halt, as translated; Hudna and about Olmert’s readiness to hand the Golan Heights over to Syria in exchange for the Syrian brand of Hudna. All the while, the Olmert, Livni, Barak troika continues carving up Jerusalem. There is this morning’s attack by PA terrorists on the Nitzane Shalom industrial complex near Tulkarm which killed 2 Israeli armed guards, thus showing the sheer lunacy of Israel’s notion of building industrial complexes to provide employment for it’s enemy. And finally, there is the latest “fly in the ointment” in efforts to secure Jonathan Pollard’s freedom;
the indictment in New York, some 23 years later, of a now 85 year old former US Army Engineer accused only decades later of spying for Israel between 1979 and 1985.
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4 Rockets Fired at Ashkelon; One Lands Near Strategic Facility
Related report; Kassam Rocket [One of Four Launched at Ashkelon Industrial Area] Explodes Near Strategic Site
30 Palestinians Arrested in Gaza Operation; No IDF Casualties Reported
Related report; Hamas Says Willing to Accept 6-Month Truce, by Ali Waked (Ynet)
Excerpt;
“Israel says it is ready for ‘quiet’ at the Gaza border, but that it would require a complete halt to attacks by Hamas on Israelis, a stop to cross-border rocket fire from all Palestinian groups and an end to weapon smuggling into Gaza.”
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IDF Shoots Armed Arabs in Gaza
Two Air Force Strikes Kill One Terrorist, Wound Three
Air Strikes Kill Terrorists, Checkpoints Decrease Attacks, by Ezra HaLevi (Israel National News)
IDF Defuses Gaza Rocket Launcher
IDF Arrests 12 Palestinian Fugitives
Arabs Throw Fire Bombs, Damage Car in Samaria [Nerar Kalkilya]
Three Arab Thieves Nabbed in Jerusalem
3 Palestinians Arrested for Throwing Stones in Old City; No Casualties
Palestinians Throw Stones at Car Near Kalkilya; No Casualties Reported
Explosive Thrown at IDF Troops in Nablus [Shechem]; No Casualties or Damage Reported
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Kassam Attack Strikes Sderot Home, by Hana Levi Julian (Israel National News)
IDF Troops Arrest 8 Palestinians [Terrorists]
Palestinians Hurl Molotov Cocktail at Israeli Car Near Nablus [Shechem]; None Hurt
Soldiers Escape Injury in Shechem Terrorist Attack
IDF Troops Discover Pipe Bomb Near Security Barrier in Jenin
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Commentary;
During the heated campaign between Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama for the Democratic candidacy for US President, Clinton has made a number of statements specifically directed toward the Jewish vote, particularly during the run-up to Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary. This author takes great issue with one of these statements in particular.
Before the masses of American Jews take Hillary Clinton’s recent statement; If Iran attacks Israel, the US could ‘totally obliterate them’ as a great achievement and an expression of unshakable alliance with Israel, this author feels compelled to harken back to the great American actor/comedian Jimmy Durante, who during his act, would grab his hat, shake that monstrous nose and bellow;
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IDF Takes Out 3 Terrorists in Northern Gaza
Terrorists Attack Soldiers Near El-Bureij [in Gaza]
Kassam Rocket Lands in Eshkol Regional Council; No Injuries Reported
One Child Lightly Wounded as Four Kassams Hit Southern Negev
UN Men Stood Down as Hezbollah Terrorists Ran Guns
IDF Arrests 20 Wanted Terrorists
14-Year-Old Palestinian Arrested on Suspicion of Stoning Bus [Enroute to Acre]
Palestinians Throw Molotov Cocktail at Israeli Car Near Kalkilya; None Hurt
Palestinian Arrested in Hadera on Suspicion of Stealing Multiple Vehicles
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Rav Chaim Zev Malinowitz spoke before Pesach saying that to truly feel Pesach, we need to put ourselves in a mindset of feeling the Yetziyot Mitzrayim as if we were there eating the Seder meal, the Korbon Pesach, the Matzah — the bread of affliction which was baked in haste because of the haste of departure from Mitzrayim. This author sat pondering this proposition in Shul before Ma’ariv welcoming Pesach and gave over these thoughts at the Pesach seder as well as during the day meal.
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2 Kassams Fired at Ashkelon From Gaza Strip; No Casualties
Kassam Fired From Gaza Lands Near Sderot; None Wounded
Kassam Rocket Explodes near [Sha’ar HaNegev] Regional Council Leader
IDF Braces for More Attacks [Via APC Like Used at Kerem Shalom, Like Russian Ones Israel Permits to PA] From Gaza, by Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpt;
Defense officials said Israel did not plan to alter an earlier decision to permit the PA in the West Bank to receive 25 APCs from Russia, despite the use of an armored vehicle in the Kerem Shalom attack. The decision to transfer the APCs was made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert several months ago following a request by Russia to supply the vehicles to Fatah forces in the West Bank to bolster PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
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Seven [Islamic Terrorists] Killed in IAF Strikes [on Kassam Launch Cell] in Gaza
Enemy Fired Dozens of Rockets, Shells Over Holiday
Two Kassam Rockets Strike Open Areas in Western Negev; None Wounded
3 Kassam Rockets Strike Open Areas in Western Negev; None Wounded
13 Soldiers Hurt in Kerem Shalom Attack