Hamas Archives - standing by the gate

Who, exactly, has Israel’s back?

July 30, 2014 By Cliff 2 Comments

Channel One in Israel has produced what it claims to be a leaked transcript of a conversation between US President Barak, “I’ve got your back, Israel,” Obama and Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu in which the President of the United States tries to bully Israel into submission to its enemies. “The White House quickly issued a denial, with Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, calling the supposed transcript of the call “totally false,” in effect, asking those who have read the transcript to disregard an exchange that, if true as reported, perfectly explains what has appeared to be the exasperating hesitancy of Netanyahu and his cabinet to vigorously pursue action in Gaza that would end Hamas’s ability to continue bombing, kidnapping and murdering Israeli Jews. Netanyahu’s office, for what it is worth, also provided a twitter denial reproduced in an article in Time.

Pray for Benjamin Netanyahu. Anyone want his job? True or false, the transcript fits the strangely unfolding events of the last three weeks as Israel has been hesitant to get an essential job done, puzzling its people with unilateral cease fires and excruciating deliberateness in Gaza while her citizens and soldiers remain in harm’s way.

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Still Crazy, After All These Years

July 25, 2014 By Cliff 7 Comments

Day 17 of Operation Protective Edge

sTARS OF dAVID aT KOTEL pLAZA

Speaking ahead of special cabinet meeting, prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] says IDF has made substantial gains against Hamas terror infrastructure in Gaza and will continue the operation in full strength. (from the Jerusalem Post)

It’s been twelve days since the last Hamas rocket attack on Jerusalem. According to the Jerusalem Post the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has lost thirty-two soldiers since beginning a ground incursion into Gaza. Less than an hour before I began this entry sirens sounded in the south as another barrage of Hamas rockets were launched at Ashdod, Israel’s fifth largest city 32 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. Although the Israeli Iron Dome antimissile system has performed spectacularly well against Hamas rockets, Hamas gained a temporary victory yesterday when the US FAA and several European airlines halted all flights into Tel Aviv after a rocket landed to no effect within a mile of Ben Gurion Airport .

Hamas continues to eagerly report Palestinian civilian casualties to the waiting world press, as it seems that the human shield business is a hazardous one. There was a time, not too long ago, when international opinion would have sized up Hamas’s behavior as murderous and insane but this is a brave new world.

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Rockets and Duct Tape

July 11, 2014 By Cliff 10 Comments

Hamas Launches Rockets from Gaza

Minutes after I began this entry on Thursday, July 10 at about 6:00 PM, sirens sounded here in Jerusalem for the second time since Hamas, the people of Gaza’s elected terrorist government, began the latest round of rocket fire against Israeli homes and schools. Marcia and I counted 6 explosions after the sirens sounded yet we remain hopeful that, as was the case two nights ago, none in Jerusalem were harmed by the attack. Soon after the excitement ended, a friend told us that she, while waiting at a nearby Jerusalem bus stop, had watched first hand as Iron Dome missiles intercepted two incoming rockets overhead.

A man stopped traffic to hop out of his car and take pictures.

The rockets, of course, came from Gaza, the territory that Israel ceded to the Arabs nine years ago in hopes of furthering peace.

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Israel’s Secret Weapon

November 17, 2012 By Cliff 14 Comments

Late Friday afternoon, Erev Shabbat, November 16, 2012, warning sirens blew in earnest in Jerusalem for the first time since we have lived here. Later reports claimed that two rockets launched from Gaza had landed close to, but outside the city. Even though Marcia, the neighbors and I had all heard and felt faint concussions from explosions that Hamas later boasted came from “improved Qassam” rockets, everyone here remained calm.

Out on the street, pedestrians walked at the same leisurely pace as before. In an apartment next door, an orthodox gathering sang together while the sirens wailed, preparing for blessings over wine and bread and a Sabbath meal.

But after all kinds of prior talk about being prepared, Marcia and I still weren’t quite sure what to do; then Marcia’s all-girl intelligence network kicked in. Her cell phone rang continually as she gathered tactical assessments from women all over town. Everyone and everything seemed okay. After a quick meeting with our fellow building mates we agreed to meet in Miriam’s makhsan (storage room) if the sirens blew again. (Modern buildings in Israel all have fortified safe rooms, by code, but ours was built well before this rule, sometime in the 1930s.)

While Jerusalem’s and Tel Aviv’s recent experience is relatively unique, missiles have fallen regularly into southern Israel from heroic positions in Gaza (urban centers, hospitals and schools) for years. Citizens in the south are urged to reach shelter within fifteen seconds of an alert to be safe.

Here in Jerusalem the recommended time to respond is a luxurious 30-90 seconds.

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