Samir Kuntar - "Murderer of Nahariyah" Dead at last

Earlier in the month of July (2015) there had been a previous report of the neutralizing of the "Murderer of Nahariyah" Samir Kuntar  by an Israeli drone attack on a vehicle  at the entrance of the Druze village of Hader, in Quneitra Province.

At that time in a previous Blog entry of mine I had my suspicions that the report which was being spred through out the Social Media were not correct. I had written; "It is NOT YET confirmed that  Samir  Kuntar from Abey Mount, Lebanon was among those killed."

According to Hezbollah's mouthpiece Al-Manar, thirty-six years after murdering the Haran family and the Israeli policeman  Eliyahu Shachar  in a vicious terror attack in Nahariya, senior Hezbollah leader Samir Kuntar was killed in an airstrike on Saturday night, which the Lebanese terror organization attributed to the Israel Air Force. Two IAF jets infiltrated Syrian airspace and launched four long-range missiles at a six-floor high building in Jaramana, on the southern outskirts of Damascus, destroying the building and causing damage to surrounding structures.

According to reports in the Arab media, eight others were killed in the attack, including Farhan al-Shaalan, another senior leader who planned terror attacks against Israelis in the Syrian Golan Heights.
"At 10:15pm on Saturday December 19, Zionist warplanes struck a residential building in Jaramana city in Damascus countryside. The Dean of liberated detainees from Israeli prisons, brother Mujahid Samir Kuntar was martyred along with several Syrian citizens in the strike," Hezbollah said in a statement.
The Syrian government released a condemnation of "the terror attack that led to the death of innocent civilians in Jaramana, including the warrior Samir Kuntar."

The Murderer of Nahariyah

In 1979, when Kuntar was 16 years old, he infiltrated Israel on a rubber boat from Lebanon along with three other terrorists from the "Palestine Liberation Front." The four came ashore in Nahariya, shot dead police officer Eliyahu Shahar and broke into the apartment of the Haran family. There, they took Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter Einat hostage, while mother Smadar hid in a crawl space with two-year-old daughter Yael.

Father Danny and daughter Einat were taken ashore, where a firefight ensued between the terrorists and police officers who arrived at the scene. Kuntar shot Danny Haran to death, and then cruelly smashed Einat's skull with the butt of his rifle, murdering her as well.
Two-year-old Yael was accidentally smothered to death while her mother was trying to stop her from crying and revealing their hiding place.
Another police officer was killed, along with two of Kuntar's cell members, in the gunfire that ensued.

Kuntar was jailed for almost 30 years, for which he was known in Lebanon as "The Dean of Lebanese Prisoners" for being the longest-held prisoner in Israel, and was freed in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2008, for the IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, whose condition was unknown and cynically withheld from Israel during the negotiations. Hezbollah kept a vision of their being alive until the very last moment when the coffins were brought to the exchange point. Both had been reported to have been captured wounded but alive.

Upon his return to Lebanon Kuntar, 53, received a hero's welcome. Syrian President Assad awarded him the country's highest medal during a trip he made to Damascus that year.

In 2014, Kuntar, who is a Druze himself, was reportedly involved in attempts to recruit the Druze in Syria - both in the Golan Heights and in other areas - for a Druze militia to fight for the Assad regime, but these efforts were unsuccessful. As a Druse, Kuntar played a central role in Hezbollah and Iran's efforts to build up terrorist infrastructure in the Golan Heights in order to launch attacks against Israel, with recent reports in the Gulf States claiming Kuntar was in charge of the "Syrian Hezbollah."

Kuntar, recently gave an interview to the Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV channel, which is affiliated with Hezbollah. There he claimed that "Israel gives a lot of aid to the anti Assad fighters but they must not be too happy about that, because some of them will pay a very high price for it."

He was asked if he is worried of an attempt on his life, and answered that he was. "Even if they assassinate me or other resistance fighters, the Syrian resistance operation continues forward,"

In deference to the previous announcement in July 2015 this time Kuntar's his step-brother from his father's second wife Shiham acknowledged his death in a "Tweet"

If indeed Samir Kuntar was "neutralized" by Israel, it would bring some slight comfort to the Schachar and Haran families.

Judea and Shomron: What Occupied Territory?

Do pray tell what are the "Palestinian Territories"?

I do not remember anywhere in recorded history that there is or was such an area as the "Palestinian Territories".

I believe it is about time that when people write abut the Middle East one should learn to describe and relate the truth. It is to the everlasting disgrace through the negligence of the Israeli government and the Hasbara department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry that this LIE of “occupation” is repeated and it has been absorbed by governments abroad to give legitimization to a fairy tale known as the “West Bank” and "Palestine".

Let us review historical fact shall we?

When the Palestinian Mandate ended in UN Resolution 181 on November 29th 1947, there was supposed to be a Partition of the Mandated Areas between the Jews and Arabs of the "Mandated Areas". 

The Arabs, at the instigation of the leaders of seven members of the Arab League did not and still do not fully recognize the Jewish people the right to establish a "Homeland" in the "Mandated Territories" known as Israel.

Instead of the local Arab population agreeing to the "Partition" or "Division" of the League of Nations "Mandated" area there was a bloody war that ended in an "Armistice". 

Please note: an "Armistice" is defined as a:

Noun; an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.
synonyms: truce, ceasefire, peace, suspension of hostilities (!!!!)

The "Armistice"in Rhodes in 1949 are a set of agreements which divided the "Mandated Territory" 9 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan,and Syria.The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and established Armistice Demarcation Lines between Israeli forces and Jordanian-Iraqi forces, also known as the "infamous" Green Line. 

It is extremely important to note that there was no Palestinian representation involved in the negotiations. (And no one has ever questioned; "Why was that?")

Few realize that in the 1948 invasion and seizure of the Mandated Area and the capture of Jerusalem by the Trans-Jordanian Legion. Jordan was in open violation of Article 2 clause 4 of the UN Charter at the time of the invasion and capture of Jerusalem.

To the detriment of the Jewish state the world governments did ABSOLUTELY nothing!! There was no UN Condemnation, no raised voices, no mass marches in the streets.

ABSOLUTELY nothing was ever done at that time by the members of the UN to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Jerusalem's centuries-old Jewish Quarter and desecration of the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. As well as many areas of Judea and Shomron which were Jewish owned lands purchased prior to 1948 such as the Etzion Block.

According to Article 2 clause 4 of the UN Charter the Mandated Area was “illegally occupied” by Jordan was therefore termed in International Law as terra nullius, or "land belonging to no one".

Israel, which according to the League of Nation Mandate was entitled to the part of the area, subsequently took that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defense in 1967 has better title to it from the prior occupying power- Jordan - of the “West Bank” and the Eastern part of Jerusalem.

With the negotiated peace treaty, between Jordan and Israel in 1995, the "Mandated Area" for the Jewish Homeland (Article 8 Mandate for Palestine) was returned and therefore the "West Bank" officially became Israeli territory as per International Law termed;

Utipossidetis juris or uti possidetis iuris (Latin for "as you possess under law") is a principle of international law that states that:
"is a principle of customary international law originally applied to decolonized territories to preserve the boundaries of colonies emerging as States."

So legally there is no need to annex since neither the Jordanians nor the "Falestinians" never claimed sovereignty. 

Since no country or government had claimed sovereignty over it than according to International Law “terra nullius” which is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one".

"Terra Nullius" is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty. Sovereignty over territory which is terra nullius may be acquired through occupation.

Furthermore, Israel's occupation of the West Bank is fully legal under the terms of UN Resolution 242 (1967), which was carefully drafted to guarantee Israel's rights to remain there until such time as there is a;

"Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force."

In 1994 the so called “Green Line” is a “Cease fire line” between Israel and Jordan and was replaced by an official border along the Jordan River through a peace agreement with Jordan.

Therefore, until the “Palestinians” and the “Palestinian Authority” accepts a peace with Israel based on mutual recognition it is beyond proof that the land belongs to Israel and there is no such thing as "Palestinian Territories".

Tempting Fate

Upon reading the ever so sad news of the murder of two young parents of four small children, Eitam and Na'ama Henkin, my heart breaks at the thought.
As both a father and as a grandfather I am totally outraged at this vulgar barbarity of the cold blooded murder of the young parents in front of their small children but even more so by the murderers carrying out verification of death shots.

As usual I am not surprised but still truly revolted by the world's continual apathy at the death of Jews by those who hate us. It appears that this barbarity is part of our collective Jewish existence on this planet.

When it was believed to be Israelis who perpetrated the attack in arson attack in the village of Duma where a child was killed outright and his parents succumbed to their wounds, every official in Israel strongly condemned the act and Israel's Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu even visited the family in the hospital.

The Falestinian "leader" Mahmoud Abbas has not issued a single condemnation of the couple's murder, and his utter silence in the face of the despicable attack is a typical response of Arabs to that of Jewish lives. What we have heard loud and clear was a senior official from his Fatah movement praising this cold blooded murder.

And as I stated, I am of course outraged at the murder nevertheless I am consistently angered at the gross negligence of those residing in the area of Judea and Shomron to ignore the possibility of these murderous actions.

Ah but of course I see the comments on the social media blaming everyone -

• Bibi and the Israeli Government
• the IDF
• the Border Guards and the Police
• the Shin Bet
• the leftists etc, etc. 

As my father once stated when you point your finger at someone remember you have three finger pointing back at you- the thumb points off to the side. So like aiming a rifle before shooting, when you accuse someone else think first since you may miss them.

As we Jewish "settlers" ALL know.  For more than 100 hundred years we Zionists, who have  had the audacity to return to live in OUR homeland of Eretz Yisrael. We have been forced to acknowledge that  the "Arabs of the Mandated Areas" -those who euphemistically refer to themselves as "Falestinians,"are most definitely not your "peaceful" neighbors!
Our long and very blood soaked history has shown that even prior to the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 the Arabs have wanted to murder us. Their lack of ability to accept that we Jews were here and that this was our land has been their source of deep hatred. As they say; "We love death!"

The overwhelming majority of the "Arabs of the Mandated Areas" nurture a myopic and blind hatred of the Jews and of Israel. They have created a cultural environment of vengeance, violence and death to prepare their children just like the god Moloch of the ancient Philistines to be sacrifices in a death cult. 

Back to Judea and Shomron.

From past experience anyone who resides among the "Arabs of the Mandated Areas" should know that it is NOT safe to travel on lonely roads at night. Especially in the aftermath of Mahmoud Abbas's speech where he openly declared that "his people" were no longer bound by mutual agreements with Israel. (The so called defunct Oslo Peace Accords of a once hoped for Middle East peace process.)
.
So why tempt fate?

It was sheer and utter stupidity -not to speak of gross negligence for Eitam and Na'ama Henkin to risk NOT ONLY their lives but the lives of their small children to leave Itzhar at night!
Oh yes as my Religious friends would nod and mumble it is "HaShem's" way.

We ALL know the situation sucks and the "Falestinian Leadership" wants ALL Jews OUT and Judea and Shomron "Judenrein". So murderous attacks on Israeli -read Jewish residents -NOT Settlers! Are going to continue!

So WHY give the murderers easy targets on "Silver Platters"!

It is time to wake up and realize Rav Kahane is not the Prime Minister and Bibi listens only to those money bags in Big Business of the Liberal Fraction of the Likud. He is NOT going to take drastic steps because we Jews live in a world of hypocrits.
Oh yes just how we would love to do what our Arab neighbors do to one another and I hear you!

But we are above all Jews.
"HaShem" chose us and gave us a moral conscience.
As such we are not Nazis, as our detractors scream and yell at us. Neither are we Daesh (ISIS)

It is our superior morality that makes us models for humanity and why we have been despised and hated. All others are jealous of HaShem's love for US dare i say it Jews.

So there you have it we are all stuck with the "Falestinians" and YOU who reside in Judea and Shomron remember you are NOT in the Wild West.

There is no cavalry led by John Wayne or Ronnie Reagan to come to your rescue. Only the stupid sidekick Obama.

You who reside in "Indian Territory" need to remember you are surrounded by vicious barbaric blood thirsty savages who want more than anything your scalps. So wake up and act accordingly

Mysterious Explosion On Chinese Docks

In April 2004 there was a "Massive explosion" on a train in northern North Korea....why? What was involved? The other day there was "another massive explosion" on the docks Tianjin in northern China.
If anyone is interested may I suggest before any vote on any Iran deal be made that Senator Kerry and President Obama request that an FBI forensics team be sent to Tianjin in northern China to investigate the docks in China....

So what possibly could have been on the docks? What deals have been made in secret between Iran and China "behind" Israels back? Iran wants to attack Israel with nuclear weapons and here are new Chinese made cruise missiles,,,,,coincidence?

Silkworm (missile)

The Shang You or SY-series (Chinese: 上游; pinyin: shàngyóu; literally: "Upstream"), and the Hai Ying or HY-series (Chinese: 海鹰; pinyin: hǎiyīng; literally: "Sea Eagle") were early Chinese anti-ship missiles. They were derived from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile.
The HY-1 and HY-2 received the NATO reporting name Silkworm. However, to confuse matters, Western media also referred to the SY-series, and its export derivatives, the Fei Long or FL-series (Chinese: 飞龙; pinyin: fēilónɡ; literally: "Flying Dragon"), as 

Silkworms.Operational history:

Iran-Iraq War The Silkworm gained fame in the 1980s when it was used by both sides in the Iran–Iraq War; both countries were supplied by China. During 1987, Iran launched a number of Silkworm missiles from the Faw Peninsula vicinity striking the Liberian-flagged tanker Sungari and US-flagged tanker Sea Isle City in October 1987. Five other missiles struck areas in Kuwait earlier in the year. In October 1987, Kuwait's Sea Island offshore oil terminal was hit by an Iranian Silkworm which was observed to have originated from the Faw peninsula. The attack prompted Kuwait to deploy a Hawk missile battery on Failaka Island to protect the terminal. 

In December 1987, another Iranian Silkworm was fired at the terminal, but it struck a decoy barge instead. Prior to these attacks the missile's range was thought to be less than 80 kilometers (49.7 mi), but these attacks proved that the range exceeded 100 kilometers (62.1 mi) with Kuwaiti military observers seeing that the missiles originated from the area and tracking them on radar along with US satellite imagery of the launch sites.

In March 1988, China agreed to stop supplying Iran with HY-2 missiles, though it reportedly supplied Iran until 1989. Iran has since developed the capability to manufacture these missiles itself.

On February 25, 1991 a shore-based Iraqi launcher fired two Silkworm missiles at the USS Missouri which was in company with the USS Jarrett and HMS Gloucester. A Sea Dart missile from HMS Gloucester shot down one Silkworm and the other missed, crashing into the ocean. Royal Air Force officers subsequently recovered an HY-2 missile at Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. It is currently displayed at the RAF Museum Cosford.

Iraq War

During the Iraq War, Iraq used the Silkworm as a surface to surface missile by firing at least two of them at the coalition positions in Kuwait.

Second War in Lebanon 2006

On July 14, 2006, in the 2006 Lebanon War when Hezbollah fired two at Israeli warships. One missile hit the corvette INS Hanit, causing significant damage and four fatalities.Iran, the reported supplier of the missile to Hezbollah, refused to formally confirm or deny the claim. The Hanit suffered severe damage, but stayed afloat, got itself out of the line of fire, and made the rest of the journey back to Ashdod for repairs on its own.
The Israeli ship possessed sophisticated multi-layered missile defense capability: a Phalanx CIWS gun, Barak 1 anti-missile missiles, Chaff and ECM. These should have been able to prevent an anti-ship missile attack such as the YJ-82, but according to the Israeli military, these were intentionally disabled at the time of the alleged missile hit due to:a lack of intelligence indicating Hezbollah possessed such a missile; and the presence of many Israeli Air Force aircraft conducting operations in the vicinity of the ship which might have accidentally set off the ship's anti-missile/aerial threats system, with the danger of shooting down a friendly aircraft. However, the ship has an (optionally installed, especially during wartime) Identification friend or foe interrogator system to prevent attacking friendly aircraft.

Cry for the children bred by hatred

Regarding the recent death of the 18 month old Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsheh in the Arab village of Duma. I would like to begin by stating that it must be understood by both sides of this horrendous blood feud that there needs to be ZERO tolerance for injury to any innocents!

Indeference to the Palestinian's there are those who will point fingers and make accusations of my Zionist Jewish Israeli viewpoint as being biased and racist.

However, I will nonetheless point out that in past occasions when Jews were slaughtered;

• there were wild mass jubilant celebrations with candies handed out in the streets of Palestinian villages, cities and towns.
• There was mass glorification of morbid scenes of the aftermath of horrendous scenes of gory and bloody deaths.

• There were postings of colorful mass media posters lauding the perpetrators as "Heros" by "Official" governmental agencies.
• And of course there are the ceremonies with Palestinian Authority officials with payments of funds to the perpetrators from money given from donations given to "improve life".

Once the story of the child's death was known to the general populace in Israel there was overwhelming embarrassment, shame and disgust.

Fingers were immediately pointed and tongues unleashed among the "Left" of the secular Israeli establishment in a full scale assault on the "Settlers" and those who reside in Judea and Shomron from whence it is "assumed" the perpetrators of this "Price Tag" attack originated from.

As a matter of course there were mass protests in our major cities as many Israeli's began a process of soul searching for the source of this extremist bitter hatred.

And as of course in our Israeli society there was immediate major news coverage in the Israeli mass media televised, written press and social media as well.

Almost every Israeli openly denounced the horrific act.

There were hours of televised panel debates and criticism of those who could possibly be responsible for the instigating this horrific crime.

There was widespread wall to wall political condemnation of the crime and promises have been made to use all the legal means possible to find the perpetrators and those that inspired and assisted them.

It is also true that there are those who are backers of the "Rightists" who have responded on the social media with denials. They wish to deny and refuse to believe that this act could have been done by "Our Youth." They state;

• That the act is not proven.
• That there are "outstanding circumstances" and it was a "false flag" act.
• That the Arabs themselves did it.
• That it was a part of the ongoing feud within the Village.
• That there is no physical evidence to link any suspect to the scene.

Yet, it is undeniable that, as was pointed out by ex-members of the Shin Bet - Israeli Security Intelligence personnel, that there have been 13 such "Price Tag" attacks carried out in the preceding months. -- However these previous arson attacks did not cause loss of life but did cause physical damage.

Because of this they were not mentioned on the news or in the press simply because they were labeled as non news items. However the arson attacks with "Price Tag" Graffiti were left at the scene.

It was also mentioned and discussed by ex-members of the Shin Bet -Israeli Security  the fact that these acts in the past are extremely difficult to prove and investigate in the Palestinian administrative areas. That arrests and convictions are a rarity due to the non-existence of "physical" evidence.

Added to this list of recent "Price Tag" hate crimes was the recent firebombing of the Church of Loaves and Fish at Tabgha, on the Sea of Galilee.

In this specific case of  arson at the Church, Israeli Police investigators were able to collect and use surveillance videos from several locations to tediously connect the perpetrators to pieces of physical evidence.

In the case of the Dawabsheh arson attack besides the dubious "Price Tag" graffiti little or no physical evidence has been found.

The case is also hampered by the government and democratic legal investigative measures that can used by Police and Shin Bet investigators against the assumed suspects. The bottom line to consider is that Israel will investigate and will do its' utmost to find those responsible was reflected in the words of Prime Minister Netanyahu who stated, 'Hate and intolerance have no place in our society,' as he  ordered an accelerated investigation of the incident.

In his recent article, "Palestinians: The Difference between Us and Them" Bassam Tawil states:

"Netanyahu's strong and clear condemnation left me and other Palestinians wondering when was the last time we heard similar statements from our leaders. I cannot remember Abbas or any other Palestinian leader ever expressing shock and outrage over the killing of a Jew in a Palestinian terror attack, nor the last time a Palestinian official visited the Israeli victims of a Palestinian terror attack."  

To me the response by the Israeli general public shows the deep moralistic sense that pervades within the majority of the Jewish people and fully illuminates the deep chasm of the abyss of the lack of morality on the Arab side. It also fully delineates the reason why this Arab-Israeli conflict is not being resolved.

In recordings of sermons from Mosques and in lessons given by certain Rabbis, on YouTube and in tape recordings religious teachings are being misused by fanatics on both sides.

In the past few years we can see how in the Arab mass media that Arab behavior is being warped by Islamic teachings specifically those of Dar al Islam al Sham referred to by the acronym Da'ish /Daesh or as you call them ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Levant/Syria] the international resurgence of ultra-Wahhabi terrorism. which is socially abhorrent and reprehensible. This extremism is worrisome to the Arabs, both Sunnis and Shi'ite alike because it is uncontrollable and it is engulfing the entire Moslem world.
As in all major conflicts, as in the conflict with Islamic extremists raging in Syria and Iraq, it is always the innocents of both sides that pay the ultimate price for blind religious extremism and the obstinance of the adults to reach a solution to their conflict.

It is a fact, based on historical records, that the murder in Duma of an Arab child by Jews, is indeed a rarity.
Regretfully most of those Palestinian children that have perished in the age old conflict over the years have been killed in incidents involving the Israeli military forces and NOT in Jewish "terror" attacks.

With the death of the toddler in Duma, voices of the anti-Israel groups have erupted in unison once more in their morbid attempt to accuse and lay the blame on Israel for the murder of the 551 Palestinian children in last summers Operation Protective Shield in Gaza.
The fact that British military expert Colonel Richard Kemp has testified to the fact that most of the Palestinian children who were killed, were killed in attacks against Palestinian terrorists themselves. The Hamas members cynically used the families as "Human Shields" during house to house fighting in densely populated and crowded areas of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza. The overwhelming majority of cases the deaths of the Palestinian children were unintentional and could have been avoided if the parents of the children had taken steps to protect their children by distancing themselves from the area of conflict.

Colonel Kemp specifically referred in his testimonies to the cynical use of guerrilla warfare which was used by the Hamas in the  Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza purposely that lead in the great majority of the cases to unintentional and unavoidable civilian deaths.

"I consider myself as having an objective view of what's happening over here. The IDF does not need me to defend them; they have proven it over the years. It's the dispassionate military perspective that I bring."

The proof that Hamas used it's citizens as "Human Shields" is clearly stated by Hamas political leader Fathi Hammad who says in a TV interview:

"[The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its [methods] of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the Mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the Mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: "We desire death like you desire life."

We hear of this also from a resident of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood who was asked in an interview from Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas/Gaza) television when the person being interviewed was asked who he thought responsible for the injuries that he received during the recent conflict:

"But of course Hamas was responsible. My father received a text-message from the Israeli army warning him that our area was going to be bombed, and Hamas prevented us from leaving. They said there was a curfew. A curfew, can you believe that? I swear to God, we will take revenge on Hamas. I swear to God I will stand on my other foot and fight against Hamas. Even if Israel leaves them alone, we will not. What had my two-year-old nephew done to be killed under the rubble of our home so Khaled Mashaal [Hamas leader based in Qatar] could be happy? We want change at any cost. I am not claiming the Israelis are innocent, but I know Hamas has fired rockets from every residential spot in Gaza. If that was not hiding behind civilians, then it was stupidity and recklessness. Nobody who is normal, in his right mind, in Gaza supports Hamas. People have lost parents, children and friends, and have nothing more to lose. I believe if given the chance and the weapons, they will stand against Hamas."

In all cases that involved the loss of innocent civilian lives our soldiers and officers in the IDF have shown remorse and have attempted to correct the errors or steps that caused these deaths. The cost that Israel paid in the lives of it's soldiers in their efforts to prevent civilian casualties was unheard of.

As Jews we are moralistic and we do not rejoice in the death of our enemies nor their children. As Golda Meir once stated;

"Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us." 

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan comment; "a people whose children were burned in the Holocaust needs to do soul-searching at a time like this." Reflected the response of outrage and soul searching in Israeli society. we witnessed this in the massive response by most Israeli's in large outdoor rallys and demonstrations against those in our society who may have done this beastly thing.

It is true that our children have suffered from terror by those immersed in hatred. Over the years hundreds of Jewish children have been gruesomely murdered in intentional terrorist attacks to kill Jews simply because they are Jews.

The central fact for the continuation of this conflict remains that the Palestinian children have suffered from the greedy and blind leadership who trough their total unwillingness to compromise refuse to accept their fate. It is truly regretful that this ancient conflict was never resolved because of the Palestinian leaderships consistent refusal and unwillingness to share land and accept the Jewish people as their neighbors.

I have always stated, as Khaled Abu Toameh does in his Gatestone Institute article:"Palestinians: A Rare Voice of Sanity".

"...that the real tragedy of the Palestinian people has been -- and remains -- bad and irresponsible leadership." 

This is the same view that I have always expressed that the first real step for finding a "Peaceful Solution" to resolve the Israeli Palestinian conflict is for the Palestinian people themselves to realize at long last that they lost the war in 1948.

In our Israeli educational systems we do not teach militarism and anti Arabic hatred. Our children are taught to value life and to grow to enjoy it. We do not dress our children in military garb and teach them "martyrdom". We teach our children the love for the "Land of Israel". We attempt to teach tolerance and acceptance.

The Palestinians, through the UNWRA funded Palestinian Authority, on the other-hand teach their children that Jewish "settlers" - not the settlers of Judea and Shomron but the Jewish presence in ALL of Palestine have usurped their ancestral homes and that only through military struggle will their return to their "Homeland" be achieved. The call to "wipe the Jewish nation" and "Jewish People" off the map is taught to the children on a daily basis.

Let me clarify by stating that we should not tolerate their use of terror and we should aspire to do our uttermost to eradicate it by legal means.

As Zev Jabotinsky once stated:

‎"All of us, all Jews and Zionists of all schools of thought, want the best for the Arabs of Eretz ‎Israel. We do not want to eject even one Arab from either the left or the right bank of the Jordan ‎River. We want them to prosper both economically and culturally. We envision the regime of ‎Jewish Palestine as follows: most of the population will be Jewish, but equal rights for all Arab ‎citizens will not only be guaranteed, they will also be fulfilled."  

Yes, there have been protests by those who are labeled as "Leftists" who are ignorant of the very reason for their presence in this land. Their parents had been so fearful of those that drove them here they negated and hid their faith in Judaism thinking it would "save them"from the utter hatred in the lands that drove them out. They negated their religion as they attempted to assimilate and hide thinking that by denying who they were that it would save them from the storm of anti-Semitism. In doing so they never taught their children the actual basis for their presence here.

What needs to be understood by those of us who do know our reason for existing here in the Land of Israel, is that the youth that committed the attack of burning the homes of Palestinians did so from an ideology based on pure hatred which cannot be tolerated.

As Jews we come from a higher moral plain than those who hate us, for this is why HaShem choose us. We need to aspire to a higher code of conduct while on the other-hand retaining the willingness to defend our people and our land.  

Samir Kuntar - Child Killer

The recent reports by the official television station of Hezbollah have stated that; “three Druze members of Syria’s National Defense Forces (a branch of Syrian Armed Forces of  President Bashar al-Assad) were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car at the entrance of the Druze village of Hader, in Quneitra Province.”

The names of all its members that were killed in the "alleged" Israeli Killer Drone attack were;

Hazem Raad from Beqaa , Abbas Hijazi from Ghazieh , Jihad Imad Moughniyah from Tair Dibba and  Mohammad Issa from Arab Salim.

It is NOT YET confirmed that  Samir  Kuntar from Abey Mount, Lebanon was among those killed.

This report was confirmed by, the so-called UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which said five people in total were killed in the airstrike. Two of those killed were from the Lebanese "resistance movement" Hezbollah, and three men from pro-government popular committees in the Druze town of Hader which has been witnessing clashes between militants and members of pro-Syrian government groups in recent weeks.

According to a report, which appears on the "the Algemeiner" web site, a person identifying himself as Samir Kuntar's brother, Bassem Kuntar claimed, “Samir is fine” and added his condolences to the “martyrs of the Syrian Arab resistance to the Israeli occupation in the Golan who were killed during the Israeli strike in the afternoon.”

I never remembered hearing in the course of the talks we had, during his visits to the clinic in the prison, with Samir that he had siblings. Since according to him his parents divorced soon after his birth and his mother died when he was a boy.
It is possible that the person referred to in this Tweet could possibly be his step-brother from his father's second wife Shiham.

Nevertheless there are as of now no confirmed reports from any source and Hezbollah itself is not reporting anything nor has Samir appeared to deny the reports as his "Brother" states.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the attack.

Who was / is Samir al-Kuntar?

Samir Kuntar was the infamous Lebanese born Druze who was once a member of the Palestine Liberation Front. He was convicted by an Israeli court of law of the ghastly murders in the attack on Nahariyah in 1979.
He was released on July 16, 2008, in exchange for the coffins containing the remains of the Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who had been killed, or severely wounded, at the time of their abduction in the act that started the 2006 "Second" Lebanon War.

On November 24, 2008, Kuntar visited Syria, where he met with President Bashar Assad. Assad awarded him the Syrian Order of Merit and in early 2009 he was honored by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I wish to point out to those who have accused my report as a lie and fabrication that I am aware of the story told by Dr. Zvi Sela, a former senior police officer to Coby Ben Shimhon of Haaretz in 2009 that 'al-kuntar"; "... told me he didn't do it and I believe him." As a side note, Samir Kunar was diagnosed as a habitual liar according to the psychiatrist who served  in my medical unit.

In the conversation from the article in Haaretz Dr Zvi Sela contradicts himself and proves how Kuntar lied to him when he states:

"That is what he says, and in my opinion there is support for the fact that they were killed by fire from the Israeli rescue forces. You can accuse him all you like, but it was obviously the rescue forces that opened fire. There were all kinds of legends about Kuntar. People also said that he would return to being a terrorist [after his release]. Nonsense. He told me then explicitly that he would not go back to terrorism, that he was too old to execute operations - and that's also clear."

If what Dr, Zvi Sela alludes to as Samir's story of innocence. Then why did Samir Kuntar accept the position in Hezbollah as leader of the military wing, after the death of Jihad Moughniyah? More importantly what was he doing on the Golan Heights? Why was he killed in the airstrike in Syria?

Also it should be noted that in July 13, 2008, after being classified for nearly thirty years, File No. 578/79, containing the evidence and testimony from Kuntar's 1980 trial, was first published. According to the file, evidence presented by the pathologist at the trial showed that Einat Haran was killed by the force of a blunt instrument – most likely a rifle butt. The pathologist's report also showed that Einat's brain tissue was found on Kuntar's rifle.

I myself know the truth because I was on the scene that fateful night in Nahariyah and I was an eyewitness to the whole ghastly murder.

I would like to relate what happened on the night of April 22^nd ,1979, when the group headed by Samir Kuntar (born in 1962) which included; Abdel Majeed Asslan (born in 1955), Mhanna Salim Al-Muayed (born in 1960) and Ahmed AlAbras (born in 1949) – all members of the PLF under the leadership of Abu Abbas entered Israel from Lebanon by a rubber dingy boat.

I was an active member of the Civil Guard of Ma’alot on patrol as the driver of the van patrol vehicle that fateful night. Around 11:45 PM Shabbatai Alon the commander of the Civil Guard in Ma'alot and I had gone to the Christian Arab village of Maaliyah on patrol to the Hila Lookout. We had stopped at the house of an old friend the commander an ex member of the Israeli Knesset Masaad Kassis to drink sweet black Arab coffee under his grape arbor outside. 
Shabbatai Alon  had served in the famous 101 Unit of the IDF and later joined the Israeli police where before his retirement had served as a commander of the Police Station of Moshav Meona. As we sat in the village of Maaliyah that night we left the door of the old Citroen police van open so we could monitor and listen in to the radio calls.

The four PLO terrorists landed in Nahraiyah opposite the beach front villa of Amnon Sela, the wealthy owner of a local transportation company, at around midnight. They walked up to the villa gate and pressed the intercom buzzer. Sela and his wife had noticed the suspicious figures carrying backpacks from the vantage point of the upstairs bedroom and had assumed they were burglars and telephoned the police.

Due to his standing in the community the Police responded immediately and the dispatcher called the watch commander Eliyahu Shachar who was the first to respond and quickly arrived at the scene.

We could clearly hear the voice of  Eli Schahar (24) the young police officer from Ma'alot on the police radio answer the call for a disturbance. 
I can still hear his final scream on the radio “Micablim, neftsati!" (Hebrew for "Terrorists, I've been wounded!") and then silence. Commander Alon and I jumped into the van and raced off in the direction of the main road (*89) between Ma’alot and Nahariyah. Just as we reached the Kibbutz Kabri summit we received a radio call to rush to Nahariyah.

After killing Eliyahu Shachar the Terrorist group then entered an apartment building on 61 Jabotinsky Street planning to abduct two or three people and take them back to Lebanon. One of the PFLP men, Abdel Majeed Asslan, broke into the apartment of Charles Shapiro (34), a recent immigrant from South Africa, after the door to his apartment had been shot up. Shapiro, who was armed with a 44 magnum revolver, shot through his apartment door at the terrorists standing outside killing  Asslan.

Kuntar and the two remaining terrorists Mhanna Salim al-Muayed, and Ahmed al-Abras ran downstairs where they encountered Moshe Sasson, a resident who was trying to reach the building's bomb shelter carrying his two young daughters, one under each arm. Kuntar shoved Sasson and slammed a handgun into the back of his skull. However, Sasson managed to escape when the hall lights suddenly went out, and hid under a parked car.

The three remaining terrorists then broke into the apartment of the Haran family taking the 31 year-old Danny Haran hostage along with his four-year-old daughter, Einat. The mother, Smadar Haran, who had heard the gunfire was able to climb up and hide in a crawl space above the bedroom with her two-year-old daughter Yael, and a neighbor – Sasson's wife.
Regretfully the hysterical Smadar Haran accidentally suffocated her baby girl Yael while attempting to quiet her whimpering, which would have revealed their hiding place.

This is what occurred that night according to Smadar Haran Kaiser:

"It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border. Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer. As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door.
Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat.
They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought."

As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach.When we reached Nahariyah the terrorist had already taken Danny Haran and his young daughter to the beach and I remember seeing the actions described here according to a 1979 Israeli Maariv Newpaper which described the details of this attack: 

"After drowning Danny in the sea in front of little Einat (all this taking place as Ahmed Al-Brass and Mhanna Salim Al-Muayed stood and served as look outs and backup cover for Kuntar) Kuntar, then turned his attention towards the frightened little 4-year old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the little toddler's head, knocking her to the ground. As little Einat was knocked to the ground, she was screaming and crying hysterically "mommy daddy help me," while thrashing her little legs around in the sand. But unfortunately Einat was alone, and no one was there to save her. Kuntar then dragged the little toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find, this was while she was begging him not to hurt her. Kuntar, then laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her little arms, Kuntar struggled with the little toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way so that he could aim for her head. Once her arms were out of the way, Kuntar proceeded on beating her on the head over and over with the butt of his rifle, and repeatedly stomping on her little body as hard as he could as well, until blood rushed out of her ears and mouth, and her little cries faded away as she was knocked into unconsciousness. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued on beating her over the head, as hard as he could, several more times until her skull was crushed and she was dead." 

We, the members of the Golani Infantry Unit, could have killed Samir then and there but our officers protected him since he – "Surrendered".

What I remember was a fanatically wild eyed 17 year old filled with some astronomical hatred. When we captured him he defecated on himself and cried hysterically. He whined and cried as we covered him with a blanket on a stretcher. Some hero!

Years later, while serving in reserves as the Chief Medic at the prison where Samir Kuntar was being held. I remember the new hero of the Palestinians and Hezbollah as being overweight, suffering from hyperuricema, diabetes mellitus, dyspnea and severe water retention from his hypertension.

Epilogue:

Samir Kuntar and Ahmed Al Abras were convicted of murdering four people by an Israeli court of law in 1980, and they were sentenced to four life sentences, and an additional 47 years for injuries inflicted.
Ahmed Al Abras, was later freed by Israel in the Ahmed Jibril prisoner exchange deal of May 1985

I have been asked what happened with Smadar. She is a social worker, she remarried and had two daughters.  

Samir Kuntar was killed December 19th 2015 in Jaramana, on the southern outskirts of Damascus. Hezbollah attributed his death to  four long-range missiles launched from Israel Air Force aircraft. In deference to the previous announcement in July 2015 this time Kuntar's his step-brother from his father's second wife Shiham acknowledged his death in a "Tweet"

If indeed Samir Kuntar was "neutralized" by Israel, it would bring some slight comfort to the Schachar and Haran families.

The Iranian Agreement

After days of listening and reading reviews of the Iran Agreement I do wonder where in the hell is the United States Intelligence community and the Pentagon?  Now I know that since the Viet Nam War era America has been soul searching but to get down on your knees willingly like those Americans murdered by John the English ISIS be-header is a little TOO much if you ask me.

Yes friends, for a brief period during the Reagan and Bush Presidencies of the America of the Red, White and Blue period,America returned to it's glory days. You know the USA we baby boomers experienced while growing up. 

That brave "Great America"  reflected in those fabulous movies of Error Flynn and John Wayne. You know when Americans had "True Grit" and were actually the “Good Guys” and weren’t bumbling Woody Allen type schlemiels or like a bunch of Keystone Cops. 

They weren't Presidents who were saxophone player's and whatever's. The ones taken over by the Liberals who want to return to the 1920's "Isolationism" and hedonistic pleasures of the 1920's.

At one time the US was a country to be counted on, to be looked up to but now check your towels and ash trays….oh and may I have my welfare check.

Yes, “My fellow Americans” ever since the election of President, as he enunciated his name at the reception speech on his arrival in Kenya President Obama emphasized HUSSEIN Obama. The United States has fallen into the depths of utter "Wimpdom".(Remember how the butler Lurch in the Munsters would mumble?)

Oh yes let's join hands in a circle boys and girls and sing ‎“Kumbayah!” Smile ‎and be nice and announce to the world: "We are Mr Nice Guys" and  “We do not want to hurt anyone!”

As an Israeli I wonder if I can sell you a used bridge at a cheap price?

Ah yes, just as Nero played the Lyre while Rome burned. Mr Putter Guy from Kenya went to Cairo and changed the Moslem world, forever.

This totally naive American president of the ‎“Kumbaya” party had allowed for the Moslem Brotherhood to take over Egypt during the Arab Spring. One has to stand in wonder and ask; "Where for God's sake is the US Military and Intelligence Leadership?" And why for God's sake is NO ONE is listening to Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi?

Realizing that they had a "Good Thing" with this totally naive and weak kneed "(NON) Leader of the Western World." The Moslem Brotherhood immediately rushed to open the jails to release their minions of radical fundamentalist Islamic terrorist followers. Just as in Tehran with the return of the Ayatollah. These previously restrained, crazed Islamic fanatics, climbed out of the Pandora box with their 13th century view of Islam to engulf the Moslem world.

Through the use of the Internet they have expanded their reach globally to the entire Moslem world. The word of "Calipha" has ignited a fire in the hearts and mind of millions of Wahabist / Salafist followers.
The Sunnis and the followers of Da'ish /Daesh, or as they are labelled by the foreign media in the West as ISIS (the acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant/Syria) are in a horrendous bloody and bitter struggle with the Shi'ites of Iran-Syria-Hezbollah and Hamas.

So are we in Israel worried about Daesh /ISIS? Yes we are. The difference between us in Israel and the rest of the world is that we have these fanatics on our actual doorstep. Oh yes Mr and Mrs Walmart you CAN BE certain they will come for you too. Make absolutely no mistake about it...it is ALL written in the Quran it is the doctrine of “Taqiyya.”

"Taquiya, allows -- even obliges -- a Muslim to lie in certain situations in order to carry out his mission of jihad while living among the infidels. Tawriya (creative lying), allows a Muslim to say a lie while appearing to tell the technical truth by shifting context."

 So Mr and Mrs Walmart  lift your eyes briefly from your iPhone texting to notice that your fictional "Zombie" invasion is coming, but it wears black and screams "Allah Akbar".

Now, getting back to the “Dimbo Deal Agreement”, as I refer to the Iranian Agreement. Boys and girls I got news for you! Those ICBMs tested by Iran –copied from North Korea and those very same centrifuges producing weapons grade Uranium 38 and those triggers to arm those very same nuclear devices were invented by "Who?" Take a wild guess?

Nope, NOT by Israel and NOT by the USA! but a person who is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and a metallurgical engineer, colloquially regarded as the founder of HEU based Gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment program for Pakistan's integrated atomic bomb project. His name is Abdul Qadeer Khan of course do not take MY word for it click on the link to "Google his name". (Which I recommend for all of you in the NSA and CIA to actually learn INTELLIGENCE) 

“On 4 February 2004, Khan appeared on state-owned media Pakistan Television (PTV) and confessed to running a proliferation ring, and admitted to transferring technology to Iran between 1989 and 1991, to North Korea and Libya between 1991 and 1997.”

Wait did I hear someone mention WMD?

What has not been mentioned here regarding this wonderful agreement is that we, in Israel, are NOT the main target of the Shi'ite Arab world. (I do believe that was American flags being burned with chants of ecstatically contorted faces screaming "Death to America!" in the celebrations in Tehran with the Dimbo Deal Agreement)

By the way has anyone asked the guy from the back nine and his Viet Nam anti-War protester Secretary Of Wimp just why the Iranians need North Korean designed ICBMs with Nuclear warheads to hit Israel?
I mean correct me if I am wrong ICBM is the acronym for Inter Continental Ballistic Missile is it not? The distance between Israel and Iran is definitely not “Inter Continental.”

This stupidity reminds me that in 1991 during the "Gulf War' (Desert Storm) when Saddam Hussein launched SCUD missiles at Israel that no one remembers to mention  those that fell short near "Falestinian" villages on the "West Bank".

In those villages, the "Falestinian Authority” TV went to "Joyfully" record the SCUD missile attacks on the "Zionist entity". As the rockets fell nightly we saw those hysterical cheering happy gleefully smiling faces that gathered nightly to watch the attack on the "Zionists" in Tel Aviv.

That is until a few fell short."Oops!"

Ah I remember the scene well! Suddenly, abruptly one of the minions of those happy dervishes noticed the rocket was not going to fall on the hated Zionists! Almost in an instant hundreds were scared "shitless!" The camera unwittingly showed the brave Haters of Israel jumping from roof tops -where they had been watching and cheering and broke limbs. The village women who had earlier been screaming their lungs out like banshees from hell "Allah Akbar!" Suddenly went into hysterics and fainted.

I remember later reading of the lame excuses given by the SCUD missile crews about how they were "Harried" into launching the rockets "prematurely" by the allied anti-SCUD flights and SAS commando units. For some reason it reminded me of the reasons a lover makes excuse for the inability to have proper sexual relations due to premature ejaculation....

So let us suppose "IF" Iran launches atomic warheads at Israel does anyone remember what happen during Operation Protective Shield?

We "devious" Israelis had developed the Iron Dome system and the Israeli system of bomb shelters, in lieu of human shields!!

And what was the oh so lame excuse of Hamas?

Their God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air!! Hmm one does wonder what those pesky Liberal atheists think about this!

Now as to a request from a young lady of the Birmingham Jewish Federation she wrote me recently: 

We are collecting impressions from Birminghamians who have made aliyah regarding the recent Iran agreement."

Oh yes but of course we in Israel are deeply concerned regarding the Iranian Agreement; as many of my acquaintances -Jewish and Arab neighbors here in Israel have written and debated and discussed at length during the past weeks. We all know that with this agreement Iran will gain monetarily and there are major concerns concerning the ability of Iran to purchase new military equipment for itself and it's proxy's in the Hezbollah and in Hamas.

All of us were in agreement that the people of Iran have suffered but just like Hamas in Gaza and the Hezbollah in Lebanon the organizations and their military prowess is more important than the health and welfare of the people.

Just today over Arabic "Turkish" coffee today, in the Village of Tarshicha, part of our "Joint" Municipality, I had a very noisy, and occasionally heated, discussion in a Christian Arab friend Walid's cousin's coffee shop. Walid stated; 

"For us Israelis-Arabs and Jews alike, we have so many things our wonderful neighbors have planned for us that "Oh Gosh" where can I begin? Hezbollah ah, yes. Even with all the difficulties vis a vis the organizations involvement in Syria this has not stopped Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah from ranting against Israel with some particularly aggressive rhetoric in three speeches he gave in one week's time during June. In which he included direct threats against Israel. What is the last estimate, 180,000 rockets of various ranges and sizes pointed at Israel?"

As Walid and Hussain (a Moslem friend) sipped their coffee and we reminisced about the three young Bedouin from Tarshicha; Shanati Shanati, 18; Amir Naeem, 18; and Muhammad Fa'ur, 17, who were murdered by a Hezbollah Katyusha on the 3rd of August 2006. We noted that very few will remember or even be reminded in the Media that 15 out of 43 killed in the Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli civilians during the Second War with Lebanon were Arab-Israelis.

As we are all getting "younger" what we discussed was the "Less than 15 seconds" distance time to our nearest bomb shelter here on the Lebanese border,....Well "sigh" I said; "I guess my family and I will need to sit in our "space" under our stairwell in our home again. We do NOT have a "secure room" or private bomb shelter in our home."

Hussain pointed out the broadcast on the Arabic news stations about Hamas and Gaza. That they are posting videos gloating of all the new tunnels built with the funds and the building materials Israel has, under pressure from those Kumbaya Nations of the BDS given to them.

The major concern of us all was Syria and the ISIS on the Golan Heights, now in Gaza and in Sinai.

Now with all this going on there is still the usual day by day drudgery of life we Israels must deal with; trying to make ends meet financially, paying bills, taking care of kids and of course our grand-kids. Yes, in our beautiful Israel friends there LITERALLY is NEVER a dull moment. Oh well as they say we never promised you a rose garden.

And as my Momma, of blessed memory used to say in her Southern (Alabamian) English:

"Oh good gracious,ya'll!"