Just last Tuesday I blogged about two young sisters who were injured not far from my town when a Gaza rocket hit their Bedouin village.
Today the tin hut of another Bedouin family, this time near Dimona, took a direct hit when a salvo of five rockets was fired toward the Jewish city of Dimona.
Uda Lafi al-Waj, 32, was killed without warning.
His 3-month-old baby is in intensive care at Soroka Hospital with head wounds.
Two women and a little boy were lightly wounded and are also in the hospital.
Al-Waj is the second Israeli citizen killed by the rockets this week.
These photos of mine are from a different cluster of Bedouin dwellings in the Negev, further south.
Of the Negev's 200,000 Bedouin, some 80,000 are dispersed in what I guess could be called shanty towns which were built without permission and are unrecognized by the government.
Our Minister of Public Security paid a visit to the place where the al-Waj family was hurt today.
Residents demanded he give them some security by bringing in several concrete bomb shelters and a Red Alert siren within hearing distance.
In fairness I must admit that only 30% of all Israelis now under missile fire from Gaza have proper purpose-built shelters in or near their homes, or at least that is what one of the many Israeli talking "experts" said on TV.
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Do take one minute to see the video of the Hamas Spokesman in Gaza promising Israeli Arabs that rockets will not be aimed at them--the height of hypocrisy or stupidity!
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I won't even comment on these facts...
ReplyDeleteIt just seems to be going from bad to worse.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable! (the spokesman)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry the rockets are still raining down with no apparent end in sight and people continue to suffer.
I am glad to know you have a bomb shelter so close to you. Be well, be safe.
I presume this is Hamas killing fellow Arabs. Nothing surprises me about these people, I hear today that there are now half a million Palestinian refugees, yet Hamas still spend all their foreign aid on missiles. Do they have democratic elections in Gaza? It's about time they elected a proper humanitarian government.
ReplyDeleteI must say--- I try not to believe politicians or anyone being described as a 'military expert'. Can you say oxymoron?
ReplyDeleteLet me be pragmatic. There are two reasons why this conflict will never end:
ReplyDelete1- The heart of the problem: the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians from their land and from their homes (and there's nothing you can do about it now);
2- War will be endless because peace isn't profitable.
And the result (so far) according to the latest news on BBC is:
Israel: 8 casualties; Gaza: 340+ (1 in 5 are children).
Dina, you are the only person I know in Israel and I think of you everytime I watch or read the current awful news. Stay safe.
Jose, thanks for your good wishes.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your points:
1. No one seems to remember the history of the Gaza Strip. Wiki has an article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Strip
There was the Ottoman occupation, the British one, the Egyptian one ...
During the 1948 war around 100,000 refugees went over to Gaza.
Well, you can read about it.
2. The profit motive:
Yes, UNWRA makes its living by perpetuating refugees' refugee status generation after generation.
And yes, Hamas leaders have become millionaires from the terrorism business. See
http://www.thetower.org/0707-while-gazans-suffer-in-poverty-leaders-of-hamas-live-in-luxury/
3. Whoever listens only to the anti-Israel BBC will have only misinformation and one-sidedness.
To update your information:
IDF has suffered 18 soldiers killed, and about 60 wounded are in the hospital.
Two civilians have been killed by the hundreds of rockets we get every day.
Should I apologize that we do not die in great numbers, thanks to Iron Dome?
Have you heard of the measures the army takes to warn civilians in Gaza to get to another area when strikes are necessary? Like radio, TV, and phone messages; airdropped leaflets; and "knocking on the roof".
It is Hamas that tells them to stay and get killed.
Tonight we will set up a field hospital at Erez border crossing to treat their wounded.
If people really want to be informed, I suggest you follow the up to the minute live updates in the Israeli English papers, e.g.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/
Dina, thank you for having taken the time to answer my comment.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm aware of the measures taken by Israel before the attacks, but that doen't stop me from feeling horrified with the consequences of the bombings. As I said on another comment on a previous post of yours, the killing of innocents is intolerable (no matter which side they are). It seems some Israelis feel the same or they would not protest, even in their own country (I'm not talking about demonstrations taking place elsewhere).
Regarding 1., here's a very well done video: http://vimeo.com/69341320
By the way, I don't watch BBC only, I even watch some American TV: CNN... :-)))
Jose, a better link to that 2012 video is
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.ninapaley.com/2012/10/01/this-land-is-mine/
where the author gives a viewers' guide, "Who's killing who."
It is making the rounds here too.
Jose, IMHO CNN is not much better than BBC. Be brave and look at an Israel newspaper or TV news once, e.g.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.iba.org.il/world/
Sometimes I try to imagine what long and narrow Portugal would do if dozens of terror tunnels were dug under your long border with Spain and missiles were being shot at Lisbon and your town.
Three times this week heavily armed Hamasniks popped out of their tunnels inside Israel and wanted to slaughter everyone in the kibbutz. They carried handcuffs and drugs to put their captives to sleep so they could abduct them. {{shudder}}
Jose, one more thing, I just wish that Hamas was as horrified as you and I and everyone in Israel at the sight of the bloody pictures Hamas loves to show to the world.
ReplyDeleteWhy they never show pictures of the 120 militants killed by the IDF? Because babies get lots more sympathy.
Dina
ReplyDeletethank you for the long comment to the one who does not understand.Wish I havs good enough english.
Hi Dina. Just stopping by to say hello and to let you know that I'm praying for Israel. Shalom!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteShared shared SHARED!
ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= <3
Hello Dina ... thank you for commenting on my blog.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear news of this terrible war I think of Yael and now you. Sadly all wars affect ordinary people, mothers, children, while the perpetrators [on both sides] think they are reaping honour and glory ... Fools if they only recognised their actions are inhumane.
Dina, be sure I will read the newspapers you mentioned, not only because I want to see how Israel media covers the subject but also because I know you would never recommend the reading of any article which could have been written according to Ayelet Shaked's ideology or others of the kind. Thank you for the links.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I strongly condemn the fact that Hamas didn't respect the 2 hour ceasefire requested by the Red Cross. It's preposterous!
Jose, not that I want to defend MK Shaked but in all fairness, The Daily Beast did, a week later, have to correct some distortions about her:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/exclusive-mk-ayelet-shaked-exposes-daily-beast-reporters-deliberate-distortions/2014/07/16/
Friends, old and new, thanks for writing your comments.
ReplyDeleteCro, I think it was in 2006 Hamas started giving social services to the poorer people in Gaza, in effect buying their votes. They actually won in the elections.
Hi Dina,
ReplyDeleteBeen thinking of you and I am grateful you are okay but sad of the people who died and many are wounded. We are praying for you, your family and friends safety please be careful.