Doc's Talk: A Day in the Life of a Gaza-Belt Israeli Community

Saturday, January 19, 2008

A Day in the Life of a Gaza-Belt Israeli Community

P. David Hornik
FrontPageMagazine.com

Early this week Netiv Ha’asara was in the news again—just barely, a passing mention—when a mortar shell fired from Gaza lightly damaged a house there. Netiv Ha’asara, a moshav (cooperative farming community) of 550 people, is the closest Israeli community to Gaza, a scant 100 meters from the northern border of the Strip. It was formerly one of the Sinai settlements and was reestablished at its current location in 1982 after those were torn down at the behest of Israel’s then peace partner, Egypt Netiv Ha’asara also flickered briefly into the news on January 4 when it was hit by eight mortars from Gaza that caused no injuries or damage. If any of the Israeli Gaza-belt communities has a substantial news presence it’s the much larger Sderot, the battered town of twenty thousand to Netiv Ha’asara’s south and west.

Netiv Ha’asara, though, is a microcosm of a nightmarish reality and an almost incomprehensible story of perseverance.

Before Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in August and September 2005, Netiv Ha’asara was subjected to a lower frequency of fire from the Strip, though on June 19, 2003, at 1:30 a.m., a Qassam rocket hit and extensively damaged a house there. It was reported that "Residents of the moshav ran outside, thinking that the missile had struck nearby, and then saw smoke coming from [the] home, where the missile had landed near a bedroom.”

July 2005, the month before the disengagement, was marked by the Gaza terrorists with massive barrages, and in one of them Netiv Ha’asara suffered its only fatality so far. On the evening of July 14 Dana Gelkowitz, a 22-year-old woman from a nearby kibbutz who was visiting her boyfriend in Netiv Ha’asara, was killed in a direct hit by a Qassam as she and the boyfriend, Amir Rogolsky, who took a shrapnel wound, sat on the porch of his home.

On October 2, 2005, Haaretz reported on “complaints voiced this week by the residents of Netiv Ha’asara…that they have been ‘abandoned’ to Gaza Strip terrorism”—complaints that weren’t heard and still haven’t been. On October 26 a Qassam hit the community’s soccer field without causing injuries.

This may already seem like a lot for a community of 550, but it was still only the beginning. Just a few days later on November 2, Qassams hitting Netiv Ha’asara knocked out the community’s power and injured five people. Or as Human Rights Watch reported on one of the houses that were hit:

Eshel Margalit said that the Red Dawn warning [system] sounded at 6:45 p.m., indicating a rocket launching. His daughter was upstairs in the family study working on the computer. “I yelled to her but she was not eager to leave the computer, she was 18, you know,” Margalit said. “She came down and we were running to the secure room when the Qassam hit the house.” The rocket penetrated the roof and exploded in the study. “We went up, opened the door, and saw the room was destroyed. When my daughter realized what could have happened she burst into tears and it took a week to get over the trauma,” Margalit said. The strike damaged the roof and walls and destroyed the solar water heater.

On March 7, 2006, Julie Stahl of CNSnews.com reported from Netiv Ha’asara that

Rocket attacks on southern Israeli communities have become so regular since Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip last summer that Glen Eilon’s wife doesn’t need to set her alarm clock anymore. The community’s warning sirens wake her up.

Eilon is a hothouse farmer who lives in Moshav Netiv Ha’asara, whose outer edge forms the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip….

Standing on a sand dune—within easy range of snipers—it is possible to look over the security wall and see what remains of the former Jewish community of Nissanit in northern Gaza Strip.

An early warning system sounds an alarm every time radar detects projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip.… Residents have just 12 seconds from launch to landing to head to the concrete security bunkers that were attached to many homes in the area several months ago.

Psychologically speaking, the warning sirens are more frightening than the rockets themselves, said Eilon, because often, there’s not enough time to take shelter.

Eilon, who has lived in Netiv Ha’asara for more than two decades, said the only alternative to ducking rockets is for residents to leave the community—and they refuse to do that….

Signs of siege are easily visible in this farming community. A house with geraniums growing outside has a hole in the roof from a direct Qassam hit; the house where a young woman was killed in a mortar strike last summer—just before the disengagement—is vacant now; and room-sized concrete bunkers are attached to the backs and sides of many homes.

A couple of months later, on May 16, it was a Katyusha rocket fired by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza that hit a chicken coop in Netiv Ha’asara, killing 30 chickens.

On June 8 it was two more Qassams hitting Netiv Ha’asara, and Human Rights Watch reported that “after the early-warning siren sounded, two dogs dashed into a shelter, showing how conditioned they had become to the rocket attacks.”

A little over a year later, on August 25, 2007, the terrorists tried a different approach. As the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s website describes it:

IDF forces foiled an attempted terrorist attack on the settlement Netiv Ha’asara, north of the Gaza Strip. Two terrorists dressed in IDF uniforms and exploiting the early morning fog, managed to climb over the security fence using a rope ladder. They then shot at a soldier in a guard post of the Liaison and Coordination Administration near the Erez Crossing. While advancing towards Netiv Ha’asara, the terrorists were killed by an IDF force. Light arms, hand grenades and two explosive devices were found in their possession. Two IDF soldiers were slightly wounded in the incident.

If the infiltration had succeeded, terrible carnage may have ensued. Netiv Ha’asara may have at last become famous.

The next attempt came last November 19:

IDF forces and security officers from Netiv Ha’asara foiled on Monday an attempt by terrorists to infiltrate the community.…

At around 11:30 pm, soldiers spotted three Palestinians climbing on the security fence and opened fire, killing the three would-be attackers….

IDF officials estimated that the three planned to climb the wall using a ladder or a different device in order to carry out a terror attack in Israel. They were carrying weapons, including rifles and grenades….

Earlier on Monday, Israeli communities surrounding the Strip were hit with a heavy barrage of some 20 mortar shells. No injuries were reported in the attacks. Also, a Qassam rocket fired by Palestinians in north Gaza landed in a western Negev kibbutz, but no injuries were reported in that attack either. …

On November 22, as the Foreign Ministry website records, “Six mortar bombs landed in the farming community of Netiv Ha’asara, just north of the Gaza Strip and rockets and mortar bombs (at least 20 that day) fell on other Negev communities….”

As already mentioned, 2008 began in Netiv Ha’asara with another mortar attack on January 4 and another one just this Sunday.

Multiply Netiv Ha’asara’s (pop. 550) story by about 40 (Sderot, pop. 20,000) and add many other small, similarly besieged Gaza-belt communities like Kibbutz Nirim, Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and others (as well as hits on the city of Ashkelon), and you begin to grasp what Gaza terrorism has meant for Israelis in the vicinity in recent years.

Apart from tactical strikes that have been increasing lately, among the reasons given for the lack of an Israeli strategic response is the relatively low total number of fatalities from the rockets and mortars so far (about a dozen) and the possibly much higher number of military fatalities that would be entailed. But, apart from the fact that the number of civilians injured, traumatized, and living in constant terror is of course much larger, basic morality (along with other considerations) dictates that if the house is burning, you send in the firemen no matter what.

The consolation in this bleak picture is the incredible courage and Zionist-Jewish spirit shown by the residents of communities like Netiv Ha’asara.

Postscript: Things happen fast: just this Tuesday, Palestinian sniper fire killed a 20-year-old Ecuadorian volunteer working in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha near Gaza. Also on Tuesday the IDF carried out a major raid against terrorists in Gaza City; terrorists reacted with rockets on Sderot and Ashkelon that wounded several. Would Israel at last get militarily serious? Hope never dies.
P. David Hornik is a freelance writer and translator living in Tel Aviv. He blogs at http://pdavidhornik.typepad.com/. He can be reached at pdavidh2001@yahoo.com.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk