Everyone else is jabbering on about the attacks in Azza, while I sit here in front of my computer screen in an area proving to be one of the safest places to be in Israel, b'il eyin hara: Efraim (Central Samaria), safe from rockets from Azza and Lebanon, safe from bomb attacks in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv,...for now.
Funny how people are also asking ME if I am scared to live where I do, let alone travel around by tremp, and unarmed.
Don't worry, the gub'ment has plans for us, too. Then I'll start to get worried, and have to snap out of my complacency.
In the meantime, I'll also provide my 10ag on the current goings-on in Azza.
What I want to know is what took 'em so long to bomb Azza?
Sure. They've gone in beforehand, but it was always a half-ass job, going only into the limited areas allowed by big brother and sister George and Condi, followed by the requisite, quick retreat. OR it was those lovely targeted assassinations, carefully avoiding "innocent civilians" (Central Samaria), known to every other country as "collateral damage."
There are a few theories as to what took 'em so long....
1. Election Ploy This will get votes for Livni (Kadima), and for Baraq (Labor), showing the center that even though they want to continue "piece" negotiations with the Arabs, they can be tough like Netanyahu (Likud) says he will be, and not as wishy-washy like Olmert (Kadima). They can spin the incessant threats to strike Azza, and taking so damn long to do so, as a clever strategy, taking the Arabs by surprise.
Hey, even I'm beginning to believe that Ehud Baraq isn't such a buffoon after all. Tzippy Livni was actually pretty effective in her interview on Fox & Friends. I mean her Godless/Torahless approach is completely wrong, of course, but she certainly demonstrated that she knew her audience. Her biggest mistake was thinking that making a case to the American public was in the least bit important. (...and too bad they kept calling her "Zippy.")
Did I say that there were a few theories? Well, actually, I can only think of two.
But you're not gonna like this last one...
2. Fear The wealthy, Ashkinazi powers that be were not in such denial of the Arab threat after all. The rockets did not actually have to reach Tel-Aviv before they were able to snap out of it. They knew that it was only a matter of time before the rockets reached Ashdod, you know, where there are actually some of those "nice" neighborhoods. After all they had reached Qiriyath Gath. Even though no one cares about Qiriyath Gath, it was an indicator of just how close the rockets were getting to the Ashkinazi, leftist headquarters of North Tel-Aviv. (See the map below to see just how close.)
No one cares about Ashqelon either. But the rockets inching closer to the power station there was problematic to the powers that be. Losing one-third of the country's power, due to lack of inaction, will lose you votes, even from "piece" negotiation-pushing Leftists, addicted to electrical appliances. Translation into American terms: Rich, white people were going to start getting killed.
I told you, you weren't going to like it.
(Click the map to enlarge it)
Red dots indicate locations having been hit from the south or from the north during the Second Lebanon War (Summer, 2006). Half red indicates having been hit on the outskirts of the city. Netanyah's outskirts were hit, but publicity over this was hushed up.
Ashqelon, Qiriyath Gath, and S'deroth are indicated by red dots , but not labeled. Be'er Sheva has not been hit,...yet.
The map demonstrates how the rockets have been creeping closer to Tel-Aviv as well as to Ben-Gurion International Airport.
Ashqelon, Qiriyath Gath, and S'deroth are indicated by red dots , but not labeled. Be'er Sheva has not been hit,...yet.
The map demonstrates how the rockets have been creeping closer to Tel-Aviv as well as to Ben-Gurion International Airport.
I was thinking about that, how ironic that those in Shomron are not a target in this war, nor were they a target in the 2nd Lebanon War, when my friend in Ma'alot last spent a lot of time in Beit Shemesh.
ReplyDeleteGood idea, to worry only when you really need to worry.
10ag: When do you claim that these cities in Central/Northern Israel were hit -- this current war, or the Second Lebanon War?
ReplyDeleteSecond Lebanon War.
ReplyDeleteI'll fix the post for clarity.
why is it necessary to put down the AShkenazim? Do you think that my mother-in-law z"l who came at age 3 months in 1938 from Poland had it easy? Did the pioneers have an easy life? OK so the Sfardim have cooool traits like kissing beards and fancy handshakes (and their cuisine is divine)but does that make them any better?
ReplyDeleteNot putting them down per se, but why go overboard in putting down the Ashkenazim.
BTW what is the Ashkenaz/Sfard ratio in the settlements and what was it in Gush Katif?
I mean if you think that the Ashkenazim got the state on a silver platter, then I'd remind you that the only silver platter was people like my wife's uncle who was killed in '48 in the Palmach. On the silver platter of him and his buddies, you and I and the Sfardim were given the State of Israel.
ReplyDeleteAsher, Not "Ashkinazim." "Rich Ashkinazim."
ReplyDeleteBefore I get into how much I appreciate the original "settlers," the qibbutzniqim [including, of course, the Ashkinazim], I'll see if this emphasis changes your tune.
...religious AND non-religious, too.
ReplyDeleteI remember in the '70's as a member of the Socialist Workers Party the slogan "eat the rich". I've had to moderate a bit recently, due to cholesterol problems.
ReplyDeleteStill don't follow the binomial equations of poor= right, and rich=left, but that's 'cos I'm made of good solid working-class stock from the North of England (and that doesn't make me a Tzfoni)