Israel | Careful Thought

Sep 02 2009

Pharisee, Sadducee, or Sheep (ba ba ba ba)

Category: Israel, faith, miscellaneous — Greg @ 21:20 pm

I enjoyed a fantastic men’s Bible study this morning, talking about prayer, and how to pray. This study uses the ACTS method: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

During the study, one of the men asked a question which led into us NOT being like the Sadducees or Pharisees. Once again, my mind started rolling.

In the children’s song: “I just wanna be a sheep (ba ba ba ba)” Two of the verses are:
I don’t want to be a Pharisee… because they’re not “fair you see,” and
I don’t want to be a Sadducee… because they are “sad you see.”

The reality is neither of them were fair, and both of them were sad (in teenager speak). I thought of how much I am really like them… and as we analyze ourselves… many of us are.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were Israel’s religious leaders. They did the “holier than thou” thing better than most people we know, and were criticized by Jesus himself as being “whitewashed tombs.”

And I think that de facto, I must look the same way to my family and many people I know who don’t know Jesus. After all, I am a leader… in my family, and around others. I do study the scriptures… do they? I should be able to give an account for what I believe and live by… do I? I should be more humble than other people (because I know what Jesus has done for me)… nonetheless my pride gets in the way. And yet I am no better than they are… but do I project that on others?

Provided you have the right shepherd (Jesus), I think it’s a lot safer to be a sheep (ba ba ba ba).

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Tags: faith, Pharisee, prayer, Sadducee

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Apr 27 2009

Who You Gonna Call?

Category: Israel, global war on terror — Steve @ 20:55 pm

ROME (Fox News) – An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away, the commander said Sunday.

Cmdr. Ciro Pinto told Italian state radio that six men in a small white speed boat approached the Msc Melody and opened fire Saturday night, but retreated after the Israeli security officers aboard the cruise ship returned fire.

“It felt like we were in war,” Pinto said.

None of the roughly 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members were hurt, Melody owner Msc Cruises said in a statement issued by its German branch.

Domenico Pellegrino, head of the Italian cruise line, said Msc Cruises hired the Israelis because they were the best trained security agents, the ANSA news agency reported.

Funny how countries with no use for the military – or for Israel – suddenly come begging when there’s a security issue to be handled. Rudyard Kipling called it this way over 100 years ago in Tommy Atkins:

Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.

Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy how’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.

We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;

While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind,”
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind,
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.

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Tags: cruise ships, Israel, piracy, Rudyard Kipling, security, Tommy Atkins

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Mar 06 2009

Just Another Day in Jerusalem, or ‘The Value of an Armed Populace’

Category: Israel, global war on terror — Steve @ 07:12 am

Palestinian driver goes on rampage in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM – A Palestinian man commandeered a construction vehicle Thursday on a major road and swung a police car into the air, smashing it against a bus before bystanders opened fire on him and police shot him dead.

The incident, the third of its kind in the past year, came a day after the latest U.S. visit to push Israel’s hawkish future leaders into another try at Mideast peacemaking.

The two officers inside the police car escaped with slight injuries, police said. The bus, which was parked at an intersection, was empty.

Video footage from a traffic surveillance camera showed a front-end loader scoop up the car with its shovel, hurl it into the air and slam it against the bus. Police and bystanders opened fire at the driver, and the vehicle crashed to a stop against an electricity pole.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld identified the driver as Mar’i al-Rdaidah, a 26-year-old from east Jerusalem. It wasn’t clear whether the man was affiliated with a militant group, Rosenfeld said.

“It is without a doubt a terror attack,” Jerusalem’s deputy police chief, Nisso Shachar, told reporters.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev called the rampage a “senseless act of violence against innocent civilians.”

Shachar said an open copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, was found inside the front-end loader. The book’s presence could indicate the attacker was influenced by Islamic radicals, though many Muslims routinely carry the Quran.

Hmmm. Goes to show how effective a well-armed populace can be in bringing events like this to a quick conclusion. Imagine the destruction if there had been no armed bystanders.

Until I read that last paragraph I would have thought he was a disgruntled Lutheran or Episcopalian.

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Tags: gwot, Israel, right to bear arms, terrorism

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Jan 04 2009

Poking Tigers With a Stick

Category: Israel, global war on terror — Steve @ 19:29 pm

For the record, I think it’s a bad thing to do. Periodically there’s a bit in the news about some guy (usually drunk) who hops the fence at the zoo to taunt the bears or who think it’s cool to mess with the chained up doberman. In either case the results are the same – the drunk gets his face handed to him on a bloody claw.

Could it be that Hamas is learning that lesson? Aggie at Bloodthirsty Liberal links to a Ha’aretz piece that suggests Israel is playing the part of the doberman:

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday rejected an offer by a Russian envoy to contact Hamas via Russia in order to reach a cease-fire with the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

“We are serious in our intention to harm Hamas and we have no intention to [legitimize them] and pass messages on to them. We have nothing to discuss with Hamas,” Livni told Alexander Saltanov, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s special envoy to the Middle East.

The things that amazes me is not the ferocity of Israel’s attack into Gaza, but that Israel has shown such restraint up to this point. Hamas lobs missiles into the cities of southern Israel and the world is stunned that Israel gets mad?

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Tags: Hamas, Israel

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Sep 26 2008

Paul McCartney Performs in Tel Aviv

Category: Israel, global war on terror, music, news and politics — Steve @ 08:53 am

Israeli fans cheer during British musician Paul McCartney's concert in Tel Aviv September 25, 2008. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen I’m not a big Paul McCartney fan. After, all, rock-n-roll’s been going downhill since Buddy Holley died, right? (I think he was in a few bands and did a few albums since his glory days with the Beatles, but I may be wrong.)

Anyway, Sir Paul braved the death threats from whacko islamists and gave a concert in Israel:

There have already been specific threats against McCartney’s concert in Israel. Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical Muslim preacher based in Lebanon after being banned from Britain, said recently that suicide bombers could attack the gig in protest against the singer’s patronage of Israel. He declared McCartney to be “the enemy of every Muslim”.

“If he values his life, Mr McCartney must not come to Israel. He will not be safe there. The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him,” the hardline preacher told the Sunday Express.

Gotta love those ’sacrifice operatives’ from the religion of peace. But he held firm and performed in Tel Aviv in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary as a free and sovereign nation.

Paul McCartney gave his first concert in Israel on Thursday before tens of thousands of cheering fans, 43 years after the Beatles were barred from singing there because of fears they could corrupt youngsters. McCartney opened the Tel Aviv gig with Beatles song “Hello Goodbye,” and addressed the 40,000 fans in Hebrew and Arabic as well as English throughout the evening. “Shalom Tel Aviv!” he said, using the Hebrew word for “peace” and “hello.” The ex-Beatle also wished the crowd a happy new year in Hebrew ahead of Jewish celebrations next week and wished Muslims a good Ramadan, the month of fasting, in Arabic.

Among the favorites were “Give Peace a Chance” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the closing number. McCartney’s visit to Israel prompted a fresh wave of Beatlemania, with radio stations playing the band’s tunes almost non-stop in the past few days. “All we need is peace in the region and a two-state solution,” McCartney told reporters and tourists outside the Bethlehem shrine revered as the site of Jesus’s birth. “I am bringing a message of peace and I think that’s what the region needs. It’s my own small way I can bring my message.”

I guess he’s trying to be a politician as well, but he deserves credit for not letting himself be railroaded by the anti-Israel crowd.

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Tags: gwot, Israel, music, Paul McCartney

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Jul 22 2008

A Case for Concealed (or Unconcealed) Carry Policies

Category: Israel, global war on terror — Steve @ 14:01 pm

Here’s an update on the previous post about the terrorist bulldozer attack (actually, it was a front-end loader) in Jerusalem.

The copycat attack occurred on the corner of Keren Hayesdod and King David streets in downtown Jerusalem, down the road from the hotel where U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was to be staying later in the day.

“The bulldozer driver left a construction site, and hit two cars,” a police spokesman said.

“A civilian who saw what was happening, shot him. The bulldozer continued on its way. A Border Police patrol… continued to shoot and the terrorist was killed,” the spokesman said. “Another person was wounded.”

<<>>

The heroic civilian who stopped the terrorist is Yakki Asa’el, aged 53, father of 8, grandfather of 6. A teacher and farmer by profession. IDF Company Commander (מפקד פלוגה) in the reserves. Settler from Susya (Har Hevron Hills area). (HT:The Muqata)

Quick thinking – and a readily available weapon – saved untold lives and put a rapid end to both terrorist and terrorist attack.

Military service is compulsory in Israel and even elementary school field trips require an armed escort. We visited Israel a few years back and it was not unusual at all to see a group of school kids followed by a teacher or guard with a rifle slung over their back.

This picture was taken at Masada. Slacker Boy has what looked like a Galil AR 5.56. I bet he knows how to use it.

Granted, we don’t live under the same threat of imminent attack by mindless terrorists, but how many lives at Columbine or Virginia Tech could have been saved if the bad guys had to guess which bystanders were packing heat?

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Tags: concealed carry laws, Israel, terrorism

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Jul 22 2008

Surprise: No Peace in the Middle East

Category: Israel, global war on terror — Steve @ 11:06 am

Things are still a mess in the Middle East, despite Obamessiah’s presence.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israelis hit by new digger attack

A Palestinian in a mechanical digger has rammed traffic in west Jerusalem, injuring at least 10 people before being shot dead, Israeli police say.

A bus and a number of cars were hit during the incident. Some cars were crushed and one was turned on its roof.

Witnesses say an armed civilian first shot at the driver, before he was killed by border police.

Three weeks ago a Palestinian man went on a deadly rampage in a heavy vehicle in Jerusalem, killing three Israelis.

A BBC correspondent says it is thought the 2 July attacker was simply a disturbed man without political motivation – but Israelis will worry Tuesday’s incident was a copycat attack and that this could now be a new tactic.

Police identified the perpetrator as 22-year-old East Jerusalem resident Ghassan Abu Tir. It is not known if he was connected to any militant group.

And in a separate story, yet another Hamas terrorist is wandering aimlessly in the afterlife, looking for his 72 virgins – or do you get virgins if you blow yourself up accidentally without taking non-muslims with you?

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Hamas member killed in explosion

Hamas says one of its members has been killed in an explosion at a house near Gaza City.

The militant group said the man died while on “a holy mission” – a term often used when a member dies accidentally while handling explosives.

Two teenage boys were wounded in the blast at the militant’s home.

In the West Bank, Palestinian officials say Israeli troops have arrested a Hamas member of parliament from the city of Nablus.

Mona Mansour and 19 other people were detained.

Israeli troops have in recent weeks raided Nablus almost daily in a crackdown on Hamas.

Across the West Bank, Israeli forces have closed down several institutions allegedly linked to Hamas.

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Tags: Hamas, Israel, terrorism

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Jan 03 2008

Latest Israeli Hollywood Star

Category: Israel, miscellaneous — Steve @ 11:17 am

windowslivewriterlatestisraelihollywoodstar 9d79tavor 3 Latest Israeli Hollywood Star Meet Tavor, the latest Israeli to make it big in Hollywood. Or more properly, the Micro-Tavor (MTAR 21) from Israeli Weapon Industries. According to Y-Net News:

‘Sexy’ Tavor rifle replaces Uzi as Hollywood weapon of choice

There is a new Israeli star making a splash in Hollywood. The Micro Tavor, the miniaturized version of the Israeli Tavor Assault Rifle, is fast becoming the “it” player in Hollywood action films.

As reported to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, major Hollywood production companies are currently looking to purchase Micro Tavors for use in big budget action flicks. “The Tavor might very well be the next big Hollywood hit, seeing as the Uzi is fast becoming obsolete,” a source familiar with the matter indicated.

A weapons expert working in the entertainment industry called the Tavor “exactly what Hollywood film makers are looking for; a ‘sexy’ weapon that looks great and fires extremely well.”

This feisty new weapon is not only a hit on the Hollywood screens, however. A few elite US army units are also looking to purchase Micro Tavors, which are already a fixture in many IDF combat units.

I guess the venerable Uzi is looking a little long in the tooth these days. This might be a good time to go looking for Hollywood-surplus weapons…

(HT: five feet of fury)

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Tags: Israel, IWI, MCAR 21, Tavor, Uzi

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Nov 14 2007

Send Pizza to Israeli Defense Forces

Category: Israel — Steve @ 14:35 pm

Click on the banner above to send pizza and ice cream and say thank you to IDF soldiers.

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Tags: IDF, PizzaIDF

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Jul 16 2007

Peace Through Owls

Category: Israel, miscellaneous, music — Steve @ 08:48 am

Michael posts this bit about an Israeli-Jordanian cross-border effort to kill rats using barn owls. I grew up on a farm in the midwest and can attest to the rat-killing power of these critters. (By the way, follow the link to Michael’s blog – or click below – to hear Popa Chubby’s Rats Get Whacked. I’m not going to be able to get that tune out of my head for awhile…)

SHEIK HUSSEIN VILLAGE, Jordan – (IHT) For years, Ibrahim Alayyan watched in frustration as rats devoured the date palms at his lush family farm.

Having no luck with pesticides, the retired Jordanian heart surgeon was only too eager to try a pest control agent widely used in fields just across the Jordan River in Israel — owls.

“There used to be so many rats,” Alayyan said. “But after we put in the owls, thank God, this is the first time we have had a full date harvest.”

To the world, the symbol of peace may be a dove, but to farmers on either side of the Jordan, it’s Tyto alba, the common barn owl.

Alayyan is one of dozens of Jordanians working in cooperation with Israeli colleagues, targeting rodents with a natural predator instead of with chemicals.

The effort still faces suspicions and superstitions, but organizers hope the message of their partial success will spread to Lebanon, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, and demonstrate the fruits of the 1994 peace treaty that ended a 46-year state of war between Israel and Jordan.

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Tags: blues, owls, popa chubby, rats get whacked

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