Careful Thought

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.

Technorati Tags: gwot, Israel, music, Paul McCartney

Tags: gwot, Israel, music, Paul McCartney

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?

Technorati Tags: concealed carry laws, Israel, terrorism

Tags: concealed carry laws, Israel, terrorism

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.

Technorati Tags: Hamas, Israel, terrorism

Tags: Hamas, Israel, terrorism

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)
 

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

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

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

Technorati Tags: IDF, PizzaIDF

Tags: IDF, PizzaIDF

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.

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

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

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Prov 22:6, KJV)

As I’ve thought through the circumstances of Rachel Corrie’s death, I can’t help but think how senseless her death was. Politics aside, she went to hostile region in the midst of people who hated her for being a white Westerner. She may have genuinely had a heart for the plight of the Palestinian people, but whatever she sought to do, it was through association with a group (ISM) which supports groups which support terrorism. There’s an 80’s-era song by the Alan Parsons Project with the line, “You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” She made a string of choices, influenced by her education and upbringing, but they were still her choices.  The fleas were hers.

Now her parents want to blame someone else. I’m thinking that they weren’t big on teaching Rachel the notion of personal responsibility.

My boys will make their own decisions, hopefully prayerfully and with wise counsel. I’m pretty confident that they will make some wrong choices along the way. They will know, though, that each decision has its consequences and that they bear the responsibility. We have to raise our children this way, else we will have a nation of Rachel Corries.

Technorati : Israel, Rachel Corrie, choices, gwot, terrorism

The family of Rachel Corrie (the over-pampered pro-palestinian activist who threw herself under an Israeli bulldozer) is now suing Caterpillar.   The suit alleges that “Caterpillar violated human rights and committed war crimes by knowingly selling its equipment to the Israeli army, which used the bulldozers to raze Palestinian homes and endanger people.”

This is as stupid as trying to sue Smith and Wesson when crackheads start shooting each other.

Corrie was a member of International Solidarity Movement, a pro-palestinian/anti-Israel group with strong connections to various terrorist groups in the region.

Technorati Tags: gwot, International Solidarity Movement, ISM, Rachel Corrie, terrorism

Tags: gwot, International Solidarity Movement, ISM, Rachel Corrie, terrorism

Hello?  McFly?  This is absolutely the second most ridiculous thing I’ve read today.  (Here’s the first.)

(Haaretz) Senior Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip have asked Israel to allow them to receive large shipments of arms and ammunition from Arab countries, including Egypt.

The group says it needs the weapons to counter attacks by Hamas, which has an overwhelming advantage in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has not officially responded to the request, which includes dozens of armored cars, hundreds of armor-piercing RPG rockets, thousands of hand grenades and millions of rounds of ammunition for small caliber weapons.

In addition, Fatah is organizing yet another paramilitary force in the Gaza Strip, sources say.

In their talks with Israeli security officials, senior Fatah officials said the armored cars are necessary to protect them and their personnel, and to disperse hostile Hamas demonstrations.

The vehicles in question are currently in Egypt.

But wait, that’s not even the really stupid part.

Last year, Israel allowed Fatah to bring weapons into Gaza on a number of occasions. Those shipments, which included 2,500 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition, came from Jordan and Egypt, and were transferred to the Gaza Strip in coordination with Israel.

Why would Israel even consider allowing Fatah to import weapons?  Did Fatah pinky-promise not to use them against Israel?

When was the last time you sent a pizza to Israel? They deliver, you know. Here’s an update from Karen at PizzaIDF, which sends pizzas, burgers and goodies to Israeli Defense Force troops throughout Israel. Since the Purim holiday is coming up you can also special treats.

We have had the privilege for a number of a years of sending Pizza, Hot Soup, Burgers and other special food items to our serving soldiers on behalf of you and many other wonderful people. Thank you once again on their behalf for your support in the past.

Our soldiers are under a lot of pressure; thank G-d there are many successes. Terrorists are intercepted daily here in Israel; many arrests by the soldiers cannot even be reported. Terror has become number one on the international agenda — Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hizbollah, Hamas, al Qaeda and more. Although the political will may not always there, Israel’s soldiers have their work cut out for them.

Purim is traditionally the time to send food gifts to your friends. This year once again we have prepared special Mishloach Manot packages of treats for you to send to our wonderful soldiers. Tell these modern-day heroes how much you appreciate their sacrifice.

Send your Purim Mishloach Manot and other gifts from our website at www.PizzaIDF.org.