LET'S FIGHT BACK

LET'S FIGHT BACK
GOD BLESS AMERICA

Monday, November 30, 2015

Jokes from Argentina and Other Cold Cuts / Regina Coyula



Regina Coyula, 25 November 2015 — There is a joke that goes, in short, if Napoleon had owned a newspaper like Granma and lost the Battle of Waterloo, the newspaper would have acted like it never even happened. So true. Something similar occurred on Sunday evening with the presidential elections in Argentina and the victory by “the billionaire Macri,” as the Cuban media likes to describe him. Oddly, they never showed any curiosity about Mrs. Kirchner’s fortune.
It took the Venezuelan broadcast network Telesur half an hour to report the results. After the losing candidate acknowledged defeat and Marci addressed the Argentine people, the news anchor was “informed” that “preliminary polls indicate the possible winner to be…” when there were neither polls nor fortune tellers saying any such thing.
Cubans have nightly news shows, news magazines, news every ten minutes, a twenty-four hour radio news channel, print and digital newspapers, and national, provincial and even municipal television stations. Yet, except for North Korea, we paradoxically remain the worst informed people in the world.
There is a rumor going around that Etecsa’s Nauta* internet service was unavailable not because of technical problems but because of a decision to cut off communication between Cubans stranded in Costa Rica and their relatives on the island in order to suppress information about a mass protest intended to raise awareness in Cuba, and by extension throughout the world, of the humanitarian crisis.**
Whether true or not, the fact that people without Communist Party affiliation are casually discussing this serves to illustrate the lack of transparency in our news media. It should be added that the visit by the Cuban foreign minister to Ecuador and Central America was reported in a way that suggested a trip scheduled some time in advance, one in which emigration was to be only a tangential topic of discussion. The visit by the president of the International Red Cross was reported in a similar way.
This is nothing new. Quite the contrary. Once again the press has managed to turn conferences, workshops, meetings and seminars into crumpled paper. It shows a lack of self-respect, but even less respect for citizens, whom it is trying to keep uninformed. It is an accomplice to a political decision that interferes with a right as basic as the right to information.
Translator’s notes: 
*Nauta is service by Cuba’s state telecommunications monopoly that offers wifi internet access in public spaces such as parks and hotels throughout the island. Accounts can be refilled from overseas at a cost of roughly US$2.00 for every two hours of access.
**Thousands of Cuban migrants trying to reach the United States by first passing through Ecuador have been stranded in Costa Rica after the government of Nicaragua denied them passage through that country.

Stories of Life on the Border / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar



A few yards from the border with Nicaragua, Costa Ricans reaffirm their solidarity with Cubans: Welcome Cuban Brothers. This is your house. In Costa Rice we respect: Work, The Right to Succeed, Freedom and Life. (14ymedio Photo / Reinaldo Escobar)
A few yards from the border with Nicaragua, Costa Ricans reaffirm their solidarity with Cubans: Welcome Cuban Brothers. This is your house. In Costa Rice we respect: Work, The Right to Succeed, Freedom and Life. (14ymedio Photo / Reinaldo Escobar)
14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar (Special envoy), Liberia (Costa Rica), 28 November 2015 — A uniformed policeman guards the entrance to the shelter in the church of Nazareth, in the Costa Rican region of Liberia. It is there to protect 70 Cubans who are waiting for the Nicaraguan authorities to allow them to continue their journey to the United States. Journalists are not allowed access, not least because most migrants prefer not to give interviews.
However, the Cuban accent opens all doors. Once inside, a young man from Pinar del Rio explains that his family does not know he is in that situation and he does not want to worry his mother. “She believed I was going around the stores in Quito to buy clothes and then sell them back home in San Juan y Martinez.” Something similar occurs with Maria, an enthusiastic and charismatic woman from Camagüey, who spurred by the emergency has become the voice of the group.
Maria is a little frightened to comment: “I don’t want, tomorrow, for the Cuban government not to allow me to visit my family.”
Maria is the representative of Cubans who are there. Nobody gave her that position, no one voted for her, but her way of expressing herself and showing natural leadership have led her to speak for those who prefer to remain silent. However she confessed to this newspaper that she finds it a little frightening to make statements: “I don’t want, tomorrow, for the Cuban government not to allow me to visit my family.”
The hostel recalls the Cuban schools in the countryside through which passed the Maria’s and the young Pinareño’s generation. The difference here is that they are not forced to work in agriculture, nor to listen to the tiresome ideological propaganda of the morning assemblies. They are free, but have one obsession: continuing the path to the “land of freedom,” they say.
Sioveris Carpio left on 3 September for Ecuador. He never imagined that his journey would be complicated in this way. He arrived in Costa Rica on 12 November when the border with Nicaragua was already closed. Now, when asked if he wasn’t tempted to turn around, he uses a slogan heard thousands of times from Cuban officialdom: “Pa’ tras ni para coger impulso*.” And he adds with a smile, “My objective is to get there.”
He is an amateur musician, finished the 12th grade, and had worked as an animator and audio operator in Trinidad, but he lives in Condado, a corner of Escambray where the alzados – the anti-communists – were active in the sixties. “I live near where there is a monument to Manuel Ascunce, the literacy teacher killed by the alzados,” he says, and immediately clarifies, “the fact that I am going to the United States doesn’t mean that I’m against the Revolution.” In the conversation there is only this reporter and the impassioned young man, but at times he speaks as if a thousand ears are listening.”
“I was born and raised under a Revolutionary roof, what is happening is that I am looking for an economic improvement,” says Carpio Sioveris
“I was born and raised under a Revolutionary roof, what is happening is that I am looking for an economic improvement,” he says. He repeats the litany of many about his decision, that he “isnot political”, but admits that he has chosen the United States” because it is a country where you can find an opportunity to prosper.”
If “things get bad” and he can not continue toward reaching his dream, he will stay in Costa Rica. “Right here,” he says and states that “people are good and we have the same language, but life is expensive and it is not easy to find work.”
In Cuba he left his entire family and says that his parents “are suffering a lot because they know I’m here.” His dream, however includes the goal of one day returning to Cuba. “Not now, because unfortunately there are no opportunities, wages are minimal to the point that if you buy a pair of pants you can not eat that month.”
Carpio is a skeptic of the economic changes that have occurred on the island in recent years. “The results will be seen only long term. We will have to wait a long time and I am almost 40.” The clock of his life has marked a critical time and he prefers to spend the rest of it in foreign lands.
“Here on the roof of my house I have an antenna for television and they tell me that in their country satellite dishes are prohibited,” says a Costa Rican
But Carpio is only part of this drama. The people of Nazareht have seen dozens of these migrants arriving on their territory and have come out to help them. Mauricio Martinez has lived, from birth, across from the Bethel church in the Nazareht neighborhood, although he is not a member of the church. Now he dedicates many hours of his time talking to the Cubans.
Mauricio Martinez has lived, since he was born, across from Bethel church in the Nazareht neighborhood (Photo 14ymedio / Reinaldo Escobar)
Mauricio Martinez has lived, since he was born, across from Bethel church in the Nazareht neighborhood (Photo 14ymedio / Reinaldo Escobar)
“I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening here today. At first we had some concern, but the people are very quiet and very well educated. They are very friendly,” he confirms.
The help that the community has given to migrants has been spontaneous. People bring clothes or food, “according to what everyone can because we are humble people,” says Martinez. “But we’ve realized what is thay are going through and so we are collaborating,” he reflects.
The arrival of the Cubans is also leaving a deep impression in the way many Costa Ricans see the world. “Knowing them has allowed us to learn a very different reality to ours and also different from what we could imagine,” says a solicitous neighbor. “Here on the roof of my house I have an antenna for television and they tell me that in their country satellite dishes are prohibited, and thus I realize what they are looking for in freedom” he says.
A vehicle from the firm Movistar is parked front of the shelter. Mr. Benavides, a sales agent, is satisfied with his success in selling phones, SIM cards and recharges to the Cubans. “Since we learned that the shelters were filled with these migrants we assumed that they probably wanted to communicate with their families.”
“I came here with my wife but I left my four children, two grandchildren and my mother,” says Julio Cesar, who operated a tire retreading machine
The employee says that “there is a commercial interest, but the first thing that got us here was the desire to help.” He adds, “It’s amazing how they know the brand names, they are modern people and are eager to prosper.”
It is not easy to win the confidence of those who have had to sneal across several borders and fear that what little money they have left will be taken away or that they will be deceived by traffickers, but some speak to this newspaper with the familiarity of old friends.
Julio Cesar Vega Ramirez of San José de las Lajas, is not afraid of anything. He left Ecuador heading to Colombia without knowing the way, then by boat to Panama and then to Costa Rica, where he was given a pass for seven days that has been extended for fifteen more. “With this visa we can move around the country freely,” he says.
The man says that “everyone here has helped us, the church’s neighbors, the organizations. They bring sacks of cassava or bananas without charging a cent. The Cubans living in San Jose have also brought donations. ” Although he has also had the support of his family in Miami. “They have sent me the money bit by bit because it is not advisable to walk around with a lot of money,” he explains.
Julio César operated a tire retreading machine. “I came here with my wife but I left my four children, two grandchildren and my mother.” He said his family was aware of what was going to do. “Although I said nothing at work for fear that someone would spill the beans and spoil the plan.”
His wife, Maritza Guerra, has a degree in nursing and a master’s degree in comprehensive care for children. For years she has been a nurse in the pediatric ward of the Leopoldito Martinez Hospital in San José de las Lajas. It is also pediatric intensive care nurse. “Here we communicate with our families and friends thanks to wifi zone they immediately established for us completely free. I would like to ask those Cubans in exile and on the island to help us, please, do something for us,” she clamors insistently.
In the afternoon, when the sun goes down, the trees are filled with birds. The noise they make is very different from the sparrows in the parks of Cuba, because there is a lot of variety and they all sing differently. Birds coexist with each other and fly freely from one side of the border to the other.
*Translator’s note: Para atrás, ni para coger impulso. Roughly: No going back, not even to gain momentum (for another charge).

Alarm Bells on the Route of the Illegal Market

By  Orlando Palma
Translating Cuba - 14ymedio
November 28, 2015
web/article.asp?artID=30070
Informal vendors of glasses, a product that comes into Cuba mostly through mules. (14ymedio)
Children’s clothes and sneakers were a part of the goods being called out by an illegal vendor this Thursday on Galiano Street in Havana. Although it is just four days until the migratory restrictions on Cubans announced by Ecuador take effect, alarm has already spread among merchants and “mules.”
The news of the new visa requirement for Cubans, starting on December 1, has fallen like a bucket of cold water, and not just among those who were planning to leave with Quito being the first step to their final destination: the United States. The bad news also affects a wide network in importing, distribution and sale of illegal goods that range from cleaning supplies to sophisticated appliances.
This Friday, when there are still no tangible effects of the change, the vendors already anticipate a drastic fall in their merchandise and customers fear the loss of variety in clothing and footwear now available on the illegal market. On the street, many speculate that the probability that prices will rise in the coming days and will trigger sales, especially so close to Christmas.
The mules who arrive in Havana on the Taca flight that landed shortly after five in the afternoon on Thursday felt fortunate. Coming from Quito, after a stop in San Salvador, the Cubans felt like shipwreck survivors and were received with relief by their families outside the airport.
The luggage belt was full of the so-called bolas – suitcases full of clothes, shoes and home appliances, wrapped in nylon in the airport of origin. The customs dispatch the bolas first and the passengers with suitcases have to wait behind the priority of the obvious freight traffic. Despite strict legislation approved in September 2014 on non-commercial imports, a whole network of corruption guarantees that the merchandise passes through the controls without major incidents.
A young man of 32, who asked to remain anonymous, was one of the fortunate ones who ended his trip to Ecuador without legal holdups. “We arrived just in time,” he told 14ymedio on his arrival at Terminal 3 at Havana’s José Martí International Airport, where he heard about the announcement of the new restrictions on Cuban nationals entering Ecuador. “There was a rumor there that they were going to close the door soon, but we never imagined it would be so soon,” he added.
The boy’s luggage contained everything from Christmas wreaths to a carpenter’s saw. “I should have risked bringing more stuff, because now I don’t know when I’ll be able to travel,” he lamented while his cousin helped him to push two carts full of bolas and boxes between which a flat screen TV also peeked out.
From now on Ecuador will apply the same restrictions as Panama, Mexico and the other nearby nations, which already require Cubans to have a visa to enter the country. Instead, holders of Spanish passports or Cubans with five-year visas to the United States will be able to travel freely, as before, to all those countries, including Ecuador. For informal traders, this path was a safe route despite the high ticket prices, which in the high season can exceed $1,000 US.
The buyers have also benefited from the use of this Ecuadorian trade route. The high prices of products in state sores push many families to buy their clothes and shoes in the illegal market, following an unwritten maxim often shared on this island: priority to individuals, rather than the State.
A pair of sneakers, which in the hard currency stores cost around 45 convertible pesos (roughly $45 US), can but got for half the price and of better quality. “You see these Adidas? You can’t find them here,” says Victor Manuel, a high school student who says he lives for clothes. “That’s what matters most to me,” he says.
The official press published a note this Friday on the new immigration rules for Cubans going to Ecuador. In the same issue, an article criticized the preference for foreign products among Cuban children and youth. The main reproach is directed directly to backpacks and accessories with the faces of Barbie dolls which are some of the products the mules import from Ecuador.
Despite the fears, some traders seem confident that the situation will be resolved. “We’ll find another way, we always have done,” assured the young man who arrived on the Taca flight. The bolas that he brought on his last trip from Ecuador barely fit in the family car that came to pick him up at the airport.
_________________________

A Matter of Law







By Miriam Celaya
Translating Cuba - 14ymedio
 November 28, 2015 

  Nicaraguan police guarding the border with Costa Rica to prevent passage to Cubans bound for the United States
(Photo Álvaro Sánchez / EFE)
The crisis that has led to a bottleneck of more than 2,000 Cubans on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua these last few days brings to the forefront the issue of the incessant flow of émigrés from Cuba to the US, creating a delicate collateral diplomatic situation between the two Central American nations.
Belatedly, as it is usual for the Cuban government to react to important situations that they would rather avoid, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a statement attributing all the causes for the exodus to the Cuban Adjustment Act and the “wet foot/dry foot” policy that the U.S. applies to those who flee the Island.
In short, according to the official Cuban version, responsibility for the growing tide of migration from Cuba to that country belongs entirely to the US administration, which is jeopardizing the process of reconciliation and dialogue between the two governments which began in December, 2014. 
Here is a situation where a foreign power applies a law that incites in Cubans the irrepressible urge to embark on an uncertain and dangerous adventure. This portrayal, attributed to hundreds of thousands of Cubans who emigrate to the US, or aspire to do so, depicts them with the regrettable inability to reason for themselves, and, paradoxically, calls into question the much-vaunted national sovereignty, since it assumes that a law established by a foreign power is a necessary and sufficient condition to cause what is becoming a gradual and constant emptying of the Island.
Meanwhile, the official press ventriloquists have been ordered to support their boss, so very astute comments from its analysts have started to appear on television news programs and in newspapers. For Castro-style journalism, all resources are valid, starting from the most rude and cynic comment, offensive to the Cuban people, that mocks the national misfortune that this never-ending escape represents: from “Anyone who has $ 15,000 to pay a smuggler is not fleeing from poverty,” was the comment of Oliver Zamora, a yeomen of the guard, on last Friday’s primetime broadcast of the National Television News; to the reductionist, untimely and manipulative “opinion” article – “The Cuban Adjustment Act. From the escape to the stockade” – by Ricardo Ronquillo, in Sunday’s Juventud Rebelde.
Both pawns stick to the Master’s script that points to the Cuban Adjustment Act – enacted and in effect since 1966 – as the cause and continuation of the problem, and the government’s defense is sustained on that aspect, which motivates the challenge of debating from a legal perspective.
Thus, accepting that such a law affects the Cuban exodus to some extent, and mercifully leaving aside the element that one of its greatest beneficiaries is precisely the Cuban government, whose coffers swell each year with the merciless tax it imposes on contributions sent from emigres to their relatives in Cuba, it is unquestionable that the resolution of this problem is in the hands of the Cuban authorities, as well as from a legal perspective, that is, revamping the laws in our country.
The absolute power of the Cuban regime places it in a privileged position when it comes to legislating, since the General-President is not required to consult anyone nor to have the approval of any parallel power to enact laws at will. If Castro II wants to defeat the formidable power he attributes to the Cuban Adjustment Act, and if he wants to avoid the shameful humiliation that a foreign law has greater convocation capability for the Cuban people than does the Revolutionary discourse of over half a century, he should make deep legal changes in favor of the governed, so that they benefit from our laws and not from the laws of others.
For instance, the Foreign Investment Law could be revised to acknowledge the rights of Cubans to invest in their own country, given that, as Oliver Zamora has stated, Cubans are not fleeing poverty, since they have funds to pay traffickers. It is logical to offer them the opportunity of a better way to invest their money in their own country. Incidentally, tax laws could be relaxed to establish soft taxing for Cuban investors, offer them low-interest, long-term credit, and enact favorable import tariffs for to improve the performance of their businesses.
I am convinced that the new scenario that would appear in Cuba from this revamping would greatly discourage the disorderly stampede of emigrants to the United States
The labor codes could also be reviewed to grant Cuban workers the right to strike, the right to unionize, and the right to enter into contracts; a new agrarian reform could be enacted that places ownership of the land in the hands of producers who work it; the period of time that Cubans can remain abroad without losing the right to return to their home country when they wish could be declared unlimited; provisions that establish the loss of citizenship could be repealed and the full right of all Cubans residing in Cuba or abroad to enter and leave the national territory and to participate in elections could be recognized.
Other legal issues that are entirely dependent on the will of the Cuban government and not on that of the U.S. are those concerning the consecration of those rights intrinsic to democratic societies, such as freedoms of expression, of opinion and of the press, and the multiparty system, just to mention the most elementary.
I am convinced that the new scenario that would appear in Cuba from this revamping would greatly discourage the disorderly stampede of emigrants to the United States. The suitability of Cuban laws would eventually defeat the evil power of the Cuban Adjustment Act and acknowledge the Cuban establishment. It would ultimately become clear that, in effect, the Cuban emigration problem is only a matter of law.

I STAND WITH GOD AND ISRAEL ETERNALLY



(Courtesy)
Lone Soldier Thanksgiving Dinner


Lone Soldier Thanksgiving Dinner
Dr. Alvin Schamroth (2-L), husband of the author and a volunteer in his own right, helps at the dinner. (Courtesy)
If once a year we can get together and make turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salads and pumpkin pie for close to 1,000 IDF soldierswho have no family here, it is the least we can do to thank these wonderful young people who do so much for the People of Israel and the State of Israel.
When my dear friend Bonnie Rosenbaum called and said, “it’s that time of year for the annual Lone Soldier Thanksgiving Dinner” – and that “this year we’re expecting 800 soldiers in Tel Aviv! – I quickly got busy mobilizing my friends and neighbors to help her.  Bonnie was overall in charge of the dinner. Every year, she does her magic of providing lone soldiers with a complete Thanksgiving dinner, with all the trimmings, by enlisting the help of hundreds of volunteers from four different communities (Bet Shemesh/Ramat Beit Shemesh, Maale Adumim, Karnei Shomron and Efrat).

About the Dinner

We volunteers from these communities take the task of feeding these soldiers seriously because we know they look forward to this dinner all year long. It started out as an event to give 200-plus American soldiers in the IDF “a taste of home.” Then, a few years later, the event became a HaKarat HaTov” (showing appreciation) dinner for lone soldiers from all over the world who come here to serve in the IDF or to participate in a sherut leumi (national service) program.
There are now approximately 6,000 lone soldiers in the IDF, with the majority still coming from the  US.
So what inspires all these volunteers to put their hearts and souls into a Thanksgiving dinner for soldiers? Why focus on feeding soldiers a big fancy dinner when there are so many causes and needy people out there?

The Concept of ‘Lone Soldier’

Idealistic and brave young men and women are recognized as “lone soldiers” because they leave their homelands and families behind. They become IDF soldiers who endure all the struggles and hardships of any soldier, but the difference is that they have no home to go to on breaks, no family support, no one to take care of them when they are ill, no one to lend them money or a shoulder to lean on when army life gets tough.
The community in which we live in Ramat Beit Shemesh is a nice blend of mostly Dati Leumi (Religious Zionist) families, including many with children in the IDF, and Haredi  (ultra-orthodox) families who have significantly fewer children that serve. Some of them had never met a soldier until the war (Operation Protective Edge) in the summer of 2014. Either way, few of us knew soldiers who had no one to support them throughout their service.  Our own kids, on the other hand, get the royal treatment. We pamper them on their visits home and send them back to base with fresh laundry, special treats, pocket money and hugs.

The War Last Summer Changed Us

The tragic kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers followed by the war in Gaza last summer brought all of us together to a higher level of achdut (unity) that few of us had ever experienced. Many IDF soldiers from our own community served in Gaza – and right alongside them were lone soldiers. We got to meet them, invite them for Shabbat meals and provide them with whatever they needed to get through the summer in Gaza.
My son serves in the IDF, and he told us that the thing that kept him and others going strong when they were fighting in Gaza was the outpouring of love and support they received from communities all over Israel and from Jews all over the world. He brings these lone soldiers home. Yeshivat Lev HaTorah in Ramat Beit Shemesh provides housing for them now. There is a home for lone solders that just opened up in Bet Shemesh as well. We have become more aware of the needs of these soldiers, and as such, countless others have become very involved since the war to help show our deep appreciation to them.

The Call to ‘Chesed’

Chesed (loving-kindness) is a Jewish value that springs forth especially in times of crisis. Our communities keep the chesed flowing for our IDF soldiers in any way we can.
Lone Soldier Thanksgiving Dinner
RBS volunteers prepared salads for hundreds of lone soldiers. From the right: Yehudis Schamroth, Evie Wasosky, Chava Bloom, Chaya Samet and VIckie Lecy. (Courtesy)
We don’t want to wait for another war to give love and support to our troops – especially the ones who have no family here.
If once a year we can get together and make turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salads and pumpkin pie for close to 1,000 young men and women who do so much for the People of Israel and the State of Israel and who have no family here, it is the least we can do to thank them. I am proud of all our soldiers. I am proud to live among people who recognize that all IDF soldiers endure so much and put their lives on the line for us every day. I am proud to be part of the holy nation of Israel.
Footnote:  Michael Levin, a lone soldier from Philadelphia, was killed in action during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The center was opened in 2009 by his parents and former lone soldiers.
By: Yehudis Schamroth, Ramat Beit Shemesh
(Exclusive to United with Israel)
The author, an American-born-and-raised nurse anesthetist/acupuncturist, is well-known in Ramat Beit Shemesh, where she resides, as a leader and an extraordinary volunteer. She was one of the main organizers of the Lone Soldier Thanksgiving Dinner.

Bring Chanukah Joy to Israeli Soldiers - Say Thank You!

We are honored to thank the young men and women of the IDF who risk their lives every day to protect and defend the citizens of Israel. Join us in sending winter care packages (and personal notes of support) to Israeli soldiers who are out in the cold all day long.
Warm up a soldier's heart with essential winter wear including a fleece jacket, hat, gloves and neck warmer. Keep an entire unit warm by ordering 10 packages! The soldiers greatly appreciate your love and concern.
Send a gift and write your personal message to a soldier today!
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Gush Etzion Leader Calls for Annexing Judea and Samaria for Benefit of Local Jews and Arabs




Davidi Perl, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, explains security issues to journalists. (UWI)
Davidi Perl, head of Gush Etzion Regional Council



IDF soldiers at Gush Etzion junction
IDF soldiers at Gush Etzion junction. (UWI)
Davidi Perl, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, believes that Israel should annex Judea and Samaria in order to enable local residents, including the peaceful Arabs, to build a better life.
To date, 21 people have been killed and 190 were wounded in the ongoing wave of terror across the country, which began after the Jewish New Year in September.
Speaking recently to journalists at the Gush Etzion junction – a popular site for Palestinian terror attacks – Davidi Perl, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, said that other than the two Intifadas (1987-1991 and 2000-2005), “it used to be quiet. But today there’s a big difference. They come here, trying to attack us in our home.”
Perl, who grew up in Gush Etzion and has been living there for more than 45 years, said that even during the Intifadas, “the violence was not right here, but in the villages or on the roads. Now they come here. This place [the junction] is our living room, like the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. They don’t care who they kill – women, teenagers, everyone.”
Hadar_Buchris
Hadar Buchris, 21, was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist at the Gush Etzion junction recently. (Facebook)
In fact, he said, “it started about a year and a half ago, when the three teenagers were killed. There have been many incidents here recently at this junction – a 21-year-old girl was murdered at the bus stop. A week ago three people were murdered. My friend, Yaakov Don, had just left his home to visit his sons at school. He had just come out of the gate of [the community of] Alon Shvut.”
“The people here used to feel secure,” he continued. “They shopped together with Arabs, but now it all changed. People are very hesitant to go out to shop, to go out at night, to go to the coffee shops and even to fill up their cars with gas, because who will be the next one?”
“You see the army here,” Perl said, pointing to what seemed like dozens of soldiers from all directions. “This is the center of the community. Now the soldiers are stopping all the cars, checking for knives and other weapons.”

Peaceful Arabs are ‘Frustrated’

According to Perl, the Palestinian leaders “push them to terror, to go out and attack Jews. The Palestinian Authority pays salaries to people who commit terror and who served time in jail…
“The good people among them are frustrated,” he added. “There are hundreds of Arabs working in Gush Etzion. They need to make a salary and have a decent life.”
“This is our homeland. We want to live in peace in our homeland. Who started the war after 1948 [when the State of Israel was established]? Not us, but them [Arabs in the region]. If we give away this land, they’ll go to Tel Aviv to kill us because we’re Jews…
IDF Spokesperson Peter Lerner
IDF Spokesperson Peter Lerner discusses security situation at Alon Shvut Junction in Gush Etzion last Thursday. (UWI)
“We can’t let them build a terror base here,” he said, referring to the idea of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. “No country in the world would agree to that. I think Israel should annex all of Judea and Samaria, like they did with the Golan Heights, because we have to make it clear to whom it belongs. Only then can the people living here build a better life, including the Arabs, because their leaders only push them to terror.”
Peter Lerner, IDF spokesperson, addressed the same group of journalists at the nearby Alon Shvut junction, just outside the community where the murdered Yaakov Don lived.
The terrorists “specifically search out this area,” Lerner said. Their methods range “from stabbing to ramming with a vehicle to shooting.”

Social Media Incitement

They “mimick” each other, he continued, carrying out these attacks “filled with hate” and incited by “social media and traditional media.”
They search for an area with large Israeli and Arab populations in order to get access, he explained.
Among the new steps to be taken is the building of a road to bypass the circle in the junction and more security at the bus stops, which is often an inconvenience. “These kinds of steps are temporary in light of the reality,” Lerner said. “In this reality, saving lives takes precedence over quality of life.”
By: Atara Beck, United with Israel

Bring Chanukah Joy to Israeli Soldiers - Say Thank You!

We are honored to thank the young men and women of the IDF who risk their lives every day to protect and defend the citizens of Israel. Join us in sending winter care packages (and personal notes of support) to Israeli soldiers who are out in the cold all day long.
Warm up a soldier's heart with essential winter wear including a fleece jacket, hat, gloves and neck warmer. Keep an entire unit warm by ordering 10 packages! The soldiers greatly appreciate your love and concern.
Send a gift and write your personal message to a soldier today!
Donate to Israel