Eight hours of terror in southern Israel

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Is this the proper pronunciation of Al-Qaeda?

Ya, he did pretty good with it. American journalists should stick with the way they pronounce it. It's funny to hear it in English, though, because it simply means "the base" in Arabic. So, they are saying things like, "A terrorist attack in Northern Iraq is being blamed on the base." The base of what lol?

Stratfor is usually right. They have close to 300,000 yearly subscribers at around $400 a year

They also have an obligation not to upset those subscribers and keep that money coming in.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Stratfor is usually right. They have close to 300,000 yearly subscribers at around $400 a year

Things are going to get much, much worse.

[scandal 951]

Also, Hamas is not a Mossad puppet. But they, and the other Palestinian terrorist groups, are supported, supplied and financially supported by Syria, who have a very good reason to distract the focus of the international media, with today seeing, for a change, loud and very public calls for President Assad to go, from a number of world leaders (and Hilary Clinton). For Syria, the Israeli reaction will be a welcome diversion for the media from their focus on the continued suppression of the Syrian protesters and it couldn't have happened at a more opportune moment. If you're looking for a guiding hand in today's events, look a bit further North than Israel.

You are absolutely right about the existence of a Hamas/Syria/Iran axis. But I don't see the operational directive for today's attack coming from Damascus. Israeli intelligence has been warning of an infiltration from Sinai for several weeks now. This has far more to do with the Egypt/Mubarak variant of the Arab Spring, than the Syria/Assad variant. As in - the Egyptians under Mubarak used to effectively patrol the Sinai. Now, they don't. The Rafah crossing is now a revolving door between Sinai and Gaza. Given that the Gaza/Israel border has been largely sealed, that makes the Gaza->Sinai->Israel attack vector suddenly very appealing to terrorists. There have been other intelligence alerts in recent months of similar attempts, thankfully foiled. Unfortunately not so today.

The attack was planned in the Gaza Strip by the Popular Resistance Committees and perpetrated by terrorists who crossed from Gaza into Sinai via smuggling tunnels. They then traveled some 200 kilometers to reach an area of the border protected only by a tattered wire fence, about 15 kilometers north of Eilat.

Israeli forces killed five of the terrorists, and Egyptian soldiers reportedly killed two more. But the Israel Defense Forces estimates that 15 to 20 participated in the attack, meaning most escaped.

IDF officials believe the goal of the attack was to kidnap a soldier. The IDF had previously responded to warnings of a planned attack, beefing up its forces in the area.

Do the Syrains control Hamas, that's very doubtful. Syrians are predominantly Sunni, Al-Assad and the ruling junta are Alawi. Syria is a Marxist/Ba'athist state and religion is not much of a factor in the running of the country. Hamas is 100% Sunni and so are its supporters so that makes things tense at the best of times. Hamas is also calling for freedom in Syria, so...

You really don't know what you're talking about here, do you 5?

You and I are good pals, I know that. On football, US politics, late night jammin' with Spooky ... we get along.

Are you really this blind to the tight and longstanding relationship between Hamas and Damascus?

Do a bit of Google sleuthing on Khaled Mashal and the 15-member Political Bureau he heads, which dictate Hamas policy and direction. Based where? You guessed it. Damascus, Syria. And funded by Syria and Iran.

Please don't tell me you're all weepy and teary-eyed for people who deny the Holocaust, claim no interest in any form of reconciliation or two-state solution, and pursue through violent means one and only one outcome to the situation: the destruction of Israel in total, the removal of its Jewish population through any means necessary, and its complete replacement by an Islamist fundamentalist Palestine.

Here's some first hand reporting from the Egged bus that was attacked earlier today.

Bus driver recounts long minutes of terror attack

Witnesses describe attackers dressed in Egyptian military fatigues. "I thought they were soldiers repairing the fence," Bilefsky recalls. "I slowed a bit, and then I caught a hail of bullets."

By Revital Levy-Stein Tags: Egypt Israel terrorism

The driver of Egged Bus 392 was headed along Route 12, about 27 kilometers north of Eilat, when he saw the car up ahead signaling frantically. Benny Bilefsky slowed the bus, thinking there had been a traffic accident. But then he saw two Egyptian soldiers in camouflage uniforms doing something to the border fence just 15 meters from the road, where an Egyptian army post stands on the other side.

"I felt as if they were aiming right at me, because a bullet entered right by my head and shattered the glass that separates my seat from the passengers' seats," he said. "In the first seat behind me were two tourists who were hurt by shards of shattered glass, and then I heard a burst from an automatic weapon. I pressed down on the gas pedal, decided not to stop, took my telephone, dialed 100 and called the police."

Bilefsky continued driving on Route 12 until he hit the permanent checkpoint at Netafim, 12 kilometers northwest of Eilat. An ambulance was waiting, and he unloaded his passengers; 31 of them were taken to the hospital. There, Bilefsky saw a large number of soldiers en route to the scene of the attack.

Bilefsky, 67, of Be'er Sheva, has worked for Egged for 44 years. He has spent the last 25 years driving Bus 392, he said, which mainly ferries soldiers between their homes in Eilat and their bases.

Thursday is the day when many soldiers return home for the weekend, "so the bus was already full when I left Be'er Sheva at 8:05 A.M., and some of the soldiers were even standing," he recalls. "After the shooting, I looked in the mirror while I continued to drive, and I saw that the soldiers on the bus were treating the gunshot victims."

They also used their own phones to call the police, he said.

Aharon - a resident of Lod who was on his way to Eilat for a vacation with his wife and two children - was most likely the driver of the car that Bilefsky saw signaling up ahead. Aharon said he saw the men in Egyptian army uniforms and feared they were terrorists; he tried to signal other cars not to go any farther. He even tried to block the road with his car.

S., an officer from Eilat, was one of Bilefsky's passengers on Bus 392. She said she heard gunfire, followed by people screaming, and knew it was a terror attack.

"I immediately took off all my clothes, even my bra, to make tourniquets for people who were hit and who had lost blood," said S., who was covered in blood from the people she had treated, although she herself was virtually unscathed. "We all know each other; some of the [other] soldiers are my friends. We were in the same grade. The bus kept traveling, and then we heard booms."

L., another soldier on the bus, said she was initially standing on the bus, since there were no seats left. Then another soldier and fellow Eilat resident, G.M., offered her his seat.

"Just as we switched places, the shooting began, and he got a burst in his leg," she said.

G.M.'s mother, Smadar, had known that her daughter, also a soldier, was on Bus 392, and she feared for her daughter's safety. In the end, it turned out to be her son - whom she hadn't known was aboard - who was wounded in yesterday's attack.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

You really don't know what you're talking about here, do you 5?

You and I are good pals, I know that. On football, US politics, late night jammin' with Spooky ... we get along.

Are you really this blind to the tight and longstanding relationship between Hamas and Damascus?

Do a bit of Google sleuthing on Khaled Mashal and the 15-member Political Bureau he heads, which dictate Hamas policy and direction. Based where? You guessed it. Damascus, Syria. And funded by Syria and Iran.

Please don't tell me you're all weepy and teary-eyed for people who deny the Holocaust, claim no interest in any form of reconciliation or two-state solution, and pursue through violent means one and only one outcome to the situation: the destruction of Israel in total, the removal of its Jewish population through any means necessary, and its complete replacement by an Islamist fundamentalist Palestine.

We are indeed good friends and NOTHING will ever change that. Hamas and Damascus have a complex relationship I never said that they don't have one, but they really don't like each other. The Syrians killed 100,000 members of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood in 1982, so while Hamas is sheltered in Syria, they really want to topple the Ba'athist/Marxist/Alawi (Shia) regime. The Syrians would rather Hamas go bug the Israelis than bother them hence the reason for giving them, especially Mashal, shelter. Iran is Shia and they don't want a bunch of angry Sunnis bothering them so they keep them at a distance. Funding comes mostly from Sunni groups (Saudis and the Gulf States like who REALLY don't want HAMAS bothering them), Iran and Syria are waaay down the list. The comingling of funds (humanitarian, political, religious and military) makes things more complex but the whole thing is a game of hot potato.

I'll admit that I have no time for the 'Holocaust didn't happen' people. It did, so that's #######. Skinhead/Neo-Nazis and I have danced before. Never lost any of my kin in the camps, we're old skool, only Pogroms for us, thank you. I'm a one-state guy, I'll admit that when I see the settlers I don't feel so well. I get that nagging thought in the back of my mind, are these my people? I fear that they are. I have no real allegiance to the Palestinians but when I see some of the stuff that goes on and even more so the reactions of so many kind and decent Israelis I think what the Hell is going on. The Peace MUST be made, no matter what it takes, that's the bottom line. Normalcy will out the NUTS, that's what I strongly believe.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Normalcy will out the NUTS, that's what I strongly believe.

Well, Scandal's not my bud. In his mind, I'm a dirty Ay-rab Muslim, and he cut me off as soon as that information became known to him. I have no incentive to kiss up even a little for him, so I am free to say what I really think as someone who does have an alliance with Palestinians, as I am one.

When it comes to Israel, nuts are the norm. There was nothing normal about the creation of Israel and nothing normal sustaining it. Like the former Meant for Whites Only South Africa, which is an apt comparison in many ways, it's always at war, and will be as long as it exists as a Jewish state based on a Biblical promise that allows them to see themselves as superior to their neighbors, while they mete out the kind of oppression they came to the region to escape.

I have nothing against people just because they are Jewish. Lots of Jews are more anti-Israel than I'll ever be. I'm a realist and that draws me to conclude that, while Israel gets great PR for now, that only goes so far. Eventually, something has to give and it won't go well for them. Biblical or not, God don't like ugly, and there's plenty of ugly to go around.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Well, Scandal's not my bud. In his mind, I'm a dirty Ay-rab Muslim, and he cut me off as soon as that information became known to him. I have no incentive to kiss up even a little for him, so I am free to say what I really think as someone who does have an alliance with Palestinians, as I am one.

When it comes to Israel, nuts are the norm. There was nothing normal about the creation of Israel and nothing normal sustaining it. Like the former Meant for Whites Only South Africa, which is an apt comparison in many ways, it's always at war, and will be as long as it exists as a Jewish state based on a Biblical promise that allows them to see themselves as superior to their neighbors, while they mete out the kind of oppression they came to the region to escape.

I have nothing against people just because they are Jewish. Lots of Jews are more anti-Israel than I'll ever be. I'm a realist and that draws me to conclude that, while Israel gets great PR for now, that only goes so far. Eventually, something has to give and it won't go well for them. Biblical or not, God don't like ugly, and there's plenty of ugly to go around.

You're deliberately trying to provoke me, unfortunately it won't work. HE likes not those who transgress in word or deed. I will respond to your averment using cautious tones only. I can only judge Scandal on what he's posted and his comportment, I do not for even one second believe that he has a picture of Baruch Goldstein in his wallet or he has a large portrait of Meir Kahane hanging in his house. I will vouch for him but not out of some sense of obsequiety only because I believe that he is serious about seeking peace. I have been accused of many things, kowtowing to anyone other than THE ALMIGHTY is certainly not one of them.

Your discussion of the founding of Israel is troubling. I know a fair bit about the subject, but since I do not have a time machine and everything that happens is HIS will in any event, what is needed is to try to deal with the situation at hand. Many Israelis already are upset at the treatment of Palestinians via laws that are discriminatory. I know change is coming, it happened in the Jim Crow South, it happened in South Africa and it will happen in Israel. If it doesn't, then remember that HE led the Israelites out of bondage and HE gives the haughty and arrogant all the rope they will ever need to hang themselves. Their wealth will not avail them nor will their acquisitions.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

What does it matter to me that you stand up for Scandal? I know what he did to me and what he accused me of before cutting me off. He seems to like you because I said a lot less than you and got blackballed anyway. I am, to him, a dirty Ay-rab Muslim terrorist.

Not that I care, I don't owe him anything, but your heart felt oath that nothing will come between you two did seem a little desperate. I simply stated, in contrast, that I have no friendship to salve thus, am able to speak freely as I enjoy doing. You take it as a provocation, not I.

PS - We do agree about who will decide and that worldly achievements and accolades will count for nothing. I said so much in my earlier post.

You're deliberately trying to provoke me, unfortunately it won't work. HE likes not those who transgress in word or deed. I will respond to your averment using cautious tones only. I can only judge Scandal on what he's posted and his comportment, I do not for even one second believe that he has a picture of Baruch Goldstein in his wallet or he has a large portrait of Meir Kahane hanging in his house. I will vouch for him but not out of some sense of obsequiety only because I believe that he is serious about seeking peace. I have been accused of many things, kowtowing to anyone other than THE ALMIGHTY is certainly not one of them.

Your discussion of the founding of Israel is troubling. I know a fair bit about the subject, but since I do not have a time machine and everything that happens is HIS will in any event, what is needed is to try to deal with the situation at hand. Many Israelis already are upset at the treatment of Palestinians via laws that are discriminatory. I know change is coming, it happened in the Jim Crow South, it happened in South Africa and it will happen in Israel. If it doesn't, then remember that HE led the Israelites out of bondage and HE gives the haughty and arrogant all the rope they will ever need to hang themselves. Their wealth will not avail them nor will their acquisitions.

Edited August 19, 2011 by Sofiyya

[scandal 951]

Two sisters and their husbands among victims of terror attacks in south Israel

The four were on their way to a vacation in Eilat when the terrorists attacked their car; wife of another victim describes how she played dead and saved her own life.

The names of five people killed in the terror attacks in Israel's south on Thursday were released Friday. The victims are Yosef Levi, aged 52, from Holon; Sisters Flora Gez and Shula Karlitzky, aged 52 and 54 respectively, and their husbands, Moshe, aged 53 and Dov, aged 58. The two couples lived in Kfar Saba and were on their way to a vacation in Eilat when their car was attacked.

Yosef Levi's wife Etie, who was injured by a bullet in her shoulder, told relatives she played dead for an hour and a half, bleeding by her husband's body.

Earlier on Friday, a funeral was held for Staff Sgt. Moshe Naftali of Ofra, aged 22, who was killed in a gun battle with the terrorists. His commander called him "salt of the land," and said Moshe "had a sense of humor and was moral and professional. The enemy will not defeat us. We will do anything we can to follow in Moshe's footsteps."

Counter-terrorism commander Paskal Avrahami, aged 49, was also laid to rest in Jerusalem. "We lost a fighter who fought bravely," Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said at his funeral.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

It's a shame so many have to die, but can a nation built on terrorism and deception legitimately call those who want their land back "terrorists" without raising their own history in comparison? Kfar Saba used to be an Arab town. How many Arabs do you suppose live there now?

[Pooky 3,827]

It's a shame so many have to die, but can a nation built on terrorism and deception legitimately call those who want their land back "terrorists" without raising their own history in comparison? Kfar Saba used to be an Arab town. How many Arabs do you suppose live there now?

Peace will only be achieved when the cycle of violence is broken. One side needs to resist the urge to retaliate for the other to be forced by world opinion to do the same. Who will blink first?

[mawilson 2,133]

Zionists created Israel through deception and terror. Nothing new since.

Don't you just love terrorist apologists.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Peace will only be achieved when the cycle of violence is broken. One side needs to resist the urge to retaliate for the other to be forced by world opinion to do the same. Who will blink first?

It's gotta be Israel.

Don't you just love terrorist apologists.

God must love them, Mark, He made so many of them. Don't you feel loved?

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

What does it matter to me that you stand up for Scandal? I know what he did to me and what he accused me of before cutting me off. He seems to like you because I said a lot less than you and got blackballed anyway. I am, to him, a dirty Ay-rab Muslim terrorist.

Not that I care, I don't owe him anything, but your heart felt oath that nothing will come between you two did seem a little desperate. I simply stated, in contrast, that I have no friendship to salve thus, am able to speak freely as I enjoy doing. You take it as a provocation, not I.

PS - We do agree about who will decide and that worldly achievements and accolades will count for nothing. I said so much in my earlier post.

You may visit any calumny upon me you will, another had a far greater calumny visited upon her and held fast, so, too, will I hold fast to HIM. Whether or not my testimonial on behalf of scandal has relevance to you is beyond my control, however, I am loyal and thus it has great meaning to me.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Don't you just love terrorist apologists.

No, I love GOD.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

You may visit any calumny upon me you will, another had a far greater calumny visited upon her and held fast, so, too, will I hold fast to HIM. Whether or not my testimonial on behalf of scandal has relevance to you is beyond my control, however, I am loyal and thus it has great meaning to me.

I have no cause to pursue a calumny upon you, and I haven't. Commenting on the comments of others is what we do here. I'm loyal too, but, my loyalty not first to any man, but to God, allowing me to call for justice even against myself, my friends or my kin, as we are called upon to do.