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Viaje a los horrores del 7 de octubre

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Una Cronica por Binjamin (Ben) Casey

Hace unas semanas, decidí unirme a la Gira de Testigos, un grupo que se organizó en Katzrin para aquellos que querían visitar algunas de las comunidades devastadas por la guerra en el sur de Israel. Admito que tenía serias dudas sobre ir después de leer un artículo sobre cómo algunos de los residentes de las comunidades en la envoltura de Gaza estaban sintiendo que su privacidad estaba siendo invadida. Ciertamente, no tenía deseos de golosburgo después de haber visto más que suficiente muerte a lo largo de mis muchos años de trabajo en África. Lo que finalmente me convenció de ir fue que ya tres meses después de las atrocidades del 7 de octubre, la gente negaba que hubiera tenido lugar, incluso con la enorme cantidad de videos, audios y testimonios personales dados por quienes presenciaron, se vieron afectados y los propios perpetradores. Personas que habían hecho campaña a gritos por la paz y una “solución de dos Estados”, como Vivian Silver, de 74 años, de Be’eri, que fue brutalmente asesinada, junto con aquellos que ahora se han dado cuenta de que la paz no puede suceder hasta que la ridícula saga de refugiados finalmente se ponga fin y los árabes sean absorbidos por sus propias culturas y países. Finalmente me di cuenta de que necesitaba ver y sentir la atmósfera de las ciudades y pueblos y escuchar a los que han estado involucrados. Quería entender tanto los aspectos financieros como los trágicos aspectos humanos. Durante los tres años que he estado en Israel, he notado los restos de cohetes que han sido disparados contra Israel a lo largo de los años. Mi curiosidad me llevó a considerar el costo monetario más allá del costo de las vidas humanas. El 7 de octubre se dispararon alrededor de 8.500 cohetes contra Israel. A un costo promedio de $ 600 por pieza, esto equivale a aproximadamente $ 5,100,000 (USD). Alrededor del 10% de estos cohetes fallaron, cayeron en el mar o cayeron dentro de Gaza. Eso significa que aproximadamente 7.650 lograron entrar en Israel. Si la Cúpula de Hierro disparó al 90% de los cohetes, entonces tenemos una cifra de 6.885 intercepciones por ese medio. Cada intercepción cuesta alrededor de 60.000 dólares, nosotros llegamos a un coste de 413.000.000 de dólares. Si a eso le sumamos el coste de los cohetes de Hamás (5.100.000 dólares), obtenemos un coste aproximado de 418.100.000 dólares. La diferencia entre el costo de los cohetes y el costo de las intercepciones por la cúpula de hierro es de 413 millones de dólares. Según Fresh Books, el costo promedio de un hospital de 50 camas oscila entre 25 y 75 millones de dólares. Teniendo en cuenta que el costo de los cohetes y las intercepciones asciende a 418.100.000, si ahora tomamos el costo del hospital dividido entre el costo de los cohetes usando el costo más alto, ¡podríamos haber construido cinco hospitales y medio de cincuenta camas en un día! Las cifras anteriores permiten que solo una cúpula de hierro intercepte un cohete.

Lo que me trajo a la mente estas cifras fue que en cada parada de nuestro recorrido por la envoltura de Gaza había piezas de cohetes esparcidas por todas partes. Los grupos terroristas han disparado constantemente cohetes contra Israel, asesinando, mutilando y perturbando nuestras vidas. Estos ataques crean un sentimiento de desesperanza entre muchos israelíes. Tengo que admitir que nuestro viaje me hizo enojar, pero ¿por qué estaba enojado? ¿A qué se debía el enojo? Supongo que uno de los puntos importantes es por qué. ¿Por qué estamos gastando millones y millones de dólares en el desarrollo, la fabricación, el mantenimiento y, en última instancia, el uso de estos sistemas de defensa? ¿Por qué la Unión Europea, los Estados Unidos y otros países llamados desarrollados siguen ayudando e instigando a estas organizaciones terroristas para que tengamos que contrarrestar sus planes asesinos? Obviamente, el petróleo fue un gran incentivo para incentivar a los árabes en los años cuarenta y cincuenta, pero aparte de tener el Oro Negro, ¿qué más han aportado las naciones árabes al mundo? ¿Dónde están sus grandes líderes? ¿Escritores? ¿Inventores? ¿Premios Nobel? No existen, no porque los árabes no sean inteligentes, sino porque en lugar de utilizar la vasta riqueza que han obtenido para educar y hacer avanzar a su pueblo, han desarrollado un sistema que es medieval en su concepto. Surfdom. Sus gobernantes enseñan al pueblo árabe que su bajo nivel de existencia se debe a la agresión, la opresión y el imperialismo sionistas.

Pero, ¿quién es realmente culpable de estas cosas? Sus propios gobernantes viven en palacios dorados, llevando un estilo de vida suntuoso en lugar de compartir la riqueza y educar a su pueblo. Si la gente común pudiera ver esto, pronto se daría cuenta de que su miseria no proviene del régimen sionista, sino de sus propios amos y gobernantes.

Nuestro recorrido comenzó en una mañana fría y lluviosa. Sin embargo, a medida que descendíamos de los Altos del Golán a la parte más ancha del valle del Jordán hasta el mar de Galilea, la lluvia se detuvo y duró así hasta después de que salimos de Ascalón esa noche. Viajando por la ruta 6 pasamos por Tulkarem en Judea y Samaria, un verdadero semillero de los grupos terroristas palestinos, que después del 7 de octubre han comenzado a flexionar sus músculos y a tratar de entrar en la lucha iniciada por Hamas y los árabes de Gaza. Hay una valla protectora muy alta a lo largo de este tramo de la ruta 6 que se construyó para evitar que los terroristas disparen contra la carretera. Por supuesto, Tulkarem y Qalqilya, ambas en la ruta 6, están en el área a de los acuerdos de Oslo y, por lo tanto, están bajo el control directo de la llamada Autoridad Palestina.

El hecho de que Israel haya tenido que erigir la valla de seguridad dice mucho por sí mismo. Finalmente llegamos a Ashkelon, donde recogimos a Eliyahu McClean, nuestro guía. Luego continuamos hacia el sur hasta llegar al cruce de Erez hacia Gaza. Al pasar por la base militar nos dimos cuenta del muro de hormigón de aproximadamente 6 metros de altura. Esta pared ahora está marcada con agujeros de bala.

Las torres de vigilancia de las bases militares también dan testimonio de los agujeros de bala aún visibles en las ventanas de vidrio.

El cruce en sí es muy similar en apariencia y función al aeropuerto Ben Gurion y esto no es sorprendente, ya que fue diseñado y construido por la misma empresa. Incluso con todas sus herramientas de alta tecnología, el cruce fue fácilmente superado por los terroristas. Antes de la guerra, alrededor de 6.000 gazatíes viajaban diariamente a través del cruce para trabajar en Israel, ahora se sabe que la mayoría de estos trabajadores participaban activamente en el espionaje de las comunidades en las que trabajaban. Buscaban información como quién poseía armas y cuántas personas vivían en cada casa. ¿Cuáles eran las edades y tenían perros? Toda esta inteligencia ayudó a facilitar el trabajo de los terroristas. Había varios vehículos en el cruce que habían sido destruidos en el ataque. Acribillados con agujeros de bala y medio quemados, estos vehículos son un duro recordatorio de cómo aquellos que intentaron escapar del alboroto asesino fueron abatidos a tiros o volados en sus vehículos. Para mí, estos vehículos fueron un comienzo muy aleccionador para lo que resultaría ser un día muy conmovedor. Al salir del cruce, hicimos un pequeño desvío para ver lo que quedaba de la estación del pueblo y el puente del ferrocarril en Deir Sneed. Aunque no estuvo directamente involucrado con nuestro recorrido, Deir Sneed era un pueblo árabe ubicado en la antigua Via Maris. Se menciona en Éxodo 13 como el camino a la tierra de los filisteos. En cierto sentido, esta parada fue muy significativa, ya que los llamados palestinos reclaman este pueblo como uno de los puntos de partida de la Nakba o catástrofe. Muchos afirman que el nombre Palestina proviene de la palabra filisteo, pero la evidencia arqueológica ha demostrado que esto es dudoso. Los filisteos o pueblos marinos se originaron en el mar Egeo y muy posiblemente eran de origen minoico. Es muy probable que el término palestino se utilizara para borrar la memoria de Judea en el siglo II d.C. y, como tal, el nombre británico en su “Mandato de Palestina” casi tuvo éxito. La estación del puente ferroviario y el pueblo están escondidos en medio de un bosque de cactus de Sabra, un poco difícil de alcanzar. Desde Deir Sneed viajamos hacia el sur hasta la ciudad de Sderot. Sderot fue fundada en 1951 como ciudad refugio para 80 familias de Kurdistán e Irán. Curiosamente, el primer campo de refugiados árabes se abrió en Gaza en 1948. Cabe destacar que Sderot creció y fue reconocida como una ciudad israelí en 1996 con una economía próspera y diversas ciudadanías, incluidos inmigrantes del norte de África, la antigua Unión Soviética y Etiopía. En comparación, el campo de Al Shabti en Gaza sigue siendo considerado un campo de refugiados y recibe una enorme financiación de la ONU, Estados Unidos y la Comisión Europea. Al Shabti, uno de los ocho campos de refugiados de Gaza, alberga a unos 90.000 árabes, mientras que Sderot ha pasado de las 80 familias originales a una próspera ciudad comercial de 30.000 habitantes, y ha inaugurado 15 fábricas en los últimos años. La mayor parte de este trabajo se realizó con fondos del gobierno israelí. Al Shabti, por otro lado, es el hogar de AlQuds, la “sagrada” Universidad y muchos kilómetros de túneles terroristas. Muchos de sus residentes trabajaban en Israel, muchos de los cuales, según los informes, fueron cómplices en la recopilación de información sobre las comunidades judías circundantes fuera del campo.

La puerta donde entraban los varios miles de trabajadores Árabes a Israel para ganar hasta 10 veces el sueldo de que podrían ganar en Gaza. Vea como destruyeron la puerta forzando su entrada en el 7 de octubre!

El árabe de Gaza ganaba por trabajar en Israel hasta 10 veces más de lo que podía ganar en Gaza. Según Wiki, entre septiembre de 2000 y marzo de 2013, se dispararon casi 9.000 cohetes y 5.000 proyectiles de mortero solo contra Sderot. Sin embargo, incluso en este período difícil, Sderot continuó creciendo. Mientras conducíamos hacia Sderot por la misma ruta que el ferrocarril, se señaló que los bancos y los árboles entre Gaza y la carretera / ferrocarril se erigieron como una pantalla para ayudar a proteger los vehículos de los ataques de RPG. Las marquesinas de autobús son a prueba de bombas con habitaciones seguras en su interior. Vimos el refugio antiaéreo real donde el héroe británico israelí Aner Shapiro ZTL logró lanzar siete granadas antes de que la 8ª explotara en su mano matándolo. Estas paradas de autobús tipo refugio antiaéreo son una vista común en todo Israel, pero lo que es único en Sderot es la estación de tren. Cuenta con el único techo a prueba de bombas del mundo. También son exclusivos de Sderot los parques infantiles. Cuentan con equipos de juego gigantes de hormigón en forma de orugas o “serpientes” diseñados como refugios a prueba de bombas para los niños que juegan allí. Sderot, que en hebreo significa bulevar, es una ciudad pequeña pero bonita situada junto a la autopista 34, a un tercio del camino entre Ashkelon y Beer Sheva. Fue nombrado por el primer primer ministro de Israel, David ben Gurion, por los eucaliptos que bordean su avenida principal. El principal empleador en Sderot es la planta de Osem, según Wiki. Osem es una planta procesadora de alimentos que produce artículos como Bamba, fideos instantáneos Bisli y platos de arroz. La fábrica de velas Menorá, que produce velas de Janucá que se envían a todo el mundo, también se encuentra aquí. Además de sus industrias, Sderot, a pesar de su proximidad a Gaza y el constante bombardeo de cohetes, es una ciudad en crecimiento con una comunidad joven. ¡Muchos músicos y poetas han venido de Sderot y se jactan de haber practicado su música en refugios antiaéreos! Muchas de las rotondas están decoradas con temas poéticos y musicales. El 7 de octubre, la ciudad fue invadida por unos 200 terroristas de Gaza, según el Jerusalem Post. Hubo unos 50 civiles masacrados en las calles de la ciudad y policías en la comisaría. El ataque a Sderot comenzó a las 6:30 a.m. con una andanada de cohetes exactamente 50 años después del día de la guerra de Yom Kippur. El bombardeo fue seguido por una infiltración de terroristas de Gaza. Cuando entramos en el pueblo pasamos por el lugar donde un minibús que transportaba a un grupo de turistas de edad avanzada fue abatido a tiros después de que el autobús se quedara varado con una rueda pinchada. Vimos los restos de la comisaría de policía de Sderot, donde el terrorista tomó el control y asesinó a unos 20 policías. Después de una feroz lucha, las FDI y la policía recuperaron el control utilizando excavadoras y tanques. El edificio está ahora completamente demolido y se ha colocado un monumento conmemorativo Hanukkia en el sitio. El mensaje básico de la señal es: “Por la Gracia de Hashem somos capaces de permanecer unidos”. Personas de diferentes países han dejado banderas y otros monumentos conmemorativos en el lugar. Una hermosa pintura adorna la pared del edificio adyacente: una representación de la bandera de Israel, la fuerza policial y las FDI. Se muestra un tanque disparando a la estación con un rollo de la Torá sobre él y varias letras hebreas volando hacia el cielo, presumiblemente representando las almas santas de los asesinados allí. La ciudad, aunque sigue siendo muy tranquila, poco a poco está volviendo a la vida con tiendas que comienzan a reabrir sus puertas. Condujimos por la ciudad, pasando por la casa de Jabad y los refugios antiaéreos de orugas hasta la yeshivá de Hesder. La yeshivá según wiki es la yeshivá militar Hesder o talmúdica más grande de Israel. Cuenta con unos 800 estudiantes que regresaron a sus estudios el 8 de enero a pesar del conflicto en curso en la cercana ciudad de Gaza. La yeshivá también está construida como una estructura a prueba de bombas. En el techo de la yeshivá, donde se puede ver una hermosa vista de la ciudad, nos encontramos con dos duros recordatorios de los continuos ataques contra Israel desde el comienzo de la segunda intifada en el año 2000. La primera fue una magnífica Menorá de Janucá cuyos candelabros están hechos de los casquillos gastados de 8 cohetes Qassam. También en el techo hay un árbol de la vida, cuyas raíces están hechas de casquillos de cohetes. Esta menorá representa los rastros que dejan los cohetes en el cielo mientras vuelan de Gaza a Israel. Desde la yeshivá nos dirigimos al mirador de Givati Kobi. Desde aquí podíamos ver desde el cruce de Erez a través de Jabalia hacia la ciudad de Gaza propiamente dicha. Mientras estábamos allí, fuimos testigos de una explosión, posiblemente un túnel terrorista que estaba siendo erradicado, lo que arrojó una enorme columna de humo al cielo. No sentí ninguna simpatía por la destrucción en Gaza. Después de haber visto numerosos videos de niños pequeños siendo entrenados para convertirse en terroristas, me resulta muy difícil sentir simpatía por un grupo de personas que entrenan a sus hijos desde que nacen para matar judíos, y especialmente después del 7 de octubre, cuando los mismos civiles siguieron a sus señores de Hamas y participaron activamente en la matanza, violación y saqueo a lo largo de la frontera de Gaza. Estos mismos bárbaros no hicieron nada para detener los secuestros violentos de los rehenes, sino que usaron palos para golpearlos mientras eran conducidos a través de la ciudad hacia el área que yo estaba viendo. La simpatía debe reservarse para las víctimas, no para los perpetradores. Desde allí, viajamos más al sur hasta Kfar Alumim con una primera parada en el sitio original de Saad, Maoz mul Aza (Fortaleza frente a Gaza). Tan pronto como nos desviamos de la carretera principal en Saad, comenzamos a ver señales de la incursión del 7 de octubre. A lo largo de la carretera, el asfalto estaba marcado o quemado por los vehículos que habían sido disparados o volados por los RPG. La hierba y los arbustos al costado de la carretera todavía estaban negros por los incendios causados por los vehículos en llamas. Era una imagen vívida de cómo la gente había tratado de escapar del caos en el festival de Nova y de la carnicería dentro de los kibutzim y moshavim. Aunque no entramos en Kfar Aza, donde unas 50 personas habían sido brutalmente asesinadas, sí vimos los restos de la aldea original de Ma’oz Mul-Azar, justo al lado del kibutz: Ma’oz Mul-Aza (Fortaleza frente a Gaza). El único edificio que queda del kibutz es la fortaleza que se encuentra a unos cuatro pisos de altura y ofrece excelentes vistas hacia Gaza desde su techo. Los agujeros de bala, algunos de al menos 15 cm de diámetro, marcan el hormigón. Ver lo que las balas le hicieron al concreto dio una imagen vívida del daño grotesco que causaron a la carne y los huesos humanos. Desafortunadamente, el museo estaba cerrado, pero vimos los restos de un área de descanso para los visitantes que tenía imágenes pictóricas de cómo era el kibutz original. La estructura había recibido un impacto casi directo de un cohete Qasam y ahora apenas se mantiene en pie. Al lado de la estructura hay un cobertizo que tenía una cometa de fuego intacta en su interior. La cometa era un tosco asunto de tres palos de un metro y medio de largo atados con una cuerda y una vela hecha de plástico transparente grapado a ella. En la cola había tiras de papel de periódico para actuar como material combustible y en el estabilizador de la cola había un fajo de material presumiblemente empapado en queroseno y encendido antes del lanzamiento. Las cometas, aunque rudimentarias, son un método muy eficaz para causar incendios provocados y daños generalizados a un costo insignificante para el terrorista. En junio de 2018, Times of Israel informó que unos 6.200 acres o 25.000 dunnam de tierras agrícolas y recreativas habían sido destruidos, causando daños por valor de decenas de millones de shekels. Los globos y las cometas son conceptualmente un arma brillante de terror. Son baratos y fáciles de construir, difíciles de detectar hasta después del lanzamiento, difíciles de derribar una vez lanzados y pueden causar una inmensa cantidad de daños a un costo de unos pocos dólares.

Durante ocho meses al año, el viento predominante es del oeste a velocidades entre 5 y 8 mph. La ciudad de Gaza está a 4 millas de distancia, por lo que las cometas tardan alrededor de una hora en cruzar esa distancia. La mayoría de las cometas fueron lanzadas desde áreas mucho más cercanas a la frontera, lo que significa un vuelo más corto con menos tiempo para rastrearlas y destruirlas.

Desde allí nos dirigimos al kibutz Alumim, donde nos recibieron dos guardias muy alertas que portaban rifles de asalto y que comprobaron la razón por la que estábamos allí. Estacionamos el minibús y comenzamos a caminar hacia la sinagoga del kibutz, ya que era casi la hora de las oraciones de mincha de la tarde. De camino a la sinagoga nos topamos con un santuario. El santuario contenía los restos de cohetes Qassam oxidados y arrugados, junto con los restos relucientes de los misiles Cúpula de Hierro que habían ayudado a derribar los Qassam. El sitio era conmovedor, mostrando los restos de hierro retorcido de los cohetes Qassam, que para mí representan al malvado Hamas que yace junto a los restos quirúrgicamente limpios y relucientes de la Cúpula de Hierro. La lucha contra el mal por el bien. La sinagoga de Alumim es un lugar hermoso y aireado con ventanas alrededor. Uno de los milagros de Alumim fue que ninguna de las ventanas del edificio se rompió durante el ataque. Al entrar en el santuario, recordamos el hecho de que el kibutz había estado celebrando Simjat Torá, la Celebración de la Alegría de la Torá, que marca el final del ciclo anual de lectura de la Torá. Los sidurim festivos y las fotos y banderas de los niños estaban donde los dejaban mientras la gente corría en busca de refugio. Después de minjá nos dirigimos a la sala de reuniones de la comunidad del kibutz. Afuera hay un enorme árbol de higuera y caminos bordeados de flores y arbustos. Un par de pavos reales se pavonearon lejos de nuestra grosera intrusión en su nueva privacidad. En la sala de reuniones nos encontramos con uno de los defensores de ese horrible día.

Nos contó cómo unos 60 terroristas se habían infiltrado en el kibutz por la puerta trasera. Nos dijo que las armas automáticas de los kibutz se guardaban en una armería por “seguridad” y que tenían que abrirse camino hasta la armería para que usaran pistolas. Dijo que los terroristas sabían esto porque algunos de ellos habían trabajado en el kibutz y estaban familiarizados con los dispositivos de seguridad. Contó cómo los trabajadores tailandeses y nepaleses fueron asesinados a sangre fría mientras sostenían sus pasaportes gritando que no eran israelíes. Contó cómo los hermanos Slotky Yishai y Noam ZTL perecieron cerca de Alumim tratando de mantener a raya a los invasores. Salimos de la sala de reuniones y fuimos a ver las viviendas de los extranjeros. Esta fue una escena de devastación total. Todo lo que había dentro del dormitorio se quemó por completo. Los restos retorcidos de las literas no mostraban signos de haber tenido nunca un colchón o una manta. El calor había sido tan intenso que prácticamente no quedaba nada. El piso estaba cubierto por una gruesa capa de ceniza y el techo estaba doblado y colapsado en algunos lugares por el intenso calor. Aquí y allá yacían objetos personales que de alguna manera habían sobrevivido intactos. Una bota, una taza de café, una botella de cerveza y por todas partes un hedor abrumador a tela y madera quemadas y carbonizadas. Salimos de las viviendas y nos dirigimos a lo que habían sido los silos y los cobertizos de equipos. Los restos de los cobertizos se erguían precariamente, con los techos colapsando y los soportes de las paredes de vigas en I de acero doblados hacia afuera por la fuerza de una explosión, como si estuvieran hechos de plástico y no de acero. Desde Alumim nos dirigimos al lugar de la masacre del festival Nova. La zona del festival estaba embarrada por las recientes lluvias. Un vagón que estaba atascado estaba siendo sacado de un profundo agujero de barro por un enorme camión de auxilio. Mientras nos adentrábamos en la zona, vimos cómo las amapolas florecían después de la tormenta de lluvia, lo que me recordó inquietantemente los campos de batalla de Francia durante la Primera Guerra Mundial y la famosa oda de John Mcrae: “En los campos de Flandes soplan las amapolas”.

De repente llegamos a un sitio que nos impresionó a todos muy profundamente: el área principal del festival, donde unos trescientos cincuenta jóvenes de 20 a 40 años fueron asesinados a tiros, violados y mutilados sin piedad y otros 40 secuestrados y llevados a Gaza. Había un mar de fotos conmemorativas. Cada imagen era de una persona joven al comienzo de su vida adulta que había sido profanada de maneras que no hay palabras para expresar. Al ver las imágenes, se comprendió todo el horror de las imágenes de la cámara corporal de uno de los policías que llegó a la escena poco después de que ocurriera la atrocidad. Estas personas habían venido a festejar y escuchar su música y, en general, pasar un buen rato, pero sus sueños se vieron frustrados, sus cuerpos cruelmente rotos y sus vidas truncadas por salvajes despiadados que gritaron el nombre de su dios enfermo en sus caras mientras llevaban a cabo su nefasto plan. Cada imagen representaba una vida. Una vida destruida por una supuesta desigualdad nacionalista. Y mientras estaba parado en este bosque de imágenes, me di cuenta de nuevo de que hay imbéciles enfermos y depravados que afirman que nunca sucedió o que los que sufrieron lo hicieron porque eran ocupantes y opresores en algún reino mítico que nunca había existido. Y todo esto es ayudado e instigado por la organización criminal de las Naciones Unidas. Los cuerpos han sido retirados y enterrados y se ha plantado un jardín de flores, una por cada una de las víctimas, pero su sangre grita desde el suelo pidiendo justicia para dar cuenta de la agonía de los familiares y amigos que sufren pesadillas que ni siquiera deberían ser retratadas por Hollywood. ¿Las imágenes, las flores y los árboles nos aplacan o nos mueven a apoyar la lucha contra el mal puro que es Hamas, la yihad palestina, Hezbollah y todos los demás grupos musulmanes radicales desagradables? A ninguno de estos jóvenes se le dio ninguna salida. No se dio cuartel y, de hecho, se encontraron órdenes escritas sobre algunos de los terroristas en las que se pedía explícitamente a los perpetradores que mataran, violaran, decapitaran, quemaran y mutilaran a tantos como fuera posible. Grabaciones de sonido de personas enfermas llamando a sus padres por WhatsApp para jactarse de la cantidad de judíos que acababan de matar y de que sus padres se gloriaban de sus logros. Me viene a la mente el rostro de unos niños corriendo junto a una camioneta con el cadáver semidesnudo y decapitado de una joven que la escupe y golpea su cuerpo destrozado con palos. Y ahora, un mundo enloquecido grita a los caballeros que los vengan por ser los protagonistas de asesinos. La última parada de nuestro recorrido fue en el cementerio de coches. Nos dirigimos al campo a las afueras de Netivot cuando el sol comenzaba a ponerse. Nos dijeron que había unos 3.000 vehículos de víctimas israelíes y de terroristas de Hamás. Fue un final surrealista para un día desgarrador. Había alambre de púas alrededor del campo para mantener alejados a los cazadores de recuerdos. Con el sol ocultándose bajo el horizonte de Gaza y la tranquilidad del propio patio, me di cuenta de que muchos de estos vehículos tenían y aún contienen sangre, cenizas y partes de cuerpos que los increíbles voluntarios de ZAKA no pudieron encontrar o no pudieron limpiar de los cascos quemados y acribillados a balazos que en algún momento habían sido la preciada posesión de alguien. Los vehículos se amontonaban en filas y en el crepúsculo del crepúsculo parecía inquietantemente reminiscente de un cementerio limpio y pacífico, que no daba ninguna pista a la confusión, el ruido y el terror que habían marcado sus últimos momentos.

Según el Jerusalem Post, debido a la imposibilidad de extraer todos los restos humanos, los vehículos serán aplastados o triturados y enterrados en parcelas especiales en todo el país. Es difícil para una persona racional mirar este monumento al sufrimiento humano causado por un odio que no tiene ninguna base lógica. Es difícil imaginar el terror y el sufrimiento que ocurrieron cuando los jóvenes fueron asesinados a tiros, volados por los RPG y quemados vivos dentro de sus vehículos mientras intentaban escapar de la carnicería que estaba ocurriendo a su alrededor. Estoy seguro de que muchos de nosotros ofrecimos oraciones silenciosas por estas víctimas asesinadas y también por aquellos que aún se encuentran entre los secuestrados y los familiares que perdieron a sus seres queridos en ese horrible día o cuyos seres queridos fueron secuestrados violentamente en las madrigueras subterráneas de Gaza. Pienso en los equipos médicos, los socorristas y los voluntarios de ZAKA que tuvieron la repugnante tarea de retirar e identificar los restos humanos casi irreconocibles. Recordamos a las familias, no sólo en la envoltura de Gaza, sino también en las aldeas y pueblos de la frontera septentrional, que no pueden regresar a sus hogares o comunidades debido al continuo lanzamiento de cohetes por parte de los regímenes terroristas que no sólo mantienen, sino que tratan de intensificar la monstruosidad que se está perpetrando contra el pueblo de Israel. Que Hashem bendiga los nombres de los que perecieron ese día. Que Hashem bendiga la memoria de aquellos que trabajan incansable e interminablemente para resolver a quién pertenecen las partes del cuerpo y a nuestros soldados que buscan a los rehenes. Y estar con los que quedan y sufren horribles pesadillas de lo que sucedió ese día.

Que Hashem bendiga la memoria de todos los soldados que han perecido desde que comenzó esta horrible guerra y que devuelva la paz a Israel y digamos “amén”.

Compartido por Benjamin Casey, traducido de Ingles.

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The First Thou Shalt Not–Who are the “Other Gods”?

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Several thousand years ago Abraham, called Abram at the time, rejected the many gods that the people around him had set up. He spoke to Elohim who revealed himself to him as El Shaddai. (see here) He was, according to Scripture, the only one in his day who saw the falsity of strange gods. He was obedient to the One   God. We know this because of what the Torah says of him:

Gen 26:5 “…Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

How did he know these things if the law had not yet been given? This is perhaps a mystery that we cannot understand, except that he spoke directly to the Eternal, and as it says above he “obeyed my voice.” He apparently had no human interpreter. 

So how can a human understand the voice of the Most High, One and Only   God without others to direct him? 

By the time Moses came on the scene, there seemed to be a need for someone to guide and lead. Moses heard the Voice at the burning bush and was in direct communication with Elohim. He had no interpreter nor leader. And apparently there has never been another like Moses by whose hand we received the written down “voice” if you care to call it that, or “Words” of   God. 

Deu 34:10 “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the YHVH knew face to face,”

Today, several thousand years later, human leaders have overtaken every religion in the world. How do we know that they correctly interpret the written words of Elohim? I say that usually they don’t give it to us as it was given through Moses. And they stand in the middle between us and our Creator, as interpreters or mediators. If we look at the 10 commandments, the very first “Thou Shalt Not” says something very big. Let’s look at the Hebrew for Exodus 20 3, and then look at the meaning in our own language.
לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיַ׃

This is usually translated as “thou shalt have no other gods before me.” But if we look deeper we see “there shall not be to you other gods upon my face or in  my presence.” עַל־פָּנָיַ (literally: upon my face or countenance or in my presence).(See Strongs).

Exodus 20:3 does not mean merely to not worship other gods, but rather not even to have them in between us and Hashem. He should not have to work through them to reach us. He would rather have a direct connection with us. 

If we look at the word Elohim throughout the Tanakh we will see that it is often used for judges or powerful men as well as false gods. 

From Strong’s Hebrew definitions:

אֱלֹהִים “ĕlôhîym, el-o-heem’; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty …rulers, judges, either as divine representatives at sacred places or as reflecting divine majesty and power.” Strongs.

So anybody that is great enough in our imagination that we look to as an interpreter of   God’s laws, or anything to do with Him, anyone who stands between us and the Eternal or in the presence of   God as a mediator, is a false elohim or god: as it says: “there shall be to you no other elohim upon my face.” 

Moses actually stood in that place for the people of Israel who had just been delivered from Egyptian slavery. But who is as great in our day as Moses? Priests? Rabbis? Are there even any true prophets today? What about all the books that have been written to interpret Torah? Who gave anyone the right to define or reinterpret Torah, let alone add to or take away from it?”

If you are a religious Jew, you probably believe in the Chain of Transmission (See here) which endorses the passing down of the Torah through the generations of Sages and Rabbis who developed the Oral Torah and Tradition which is today’s Judaism. But did you know that not even Joshua was allowed to change even one word that Moses handed over?

Jos 1:7 “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

So, not even Joshua who was on Mount Sinai at the giving over of the two tablets of 10 commandments, was allowed to reinterpret anything. (See Exodus 24).

How do we get back to hearing the voice of  God speak to us in the wilderness like Abraham and Moses? Is it even possible? Perhaps some of us feel that YHVH has withdrawn his face from us. Maybe the question to ask ourselves is: what do we need to turn away from in order to cause His face to look once again upon us?  If the literal commandments were not to be altered or added to, then there may be a reason why we are not getting the connection we desire. 

Zec 1: 3” Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.” 

We can see evidence in the verses above that even in the time of the prophet Zechariah, the people blamed the Eternal for abandoning them. And it is still true today, when troubles come upon God’s people, He often gets the blame, rather than people taking a hard look at their lives and measuring themselves with the only standard of righteousness–the written Torah!

Are we the chosen people just because we once were? Is there any standard at all that we must measure up to in order to qualify? Is there a slim chance that Hashem will or has abandoned us? The prophet Jeremiah serves up a very dire warning to the house of Israel. God forbid that it should be true of us today!

Jer 18:6 “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay  is  in the potter’s hand, so are  ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what  instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what  instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant  it ; 10 If it does evil in my sight, that it obeys not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”

So, if we have been following the interpretations of men who set themselves up as leaders who claim to teach the ways of the Creator, and we admit that we really do not understand the Torah and that we somehow cannot connect with the Eternal other than through manmade rituals, then why not begin studying in earnest what the literal Torah says. Is it really that difficult?

Deu 30:10-14: if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 …what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Ariella Golani

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Dancing with the Devil?

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At the October 7, Nova Festival thousands of young people were gathered in a quiet park near Gaza, many of them dancing to psytrance music with a giant illuminated Buddha in their midst. It was Shabbat and a day most observant Jews were celebrating Simchat Torah, a day dedicated as Joy of Torah. These festivities sound pretty condemnable, especially when you see the footage of the semi-nude dancers in their celebration of love and peace. But might there be another way to see it?

Perhaps we cross a red line when we open this topic—one that perhaps should be left in the virtual trash can and not resurrected.
So if this material is offensive, then you know what to do!

I certainly do not have all the answers! I could, in fact, be wrong and some of my best thoughts have been to ask others for their opinions. And I am going to do just that here. So please respond with your best judgment on this issue.

There are definite questions about the whole affair and most Bible believers would say that the dancers were doing something wrong or at least out of place. Were they?

And what part did the Eternal, Hashem, G-d, YHVH have to play in this? Was it discipline? Punishment? Was it that these dancers somehow opened up the door to the devil (evil, or however you call the dark side) by being in a state of idolatry? Immorality? Some would say so. Most of our world doesn’t even know the meaning of idolatry since it seems consigned to an era long past when people bowed down to images and believed they had some kind of magic powers.

Perhaps we should sweep this whole thing under the rug. But if we do, will there be a repeat of what happened? Has G-d somehow abandoned the Jewish people? Do we need to put some things under the microscope?

Why were foreign workers, who were in Israel simply to earn some money, slaughtered if it was about punishment for idolatry? They were not even present at the festival. I hate the word punishment and all it brings to mind although some declare it to be such. And how is the slaughter to be seen as punishment if nothing can be learned by it? At least not for those who died. But is there something for the rest of us to learn?

Why were there a lot of religious Jews slaughtered in their Kibbutzim if this was Hashem showing his anger? Could it have something to do with religion? Is there something that caused a rift among the young and blinded them to the 10 commandments? Keeping Shabbat? Immorality? Idolatry? How actually do the commandments play out in today’s world?

Can I play the devil’s advocate to extreme moralists? What if these people did not know the meaning of the commandments? What if somehow those who were Jewish were tired of all the burdens that were imposed upon them for the past myriad generations by those who taught religion to their ancestors? But if this be the case, then why were the foreign workers killed and some Muslims as well? Maybe it was not punishment. Or did this act open the door to something evil and as a result, a lot of innocent people got swept away with it?

Most of us who study the Bible know that dancing before a Buddha is wrong, actually similar to the Golden Calf at Sinai. But I think there is a difference. At Sinai, the act was done out of rebellion—just a few weeks after hearing G-d’s voice speak the commandments from the mountain. The Hebrews said something to Aaron about Moses having abandoned them and thought they needed a new leader. Some were ready to go back to Egypt. They were doing apparently what they had observed in Egypt and no, those who danced around the golden calf were not holy— that’s why Hashem told Moses to have them slaughtered. Wow! Seems so unjust in the light of modern thinking! And I say “seems” because maybe we have the wrong idea of G-d, again!

But what does this have to do with semi-nude dancing on Shabbat before a Buddha? Do we somehow need to go back to the Bible to learn what it says and means? Is somehow the Bible outdated?

If you have read this far, I am sure some of you are ready to stone me. It’s ok, then, let’s all throw out the Bible and be done with it! The problem may well be with a religion that has taken the place of the Bible. That the Bible—rather Torah, we hear, can only be understood by rabbis and we can only understand when we follow the interpretations written by the Sages. I remember Catholics telling me that only the priests in that religion can understand the Bible and so the members must go to mass to learn. Hmmm, has something similar happened in Judaism? Moses says in the Torah that it is not too hard to understand.

Deut. 30: 11“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

So why do we need extra interpretors? But that is beside the point in this article, it all boils down to why the apparently good suffered with those who were at least blinded to Torah and what was expected of them? I have heard it voiced on social media groups that we all need to become religiously observant in order that this not happen again. Then why were some of the people that were killed, raped or kidnapped, religious Jews? It doesn’t make sense.

So maybe we don’t have any clear answers, but we do need to take a closer look at the Judaism we know today how it compares to what was written in the Torah which came to us by the hand of Moses. Judaism claims to be the keeper of the Torah. But how close are its teaching to that which came down from Moses?

If our religion is wrong, we need to get it right. And yes, we are warned in the prophets that things like this would happen if we left the Torah. And on this theme, we might well ask, why the Holocaust? Why Pogroms? Are there answers? I hope so!

Ariella Golani

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The Why! A Short Meditation on the Events of October 7

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Why am I in Israel? This painful question haunts me and others and has done so ever since October 7 of last year. My thoughts about the purpose of the land of Israel and what this land is supposed to be confuse me. Is there not a purpose for Jews in the land of Israel? Is there no purpose for the chosen people other than to continually suffer? Where is the G-d of the Bible? Is it possible that people who have sacrificed to live in Israel, somehow have it all wrong?

Several of us toured some of the sites of the massacre a few weeks ago. My feelings were mostly numb throughout the tour. I learned things but my feelings were mostly shut down. Perhaps this was because of the grief I had felt ever since the event took place. I had already imagined the scenes. But it was interesting to see where the wall was breached so quickly at the Erez crossing and to learn first-hand from one of the residents who actually defended one of the Kibbutz’—Kibbutz Alumim, where not only Israelis were massacred but also foreign workers, who were shot and burned in their dormitory, some apparently while they were still in their beds or showers.

I shuddered when I saw the bullet holes and blown-up buildings. I was moved when I heard of the efforts of a local civilian who came on board to protect the police station in Sderot.

Many agree that Never Again has happened again and that it will happen over and over until we somehow get it right! But how will that play out? How is it that Jews, not only in Israel, still question, how do we get it right? How do we end the madness?

Perhaps this is the end of the world? It seems there is no hope anymore for a Messiah. Are Jews destined to extinction? Is there Nobody in the Universe watching the events unfold? Is there anywhere to hide? Perhaps the caves in the cliffs near the Kinneret are still waiting for people to find a bit of safety while enemies take over the land. But how would we survive if we were even able to get there? Will we survive? There has to be hope.

When I question the G-d of Heaven, Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu, YHVH, Elohim or however He prefers to be called, I mean no disrespect. But upon what can I base my faith in the disaster that has happened to Israel and the hatred of the nations? Somehow Biblical promises don’t seem to be holding their ground. Perhaps there were conditions for these promises. Are we back to the days where the prophets feared for their lives? Will the cycle never end?

As someone who has always believed that the answer to the world’s woes is in the Book of Books, I find little solace when I see my vision of a peaceful Israel vanish before my eyes. I realize there is much that is embraced by the Jewish people that does not line up with the Covenant that we were given on Sinai. Could it be that somehow we have turned away from the ONE who is there to save and protect us? If so, is anyone listening? Does anyone care? Can blind eyes be opened, deaf ears be unstopped? Could it be that ever since Babylon, there have been new teachings that did not come from Sinai?

I hear my Jewish friends ask over and over again? Why the Jews? Why do we continue to suffer if we are the chosen people? I would ask them—but probably won’t—Is there a condition to being chosen? Did we somehow not fulfill our end of the bargain? If so where do we find what was expected of us? Where are the terms of the covenant written down? Everyone claims that the covenant is the Torah—but which Torah? Did anything happen to add to or take away from the covenant given at Sinai? If so, who was given permission to alter it?

A Prophet Speaks:

Isa 24:4-5: “The land mourneth, it fadeth away; the world languisheth, it fadeth away: the haughty people of the land do languish. And the land is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; for they have violated the laws, changed the statute, broken the everlasting covenant.”

So what was the command about altering the words of the covenant?

G-d speaks to Moses:

“Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye take from it, that ye may keep the commandments of YHVH your God which I command you.” – Deu 4:2

“Everything that I command you, ye shall take heed to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor take from it.” – Deu 12:32

G-d speaks to Joshua:

“Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.” – Jos 1:7

The Wisdom of King Solomon:

“Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” – Pro 30:6

What did G-d tell Israel would happen if they changed the covenant?

The Torah:

“And YHVH will scatter thee among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot: but YHVH will give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.” – Deu 28:64-66

Moses Prophesies the Exile and Final Return in the Latter Days:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. … But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice, for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them.” – Deu 4:26-27, 29-31

So, I still am heartbroken from what I have seen, and my anxiety mounts that what was declared to never happen again will continue to happen. When I think of my friends, whose ancestors for more than 2000 years have embraced what they think is the true covenant–the Talmud and the many books written by ancient Jewish Sages, I feel hopeless to ever be able to communicate with them. I know several who have personally told me that they don’t know anything about the Bible, that they have never read it and that they think it may be too hard to understand. This all sounds like the same thing I heard from Catholic neighbors when I lived in Mexico. They told me that only a priest could explain the Bible, so they were dependent on going to mass and other things. Well, there you have it! It seems that Judaism, as it is known today, is almost a carbon copy of some things that are found in the Catholic religion. May we all seek the knowledge of the Great Book of Books and renew our covenant while there is still time. Hashem is merciful and will not allow us to be destroyed if our hearts are sincere and we are willing to learn from Him.

B’shalom

Ariella

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Journey into the Horrors of October 7

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By Guest Contributor: Binjamin (Ben) Casey

A few weeks ago, I decided to join the Bear Witness Tour, a group that was organized in Katzrin for those who wanted to visit some of the war ravaged communities in the South of Israel. I admit that I had serious doubts about going after I read an article about how some of the residents of the communities on the Gaza envelope were feeling that their privacy was being invaded. I certainly had no goulish desires having seen more than enough death throughout my many years working in Africa. What finally convinced me to go was that already a short three months after the atrocities of October 7, people were denying it had taken place even with the huge amount of video, audio and personal testimonies given by those who witnessed, were affected and the perpetrators themselves.

People who had vociferously campaigned for peace and a “Two State solution” such as 74-year-old Vivian Silver from Be’eri who was brutally slain alongside those who have now realized that peace cannot happen until the ridiculous refugee saga is finally put to rest and the Arabs are absorbed into their own cultures and countries.

I realized finally that I needed to see and to feel the atmosphere of the towns and villages and hear from those who have been involved. I wanted to understand the financial as well as the tragic human aspects.

During the three years I have been in Israel, I have noticed the remains of rockets that have been fired into Israel over the years. My curiosity led me to consider the monetary cost above and beyond the cost of human lives. On October 7th around 8,500 rockets were fired at Israel. At an average cost of $600 a piece, this comes to approximately $5,100,000 (USD). Around 10% of these rockets either failed, landed in the sea or fell inside of Gaza. That means that roughly 7,650 made it into Israel. If the Iron Dome fired at 90% of the rockets, then we have a figure of 6,885 interceptions by that means. Each interception costs around 60,000 USD, we come to a cost of $413,000,000. Adding that together with the cost of the Hamas rockets ($5,100,000) and you get a cost of roughly $418,100,000. The difference between the cost of the rockets and the cost of the interceptions by the iron dome is 413 million dollars.

According to Fresh Books, the cost of a 50-bed hospital averages from 25 to 75 million USD. Considering that the cost of the rockets and interceptions comes to 418,100,000, if we now take the cost of the hospital divided into the cost of rockets using the high-end cost we could have built five and a half, fifty bed hospitals in one day!

The above figures allow for only one iron dome to intercept one rocket. What brought these figures to mind was that on every stop of our tour to the Gaza envelope there were rocket parts scattered everywhere.

The terrorist groups have consistently fired rockets into Israel–murdering, maiming, and disrupting our lives. These attacks create a feeling of hopelessness among many Israelis. I have to admit that our trip made me angry but why was I angry? What was the anger about?

I guess one of the big points is why. Why are we spending millions upon millions of dollars on developing, manufacturing, maintaining, and ultimately, using these defense systems? Why does the EU the USA and other so-called developed countries continue to aid and abet these terror organizations so that we have to counter their murderous plans?

Oil was obviously a huge incentive to get the Arabs incentivized back in the forties and fifties but apart from having the Black Gold, what else have the Arab nations contributed to the world? Where are their great leaders? Writers? Inventors? Nobel laureates? They don’t exist–not because the Arab is unintelligent but because instead of using the vast wealth they’ve gained to educate and move their people forward they’ve developed a system that is medieval in it’s concept. Surfdom. The Arab people are taught by their rulers that their low level of existence is because of Zionist aggression, oppression, and imperialism. But who is really guilty of these things? Their own rulers live in gilded palaces, leading sumptuous lifestyles instead of sharing the wealth and educating their people.

If the common people could see this they would soon realize that their misery comes not from the Zionist regime but from their own overlords and rulers.

Our tour started on a cold and rainy morning. However as we descended down from the Golan heights into the widest part of the Jordan valley to the sea of Galilee the rain stopped and lasted that way until after we left Ashkelon that evening. Traveling down route 6 we passed Tulkarm in Judea and Samaria, a veritable hotbed of the Palestinian terror groups, who after October 7th have begun to flex their muscles and try to enter into the struggle begun by Hamas and the Gazan Arabs. There is a very high protective fence along this section of route 6 which was built to stop terrorists from firing on to the highway. Of course Tulkarm and Qalqilya both on route 6 are in area a of the Oslo accords and are therefore under the direct control of the so-called Palestinian authority. The fact that Israel had to erect the security fence speaks volumes in itself.

We eventually arrived in Ashkelon where we picked up Eliyahu McClean, our guide. We then continued South until we reached the Erez crossing into Gaza itself. As we passed by the army base we noticed the approximately 6 meter high concrete wall. This wall is now pot-marked with bullet holes. The army base watchtowers also bear witness with bullet holes still visible in the glass windows. The crossing itself is very similar in looks and function to Ben Gurion airport and this is not surprising as it was designed and built by the same company. Even with all of its high-tech tools, the crossing was easily overcome by the terrorists. Before the war, around 6,000 Gazans traveled through the crossing daily to work in Israel, now it is known that a majority of these workers were actively involved in spying on the communities they were working in. They looked for information such as who owned guns and how many people lived in each house. What were the ages and did they have dogs. All of this intelligence helped to make the job of the terrorists easier. There were a number of vehicles at the crossing that had been destroyed in the attack. Riddled with bullet holes and half burned out, these vehicles are a stark reminder of how those who tried to escape the murderous rampage were gunned down or blown up in their vehicles. To me, these vehicles were a very sobering start to what would prove to be a very moving day.

As we were leaving the crossing we made a small detour to see what remained of the village station and railroad bridge at Deir Sneed. Although not directly involved with our tour, Deir Sneed was an Arab village located on the ancient Via Maris. It is mentioned in Exodus 13 as the road to the land of the Philistines. In one regard this stop was very significant as the so-called Palestinians claim this village as one of the starting points for the Nakba or catastrophe.

Many claim that the name Palestine comes from the word Philistine but archaeological evidence has shown this to be dubious. The Philistines or sea peoples originated in the Aegean sea and were very possibly Minoan in origin. The term Palestinian was very likely used to blot out the memory of Judea in the second century CE and as such, the British name in their “Palestine Mandate” almost succeeded.

The railway bridge station and village are hidden in the midst of a Grove of Sabra cacti, a bit difficult to get to.

From Deir Sneed we traveled south to the town of Sderot. Sderot was founded in 1951 as a refuge city for 80 families from Kurdistan and Iran. Interestingly, the first Arab refugee camp was opened in Gaza in 1948. It’s noteworthy that Sderot grew and became recognized as an Israeli city in 1996 with a thriving economy and diverse citizenships including immigrants from North Africa the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. By comparison, the Al Shabti camp in Gaza is still considered a refugee camp and receives huge funding from the UN, USA and the European commission.

Al Shabti, one of eight refugee camps in Gaza is home to some 90,000 Arabs while Sderot has grown from the original 80 families into a thriving commercial city of 30,000, and has inaugurated 15 factories in the past few years. Most of this work was done with Israeli government funds. Al Shabti on the other hand is home to the AlQuds, the “holy” University and many miles of terror tunnels. Many of its residents worked in Israel, many of whom, according to reports were complicit in gathering information about the surrounding Jewish communities outside of the camp. The average Gazan Arab earned in Israel up to 10 times what he could earn in Gaza.

According to Wiki between September 2000 through March 2013 nearly 9,000 rockets and 5,000 mortar shells were fired at Sderot alone. Yet even in this trying period Sderot continued to grow.
As we were driving towards Sderot along the same route as the railway it was pointed out that the banks and trees between Gaza and the road / railroad were erected as a screen to help protect vehicles from RPG attacks. The bus shelters are bomb proof with safe rooms inside them. We saw the actual bomb shelter where the British Israeli hero Aner Shapiro ZTL managed to throw back seven grenades before the 8th blew up in his hand killing him. These bomb shelter type bus stops are a common sight throughout Israel but what is unique to Sderot is the train station. It boasts the only bomb-proof roof in the world. Also unique to Sderot are the playgrounds. They boast giant concrete play equipment in the form of caterpillars or “snakes’ ‘ designed as bomb proof shelters for the children playing there.

Sderot which is Hebrew for boulevard, is a small but pretty city sitting off of Highway 34 a third of the way between Ashkelon and Beer Sheva. It was named by Israel’s first prime minister David ben Gurion for the Eucalyptus trees that line its main avenue. The major employer in Sderot is the Osem plant according to Wiki. Osem is a food processing plant that produces items such as Bamba, Bisli instant noodles and rice dishes. The Menorah candle factory which produces Hanukkah candles that are shipped all over the world is also located here.
Besides its industries, Sderot, despite it’s s proximity to Gaza and the constant barrage of rockets, is a growing town with a young community. Many musicians and poets have come from Sderot and boast that they practiced their music in bomb shelters! Many of the traffic circles are decorated with poetical and musical themes.

On October 7th the town was invaded by some 200 Gazan terrorists according to the Jerusalem Post. There were some 50 civilians massacred in the city streets and police officers in the police station. The attack on Sderot began at 6:30 a.m. with a barrage of rockets exactly 50 years to the day of the Yom Kippur war. The barrage was followed by an infiltration by Gazan terrorists.

When we entered the town we passed the place where a minibus carrying a group of elderly tourists were gunned down after the bus got stranded with a flat tire.

We viewed the remains of the Sderot police station where the terrorist gained control and murdered some 20 police officers. After a fierce fight the IDF and police regained control using bulldozers and tanks. The building is now completely demolished and a memorial Hanukkia has been placed on the site. The basic message of the sign is: “By Hashem’s Grace we are able to stand together.” People from different countries have left flags and other memorials at the site. A beautiful painting adorns the wall of the adjacent building—a depiction of the flag of Israel, the police force and the IDF. A tank is shown firing at the station with a Torah scroll above it and several Hebrew letters flying Heavenward, presumably representing the holy souls of those murdered there.
The town, although still very quiet, is slowly coming back to life with stores beginning to reopen for business.

We drove around the town, past the Chabad house and the caterpillar bomb shelters to the Hesder yeshiva. The yeshiva according to wiki is the largest Hesder or Talmudic military yeshiva in Israel. It boasts some 800 students who returned to their studies on January the 8th despite the ongoing conflict in nearby Gaza city. The yeshiva is also built as a bomb-proof structure. On the roof of the yeshiva, where one can see  a beautiful view of the city, we came across two stark reminders of the ongoing attacks against Israel since the start of the second intifada in 2000. The first was a magnificent Hanukkah Menorah whose candle holders are made from the spent casings of 8 Qassam rockets. Also on the roof is a tree of life, which has its roots made from the casings of rockets. This menorah depicts the trails the rockets leave in the sky as they fly from Gaza to Israel.

From the yeshiva we drove to the Givati Kobi overlook. From here we could view from the Erez crossing down through Jabalia into Gaza City proper. While we were there we witnessed an explosion–possibly a terrorist tunnel being eradicated which put a huge plume of smoke into the sky. I felt no sympathy for the destruction in Gaza. Having watched numerous videos of toddlers being trained to grow into terrorists I find it very difficult to have sympathy for a group of people who train their children from birth to kill Jews and especially after October 7th when the same civilians followed behind their Hamas overlords and actively took part in the slaughter rape and looting along the Gaza border. These same barbarians did nothing to stop the violent kidnappings of the hostages but used sticks to beat them as they were driven through the city right into the area I was looking at. Sympathy should be reserved for the victims not the perpetrators.

From there, we traveled further south to Kfar Alumim with a first stop at at the original site of Saad, Maoz mul Aza (Stronghold opposite Gaza).

As soon as we turned off the main road at Saad we began to see signs from the October 7th incursion. All along the road the asphalt was either scarred or burned from the vehicles that had been shot up or blown up by RPGs. The grass and bushes at the side of the road were still black from the fires caused by the burning vehicles. It was a vivid picture of how people had tried to escape the mayhem at the Nova festival and the carnage inside the kibbutzim and moshavim.

Although we did not enter Kfar Aza where some 50 people had been brutally murdered, we did see the remains of the original village at Ma’oz Mul- Azar just next door to the kibbutz: Ma’oz Mul-Aza (Stronghold Opposite Gaza). The only building left of the kibbutz is the stronghold fortress which stands some four stories high and gives excellent views towards Gaza from its roof. Bullet holes—some at least 15 cm in diameter, pockmark the concrete. Seeing what the bullets did to the concrete gave a vivid picture of the grotesque damage they did to human flesh and bone. Unfortunately, the museum was closed but we did see the remains of a rest area for visitors that had pictorial images of what the original kibbutz looked like. The structure had received an almost direct hit from a Qasam rocket and now it is barely standing.

Next to the structure is a shed that had an intact fire kite inside. The kite was a crude affair of three sticks one and a half meters long tied together with string and a sail made from clear plastic stapled to it. At the tail were strips of newspaper to act as combustible material and on the stabilizer of the tail there was a wad of material presumably soaked in kerosene and lit before launch. Kites although crude are a very effective method of causing widespread arson and damage at a negligible cost to the terrorist.


In June of 2018, Times of Israel reported that some 6,200 acres or 25,000 dunnam of agricultural and recreational land had been destroyed causing tens of millions of shekels worth of damage. Balloons and kites conceptually are a brilliant weapon of terror. They are cheap and simple to build, difficult to spot until after launch, difficult to bring down once launched and can cause an immense amount of damage at a cost of a few dollars. For eight months of the year the prevailing wind is from the West at speeds between 5 to 8 mph. Gaza City is 4 miles away so it takes around an hour for the kites to cross that distance. Most of the kites were launched from areas a lot closer to the border meaning a shorter flight with less time to track and destroy them.

We drove from there to Kibbutz Alumim where we were met by two very alert guards carrying assault rifles who checked our reason for being there. We parked the mini bus and started walking towards the kibbutz synagogue as it was almost time for afternoon mincha prayers. On the way to the synagogue we came upon a shrine. The shrine was the remains of rusted and crumpled Qassam rockets alongside the gleaming remains of Iron Dome missiles which had helped to bring the Qassams down. The site was poignant showing the twisted iron remains of the Qassam rockets which to me represent the evil Hamas lying next to the surgically clean and gleaming remains of the Iron Dome. The fight against evil by good.

The synagogue in Alumim is a beautiful airy place with Windows all around. One of the miracles of Alumim was that not one of the windows in the building was broken during the attack. As we entered the sanctuary we were reminded of the fact that the kibbutz had been celebrating Simchat Torah the Celebration of the Joy of Torah which marks the ending of the annual cycle of the Torah reading. Holiday siddurim and children’s pictures and flags were where they were left as people ran for shelter. After mincha we headed across to the kibbutz community meeting hall. Outside is a huge banyan tree and pathways lined with flowers and bushes. A pair of peacocks strutted away from our rude intrusion into their new found privacy. In the meeting hall we met with one of the defenders of that horrible day. He told us how some 60 terrorists had infiltrated the kibbutz through the rear gate. He told us that the kibbutz’ automatic weapons were kept in an armory for “security’ ‘ and how they had to fight their way to the armory to get them using hand guns. He told how the terrorists knew this because some of them had worked at the kibbutz and were familiar with security arrangements.

He told how the Thai and Nepalese workers were gunned down in cold blood as they held up their passports screaming that they were not Israeli. He told how the Slotky Brothers Yishai and Noam ZTL perished near Alumim trying to keep the Invaders at bay. We left the meeting hall and went to see the living quarters of the foreign nationals. This was a scene of utter devastation. Everything inside the dormitory was completely burned. The twisted remains of the bunk beds showed no sign of ever having had a mattress or a blanket on them. The heat had been so intense that virtually nothing remained. The floor was covered in a thick layer of ash and the roof was buckled and collapsed in places from the intense heat. Here and there lay personal items that had somehow survived intact. A boot, a coffee mug, a beer bottle and everywhere an overwhelming stench of burned and charred fabric and wood. We left the living quarters and made our way to what had been the silos and equipment sheds. The remains of the sheds stood precariously with the roofs collapsing in and the steel I-beam wall supports bent outwards from the force of an explosion as if they were made of plastic and not steel.

From Alumim we drove to the site of the Nova festival massacre. The area of the festival was muddy from the recent rains. A coach that was stuck was being pulled out of a deep mud hole by a huge wrecker.

As we drove into the area we saw how the poppies were blooming after the rain storm eerily reminding me of the World War I battlefields of France and of John Mcrae’s famous ode “In Flanders Fields the Poppies Blow.” Suddenly we came upon a site which impressed all of us very deeply–the main area of the festival, where some three hundred and fifty 20 to 40 year old youngsters were mercilessly gunned down, raped and mutilated and some 40 others kidnapped and hauled off to Gaza. There was a sea of memorial photos. Each picture was of a young person at the start of their adult lives who had been defiled in ways that no words can convey. Seeing the pictures bought the full horror of the body cam footage of one of the police officers who got to the scene shortly after the atrocity occurred. These people had come to party and listen to their music and generally have a good time but had their dreams dashed, their bodies cruelly broken and their lives cut short by merciless savages who screamed the name of their sick god in their faces as they carried out their nefarious scheme. Each picture represented a life. A life destroyed because of some supposed nationalistic inequity. And as I stood in this forest of pictures, I realized again that there are sick and depraved morons who claim that it never happened or that those who suffered did so because they were occupiers and oppressors in some mythical kingdom that had never existed. And all of this is aided and abetted by the criminal United Nations organization.

The bodies have been removed and buried and a garden of flowers has been planted, one for each of the victims, but their blood screams out from the ground for justice to account for the agony of the relatives and friends who suffer nightmares that should not even be portrayed by Hollywood. Do the pictures and flowers and trees placate us or do they move us to support the fight against the pure evil that is Hamas, Palestinian jihad, Hezbollah and all the other obnoxious radical Muslim groups? Not one of these youngsters was given any way out. There was no quarter given and indeed written orders were found on some of the terrorists explicitly telling the perpetrators to kill, rape, behead, burn and mutilate as many as possible. Sound recordings of sick individuals calling their parents on WhatsApp to brag about the number of Jews they had just killed and their parents glorying in their accomplishments. The visage comes to mind of children running alongside a pickup truck with the semi nude beheaded corpse of a young woman spitting on her and beating her broken body with sticks. And now, a world gone insane screams at the knights who avenge them for being the protagonists of murderers.

The final stop on our tour was to the car graveyard. We drove up to the field outside of Netivot as the sun was beginning to set. We were told there were some 3,000 vehicles of both Israeli victims and Hamas terrorists. It was a surreal ending to a heart wrenching day. There was razor wire around the field to keep out souvenir hunters. With the sun dipping below the Gaza horizon and the quiet of the yard itself, I realized that many of these vehicles had and still contain blood, ashes and body parts that the incredible ZAKA volunteers could either not find or could not clean out of the burnt and bullet riddled hulks that had at one time been someone’s prized possession. The vehicles piled up in rows and in the twilight of the dusk appeared eerily reminiscent of a neat peaceful cemetery giving no hint to the confusion, noise and terror that had marked their final moments.

According to the Jerusalem Post, because of the impossibility of extracting all of the human remains the vehicles will be crushed or shredded and buried in special plots around the country. It’s hard for a rational person to look at this monument of human suffering caused by a hatred that has no logical basis. It’s difficult to imagine the stark terror and suffering that happened as young people were gunned down, blown up by RPGs and burnt to death inside their vehicles as they tried to escape from the carnage that was going on around them.

I’m sure many of us offered silent prayers for these murdered victims and also for those still among the kidnapped and the family members who lost loved ones on that awful day or whose loved ones were violently kidnapped into the subterranean rat holes of Gaza. I think of the medical teams and first responders and the ZAKA volunteers who had the sickening task of removing and identifying the almost unrecognizable human remains.

We remember the families, not only in the Gaza envelope but in the northern border villages and towns who cannot return to their homes or communities due to the ongoing rocket fire from the terrorist regimes that are not only maintaining but trying to escalate the monstrosity that is being perpetrated on the people of Israel.

May Hashem bless the names of those who perished that day. May Hashem bless the memory of those who work tirelessly and endlessly to resolve who the body parts belong to and our soldiers who look for the hostages. And be with those who are left and suffer from awful nightmares of what happened that day.

May Hashem bless the memory of all the soldiers who have perished since this awful war began and may he bring peace back to Israel and let us please say “amen”.