Shattered dreams

I really wanted this entry to be about the beautiful simcha I attended last night....the nuptuals of my good friend Noah Farkas to Sara Brodsky of Ottawa. Unfortunately, world events do not allow me fill these e-pages with words of happiness and prosperity, of friendship and innocence, of gratitude and elation. Instead, I must comment on today's terror attack, perpetrated by the Islamic Jihad in Netanya. Outside a shopping mall, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 5 innocents and wounding 50 others. Please visit haaretzdaily.com for details. Firstly, it was a miracle that the terrorist was stopped before entering the mall, and who knows the devastation that could have been caused had he succeeded in entering the mall unabated. Second, if you are an avid reader of this blog, you will surely note this blogger's increased social awareness, specifically within the State of Israel. It pains be to backtrack from that line of thought, yet today's terror activities have lifted the veil from my eyes.

What is the first and foremost ideology of political philosophy? That the state, or government, of any country is resposible for the safety and security of her citizens. Through indirect acts, ie voting, the social contract between citizen and state is sealed. As a result, the state mus be wary of protecting her citizens from internal, as well as external, threats.

Today, the government of Israel failed her people.

For many months now, Israel has been secure (I use "secure" and not "safe" for obvious reasons). But today, the dream of peace in Israel has been shattered yet again. Pundits will call this a "cycle of violence", but, my friends, I say that that is not the reality in which we live. The term "cycle of violence" firstly assumes that blame is equally shared between 2 warring parties. Nothing here could be further from the truth. Israelis want peace, the Palestinian leadership has been shown unable to provide such peace. In its stead, they offer continued corruption, inability to stop the terror and an attitude of political indifference. Second, "cycle of violence" assumes the 2 warring parties are standing on the same platform. Again, not true in this case. While the IDF is strong and organized, Palestinian military actions are nothing less than guerilla warfare, targeting and claiming innocent lives as shown by the terror activities today, and nothing more than terror for terror's sake.

So while the Israelis and Palestinians continue to fight and negotiate, fight and negotiate, fight and negotiate, it is the Israeli people who pay the price of this conflict with their blood and the blood of family and friends. As a Jew living in the Diaspora, I feel unable to help, unable to try and alleviate this suffering at the hands of evil incarnate.

My socialist ideas of peace and tolerance and sharing are on the backburner. What the Israeli people and Jews the world over need now is a leader unwilling to compromise with terrorism. A leader able to command our forces to the end that the Israeli people yearn for....the safety and security that we, here in Canada, take for granted. We owe them that, at least.

We shall see how these next few days unfold. Hopefully, lameduck Sharon will use harsh words and harsher actions to avenge this continued onslaught of Israelis. What is the price of peace? How many of our brothers and sisters need to perish before we say "Enough!". Well, for me, today was that day. ENOUGH.

Tides.....they be a turning?

So, my friends, we are all pretty much aware of the rampant anti- Semitism sweeping across the globe. These past few years have been tough on G-d's Chosen People. At the UN, Israel gets shat on like nobody's business. We have just witnessed the Paris-tifada in France, new blood libels and continued demonization at the hands of Arab and Muslim countries worldwide. Wasn't it just yesterday that the President of Iran called for Israel's destruction? Something about wiping us off the map? (Funny sidenote here......Iran calls for Israel to be wiped off the map, yet their maps do not include the Jewish State).

Fortunately, maybe due to Iran's reprehensible and vociferous comments, the tides seem to be turning in our favour for once.....both on the Jewish and Israeli front. European governments are moving towards the political Right. Blair lost a huge majority in English parliament that was seen as a blow; Chirac and the Republic are faced with a growing Muslim population----a population which feels more like second class citizens that maybe anywhere else in Europe. And finally, the new Chancellor of Germany, a Christian Democrat named Merkel successfully beat out incumbent Gerhard Shroeder, and just today, in her first public address as the leader of Germany, reiterated her support for Israel, as well as the special relationship that Israel and Germany share.

To me, these are baby steps....but at least they're in the right direction (no pun intended).

All this plus Canadian and Israeli elections? Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.

I miss camp....

Quick shout out to Billy Israel '05.......best trip ever!!!!

Joe Thronton a Shark? It's true.....and the question that begs to be asked is who's next? I'm thinking Leetch, going to the Leafs or Habs unless they trade him to the Western Conference (like Thornton). Either way, the Bruins seem to be packing it in after an off-season of high hopes and big money contracts. Unfortunately, that's not the formula for success in this, the "new NHL". Maybe Boston is learning that the hard way.