Saturday, January 17, 2009

Rockets Hit Israeli Synagogue, World Yawns…

Palestinians fired rockets into Southern Israel on Saturday morning, striking a synagogue in the Israeli town of Netivot. Fortunately, the building was empty at the time due to a break in morning prayers, but the structure sustained heavy damage.

Not surprisingly, I had to find out this story via the Jerusalem Post. I guess the AP was busy covering the misery of a Palestinian doctor at the hands of the marauding Israelis. Contrast this with the one here detailing a day in the life of an Isreali combat troop in Gaza, and you get a sense of how screwed Israel is no matter what they do:

We come across a local family in one of the buildings. Grandparents, a few young parents, some children and a few toddlers. Sitting on a rug, their legs are covered in blankets and two soldiers are standing guard nearby. "What about them?" I ask. "They're free to go if they want to, but they don't want to," said Eilon Perry, Givati's operations officer. "They informed us they would be staying in the house and we have no choice but to accept that."

The family suddenly notices the cameras, and immediately, the expression on their faces changes. "We have no food," they say in Arabic, as one of the youngsters suggests we interview him in English about their plight. Givati troops are extremely concerned about being portrayed as abusing innocent civilians. Perry points to a stack of canned goods, water bottles and other provisions. "We provided some of that and they cook and eat quite well," he said. The Palestinians seem to understand him and one of them smiles. It's a war – they had to try.

What would the world reaction have been if Israeli strikes had hit a mosque?

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