Israel - Rockets pound South; 11 border guard officers injured.

Israel - Rockets pound South; 11 border guard officers injured.(Ynet).Eleven Border Guard officers were wounded Tuesday night as a result of rocket fire on the western Negev. One officer sustained moderate injuries, while the others were lightly hurt. The officers were rushed to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. Hospital officials said they were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit suffering from shrapnel and blast injuries. A short while later a Qassam rocket hit the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, but no one was hurt. Ten more Qassams were lobbed into the western Negev overnight Wednesday. Two of the rockets landed in an Eshkol Regional Council community, but caused no injuries. However, a packing facility was damaged. The alert level in the area was raised once again. In response to the rocket fire, Israeli aircraft attacked seven targets across the Gaza Strip overnight. Palestinian sources in the Hamas-ruled territory said no one was hurt in the strikes. Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired over 50 rockets and mortar shells at Israel's western Negev region since Tuesday afternoon. The Home Front Command instructed the residents of the Gaza vicinity communities to stay in very close proximity to shelters and other fortified structures. Defense Minister Ehud Barak convened the defense establishment's top officials for a situation assessment. A Defense Ministry source said that "a wide range of retaliatory actions are under review."Hmmm.....Aren't you glad that 'Emperor' Obama overruled Congress and gave these terrorists more money?Read the full story here.

Libyan 'missing' Missiles Show Up In Gaza.

Libyan 'missing' Missiles Show Up In Gaza.(StrategyPage).March 22, 2012: Israel has spotted some of the 480 Russian Igla-S (SA-24) shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles that had been sold to Libya and stolen from military warehouses during the rebellion there last year. Some of these weapons have shown up in Gaza in the hands of Islamic terrorist group Hamas. Most Israeli and NATO helicopters and aircraft are equipped with missile detection and protection (lasers or flares) systems. Such systems on Israeli AH-64 helicopter gunships operating over Gaza have defeated several SA-24 attacks recently.
Last year Russia supplied Libyan missile serial numbers, which were distributed to counter-terrorism officials worldwide with the admonition to be vigilant. Apparently the SA-24 thieves sold many of the SA-24s to Iran, which in turn gave some to Hamas and Hezbollah (another Iran backed Islamic terror group in Lebanon).Read the full story here.

Nurit Peled-Elhanan her New book reveals ‘why nice Jewish boys turn into monsters’

Nurit Peled-Elhanan her New book reveals ‘why nice Jewish boys turn into monsters’.(AlArabiya).By Eman El-shenawi.Schoolbooks in Israel have been following an “anti-Palestinian,” aggressive approach since the 1990s, according to a new book set to be released this month.
The author, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a professor at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, said the approach is taught to schoolchildren in order for them to be hostile towards Palestinians once they serve in the army.
The book, titled “Palestine in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education,” includes research and “evidence” into Peled-Elhanan’s theory and research into dozens of Israeli schoolbooks published since the nineties, a Gulf news daily reported.
“I was looking for reasons of why nice Jewish boys turn into monsters when they join the army,” Peled-Elhanan told The National this week.“They never meet Palestinians face-to-face as children, so the textbooks are all they know,” the professor added.
Among the texts studied, one suggests that “Israel’s Palestinian citizens shun modernization and are building houses illegally,” while another asserts that “Palestinians have been a ‘terrifying demographic problem’ for Israel,” the newspaper reported.
Also, a geography book says “the Arab society ... objects to changes by its nature,” is “reluctant to adopt novelties” and that “modernization seems dangerous to them.”
Peled-Elhanan stated that the books portray Arabs as being primitive and clannish, the newspaper reported.
But the study has drawn criticism from Israeli academics who have accused Peled-Elhanan of rousing anti-Israeli sentiment, arguing that textbook bias exists in many countries, including the United States.“The bias in America is white and Protestant, just like here it’s Jewish and Ashkenazi,” said Zvi Bekerman, an Israeli professor of education.Critics have also accused Peled-Elhanan of extremist left-wing views.But the professor believes she has unearthed important findings, stating Israeli education teaches “hate and xenophobia towards Palestinians.”
Her research also covers mainstream school textbooks that omit Palestinian sites from the map of Jerusalem, which is titled “The Historic Capital of the Jewish People,” in one book.
“Her research cites one textbook saying the escape of Palestinians from Israel amid fears for their lives following the Deir Yassin killings ‘solved a terrifying demographic problem’ for Israel,” the newspaper reported.Meanwhile, one textbook which covered the 1953 Israeli massacre of Palestinians in the West Bank village of Qibya said it had “restored somewhat the confidence of Israeli citizens” and rebuilt “the morale and dignity” of the army.The claims justify aggression towards Palestinians by showing it benefits
Israel, Peled-Elhanan said. “Israel wants a de-Arabization of the whole area,” she said. “Authorities have been tremendously successful in teaching this and they know that they won’t have good soldiers if they change the textbooks.”Hmmmm........"They never meet Palestinians face-to-face as children, so the textbooks are all they know"......They do meet the rockets raining down on Israel 'Face to Face'!Read the full story here.

Up Close Videos of Israel being hit with Rockets from Gaza

Courtesy of the Israel Defense Forces YouTube channel, take a look at these videos and ask yourself how you’d feel if someone half a world away ordered you to act with restraint.






HT:Shoebat.

                                                        Map HT: IsraelMatzav.

"A Picture tells a thousand words" - IDF Homefront Command’s New Rocket Map Speaks Volumes

"A Picture tells a thousand words" - IDF Homefront Command’s New Rocket Map Speaks Volumes.Baruch Hashem today (19 Adar 5772), the southern areas of the country are not hearing sirens warning of incoming rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza. Nonetheless, the threats from Gaza remain and the IDF Homefront Command has prepared new maps, maps that include Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the strike range. The older maps did not pass Kiryat Malachi and Kiryat Gat, but today, with the defense establishment aware of the striking range of Hamas terrorists today, the new maps show Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in the red zone, 70 kilometers (42 miles) from Gaza. Also included in the new map are Modi’in, Holon, and Beit Shemesh,
The old maps did not address targets outside the 40km (25 miles) range from Gaza but today, terrorists have Fajar longer-range missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel. These missiles have a 110km (65 miles) range.During the last wave of warfare, sirens did sound as far as Rechovot.Read and see the full story here.

National Committee of GMJ Urges Massive Participation in March 30 Rally.

                           Getting Islamic public opinion ready for the March on Jerusalem.


National Committee of GMJ Urges Massive Participation in March 30 Rally.Tehran - The national committee of the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) in its first press release in Gaza Strip called for strong participation in the upcoming civil resistance movement for the freedom of Jerusalem.In the statement issued in the official website of the movement (gm2j.com), the committee said, " The national committee of the GMJ in Gaza Strip calls the Palestinian people, Islamic and national factions, our organizations, Islamic and Arabic people, and the liberals of the world to be ready to participate effectively with our rally on the 63rd anniversary of Palestine's land day, 30th March."
"We will do this in order to send a strong message to our Zionist enemy that we as the Palestinians people cleats will protect our holy mosque and holy sites with all valuable and precious means that we have, and we will keep our constants especially Jerusalem and Al Aqsa mosque," it added.
Earlier, a large number of renowned figures from across the world voiced their support for the upcoming Global March to Jerusalem due to take place on March 30th, 2012.
The Global March to Jerusalem will take place on Friday 30th March 2012 where hundreds of committees and campaigns all over the six continents will participate in order to highlight the suffering the people of Jerusalem are going through as a result of the occupation's Zionist and racist practices. The slogan of the March will be "Peoples of the world demand the freedom for Jerusalem… People of the world demand to end the occupation of Palestine".Read the full 'story' here.


What is Islam's connection to Jerusalem?





Jerusalem How Important is it to Muslims?(DanielPipes).With final-status talks between Israel and the Palestinians underway, Jerusalem is finally in play. At base, the argument here consists of an argument between Jews and Moslems over who has the older, better documented, and deeper ties to the Holy City.
A cursory review of the facts shows that there is not much of a contest.
Jerusalem has a unique importance to Jews. It has a unique place in Jewish law and a pervasive presence in the Jewish religion. Jews pray toward Jerusalem, mourn the destruction of their Temple there, and wishfully repeat the phrase "Next year in Jerusalem." It is the only capital of the Jewish state, ancient or modern.
In contrast, Jerusalem has a distinctly secondary place for Moslems. It is not once mentioned in the Koran or in the liturgy. The Prophet Mohammed never went to the city, nor did he have ties to it. Jerusalem never has served as the capital of any polity, and has never been an Islamic cultural center.
Rather, Mecca is the "Jerusalem" of Islam. That is where Moslems believe that Abraham nearly sacrificed Ishmael; where Mohammed lived most of his life; and where the key events of Islam took place. Moslems pray in its direction five times each day and it is where non-Moslems are forbidden to set foot.
Jerusalem being of minor importance to Islam, why do Moslems nowadays insist that the city is more important to them than to Jews? The answer has to do with politics. Moslems take religious interest in Jerusalem when it serves practical interests. When those concerns lapse, so does the standing of Jerusalem. This pattern has recurred at least five times over 14 centuries.
The Prophet. When Mohammed sought to convert the Jews in the 620s C.E., he adopted several Jewish-style practices - a Yom Kippur-like fast, a synagogue-like place of worship, kosher-style food restrictions - and also tachanun-like prayers while facing Jerusalem. But when most Jews rejected Mohammed's overtures, the Koran changed the prayer direction to Mecca and Jerusalem lost importance for Moslems.
The Umayyad Dynasty. Jerusalem regained stature a few decades later when rulers of the Umayyad dynasty sought ways to enhance the importance of their territories. One way was by building two monumental religious structures in Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock in 691 and Al-Aqsa Mosque in 715.
Then the Umayyads did something tricky: The Koran states that God took Mohammed "by night from the sacred mosque in Mecca to the furthest (al-aqsa) place of worship." When this passage was revealed (about 621), "furthest place of worship" was a turn of phrase, not a specific place. Decades later, the Umayyads built a mosque in Jerusalem and called it Al-Aqsa. Moslems since then understand the passage about the "furthest place of worship" as referring to Jerusalem.
But when the Umayyads fell in 750, Jerusalem lapsed into near obscurity.Read the full story here, more here on the up coming event on March 14th.

IDF: Iran encouraging Palestinians to continue attacks ..prelude to the Global March on Jerusalem?

IDF: Iran encouraging Palestinians to continue attacks ..prelude to the Global March on Jerusalem?Iran is encouraging the Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Gaza to continue firing rockets against Israel, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said on Sunday.
According to Mordechai, since the beginning of the violence on Friday, 150 rockets have been fired by Palestinian terror groups, although 40 landed inside Gaza and another 37 were intercepted by the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system. "Iran finances Islamic Jihad and supports it with weaponry," Mordechai told reporters. "In these days, the Iranians are supporting them and actively encouraging them to continue." Mordechai said that while Hamas was not actively firing rockets into Israel, it is viewed as the ruling authority in Gaza and is therefore held responsible by Israel for terrorist attacks that originate inside the territory.
Earlier in the day, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz convened a meeting of the General Staff and instructed the Southern Command to utilize intelligence collected by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Military Intelligence to continue striking targets throughout the Gaza Strip.
According to assessment within the IDF, Islamic Jihad is increasingly frustrated with its failure to exact a heavy price from Israel despite the large number of rockets it has fired. As a result of this frustration, the IDF predicts that the Islamic Jihad will escalate its rocket fire in the coming days. In general, short-range rockets fired into Israel are done so by members of the Popular Resistance Committees, the leader of which was assassinated by Israel on Friday as he was plotting an attack along Israel's border with Egypt. The longer range rockets such as those fired towards Ashdod as well as the ones destroyed the Israel Air Force in underground launchers hidden throughout Gaza on Sunday, are fired by the Islamic Jihad.Hmmmmm.......Iran 'Orchestrating' Global March to Jerusalem on March 30. Read the full story here.

Video - A personal message from the Iron Dome soldiers

This is a personal message to Israelis in southern Israel from some of the soldiers operating the Iron Dome units.HT: Mr And Mrs Carl.