You mean the Arabs lie about Jews cutting down their precious olive trees so they can extort money from Israel?

I’m shocked, shocked at such a racist accusation! How dare you blame the victims!

Inspectors catch Palestinians cutting olive trees

Cutting trees and blaming the settlers?

Inspector caught Palestinian youths in the act as they were cutting olive trees, claiming they did it at the request of the owner of the grove. The police suspect that he did it for compensation. Now additional Palestinian complaints will be investigated.

Originally published by the Ma’ariv daily website and translated by IMRA:

Tal Yamin-Walbowitz Maariv website (Maariv NRG) 22 November 2006 [Translation by IMRA]

Are the settlers hurting the Palestinians or are the Palestinians hurting themselves?

Frequently Palestinians farmers complain that settlers cut their trees and hurt them and their livelihoods. At times even IDF soldiers and police had to protect the Palestinians farmers in the territories during the olive harvest season. But the police suspect now that in some cases the Palestinians themselves are those cutting the trees and then blamed the settlers and demanded compensation from the Civil Authority.

Foresters of the JNF patrolling the Shaar Efraim area today noticed to their surprise a number of Palestinians cutting olive trees in violation of the law as they were damaging scores of olive trees. The foresters hurried to call the police who arrived and held four of them for questioning.

The four were transferred to the police station in Kedumim and in their interrogation they said that the owner of the property invited them to cut the trees for firewood. A police spokesman for the Judea-Samaria District, Superintendent Pintzi Mor, told Maariv NRG that the owner of the area would be called in for questioning.

Sources in the police said that over the years the police have experienced a phenomenon of the filing of complaints to the Civil Authority regarding the destruction of olive trees, along with a claim for financial compensation. In the last year alone the Palestinians in the area of Judea and Samaria filed claims for 350 thousand shekels for the destruction of olive trees.

The police now intend to check the complaints in detail. A senior source in the police told Maariv NRG that “most of the complaints for damage to olive trees were filed in recent years at the end of the harvest season or towards the end, something that increase the suspicion that this is a cooked deal.”

But then again a number of Republicans also agree with that. As a spokesperson against the war she does nothing than embarrass the rest of us. I guess that’s what I see as the danger of using one’s personal tragedy to promote a political agenda. I would never place this kid in the same ignorant light as Sheehan. Unlike her, he was actually living under the missiles.

When I was twelve, I had some ideas of my own and some of them remain true, despite adults trying to convince me otherwise. I’m not xtian, for one. I was a pretty quiet kid and never did much in the rebellion department, but even I had thoughts that stuck around. I know my students have opinions and I would never call it exploiting to let them write their opinions down.

Some of my students have had parents go to Iraq. If one of them asked me to mail a letter to the president, I’d do it. It wouldn’t make it exploiting, but simply enabling the child to express the feelings already felt.

Your language shows a bias and many are forgetting that we all have opinions. I can try as much as I like, but I’m never going to convince the two year old I am watching tomorrow night that lima beans taste good. Then again, I agree with him. They don’t.

We have our opinions, some of which will change over the years (regardless of age) and others that will remain constant. This boy may have gotten more attention for being a kid, but at least someone listened to him, as that is probably what he needed most during a difficult time.

“I, Yaacobov’s son, am turning to you. Resign your positions! Resign. The defense minister and Olmert should admit that they can’t do this, and vacate their places in the government to Bibi Netanyahu and to [Avigdor] Lieberman. If they can [defend us] I want to see their answer. If not, they should vacate their seats, quickly.”

Like you, ck, I remember when kids that age were politically aware. We cared about who and what was running the show. Especially in Israel kids that age should and need to understand the politics that so directly affect them. Living in Sderot may itself have led him to Likud. So it’s not Likudniks manipulating this bereaved kid but an articulate and angry bereaved young man manipulating the emotions of the voting-age public for a political agenda. The question is if one finds using personal tragedy to endorse not an agenda but specific politicians or political parties an admirable or even necessary tactic. For me it’s a fine line. For example, if the letter didn’t end with the one-sentence word “Resign.” it may have felt differently. Or if the kid didn’t specifically call for Netanyahu and Lieberman to replace Olmert rather than simply demand Olmert protect Sderot or get out (making the message less partisan), it may have been stronger.

I don’t know if it’s right or wrong. May be more a matter of taste. But it’s not a right-wing/left-wing thing. I may agree with Cindy Sheehan’s opposition to the Iraq war and Bush, but the way she used the death of her son and turned her protest into a three-ring circus was just crass. On the other hand, here we have a well-respected and very liberal state congresswoman who lost a son in the war, yet she went out of her way to not use this in defending her anti-war position. In the same way, the situation in Sderot speaks enough for itself without needing to manipulate emotions.

But now I realize that the kid’s letter was in fact supporting a right wing agenda. That changes everything! Clearly he and his family were manipulated, as no thinking person could possibly support Netanyahu and Lieberman. All right wingers are evil and loathsome and all left wingers are good and pure. Whew… glad I caught that embarassing gaffe!

Did I actually write that? Who the heck is editing and proofing me? Oh, right – it’s me. Crap. Thanks to all for pretending not to notice…

Perhaps Olmert could draft a response:

Dear Hanan:

Yes, your the loss of your father is terrible. And though I also realize that you are surrounded by fanatics who would like to exploit your personal loss to advance their political objectives, I’m afraid the points raised in your letter are without merit. This could never have taken place in the macho paradise of Russia? While you are, of course, free to return there, you may want to consult with some of the Russians caught up in the various brutal and stupid military expeditions taking place in Chechnya, and other similar locales. Sorry, but the government of Israel finds itself in a state of conflict with its neighbors, as it has been since the day of its independence some 58 years ago or so. I’m sure you father was a very nice man, but we’ve decided not to declare total war against the Arabs, even though those exploiting you personal loss would like us to do so. Nor, for that matter, do we have any intention of turning the government of the State of Israel over to a proto-fascist like Lieberman or a greasy sack of dogshit like Bibi, so they can betray everything real Zionists like Yitzhak Rabin spent their lives fighting for over the
the past century.

Here’s hoping you can escape from whatever maniacal fanatics would like to turn the death of your father into “canon fodder” for use in their personal campaign against the duly elected government of the State of Israel.

A7 had an interview with him (in Hebrew). Hebrew speakers might able to judge if he is as articulate as the letter: inn.co.il/News...

jewlicious.com...

(Which I refuted when the letter showed up some time earlier in my inbox and which Hasbara finally caught onto and pulled.)

This isn’t one of those letters. The kid might have had some help, he may have been influenced by Likudniks or he may just be that much more militant because of his father. In any case, compare the way the letter was written to what actually comes out of the boy’s mouth and then make a decision…

sefer-torah.co...

Specifically the part supposedly with a reporter:

“When the reporter asked him why he wanted to stay, the orphaned child with moonbeam eyes replied, “I love Sderot very much, and I won’t leave it because I love the State of Israel. If I leave Sderot, if all of Sderot were evacuated, then the country would fall apart. The Palestinians will see that they are succeeding in Sderot, and then they’ll shoot Kassams at Ashkelon and Ashdod too, and do the same in the whole country until nothing is left.””

If this is report is accurate, I’d have too say the kid’s pretty articulate. And those words were much more emotional, effective and honest than the forced formality of the letter. I will say this: Giving the letter to Olmert makes total sense. But using kids – especially newly-grieving kids – to make a public point publicly could reek a little of Palestinian tactics (re: staged newscasts of little girl in Gaza bombing). It seems to me that of all international press accounts of the Israeli-Palestinian crises, the two things that garner more sympathy for Israel’s plight are homicide bombings and the siege of Sderot. IMHO it’s important to use publicity weapons that don’t run the risk of smelling funny. Rip me a new one for that comment. I can take it.

Israel = NJ (size wise)
Gaza = 360 sqr km, so about 25 x 14 roughly.

the rockets are coming from an area about the size of my backyard.

IDF has every modern and ancient weapon at it’s disposal.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE PROBLEM?

Think about what you knew in the 7th grade. I was in precalc, we read the NYTimes every day in class, debated politics, wrote essays on world events, and this was in mid 80′s, when we still kept out fallout shelter stocked.

“How did/do the Russians treat Chechens, Afghanistanis, or seperatist groups, etc.?”

You would get a pretty colorful and cynical answer. Also remember, children in the FSU were learning calculus by the time we here in the states even heard of it. Who knows, maybe this 12 year old is just a brilliant writer, even though I didn’t think the letter was written that well, or at least the translation of it.

Frank Zappa was writing Orchestral music by age 16, there’s a girl in the Guiness Book of World Records for being teh world’s most prolific writer of children’s stories by age 10, why is it so hard to believe that a child could have penned this himself, unless, you have some suspicion of his “masters”?

He didn’t write that. Why don’t you do a survey of how many 12 year olds know enough to comment on how Russia would behave under certain circumstances and how many know the expression “cannon fodder” and what it means. Then check and get back to me on how many understand what a “government policy” is.

Face it, he’s being used as a tool. It’s not okay, folks. There are plenty of other ways to express anger toward politicians and in fact, many Sderot residents are doing so already.

And for the last time, I didn’t say I disagree with the contents of the letter. That is beside the point.

And I can’t believe that you can honestly suggest that what Israel really needs to do is start moving whole towns just because they are being attacked. Do you realize the implications of what you are saying? I mean, seriously: are you out of your friggin’ mind?

Israel – A Haven for all Jews (except in Sderot, and all of Gaza)

I’ve read many a letters penned by teenagers after their parents were wrongfully killed, including children of 9-11 casualties, and I didn’t see anyone rushing to disparage their parents or any politicians for “putting them up to it.”

Perhaps what bothers people isn’t who wrote it, but that the message is true and that you don’t have to be any older than a teenager nor a genius to know this.

What bothers me, is that no action has been taken yet by the feeble government, which necessitates a teenager who has lost a father because of this to point out the obvious.