In response to the firing of mortar shells in close proximity to a crowd of many hundreds of Independence Day celebrants in Gush Katif on Israel's southern Mediterranean coast, Deputy Education Minister Tzvi Hendel said yesterday, "We may have to learn from the original 'yishuv' [Jewish community], which fought on its own against the rioters."
Hendel (National Union party) was referring to an incident in which the members of Kibbutz Nirim in the Negev fired shells at Khan Yunis in response to an Arab attack, only days after Israel's independence was declared. "The Kibbutzniks stole a mortar, and bombarded the enemy," Hendel said. "When Gen. Yitzchak Sadeh arrived, he was so pleased with what they did that he gave them two more mortars! So maybe we should do the same, and then Ariel Sharon will give us more weapons. I'm saying this half-sarcastically and half-weepingly..."
Hendel, a resident of one of the Gush Katif towns, said he felt "shame" that after 55 years of independence, "we still depend on miracles for our defense. Thousands of people could have been killed from all the mortar shells fired at Gush Katif in the past two years… I call on Prime Minister Sharon, before it's too late, to restore our national honor and order the army to liquidate, once and for all, all the terrorist infrastructures."
Palestinian terrorists launched seven mortar shells at the crowds, in two different volleys, while the participants were enjoying the now-traditional fireworks show on Tuesday night. No one was hurt, though the shells landed only 200 meters away from the crowds. "They pound us, and we don't die," Hendel said, "but not because we're smart, but because the shell landed a few meters away. We have to act as if the shells hit their target!"
Over 2,000 rockets and shells are estimated to have fallen on Gush Katif communities in the 31 months of Oslo Warfare. "The residents here find themselves in the abnormal situation of being fired upon night after night," reports Kobi Sela. "Sometimes there are seven shells, sometimes only two." Miraculously, the attacks have claimed only one life -that of the soldier Barak Madmon in Nov. 2001, and one seriously wounded victim - the baby Ariel Yered of Atzmonah, in an attack seven months earlier. His mother said that his condition has improved, that he happily attends nursery with a helper, but that he has no use of his right hand, etc. "We stay here because we believe this is the right thing to do," she said, "but this is not to say that there are no fears, or that it's a normal or comfortable lifestyle..." Five youths were hurt in a mortar attack on the community of Netzer Hazani in May 2001, but all have now recuperated. Several dozen others were hurt to varying degrees in mortar attacks in Gush Katif.
"I am ashamed," Hendel told Arutz-7 today, "that on our 55th independence day, mortar shells fall next to hundreds of Independence Day celebrants, and the army does not take action to liquidate this once and for all. Our national honor is thus trampled." He said that the PA must "first of all be totally dismantled, with their leaders sent back to Tunis or imprisoned, and then we can start a new path towards peace... Wherever the Arabs are willing to accept our sovereignty, those areas or cantons could receive some sort of autonomy - I would assume that it would begin in Bethlehem, where there is a Christian majority…"
When reminded that the army *is* taking action, and had in fact just this morning killed a Hamas terrorist in Gaza who may even have had a hand in the mortar attacks (see separate article), Hendel said, "The army is doing fine, but its orders are to act with tweezers. The US Army is no better than ours, but they received different types of orders - they weren't told to use 1,000 armored vehicles in order to extract one wanted terrorist in pajamas from his home in the middle of the night. Iraq is thousands of miles away from the U.S., yet the Americans put on a full-scale war, and won it very quickly" - implying that even though our war is so close to home, the government is simply not giving the right orders to finish it off once and for all.
Hendel (National Union party) was referring to an incident in which the members of Kibbutz Nirim in the Negev fired shells at Khan Yunis in response to an Arab attack, only days after Israel's independence was declared. "The Kibbutzniks stole a mortar, and bombarded the enemy," Hendel said. "When Gen. Yitzchak Sadeh arrived, he was so pleased with what they did that he gave them two more mortars! So maybe we should do the same, and then Ariel Sharon will give us more weapons. I'm saying this half-sarcastically and half-weepingly..."
Hendel, a resident of one of the Gush Katif towns, said he felt "shame" that after 55 years of independence, "we still depend on miracles for our defense. Thousands of people could have been killed from all the mortar shells fired at Gush Katif in the past two years… I call on Prime Minister Sharon, before it's too late, to restore our national honor and order the army to liquidate, once and for all, all the terrorist infrastructures."
Palestinian terrorists launched seven mortar shells at the crowds, in two different volleys, while the participants were enjoying the now-traditional fireworks show on Tuesday night. No one was hurt, though the shells landed only 200 meters away from the crowds. "They pound us, and we don't die," Hendel said, "but not because we're smart, but because the shell landed a few meters away. We have to act as if the shells hit their target!"
Over 2,000 rockets and shells are estimated to have fallen on Gush Katif communities in the 31 months of Oslo Warfare. "The residents here find themselves in the abnormal situation of being fired upon night after night," reports Kobi Sela. "Sometimes there are seven shells, sometimes only two." Miraculously, the attacks have claimed only one life -that of the soldier Barak Madmon in Nov. 2001, and one seriously wounded victim - the baby Ariel Yered of Atzmonah, in an attack seven months earlier. His mother said that his condition has improved, that he happily attends nursery with a helper, but that he has no use of his right hand, etc. "We stay here because we believe this is the right thing to do," she said, "but this is not to say that there are no fears, or that it's a normal or comfortable lifestyle..." Five youths were hurt in a mortar attack on the community of Netzer Hazani in May 2001, but all have now recuperated. Several dozen others were hurt to varying degrees in mortar attacks in Gush Katif.
"I am ashamed," Hendel told Arutz-7 today, "that on our 55th independence day, mortar shells fall next to hundreds of Independence Day celebrants, and the army does not take action to liquidate this once and for all. Our national honor is thus trampled." He said that the PA must "first of all be totally dismantled, with their leaders sent back to Tunis or imprisoned, and then we can start a new path towards peace... Wherever the Arabs are willing to accept our sovereignty, those areas or cantons could receive some sort of autonomy - I would assume that it would begin in Bethlehem, where there is a Christian majority…"
When reminded that the army *is* taking action, and had in fact just this morning killed a Hamas terrorist in Gaza who may even have had a hand in the mortar attacks (see separate article), Hendel said, "The army is doing fine, but its orders are to act with tweezers. The US Army is no better than ours, but they received different types of orders - they weren't told to use 1,000 armored vehicles in order to extract one wanted terrorist in pajamas from his home in the middle of the night. Iraq is thousands of miles away from the U.S., yet the Americans put on a full-scale war, and won it very quickly" - implying that even though our war is so close to home, the government is simply not giving the right orders to finish it off once and for all.