Paula R. Stern – Shakes It Up with Plenty to Say
You Can’t…Just Did:
It feels like it’s been forever since he was last home. It’s been 16 days, just over 2 weeks. I’ve spoken to him while he was on base, sent him messages, Whatsapped him pictures (yeah, in today’s world, Whatsapp is a verb…who knew?).
He walked through the door looking so wonderful. Tired, thin. Wonderful. Hungry. Home, at last.
While he was gone, someone stole my phone. Okay, to be fair, I left it somewhere and rather than take it to the front of the store and say, “hey, someone left their phone here.” They stole it; shut it down and from the tracking app I have on it, apparently have taken out the SIM card and acquired themselves a new phone.
It is at times like this that I remind myself – what you steal in this life, you pay for in the next. I’ve applied that belief several times in the face of injustice and so here too, I offer that warning to the thief.
In any event, I borrowed a phone and went to Pelephone to get a new SIM and, as is the way with salespeople, managed to leave there with a bargain including a new phone for me and a spare phone as well. As for me, goodbye Nexus 6, I loved you well. Hello, Galaxy S6, I could definitely do worse!
Davidi walked in and I asked him if he wanted the spare phone. It’s about the same level as his current phone, which is still working fine so he said he didn’t need it. He then opened the package and took out the earphones.
“I’ll just take the earphones,” he said as he turned and walked upstairs.
“You can’t,” I started to say.
“Just did,” he responded as I heard his boots climb.
Why that makes me smile, I have no idea…but yeah, he’s got the earphones…and I have him.
Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton
My thoughts…mine alone. Not meant to interfere. No money was distributed, no attempt is being made to infiltrate the US to undermine any campaign (as compared to what the Obama administration did during the last Israeli elections).
I’m smart enough to know that if we were stupid enough to attempt this, America…or what is left of it…would respond to us as we responded to Obama (Israel’s Message to Obama).
So, I offer my thoughts…and mine alone…on the choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton:
I am more amazed by the endless need to attack the other person that typifies almost all Facebook posts. And the only posts I’ve seen the have been positive about either candidate are usually lies. The best single post I’ve seen is quite simple “We’re Screwed, 2016”.
I have been accused of being interested in only one aspect of the US elections – how the candidate relates to Israel. I can’t totally deny this because while I believe which candidate you choose will impact on your future economic situation and perhaps some personal freedoms, I don’t think the very lives of most Americans hangs on the balance of how the next election goes.
Potentially every Israeli life, including and especially the soldiers of Israel, could be on the line. I am proud of my country, Israel, for taking the necessary steps and cultivating other relationships outside the one with the US. This will be needed if Clinton is elected.
But I will also tell you that again and again, I see that what happens to Israel first, spreads to the rest of the world. We lived through terrible days of suicide bombing attacks, now they are very rare in Israel (thank God and the IDF). While terrorism is still a reality in Israel, far more attacks are averted or mitigated by our strong and constant attempts to fight it. We watch as horrible things happen in Brussels, Orlando, London, San Bernadino, Paris, Nice, and now Munich. Left unchecked, terror will spread and spread. And who the US chooses in this election, will likely have a direct impact on how the US fights terror (or even if it fights terror), in the coming years.
What boggles the mind is how many of you now agree Obama was a disaster, just as we here in Israel said he would be, but are prepared to go with Clinton when we say the same thing about her and the policies she will implement, the people she will empower. Fool us once, shame on him…and Obama did. Fool us twice even, shame on him…and Obama did. Fool you three times, and Clinton will, shame on you.
At some point, however, you can’t fight stupid. Do what you gotta do, America. The world is watching. Your society is imploding. It is horrible to watch from outside. Those of us who live in Israel by choice still care deeply for the US and it is very painful to sit here and watch you choose between two such horrendous options. Worse, to watch as you pick the worst of the worse.
Clinton has now picked a Vice President who has a clear anti-Israel position. Oh yeah, he’ll mouth the words about supporting our backs…just like Obama did. But like Obama and Clinton, they despise the Israeli government, and the vibrant Israeli democracy that brought it to power.
I firmly believe that in four years, if you elect Clinton, America will be weaker and more isolated, thousands more will have died in terror attacks. As for Israel, you may not believe this next statement, but I do…we here in Israel will be fine. We are strong. We love this land and will defend it.
Four years ago, when Obama was re-elected, I wanted Israel to send the US a message, “God bless you and keep you safe…see you in four years.”
Well, it’s four years later. If Clinton is elected, I hope we’ll send that message because there will be no reason to attempt a closer relationship. Israel gets financial aid…yeah, we do…and we paid for that aid right back in many ways. It is not at all clear that Israel needs the US more than the US needs Israel – ask your military…or what is left of it after Obama has systematically worked to destroy it.
Look at the innovation coming out of Israel. I’ll tell you a secret…ready? What you see is nothing compared to what is happening here. You’ve seen pieces of it – Iron Dome – that WE developed, to meet and knock missiles out of the sky to protect our people, and now a Tunnel Discovery technology that is finding and destroying Hamas tunnels.
What else is there? Don’t worry – there’s more. We’ll deal with what we have to, no matter who you elect. With great disgust and sadness, I hope it will be Donald Trump.
I hope it will be Donald Trump, because I’d rather stand with the United States before the Russians, the Germans, Asians and Africans.
I hope it will be Donald Trump, because a united stand against Iran is the only way out of the dangers ahead that would (and will) be presented by a nuclear Iran. My country will fly alone if it has to but it would be better for the west if it wasn’t Israel alone.
I hope it will be Donald Trump, because I don’t think the US military can survive another years of Obama under a new name.
I hope it will be Donald Trump, because he is a Washington outsider and it’s time to bring in someone from the outside to change the corruption that has robbed America of so much of its greatness.
I hope it will be Donald Trump, because Israel is an important ally and deserves better treatment than it got from Obama or will get from Clinton and Caine, who supported Obama’s ongoing attempts to humiliate and insult Israel’s leaders.
I hope it will be Donald Trump, because the alternative is so much worse and because the next few years will force America to deal with very similar problems that Europe is struggling with right now…in places like Paris, Nice, Brussels, London, and Munich.
I hope it will be Donald Trump…
I hope it won’t be Hillary Clinton. I hope it won’t be Tim Kaine.
From One Soldier’s Mother to Another
Arranging a holiday in Israel can be very interesting. It seems like the whole country goes on vacation at the same time. Occupancy in the north during the summer and in the south during the winter reaches, quite literally, close to 100%. Get that spot early, or you’re not going to find a place.
We found a place – or at least my amazing older daughter did. And then we found out that David would be out of the army…the week before. So we decided to check around and see if we could find somewhere else to stay. I started calling and realized the week we want coincides with a huge musical festival up north…wonderful.
I called a bunch of places and then got desperate enough to ask one if perhaps she knew of another. I explained that I wanted my “soldier” to join us. That we already have a place the following week, but I really, really want to give him that time, that break. I’ve never gone on vacation without him and I don’t want to start now if I can help it.
“Where does he serve?” she asked.
“Givati,,” I answered.
And then, the most amazing thing happened. She started to speak. I’ll write down what I remember as best I can,
“My son served in Givati too. It was very hard. You know they go into Gaza, right?”
Yes, I told her, already hearing the dread pour into my voice. “I don’t want him in Givati,” I confessed.
“Listen to me. This is what you have to do. Every day, you have to give tzedukah [charity]. Find a poor family and every day, give them a few shekels. And pray. Say to yourself, ‘he should go in peace and he should serve in peace and he should be safe and come home in peace. Him and all of the soldiers of Israel.”
I told her again how much it scares me; she told me again that she it will be okay, just to give charity every day. Can you imagine speaking with a complete stranger and having her bless your child and offer you her support? It happens here all the time.
Time to Admit this Great and Tragic Truth
This morning, in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, two terrorists walked into a church and murdered an 84 year old Catholic priest. In the early morning hours, as the priest was conducting mass, they entered the church with the specific and clear intention to murder.
They violated the holiness, the sanctity of that holy place because…because…
This is Hadas Fogel. She was only four months old when she was murdered by Islamic terrorists in a terror attack in Israel. She was a baby, but more, she was the essence of innocence and she too was murdered in the name of hatred and Allah. She was murdered in the name of intolerance. She was murdered because she was a Jew, an infidel. Yes, that’s right. According to Islam, this child, this baby of only four months old was an infidel and a worthy and honorable target.
I keep wondering what level of violence will it take to shock the world into action. They have burned people, hanged them, decapitated them. They have stabbed, stoned, bombed, and shot people. They murdered a baby…baby Hadas, and many other babies across the globe. The murdered Hallel as she slept, and many other young girls and boys. And today, they murdered a priest in cold blood.
What will it take for the world to be able to say – without lowering their voices – this was the work of Islamic extremism? This was Islamic terror? All Muslims…no. No. NO.But today, and yesterday, last week and last month and last year and ten years ago and twenty. In Madrid, New York, Tel Aviv, London, Paris, Jerusalem, Brussels, Itamar, Nice, Kiryat Arba, Orlando, Normandy, Afula and on and on and on.
Say it. Islamic terror. Stop it. Stop it. Be shocked. Be angry. Scream out your anger. Stop terrorism.
Stop them now…before they come to your city, as they have come to mine. Stop them because they will not stop. They will come to yours, as they have come for mine.
You and yours…that’s right…YOU are an infidel and they want you dead. They want your way of life crushed. Does that scare you? Does that terrify you to the depths of your soul?
Good.
