It is hard for someone who has never been to Israel to understand the devastating nature of this tragedy, and I am sure that my explanatory comments that follow would pale alongside that written by someone who lives in Israel, especially in the affected area.
As I have often stressed, Israel is a tiny geographic entity, which, defined by its pre-1967 borders, consists of about 8,000 square miles. A fire of this magnitude is not like some naturally-caused wildfire in, for example, a remote region of British Columbia (which, for example, consists of just under 365,000 square miles - even Nova Scotia consists of 21,345 square miles). The amount of arable land in Israel is very limited, and forests are very important to Israel's ecology - a fire of this type has a disproportionate impact.
As well, I think that there is a strong symbolic issue. When Jewish pioneers started to return to what was then known as Palestine, one of their prime efforts was to plant trees - including the use of eucalyptus trees to help drain swamps. Growing up in a Jewish home, there was always the famous "Blue Box" into which we (and millions of fellow Jews around the world) placed spare change to help fund the planting of trees in Israel. The Jewish National Fund has achieved tremendous things in Israel, and the JNF has worked closely with many countries, including Canada, on forestry-related issues. Here is another example of the type of positive contribution that Israel makes to the world community - El Salvador to copy Israel's national forestry model | social-action.
If there is any silver lining to this very dark cloud, it would be that a number of nations have promptly offered aid (including Turkey, Jordan and Egypt) - Israel battles forest fire with foreign help - Yahoo! News and Grateful prime minister hails international response - much in the same way that Israel has when disasters occur in other countries (even if sometimes the aid is refused). Prime Minister Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas have had one of their rare telephone conversations over the issue, and the PA has lent some support - PA lends firefighters a hand - Israel News, Ynetnews. However, the tragedy has "delighted" certain groups - Northern blaze delights many in the Arab world - the usual suspects, one might say:
"There is no need to tell you how delighted we are that more than 40 cadets who tortured prisoners were killed in this fire. We never met with your compassion when Israel attacked us. Let the fire consume (Israel)," he said.
Not that it would matter to Islamic Jihad in the least, but for the record, the cadets who died were on their way to rescue Palestinian prisoners who were in a facility threatened by the fire.
2. She's Probably Delighted As Well - Helen Thomas stands by remarks about Israelis | detnews.com | The Detroit News - what a wonderful human being.
3. And This "Lady" Too - Jordanian woman wins fame by kicking Israelis out of her restaurant - Jihad Watch
6. The Shoah - A number of interesting pieces about the Shoah:
- Devastated - by Adam Kirsch Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life
- Conference Call - by Dovid Katz Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life
- Pajamas Media » Holocaust Denial From U.S. Professors: Academic Freedom?
- Caught on Film - by Adam Kirsch > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life
- Institute for Global Jewish Affairs – Global Antisemitism, Anti-Israelism, Jewish Studies
"Israel is a nation that dwells alone, with few friends and many prejudiced enemies. Rather than Rabbis and lay leaders attacking Christians as having nefarious motives for their charity, we should offer thanks and gratitude to hard-working Americans (and Canadians - my note) of faith who believe, as the Bible says, that through Israel all the earth is blessed."
10. An Important Anniversary - before the UN had turned into the corruption machine of today, a vote of the United Nations General Assembly made a run at the original two-state solution - the Jews of Palestine accepted, the Arabs didn't - and the rest is not only history, but current events.
Also see this article by Michael B. Oren - the Israeli Ambassador to the United States.
12. Well, It Is Hanukkah - so despite the tragedy in the Carmel, let's try to celebrate a little bit:
- Hanukkah video helps Jews sing new tune – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs
- Hanukkah, Autism and Rodeph Sholom’s Run at a Miracle - NYTimes.com
- A Hanukkah house party - thestar.com
- This Hanukka let's celebrate Liberalism and Zionism Blogs
- ‘Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel’ – Forward.com
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