The crowd of rally-goers came dressed in red coats and sweaters to symbolically amplify the “Red Alert” alarm that the residents of Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Be’er Sheva, Kiryat Malachi, and other cities are suffering through.

Like

Unlike

Photo Credit: David Saranga

This morning, as crowds gather in NYC to support Israel, we are bringing you live photos as they happen.

The crowd of more than 11,000 rally-goers came dressed in red coats and sweaters to symbolically amplify the “Red Alert” alarm that the residents of Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Be’er Sheva, Kiryat Malachi, and other cities are suffering through. Stay tuned for special photos from the ground as NYC creatively captures the attention of the media to the plight of civilians in Southern Israel.

All photos are the property of the Consulate General of Israel in New York. We are hereby allowing the publication of these pictures for any non-commercial use, following Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States license. Please make sure to attribute all photos to the credited photographer.  For photographs in full resolution, please contact us.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. continue reading…

Like

Unlike

Over the past 8 years, Hamas has launched over 11,000 rockets aimed at Israeli civilians.
Kindergartens, homes, schools and hospitals are all targeted, with 15 seconds to spare from the moment the rocket is launched and until it hits.

The people of Southern Israel are all too familiar with this daily message from the Homeland Command.

Like

Unlike

Consul David Saranga wrote an opinion piece published by the New York Daily News:

Because of the sea of words and wave of articles that continue to flood the media regarding the war in Gaza, I decided to write something that would resonate with readers in a different way. Sometimes numbers speak louder than words.

See here for more.

Like

Unlike

We’ve received some questions (in comments and through Twitter) about Israel’s response to Red Cross allegations, which were reported widely yesterday. Below, you can find some responses, given on WorldFocus last night.

Like

Unlike

We’ve received a lot of mail recently about arguments of proportionality in warfare. Today we found an interesting piece in The New Republic by Michael Walzer, Professor Emeritus at the Insitute for Advanced Study at Princeton University (who’s been doing this type of political philosophy for a while), on this very discussion.  He also notes the questions that should guide our discussion of proportionality, as well as some unintended outcomes of that discussion.
An excerpt:

Let’s talk about proportionality–or, more important, about its negative form. “Disproportionate” is the favorite critical term in current discussions of the morality of war. But most of the people who use it don’t know what it means in international law or in just war theory.

For more, see here.

Like

Unlike

Consul General Asaf Shariv interviewed this week on Shalom TV, American Jewry’s National Cable Television Network. The interview will be available from Sunday, January 11 through Saturday night, January 17. It is Free Video on Demand and so the program is available all the time on those days.
Before then, you can watch a preview, available on the Shalom TV homepage.  Also, if you have any questions about how to watch the show, see the station’s FAQ tab.

Like

Unlike

The New Republic over the past few days, has published a few thoughtful articles about what the end of Operation “Cast Lead” might mean. For now, we’ll note two pieces for your consideration.

The first article is by Martin Peretz; it’s from two days ago but is still quite relevant to the present circumstances.  In discussing a cessation of fire, he notes, it must be made clear that Hamas will have to stop the rocket fire on Israel, and that assent by the Palestinian Authority to any measure will not necessarily bind Hamas to anything.  An excerpt:

As I write, there is news that a cease fire may (or may not) be dawning over Gaza. Apparently, even if it is, it will be between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas announced that it will not submit to a permanent truce. But if Nicholas Sarkozy, the prime broker in the arrangement, and Hosni Mubarak, who has also played a constructive role (and one very hostile to Hamas) since the fighting began, are to be believed, the terms of the truce assure that the jihadists will be kept from both shelling and rearming. These are Angela Merkel’s terms, as well.

See here for the rest of the article.

In the second, Bernard-Henri Levy argues that the Palestinian people will face a number of serious choices on the “day after.”  They will have to decide whether they want to negotiate with Israel or whether they want to keep on with senseless fighting trying to destroy their neighbors.  An excerpt:

Either Hamas leaders re-establish the truce that they broke, and, while they’re at it, declare null and void a charter founded on the pure rejection of the “Zionist Entity”: In doing so, they will rejoin the vast party for compromise that has not ceased–God be praised–to make progress in the region, and peace will be established. Or they will only, obstinately, consider the suffering of Palestinian civilians in terms of its fueling of their annealed passions, their insane hate, nihilistic, beyond words. And if that is the case, it is not only the Israelis, but the Palestinians, who will need to be liberated from Hamas’ somber shadow.

For more, see here.

Like

Unlike

From CBS News:

According to the Israeli Army, over 11,000 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israeli in the past 8 years; for many this has created a siege mentality. Richard Roth reports.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Like

Unlike

(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson)

The Israel Foreign Ministry today instructed its Ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, to submit a letter to the UN Secretary General and the President of the Security Council in the wake of the firing of rockets from Lebanon this morning. continue reading…

Like

Unlike