Today, Elie was called to one day of Reserve Duty to take a course that will give him more knowledge. I’m not sure I should write what the course is about, so maybe I won’t. But one thing that was interesting came out tonight. Elie has been on the ambulance squad here in Maale Adumim for the last 8-9 years. He has worked with most of the drivers and several of them regularly call him and ask him to be their medic.
He’s hoping to start studying in the Fall, and has been taking some courses – Thursday night is the one time he is sure he will not have a problem serving on the ambulance squad. The woman who schedules the volunteers set him up with a driver named P. They had several calls a few weeks ago – some resulting in their taking people to the hospital.
As they drove back, they talked. As they talked, they realized that each looked familiar to the other. Turns out, P. is in Elie’s Reserve unit, was there over the three weeks they had Reserve Duty this summer and was scheduled for this one day course.
Last night, the army called him. The course is a very expensive endeavor (more on that next) and so the army wants to ensure it is fully attended. To get that full attendance – apparently the over-invite. There are many ways to get out of Reserve Duty, if someone is so inclined. If you are traveling abroad, if some major event in your life is coming up, etc.
So the army calculated how many they expected not to attend, and balanced it with more invitations. Only motivation was high and more people confirmed they were coming than expected. At the last minute, the army called Elie to confirm he was coming; and called P. to tell him not to come.
So many, so motivated. Israel!
Ok, so… I really like Israel, the language, the people
I´ve met during traveling and so on.
But. How can I defend this:
“4-year-old Palestinian child, Asil Arara, shot in neck by #Israeli troops near her village of Anata”
“When more Israelis died of peanut allergy than from rockets launched by the Hamas, more Palestinian children died because of israeli Phosphorus bombs. “
/scandinavian
Dear /Scandinavian,
I can help you “defend” against this lie every simply. This was carefully investigated. It turns out, this poor child’s uncle relative is an arms dealer who accidentally shot her. Rather than admit the truth, it was just so much easier to accuse Israelis of the incident.
As for the peanut allergy, that lie has been going around the Internet for a long time. I disputed it and will again:
http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=1436 does a great review of the peanut allergy statistics. Interestingly enough, it is actually much lower in Israel than elsewhere, and this link lists most of the yearly totals of terrorist murders up to 2006.
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/terrisraelworst.html
So, unless suddenly the peanut allergy has gotten much worse (doubtful); or Palestinians have learned to stop murdering (proven false just last night when another Israeli was killed)…this is yet another instance of propaganda and lies. Now, if you want the truth of the Middle East, write to me again and let’s talk facts.
Oh wait, I forgot one point. The claim of phosphorous bombs. If you go back in this blog to the period of the Cast Lead Operation (Gaza War / December 2008), you’ll quickly learn my son is in artillery and was in the war. He knows first hand that this claim about phosphorous bombs is a lie. No illegal weapons were used during the Gaza war.
So I repeat – when you want the facts, please be in touch. I’m glad you like Israel, the language, the people. Trust me when I tell you that our country is one of honor. No, we are not perfect, but we don’t target innocent people. In the last 24 hours, dozens of rockets have been fired at Israel. A man…a husband…a father of four was murdered while driving his car.
At the same time, 9 Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed; 5 inside a training camp, the others at rocket launching sites. It would be a mistake to sum up the events of the last two days as 9 Arabs and 1 Jew and then find us guilty because more people didn’t die on our side.
If you want to know why that is – please read my latest post.