Israel's Response to Katrina

[Gilgamesh]

I am shocked, sorrowed and apalled from Israel's lack of responce to the New Orleans natural crisis.

Even if the Americans are not lacking in any matrial or technological or men power, it is a duty of a friend, like Israel is, to DEMONSTRATE solidarity of the kind visible to every Jane or Joe in America, as to the rest of the world.

The Jewish flag of Israel should have been waving over field hospitals, inflatable boats, tents trucks, blankets and caravans. Food, mostly fruits and vegetables, should have been brought in crates.

Rescuers, in orange helmets and IDF green uniforms should have been on the scene, just like following the American ambassis in Kenya and Tanzania in Africa. Israelis rescue experts were among the first to arrive, and among the last to leave the disaster areas.

Israelis sent aid and expertize to four corners of the world (just an expression), from the earthquaqes in Mexico, earth quaqe in Turkey, the Tsunamy, fires in Greece, (OUR helicopters helped to put down the fire, not Germans, not Italian - ISRAELI). We've already sent aid everywhere.

Why not now? why not to New Orleans and it's surroundings?

We pray and wish well for the victims of the Hurrican, in New Orleans and southern USA.

For those to can read herbew:
בושת שרון, חרפת ישראל

[sharonbn]

Maybe you should switch news source

Israel sending emergency supplies, volunteers to U.S.

The Bush administration has accepted Israel's offers of assistance to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, with a first shipment of supplies expected to be sent on Tuesday.

Israel will send a search and rescue team, military rations and other
emergency supplies to the United States to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, officials said Monday.

[...]

"Israel was one of the first nations to offer relief aid, if not the first," said Israeli Ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon, citing letters from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to President George Bush and the secretaries of state, defense, and homeland security.

"Even if it will be modest aid, even if it will be symbolic aid, it is still very important.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/621184.html

[KettleWhistle]

That's good to know. I too was surprised at the lack of any news of Israel helping the Katrina victims, which among other things would've been out of character, since Israel helped other countries that experienced natural disasters.

[Cato]

Israel offers action not talk, while the saying we are in solidarity probably provides comfort, sending the aid the way we are doing helps people directly.

[SteveK]

That's good to know. I too was surprised at the lack of any news of Israel helping the Katrina victims, which among other things would've been out of character, since Israel helped other countries that experienced natural disasters.

And, since America footed the bill for the man-made disaster to expell the Gaza Jews and raze their homes and businesses.

[Cato]

And, since America footed the bill for the man-made disaster to expell the Gaza Jews and raze their homes and businesses.

SteveK you know that disengagement would have happened no matter what, most Israelis supported it, and that the Supreme Court ruled Gaza Strip was not part of Israel.

Gaza city itself changed hands between the jewish state and the Philistines so many times that it is hard to tell just how much power the ancient Kings of Jerusalem really had there.

Gaza was the city that Goliath set out from you know.

[sharonbn]

Here's a bit of help everyone can chip in.

http://192.122.183.218/wiki/index.ph...inderVolunteer

[Mediocrates]

You can contact any number of American organizations from Federation to Chabad. As of now about 20,000 Jews from the region have been moved out. About half are in Houston. Very few are unaccounted for. The Gulfport shul, commonly known as the oldest outside the 13 original colonies is torn up.

There isn't a lot of expertise that Israel can bring to this situation by the way.

[SteveK]

SteveK you know that disengagement would have happened no matter what, most Israelis supported it, and that the Supreme Court ruled Gaza Strip was not part of Israel.

Gaza city itself changed hands between the jewish state and the Philistines so many times that it is hard to tell just how much power the ancient Kings of Jerusalem really had there.

Gaza was the city that Goliath set out from you know.

Cato,

That is until Goliath met his end with the young David, the future King of Israel.

And, today's Israeli Government is on a rampage with the mentality of that uncircumcized Philistine Goliath to rape, pillage, and plunder the Jewish character of Israel.

Tragically, today, Israel has no Torah leadership on the level of David, who could knock some sense of faith and fear of God into the head of this Goliath.

[Cato]

Cato,

That is until Goliath met his end with the young David, the future King of Israel.

And, today's Israeli Government is on a rampage with the mentality of that uncircumcized Philistine Goliath to rape, pillage, and plunder the Jewish character of Israel.

Tragically, today, Israel has no Torah leadership on the level of David, who could knock some sense of faith and fear of God into the head of this Goliath.

David did kill Goliath, then conquered Gaza, then the Philistines conquered it back, and it constantly changed hands throughout the reign of King Solomon to. After we finally vanquished the Philistines the Egyptians kept siezing the city and area and it then changed hands constantly between us and the Egyptians untill the Assyrians conquered Israel. Perhaps reading the parts of the bible were we do not win would do you some good.

Gaza strip is not part of Israel, which is why the Supreme Court ruled that way.

Yes Torah leadership is the answer, which is why the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Selucids, then the Romans decisively defeated us easily. The answer is continuing to be a secular democracy with a lose religious character and a state religion like England. Israel is like England and will stay like England.

Everything modern Israel has accomplished it has done through it's innovation, creativity, secular democratic principles, and secular laws, and tolerance to all of it's inhabitants including non jews. Perhaps you didn't notice but none of Israel's accomplishments would have been possible had the state assigned women the role they have in the Torah which means the kitchen.

God sent us the Torah as a set of ethics, not as a form of government, and he has shown us how he feels about theocracy by making every theocracy the world has ever known either fall or be in the process of falling.

[sharonbn]

guys please,
the pull out is a tiny off topic ...

[KSO]

guys please,
the pull out is a tiny off topic ...

Not exactly...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3138779,00.html

Rabbi: Hurricane punishment for pullout

Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef: Hurricane Katrina result of Bush’s support for disengagement, failure of New Orleans’ black residents to study Torah. ‘This is the punishment for what Bush did to Gush Katif,’ rabbi says
Zvi Alush
Hurricane Katrina is a punishment meted out by God as a result of U.S. President George W. Bush’s support for the Gaza and northern West Bank disengagement, Shas spiritual leader and former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said Tuesday.



Notably, the rabbi chose to openly declare what many ultra-Orthodox believers have said for a while now, namely that recent naturally disasters in the U.S. are a direct result of American support for the pullout.

In his weekly sermon, the rabbi said: “There was a tsunami and there are terrible natural disasters, because there isn’t enough Torah study… black people reside there (in New Orleans). Blacks will study the Torah? (God said) let’s bring a tsunami and drown them.”

“Hundreds of thousands remained homeless. Tens of thousands have been killed. All of this because they have no God,” said the rabbi, who already found himself in hot water in the past following controversial remarks of one kind or another.

Yet Rabbi Ovadia was not done there, and proceeded to explain in detail why Americans deserved the Hurricane.

“Bush was behind the (expulsion of) Gush Katif,” he said. “He encouraged Sharon to expel Gush Katif…we had 15,000 people expelled here, and there 150,000 (were expelled). It was God’s retribution ..God does not short-change anyone.”

“He (Bush) perpetrated the expulsion. Now everyone is mad at him…this is his punishment for what he did to Gush Katif, and everyone else who did as he told them, their time will come, too,” the rabbi said.

Ovadia concluded: “Where can evil escape to from God? Its time will come and it will be slapped on the head.”



Knesset Member Eliezer Cohen (National Union) dismissed Ovadia’s comments in a talk with Ynet.



“I know meteorology well enough not to believe such rubbish,” he said.



Meanwhile, Knesset Member Ronny Brison said: “What, God is cross-eyed? He metes out punishments at the wrong place? We’re sick and tired of Rabbi Ovadia’s primitive worldview. He already did his part, he can remove himself from public life.”

[Mediocrates]

Again, contact national Jewish groups if you have any questions. As far as we can tell, everyone is accounted for. There was a need to get a Hebrew translator in touch with the Gulfport congregation as they have collected an Israeli family that speaks little or no English (- - or our unique form of it at any rate - -). This information is not current though and that family may already been handed off to Houston, Memphis, Nashville or somewhere else.


UJC has a pretty good organization: http://www.ujc.org/ for donations and general information about volunteering.

[Cato]

Not exactly...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3138779,00.html

Rabbi: Hurricane punishment for pullout

Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef: Hurricane Katrina result of Bush’s support for disengagement, failure of New Orleans’ black residents to study Torah. ‘This is the punishment for what Bush did to Gush Katif,’ rabbi says
Zvi Alush
Hurricane Katrina is a punishment meted out by God as a result of U.S. President George W. Bush’s support for the Gaza and northern West Bank disengagement, Shas spiritual leader and former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said Tuesday.


Notably, the rabbi chose to openly declare what many ultra-Orthodox believers have said for a while now, namely that recent naturally disasters in the U.S. are a direct result of American support for the pullout.

In his weekly sermon, the rabbi said: “There was a tsunami and there are terrible natural disasters, because there isn’t enough Torah study… black people reside there (in New Orleans). Blacks will study the Torah? (God said) let’s bring a tsunami and drown them.”

“Hundreds of thousands remained homeless. Tens of thousands have been killed. All of this because they have no God,” said the rabbi, who already found himself in hot water in the past following controversial remarks of one kind or another.

Yet Rabbi Ovadia was not done there, and proceeded to explain in detail why Americans deserved the Hurricane.

“Bush was behind the (expulsion of) Gush Katif,” he said. “He encouraged Sharon to expel Gush Katif…we had 15,000 people expelled here, and there 150,000 (were expelled). It was God’s retribution ..God does not short-change anyone.”

“He (Bush) perpetrated the expulsion. Now everyone is mad at him…this is his punishment for what he did to Gush Katif, and everyone else who did as he told them, their time will come, too,” the rabbi said.

Ovadia concluded: “Where can evil escape to from God? Its time will come and it will be slapped on the head.”



Knesset Member Eliezer Cohen (National Union) dismissed Ovadia’s comments in a talk with Ynet.



“I know meteorology well enough not to believe such rubbish,” he said.



Meanwhile, Knesset Member Ronny Brison said: “What, God is cross-eyed? He metes out punishments at the wrong place? We’re sick and tired of Rabbi Ovadia’s primitive worldview. He already did his part, he can remove himself from public life.”

That sounds like the typical ranting of a right wing nut job.

[Mediocrates]

Oh we've got our own like Marie Jon'. They sound unhinged between their claims that the ACLU and gay people either caused the hurricane or we are being punished because of them, and their End of Days predictions that God is Nigh.All I can say is, give them enough rope.......