7 Billion Minus Two

IDF Radio reporting this morning that Planet Earth's 7th Billion resident was born earlier today in Manilla, Philippines. More details from The Guardian:

The world's seven billionth baby has been born in a packed government-run hospital in the Philippines.

Weighing 2.5kg (5.5lb), Danica May Camacho was chosen by the United Nations to be one of several children around the world who will symbolically represent the global population milestone.

She was delivered just before midnight on Sunday amid an explosion of press camera flashes at Manila's Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital.

"She looks so lovely," her mother, Camille Dalura, whispered softly as she cradled her tiny newborn.

"I can't believe she is the world's seven billionth."

Helping keep the world safe for the rest of us, the IDF reduced the world's population to below the 7 billion mark by eliminating 2 Palestinian terrorists in Gaza who were intent on shooting rockets at Israeli civilians in Southern Israel.

"IAF aircraft attacked a terrorist cell in the southern Gaza Strip which used high-trajectory weapons against Israel," a statement issued by the IDF Spokesperson's Office said.

Palestinian sources in the Strip confirmed that the IDF attacked east of Khan Yunis but initially claimed the cell was not hit. Later, it was confirmed that two members of the Al-Ahrar movement's military wing were killed in the strike.

The Palestinians reported that medical teams found the bodies of two terrorists on Monday morning. "They did not die in vain, the national consensus on the lull won't prevent us from taking revenge and retaliating for these ongoing crimes," the movement said.

Al-Ahrar consists of ex-Fatah men and is partly sponsored by Hamas. (YNET)

I guess we'll hit 7 billion later...and we can hope the IDF keeps taking out the Palestinian terrorists before they manage to launch more attacks on us.

Keep up the good work!

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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Breaking News: Tractor attack #2 in Jerusalem

Video: Killing the terrorist

(photos by REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)

3:02 PM Update: The heroic civilian who stopped the terrorist is Yakki Asa'el, aged 53, father of 8, grandfather of 6. A teacher and farmer by profession. IDF Company Commander (מפקד פלוגה) in the reserves. Settler from Susya (Har Hevron Hills area).

Haaretz Reports:

The copycat attack occurred on the corner of Keren Hayesdod and King David streets in dowtown Jerusalem, down the road from the hotel where U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was to be staying later in the day.

"The bulldozer driver left a construction site, and hit two cars," a police spokesman said.

"A civilian who saw what was happening, shot him. The bulldozer continued on its way. A Border Police patrol... continued to shoot and the terrorist was killed," the spokesman said. "Another person was wounded."

An eyewitness said that the whole incident took place in less than a few minutes.

"[The driver] tried to lower the blade of the bulldozer onto the head of a pedestrian, but missed her by an inch. At first I thought it was an accident, but then he kept going in a zig zag down the slope of King David, overturned a car and hit a few cars. The whole thing happened very quickly.

"One car flipped over and others were crushed. I started running in the direction of the tractor. People regained their composure within seconds. A guy from Susya, near southern Mount Hebron, shot him in the head and a few minutes later a Border Police officer shot him as well," the witness added.

Update: Once again, civilians keep the streets of Jerusalem safer. The responsible person for shooting and killing the terrorist was a civilian. A Border policeman apparently also took part. There are 5 wounded, 2 of them in serious condition and one of the wounded is an infant. 2 cars and a bus were damaged by the tractor. The attack took place near the King David hotel.

I didn't go out for the call because it wasn't declared as an MCE (Mass Casualty Event -- אר"ן אירוע רב נפגעים) though the exact same circumstances led the event. (Friend called, said he heard increased chatter on the MDA/Hatzala radio system, and then I found a colleague in the next room who is a first responder for MDA in Jerusalem...)

A refuah shelaima to the wounded.


Breaking News: 2:13 PM Jerusalem.

Attempting to repeat their success in the last tractor attack, a terrorist has driven a tractor in a rampage in Jerusalem. As of this time, the terrorist has been killed and there are a few wounded on the scene being treated by MDA and Hatazala medical EMT volunteers.

More info soon.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

A Parents' Small Request.

From the mailbag...worth reading...and passing on.

Dear friends,

Today's [J@M: a few weeks back, the] New York Times carries a review of a film called "Hot House" that goes inside Israeli prisons and examines the lives of Palestinian prisoners. We're not recommending the film or the review. But we do want to share our feelings with you about the beaming female face that adorns the article. You can see it here.


The film is produced by HBO. So it's presumably HBO's publicity department that was responsible for creating and distributing a glamour-style photograph of a smiling, contented-looking young woman in her twenties to promote the movie.

That female is our child's murderer. She was sentenced to sixteen life sentences or 320 years which she is serving in an Israeli jail. Fifteen people were killed and more than a hundred maimed and injured by the actions of this attractive person and her associates. The background is here.

Neither the New York Times nor HBO are likely to give even a moment's attention to the victims of the barbarians who destroyed the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem and the lives of so many victims. So we would be grateful if you would pass along this link to some pictures of our
daughter whose name was Malki. She was unable to reach her twenties - Hamas saw to that.

Though she was only fifteen years old when her life was stolen from her and from us, we think Malki was a beautiful young woman, living a beautiful life. We ask your help so that other people - far fewer than the number who will see the New York Times, of course - can know about her.

Please ask your friends to look at the pictures - some of the very few we have - of our murdered daughter.

They are at http://www.kerenmalki.org/photo.htm


And remind them of what the woman in the Israeli prison - the woman smiling so happily in the New York Times - said last year. "I'm not sorry for what I did. We'll become free from the occupation and then I will be free from prison."

With so many voices demanding that Israel release its terrorist prisoners, small wonder she's smiling.

With greetings from Jerusalem,

Frimet and Arnold Roth
On behalf of Keren Malki

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Yet Another Illegal (Out)Post

Yet Another Illegal (Out)Post from JoeSettler...

Jameel pointed this out to me, but didn’t want to post about it himself.

Occasionally one hears very strange stories as to what goes on in Meron and how an "Aliyah" to a certain Holy Kever will bring about the birth of a child for the couple that goes up there to try to fulfill this mitzvah.

The Israeli version of an Urban Myth?

Probably. Maybe.

But the IDF caught the terrorist that killed the Kahane family (and murdered many others in suicide bomb operations he organized) is a quite similar story.

It seems Khaled Shawish was caught in the act during his own Aliya laregel.

Khalid was caught during a nocturnal visit to the Muqata Kever.

Not Jameel’s Muqata, but Arafat’s.

He was there to perform a mitzvah in the back seat of his jeep right next to Arafat's grave...but not with his wife (uh-oh).

Since this one is documented, I’d say it doesn’t fall into the Urban Myth category.

PS: Could it have been Khaled's wife that told the IDF special forces about him in the first place? Stranger things have happened...


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Terrorist Doctors without Borders

Some quotes from the Jerusalem Post (full article here)

Mazab Bashir, 25, from Deir el-Balah began working with Doctors Without Borders five years ago.

On April 19, he confessed during a Shin Bet interrogation that for months, he had been collecting intelligence on senior Israeli officials - including Olmert and a number of Knesset members.

Bashir met with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in September 2006, and said that the assassination was meant to avenge the deaths of Palestinian civilians.

Bashir was indicted Thursday in the Jerusalem District Court.

Duncan Mclean, head of 'Doctors Without Borders' in the region, told Israel Radio, "I don't think embarrassed would be the right word. We are very sad for Bashir who has been working for us for almost six years. But we would like to make it very clear that we make a distinction between his professional work and what he does on his personal time in the sense that all our staff is hired for professional reasons and I don't think our organization can be held liable for every aspect of their life."

If a humanitarian-medical organization would say that about Dr. Baruch Goldstein, don't you think they would immediatly lose their legitimacy in the eyes of the world (and media), yet they can say that about Mazab Bashir?

Also, this is just another reminder of how Palestinian terrorists use "medicine" as a cover, be it smuggling terrorists, bombs and weapons in ambualnces, or inflitrating Doctors without Borders...

Sorry I didn't post about Yom yerushalayim yesterday...will still try to get to it soon.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael