Gaza Facts

There are 3 common mistakes I'm tired of seeing. I don't want to get into political arguments right now, just set straight some facts.

1. Gaza is the most densely populated city in the world:

Gaza city is not even in the top 85(a). In fact, there are many cities that are denser than Gaza. For example, London, Cairo and New York.

2. Gaza is occupied by Israel:

Gaza has been 100% cleansed of Jews in 2005. In the same year, Israel also formally declared an end to Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip. Presently, There isn't a single Israeli soldier on Gazan soil. Israel doesn't fully control Gaza's borders either, since the strip has a Southern border with the sovereign state of Egypt. The latter fully controls at least one crossing, but chooses to keep it closed for their own political and economic reasons.

3. Gaza is one of the poorest regions in the world:

Gaza Strip's Human Development Index is usually around the 100th in the world (out of 177) (b). Higher than Egypt or Syria, but lower than the Palestinian average.
Life expectancy in Gaza is around 107th in the world, higher in fact than Glasgow (SNP likes to flaunt this). The Palestinians are the largest per capita recipients of foreign aid in the world and the 8th fattest nation in the world. By all global accounts, Palestinians are neither rich, nor poor, but strongly in the middle.

(a) WikiPedia - List of cities proper by population
(b) WikiPedia - Human Development Index

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

Sirens, Home and the Iron Dome

A few people have asked me to write about my experiences in the last week or so, here in Israel.

Just a few fun facts for you: I'm a father of 2, husband, employee, manager and, obviously, like to think of myself as just another normal guy.

Siren Song

It was with a sense of disbelief that I walked into the air-raid shelter at work last Wednesday morning. This is the kind of thing everyone was expecting:



But this is more like what it was:



So it didn't phase us that much.

And then that evening we had the siren at home.

A different kettle of fish altogether when you have to gather up your kids and put them in the protected room.

The mere fact that every structure built after the Gulf War has to have a reinforced room, by law, tells us all a bit about what kind of area we live in!

Luckily, this time around, we need only stay int he shelters for 10 minutes, and there is no 'all-clear' sounded. People just decide when it works for them.

Iron Dome

What a game changer! Or is it? Similar to the Patriot Missile System int he Gulf War, I think we're going to be hearing a lot about 'near misses' and shrapnel falling all over the place, but for right now, it is keeping us mentally safe too.

Not to give too much away, but there is an Iron Dome unit about 1km from our home, and boy is it reassuring when the rockets blast off! Scary, loud and somewhat worrying just how thin our defensive line is, but altogether I wouldn't say 'no' to it.

Funny side note - I was reading the blog post Game Changer by In From The Cold all about Iron Dome and its benefits, when I heard a couple of loud bangs yesterday. yes, it was the Iron Dome at work again.

Politics

I don't care about the politics. I care about people I don't know throwing explosive rockets at my house.

Here is a politician talking about the situation:

So for now there is talk of a cease-fire. Thats great. It just doesn't take the threat away, it just leaves it standing. An en passe that cannot be resolved.

Having said that, Hamas is getting attacked on TV and elsewhere by it's old friend, Egypt:



So whatever happens in this region in the next 12 months is anyone's guess!



Although I doubt we'll see a one state solution any time soon.

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

The British, The Americans and Syria

Personally I have checked that our gas masks are ready and our sealed room is provisioned.

I still prefer to laugh though, so here is something allegedly written by one of the funniest men alive, John Cleese:

From JOHN CLEESE 

English: John Cleese in May 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels ..

John Cleese as a civil servant in the halls of the Ministry. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

Regards,
John Cleese ,
British writer, actor and tall person

And as a final thought - Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

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• John Cleese: 'Syria and Alert to threats in Europe'
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Israeli Troops Punished For Dancing In Hebron

I stumbled across this YouTube video of Israeli soldiers dancing in Hebron this afternoon and thought how fun it would be to share it and show the world that at the end of the day, the 2 sides do have a lot in common.

Sadly with my research I found that so many different people have twisted the story into their own little attacked on either side that I feel that I need only give you the footage and you can decide for yourself just how much hatred the 2 sides have for each other:



The Arabic at the bottom translates as 'Israeli soldiers dancing at a wedding a Palestinian in Hebron'.

kthanxbai!

Jumblerant

A Hunger To Serve

In today's media we don't really get to see the 'other side' of the Israel-Palestine discussion. We don't see the reasons or hunger that Israeli youth have for serving in the IDF.

I think that this young man tells quite eloquently the level of desire that many youth have to serve their country, and to defend their country.



Here is a picture of Izzy with the (micro?) Tavor :

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

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Pretty Simple Really - Israel vs. Palestine

Sometimes it really isn't that complicated.



kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Challafax or Halalifax Canada?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeJust saw this and thought it was the funniest thing I've seen in a long while.

Image by Mez Love via Flickr

Jon Stewart really is a very funny young chap.

But I wouldn't get him tattooed on my arm though!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

kthanxbai!

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Fast-roping 101

Abu Muqawama  has this instructional diagram for use by the IDF in any and all future fast-roping activities;

kthanxbai!

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Mazel Tov to doubletapper

Doubletapper has been voted 'Best Foreign National Military Blog' at milbloggiong.com
Considering the competition for the position and the fact that there was only 1 foreign blog winner - he did done good!

Obviously, the fact that he shows many pictures of gorgeous IDF female soldiers in uniform, and with their rifles, in no way influenced the judges.

kthanxbai!

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Neptunus Lex blog of Jan 25

I have copied, in it's entirety Neptunus Lex's blog post of January 25th. I think you'll appreciate what he has to say. Personally I enjoyed reading the opinions expressed in the comments on his site:

The British medical periodical “Lancet” was once a beacon of science and reason in a world that badly needed both. Sadly, politically-motivated research led to an utterly rubbished 2004 article claiming that 100k Iraqi citizens had died violently in the year since the US invasion and occupation.

That should have been bad enough. But now they’ve doubled down:

It’s official. Britain’s premier medical journal Lancet has been completely Palestinianized. It no longer bears any relationship to the first-rate scientific journal it once was. Perhaps Lancet is no longer a standard-bearer but has become a follower in the global movement in which standards have plunged, biases have soared, and Big Lies now pass for top-of-the-line academic, scientific work…

Their study is titled: “Association between exposure to political violence and intimate-partner violence in the occupied Palestinian territory: a cross-sectional study.” And yes, they have found that Palestinian husbands are more violent towards Palestinian wives as a function of the Israeli “occupation”—and that the violence increases significantly when the husbands are “directly” as opposed to “indirectly” exposed to political violence.

Read the rest, ponder the plight of women in Araby and mourn the loss of objectivity.

Image via Wikipedia

Oh, for what it’s worth – George Soros provided around half the funding for the Iraqi mortality survey published by the Lancet. The Palestinian domestic violence article?

This study was funded by the Palestinian National Authority as well as by the Core Funding Group at the University of Minnesota. The Palestinian Authority is not a disinterested party. But even worse: The data was collected by the Palestinian Central Bureau. These are the people who told the world that Israeli soldiers shot young Mohammed al-Dura, committed a massacre in Jenin, and purposely attacked Palestinian civilians (who just happened to be jihadists dressed in civilian clothing or hostage-civilians behind whom the jihadists hid).

Once again, the science seems less driven by an objective analysis of the facts so much as the preferences of those holding the purse.

Read the original post here, with all of the links alive and kicking!

kthanxbai!

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