Levi Brackman’s Website

Besides the tragic loss of innocent lives in both Israel and Lebanon the Hizbullah rocket attacks have caused considerable other damage below the surface. Families living in central Israel are housing refugees who have fled the rocket attacks on their hometowns in the North. Without workers in the North, crops that are ready to be picked are being left to rot. Tourism, which is usually booming during this time of the year, has taken a major hit. Israel is spending 20 million dollars a day on war.
 
The price of war is high and our hearts and prayers are with all the innocent victims of Hizbullah and their Iranian and Syrian sponsors – including the Lebanese people whose lives have been cynically taken advantage of by heartless and barbaric terrorists. All this makes somber, depressing reading.

Recommend this article...

Before I begin this article the following disclaimer is in order. Coming from a Diaspora Jew, my comments here may offend many Israelis, who will claim that those who do not experience the difficulties of having children in the Israeli army and those who are not subjected to daily threats of terrorist attacks have no right to tell Israelis what to do.

While I can see their point, I beg to differ. Often an outsider is able to be much more objective about the situation precisely because they view the situation baggage free. So here is an “outsider’s” view from a uniquely Jewish perspective.

Recommend this article...

As the polls close in Israel I am reminded of when, in February 2001, Ariel Sharon became Prime Minister. Sheindy and I were living in Israel at the time. As I left my apartment in central Jerusalem the morning after Ariel Sharon’s overwhelming victory I was stopped by a television news crew from the United Arab Emirates, live of TV they asked me for my reaction to the victory of the controversial hardliner. “Thank G-d Israel is a democracy,” I said, “And now that the people of Israel had spoken in a democratic manner the world must respect their decision.”

Recommend this article...

There are conflicting views about the life of Yasser Arafat. France gave him a full state final farewell. Some say that Arafat was a freedom fighter and a hero, who symbolised the suffering and hope of the Palestinian people. Others are more realistic. They say he was the founding father and architect of international terror. But with signing of the Oslo Accord he was seen as a terrorist turned peacemaker. All of a sudden he had international prestige and recognition. He was a welcome guest in the major capitals of the world and a regular visitor to Clinton’s White House. Towards the end of his life, however, he found himself shunned by the United States government and totally isolated by a good part of the civilised world. This man, whose hands were drenched in Jewish blood, had the opportunity of making an historic peace with Israel. He could have ended the suffering not only of his own people but also of many other people all over the world. Instead he missed the opportunity and has died a colossal failure – even his own people secretly admit this. 

Recommend this article...