The woman that wrote this is the wife of the Rabbi of Monsey Jewish Center in Rockland County. They now live in Israel. Thought you would be interested…

Dear family and Friends,

If I were in the U.S. and you were here, in Israel, I’d be very anxious to know what you are feeling during these tumultuous times. Hence, I’m writing to share my feelings and to tell you how we spent the last three days of operation Cloud of Defense

During this time, we continued with our normal activities, while using every available minute to absorb the television news. It was as though we were watching these scenes from abroad, yet mindful of the fact that Tel Aviv is but twenty minutes driving time from our home. Yesterday, Friday, the situation changed. We were entering into Shabbat and had a decision to make. How could we learn of any announcement to enter a shelter, while not being connected to TV or radio on Shabbat. We heard that there is a "silent" radio station for Sabbath observing Jews which allows the channel to be open throughout Shabbat, and only makes emergency announcements. Try as we could, we were unable to find that station. So, we decided that we would keep the radio on in a separate room and listen to it every hour when the news is generally announced. Throughout Shabbat we heard about sirens that were going off in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and of course, the South. We learned of the three untimely deaths of our brothers and sister in Kiryat Malachi, and of the three children who were wounded, two of them babies. Today we heard about 10 others being wounded in the South. Nonetheless, we went to Shul today and along with the entire Shul recited Tehilim for the soldiers. Tonight there is a concert at our Shul, which we chose to forego in order to adequately supply our safe room (shelter). In addition to the gas masks, cans of beans, crackers and water, it was suggested that we include a pail and toilet tissue, in case we have a prolonged stay. We put twenty-four rolls into that room. We believe in preparedness.

More than 300 rockets have slammed against our people in less than 72 hours. This is the message that should begin every correspondence. This is the message the media must get. Israel is RESPONDING to the murderous barrage of rockets that have befallen our people continuously.

Although people seem cautious, they are continuing with their activities. It is almost like being in a hospital room and waiting for the operation to finally take place. Now I know why the Israeli defense force calls this an "operation".

Israel has called up 75,000 reserves. The air force is doing its part in destroying many of the stores of rockets that the Chamas gangsters have been using to target Israeli civilians, However, the enemy has many more rockets that they have stored in deep tunnels; rockets that have been supplied to them by Iran, Hisballah and by Syria. Israelis hope that the air force can do the job. However, Israel is preparing for the possibility of a ground war. We can, unfortunately, anticipate casualties in that event. From our perspective it appears to be an imminent event.

It hurts to see CNN broadcasts from Gaza that are filled with the same lies and distortions that have been shown in the past. They are blaming Israel and showing scenes of children in the arms of their mothers, who have been killed by Israeli bombs. The staged screaming and wailing seem to be a scene that propels Arabs into action. It is a scene that they have staged before and they are unfortunately experts in producing this propaganda. This is as dangerous as their rockets and if unanswered will once again turn the world against us The pen (or the Internet) is mightier than the sword..

Having been a psychotherapist, I know that in a situation like this, the important thing is to take action. Consequently, I have been thinking of what we can do that will give us a feeling of control in a situation where one doesn’t have control. At this moment world opinion is extremely important. We are seeing Arab protests throughout the world, yet no word of support from organization like the Federations, and other Jewish organizations. We would like to see people writing to newspapers saying that Israel is responding to over 1300 rockets during the past year. The European media are starting their news with the fact that Israel attacked Gaza without identifying the previous history of rocket attacks. Those who are on Facebook and Twitter should begin their own media campaign. Time is of the essence, since this campaign may be short lived or last for weeks we cannot allow world opinion to demonize us again as they have done in the previous incursion into Gaza during the Cast Lead offensive. in 2009.

As I share these feelings, I wonder if American Jews have the will to act. American Jewish organizations must galvanize the community as in the days of our demonstrating for Soviet Jews. Do we have the same will and determination or have we gotten too tired to care and too uninvolved for it to matter?

With prayers to Hashem and hope in my fellow Jews, I remain,

Leah Chanofsky

A view from a smart Saudi

Abdulateef Al Mulhim is retired from the Royal Saudi Navy at the rank of Commodore and writes regularly for Arab News. He poses interesting questions and a challenge for the Arab world.

Sunday, 7 October 2012 | Dhulka’edah 21, 1433

Arab Spring and the Israeli enemy
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ABDULATEEF AL-MULHIM
Saturday 6 October 2012
Last Update 6 October 2012 2:53 am

Thirty-nine years ago, on Oct. 6, 1973, the third major war between the Arabs and Israel broke out. The war lasted only 20 days. The two sides were engaged in two other major wars, in 1948 and 1967.

The 1967 War lasted only six days. But, these three wars were not the only Arab-Israel confrontations. From the period of 1948 and to this day many confrontations have taken place. Some of them were small clashes and many of them were full-scale battles, but there were no major wars apart from the ones mentioned above. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most complicated conflict the world ever experienced. On the anniversary of the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The questions now are: What was the real cost of these wars to the Arab world and its people. And the harder question that no Arab national wants to ask is: What was the real cost for not recognizing Israel in 1948 and why didn’t the Arab states spend their assets on education, health care and the infrastructures instead of wars? But, the hardest question that no Arab national wants to hear is whether Israel is the real enemy of the Arab world and the Arab people.
I decided to write this article after I saw photos and reports about a starving child in Yemen, a burned ancient Aleppo souk in Syria, the under developed Sinai in Egypt, car bombs in Iraq and the destroyed buildings in Libya. The photos and the reports were shown on the Al-Arabiya network, which is the most watched and respected news outlet in the Middle East.

The common thing among all what I saw is that the destruction and the atrocities are not done by an outside enemy. The starvation, the killings and the destruction in these Arab countries are done by the same hands that are supposed to protect and build the unity of these countries and safeguard the people of these countries. So, the question now is that who is the real enemy of the Arab world?

The Arab world wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and lost tens of thousands of innocent lives fighting Israel, which they considered is their sworn enemy, an enemy whose existence they never recognized. The Arab world has many enemies and Israel should have been at the bottom of the list. The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress their own people.

These dictators’ atrocities against their own people are far worse than all the full-scale Arab-Israeli wars.

In the past, we have talked about why some Israeli soldiers attack and mistreat Palestinians. Also, we saw Israeli planes and tanks attack various Arab countries. But, do these attacks match the current atrocities being committed by some Arab states against their own people?!
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In Syria, the atrocities are beyond anybody’s imaginations?
And, isn’t the Iraqis are the ones who are destroying their own country?
Wasn’t it Tunisia’s dictator who was able to steal 13 billion dollars from the poor Tunisians?
And how can a child starve in Yemen if their land is the most fertile land in the world?
Why would Iraqi brains leave Iraq in a country that makes 110 billion dollars from oil export?
Why do the Lebanese fail to govern one of the tiniest countries in the world?
And what made the Arab states start sinking into chaos?

On May 14, 1948 the state of Israel was declared. And just one day after that, on May 15, 1948 the Arabs declared war on Israel to get back Palestine. The war ended on March 10, 1949. It lasted for nine months, three weeks and two days. The Arabs lost the war and called this war Nakbah (catastrophic war). The Arabs gained nothing and thousands of Palestinians became refugees.

And on 1967, the Arabs led by Egypt under the rule of Gamal Abdul Nasser, went in war with Israel and lost more Palestinian land and made more Palestinian refugees who are now on the mercy of the countries that host them. The Arabs called this war Naksah (upset).

The Arabs never admitted defeat in both wars and the Palestinian cause got more complicated.

And now, with the never ending Arab Spring, the Arab world has no time for the Palestinians refugees or Palestinian cause, because many Arabs are refugees themselves and under constant attacks from their own forces. Syrians are leaving their own country, not because of the Israeli planes dropping bombs on them. It is the Syrian Air Force which is dropping the bombs. And now, Iraqi Arab Muslims, most intelligent brains, are leaving Iraq for the West. In Yemen, the world’s saddest human tragedy play is being written by the Yemenis. In Egypt, the people in Sinai are forgotten.

Finally, if many of the Arab states are in such disarray, then what happened to the Arabs’ sworn enemy (Israel)?

Israel now has the most advanced research facilities, top universities and advanced infrastructure. Many Arabs don’t know that the life expectancy of the Palestinians living in Israel is far longer than many Arab states and they enjoy far better political and social freedom than many of their Arab brothers. Even the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoy more political and social rights than some places in the Arab World.
Wasn’t one of the judges who sent a former Israeli president to jail is an Israeli-Palestinian?!

The Arab Spring showed the world that the Palestinians are happier and in better situation than their Arab brothers who fought to liberate them from the Israelis. Now, it is time to stop the hatred and wars and start to create better living conditions for the future Arab generations.

— This article is exclusive to Arab News