Sigmund, Carl and Alfred

Please join Dr. Sanity, Shrinkwrapped, Neo and ourselves for tonight’s Sanity Squad Podcast.

TONIGHT’S SHOW BEGINS AT 7:30 PM

Our topics for the evening will include the impending civil war in Lebanon and the extraordinary events surrounding the inaction in Myanmar.

We were going to discuss the locations of the Lost Dutchman Mine, King Solomon’s Mines and Blackbeard’s lost treasure, but we did not want to bore you with talk of riches beyond your wildest dreams.

The call in number is is (646) 716-9116. Showtime is a 7:30 PM tonight.

The podcast and chatroom can be accessed from the Sanity Squad homepage.

Remember, there is no crying in baseball or podcasts.

Help is getting into Myanmar.

As the death toll in Myanmar (formerly Burma) rises to more than 23,335, according to official reports, and the risk of disease mounts, Israeli relief workers have flown out to the disaster torn region.

Some experts are saying that the impact of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar on May 3, could be worse than the 2004 tsunami, if relief isn’t flown in immediately. Experts estimate that 1.5 million people have been affected by the cyclone, and some aid agencies believe as many as 100,000 people were killed in the disaster.

After the news broke, members of Israel’s volunteer umbrella organization IsraAID (The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid), started brainstorming about what they could do. They decided to send a small expert team of doctors, nurses and water specialists to Myanmar to provide immediate relief.

The team would also be charged with reporting back to Israel about the next stages of relief.

“We saw on the TV what was happening in Burma and decided that we would have to try and find a way to provide assistance,” Shachar Zahavi, the director of IsraAID, told ISRAEL21c.

The executive members of IsraAID who represent 15 non-governmental organizations in Israel, selected a team of volunteers from two Israeli NGOs: Fast Israeli Rescue & Search Team (F.I.R.S.T) and Israeli Flying Aid.

Dr. Ephraim Laor, Israel’s top specialist in disaster relief, who is in direct contact with the United Nations, heads the relief team.

Mid-week satellite images from NASA didn’t look good — showing the entire coastal plains hit by the cyclone under water.

Flying in last Thursday, under the IsraAID umbrella and in partnership with the United Nations, the team is expected to stay in Myanmar for three weeks. They will know the exact location of deployment only once they fly into Myanmar’s capital city Rangoon.

They do know that the Israeli doctors and nurses will treat the sick, and the water experts will help assess what water is safest for immediate human consumption.

On Tuesday last week, thousands of bodies could be seen floating throughout rice paddies and as the death toll rises, according to media reports, those still alive are homeless and running low on food and safe drinking water.

Despite the media reports that Myanmar’s military rulers are barring certain foreign aid relief workers from entering the country, Zahavi says that the Israeli team has noticed no problems when working with the Myanmar Embassy in Tel Aviv, and foresees no problems in the future.

IsraAID and Israeli relief workers have a long history of helping people around the world in dire need, Zahavi tells ISRAEL21c

They sent relief after Hurricane Katrina, they were on the scene giving relief after the 2004 tsunami, and are continually providing support on the Chad-Sudan border, as part of a larger scale program of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).

Due to their dedication, passion and expertise, Israeli relief workers have played a major role in saving thousands of lives. Donations to help fund Israeli relief are provided by organizations and individuals around the world including Mark Solomon from CMS Companies in the US, The Jewish Federation of Toronto, and B’nai B’rith International.

“These are a few our constant supporters,” adds Zahavi. “They believe in Israel’s need to respond to disasters.”

Just add Myanmar to the list:

Turkey, 1999- Israel sends 100 tons of relief and a field hospital, as well as a 250 member rescue team. They find 12 survivors and retrieve 146 bodies. The hospital performed 40 major surgeries and delivered 15 babies.

Bosnia, 1992- In one day, Israel sent 13 tons of food and medical supplies to Zagreb. Israel was the first country to grant Muslim Bosnians refugee status and citizenship, in 1993.

Kosovo, 1999- Israel sends a 100 bed hospital and 70 medical personnel, as well as 100 tons of aid for the Kosovar refugees.

India, 2001- Following the January earthquake, Israel sends a field hospital and 150 medical personnel. Over 1200 treated and 12 babies delivered.

Nairobi, 1999- After the American Embassy bombing, Israel dispatches 150 search and rescue, medical and rescue dogs and their handlers. Also sent were 30 tons of sophisticated rescue equipment. Three survivors were dug out of the wreckage.

Mexico City, 1985- Israel sends search and rescue teams as well as trained S&R dogs to assist, after 2 powerful earthquakes leave thousands buried under the rubble.

Armenia, 1988- Israel sends search and rescue units and aid following an earthquake that leaves 30,000 dead and 50,000 homeless. Israeli medical teams treat 2500 at a field hospital and evacuate 61 to Israel for advanced medical treatment.

Buenos Aires, 1994- Israel dispatches 40 search and rescue team members as well as sophisticated rescue equipment, to help in the aftermath of the Jewish Community Center bombing. Many buried victims were rescued and treated.

Afghanistan, 1998- Israel sends 15 tons of supplies, including tents, blankets, food and medicine after an earthquake hit the northern part of that country.

Colombia, 1999- Israel sends aid sent to that country after a major earthquake.

Greece, 1999- Israel send aid and and search and rescue teams to that country after an earthquake.

El Salvador, 2001- Israel send aid after a major earthquake. A medical team was also dispatched.

Vietnamese Boat People, 1977- there were 66 Vietnamese boat people granted refuge in Israel after having been denied safe haven by other countries.

Cameroon, 1986- An Israeli medical team and supplies were sent to help people after a volcanic eruption. Thousand are treated for respiratory problems and burns.

Central America, 1988- In response to the devastation of hurricane Mitch, Israeli medical personnel and aid is sent to Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador and Nicaragua.

Bulgaria, 1997- Medical supplies (over a ton) were sent as a humanitarian gesture to alleviate shortages of medical supplies.

Rwanda, 1994- As a result of a bloody civil war that left over a million dead and millions more as refugees, Israel send 270 doctors and other medical personnel. A field hospital is established. Over 3000 refugees are treated in a 40 day period.

The list goes on- Mozambique, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, just to name a few others. And it isn’t just about disasters. See this and wonder- wonder, how for even a moment, we would consider seeing Israel the way the TS&A want you to see her.

Despite her own trials at home, Israel is on record as coming to the aid of over 140 nations. And now, Israel accused of a most heinous crime- attempting to defend her own citizens- that same obligation that every free country has to her citizens. Who are her accusers? The TS&A (terrorists, supporters and apologizers). Any way you cut it, the TS&A are not the moral equals of Israel, the US or any free country. They deserve no place at the table and they cannot be taken as equals in any other venue. As we said yesterday, recess is over. It’s time to declare your intentions and take sides.

The Lessons Of Lebanon

Noah Pollak

What does the crisis in Lebanon teach us about Hezbollah? It teaches us the same lesson we learned from Hamas when it took Gaza: Islamic supremacist groups, despite their claims to the contrary, cannot be integrated into states or democratic political systems.

We have heard for many years from an array of journalists, scholars, and pundits that Hamas and Hezbollah are complicated social movements that employ violence in the service of their political goals, and that they are therefore susceptible to diplomatic engagement. Such tropes about Hamas have become standard — that there should be a Fatah-Hamas unity government, that Israel should diplomatically engage Hamas, that Hamas’s victory in the Palestinian elections make the group a legitimate political player, etc. — and likewise, similar claims are made about Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon: that it is a legitimate representative of the Shia, that it can be negotiated with, that, like Hamas, the magic elixir of political integration will dissuade Hezbollah from its traditional behavior, which is to terrorize and dominate any system in which it participates.

The Hezbollah rampage in Lebanon that we are witnessing should make it obvious to any sentient observer that Hezbollah’s claims to democratic political legitimacy have always been intended only to manipulate the credulous. Participation in politics requires the willingness to persuade your foes, to compromise, to stand down when you don’t get your way. But there is no record of Hamas or Hezbollah ever observing such restrictions: the moment Hezbollah was confronted with political pressure, it responded not within the political sphere, but with warlordism — with an exhibition of violence intended to make clear not just that Hezbollah is the most powerful force in the country, but that challenging it will result in its enemies’ humiliation and dispossession. In the streets of Beirut, with Kalashnikovs and RPGs, Hezbollah is making it abundantly clear that its participation in Lebanese politics ends when Hezbollah is asked to submit to the state’s authority. How many more Middle East “experts” are going to proclaim that the answer to Islamic supremacism is dialogue and political integration?

The one thing Hezbollah has lost this week is the credibility of its claims to being a Lebanese “resistance” movement. Hezbollah has always countered concerns about its military buildup with the promise that it would never turn its weapons inward. The mask has fallen, and now it will never be restored. But it really doesn’t matter, and in some ways this fact might actually free Hezbollah’s hand — the group no longer need maintain any kind of charade at all that it has Lebanon’s interests at heart.

How is this situation going to play out in the coming days and weeks? That depends on a number of things, first among them being the question of how far Hezbollah wants to push its assault. The Druze, Christians, and Sunnis can field their own militias, and if open warfare comes to Lebanon there is a serious risk of outside intervention — that is, Syrian intervention, under the guise of a peacekeeping or stabilizing force. The Cedar Revolution will have been rolled back, only this time with an emboldened Hezbollah working in the service of a Syrian-Iranian alliance whose interests are more indistinguishable than ever.

From The Israel MFA:

What kind of resistance is it that insists on continuing to shed Palestinian blood at the lowest price just to prove it is a “resistance,” even if it sacrifices all else?

Translation of a report from a  mainstream Palestinian Forum, (Wednesday, 30 April 2008):

Just before dawn, shots began to be fired from the border in northern Gaza Strip toward Hayy an-Nada, al-‘Awdah and the Izbat Beit Hanun towers. Tension heightened in the area. A shell fell on the home of a family in al-Izbah, killing four children and their mother. A new massacre was added to the long list of Israeli massacres. But why did the IDF fire the shell on that house?

Why does the IDF fire rockets from its planes, shells from its tanks, and artillery and machine gun fire on populated areas - targets that are not designated by the IDF prior to invading those areas?

It is time to raise these questions and know the causes. “Amad” followed up on the latest Israeli raid in northern Gaza Strip to find out what is happening. He asked some residents about the increased number of victims in each Israeli raid.

Amad will respect the request of those interviewed and keep their identities anonymous for their safety.

Abu Raja, a resident of the an-Nada quarter – the second front line, as Hamas elements call it – told Amad that a tank and a personnel carrier entered the area. The area was thronging with masked men, most of them carrying big handbags containing light and medium-weight weapons. “They stormed our building and asked the residents to evacuate their homes.” There were the Israeli tank, the carrier and a bulldozer, backed up by a reconnaissance plane and a rubber balloon that for years has been placed in the area over Beit Hanun crossing near the action zone.

Abu Raja added, “Women, men and children gathered around the “resistance” men, asking them to distance themselves from their buildings and children. Following altercations that reached the point of some people being beaten and insulted by the “resistance” members, most of whom are controlled by Hamas and al-Qassam brigades, most of the Hayy an-Nada tower residents were evicted. Then came the confrontation of the “occupation” tank, carrier, bulldozer and planes filling the skies of the area”

He went on, “We left our homes for ‘them.’ They brought sand bags into our bedrooms and living rooms. They set up heavy machine guns and planted Shewath- explosive charges on the nearby asphalt, leaving us behind in the open, as if we were worthless shepherds and what they were doing was a sacred duty even if the price is the souls and blood of our children.”

On the verge of bursting in anger, Abu Raja said, “What kind of resistance is this that occupies the homes of innocent civilians and set up its rockets near the homes of unarmed and innocent people, to launch a rocket that falls on the ground in an open area, so children and women will be killed afterwards? What kind of resistance is it that insists on continuing to shed Palestinian blood at the lowest price just to prove it is a “resistance,” even if it sacrifices all else? How long shall we ourselves believe it? It’s absurd that my son will be killed for nothing in his sleep for the sake of one resistance fighter who set up a machine gun in his bedroom window and started firing at Israelis who retaliate with a shell that kills my son and demolishes my home.” [emp- SC&A]

In al-‘Awdah towers, most of whose residents are “military,” the least of them with 15 years of service, the scene was no less miserable or less tense, according to Abu Hasan. When the Israeli tank began to move near al-Hawouz and the sound of bulldozing began to be heard, scores of elements from the al-Qassam brigades and the rest of the armed factions began to converge on the towers. They occupied the “shelters” and deployed their ammunition under the eyes of the Israelis flying overhead and watching out for every move on the ground. Al-Qassam “resistance” fighters opened all the gates of the towers from 1 to 8. Some of them went so far as to try and demolish the wall around one building, under the pretext of opening a gap to be used as an emergency passageway.

Abu Hasan told Amad, “The residents stood in the face of the “resistance fighters” so as to guard the safety of about 3000 residents in Hayy an-Nada and Izbat Beit Hanun. The “resistance” fighters, however, met the residents’ insistence on defending their families and children with toughness, cruelty and harshness that does not indicate the tolerance of someone who claims to have put his life on the line to meet the face of Allah who will be satisfied with what he did. Some Qassam fighters went so far as to fire shots at the feet of a resident who asked them not to destroy the wall of the building. Another fighter slapped someone who asked him not to bring harm to the residents and give the occupation an excuse to commit a new massacre, like the one that befell the Abu-Ma’taq family in nearby al-Izbah. When night came, some of the fighters knocked at the door of the Imam of the mosque, who asked the residents to close ranks and join hands to face the possible alternatives. The Imam and some residents refused to open the doors to the roofs of the eight towers for the fighters seeking to set up their machine guns as if the [Israeli] planes are dolls that cannot monitor everything.

Abu Hussein added, “They escorted the sheikh and a neighbor of his, under the cover of darkness, to a nearby spot and gave them a very severe physical and verbal beating. They released the neighbor, who is a pious old man as well, but they kept the sick Imam. They began to blackmail and threaten him, even terrorizing him if he does not desist from preaching that people should safeguard their families and homes and not open the doors to the roofs.” [emp- SC&A]

The Al-Qassam brigades “resistance” monitors any armed element not belonging to their ranks during the [Israeli] raids, so as to disarm and dismiss them from the area. A witness overheard a wireless conversation by a man reporting to his superior: “’I spotted armed Fatah men near such and such a point…am awaiting instructions.’ The superior responded, ‘Arrest them and disarm the nonbelievers - al-kuffar.’”

Another witness swore by Allah that armed men belonging to a faction he could not recognize were stopped by members of the al-Qassam brigades near Hayy an-Nada. They asked them to leave the area immediately or else they will be arrested

Storing weapons inside homes…and the victims, using mosques as arms depots…and their destruction, accidental explosions…and victims…occupying the homes of civilians and turning them into firing ranges…and then these homes will be destroyed and their residents killed. Exploiting children by having them fetch rocket pads after launchings, exposing them to danger of death. These are some of the grave mistakes committed by the armed elements working under the umbrella of “resistance.”

Hamas is now turning the whole Gaza Strip into a military barracks, giving the treacherous and criminal occupation army pretexts to bombard any place at any time. Then [Hamas] cries out that women were victims and casualties, that people lost their property, and they show children crying on the TV screens that [Israel] destroyed them.

This file is not closed, and it is not being opened to underestimate the importance of resistance but to amend its ways and protect the lives and property of civilians. Resistance is a legitimate right for those whose land is occupied and who have lost their freedom. The methods of resistance are many. Yet one, or the most important one, of its sacred principles should be to maintain the safety of innocent, unarmed civilians, not to shed their blood. The confrontation with the enemy can take place at the proper time. But a drop of innocent blood shed in vain cannot be redeemed, unless some are intent on shedding blood profusely to achieve a political gain here and there.