Make A Difference - The Life of a Child!

100 Years from now, it will not matter how much money you made, what kind of car you drove what kind of house you lived in but ...
100 Years from now the World will be a better place 
because you made a difference in the
life of a child!

(www.LeydenDigital.com)

Remembering the Passover Massacre

Israel Remembers Passover Terrorism

Passover Massacre 2002: An Israeli child struggles for his life as he is  rushed to a nearby hospital in Netanya. There would be no Passover questions, no hidden matzah. Photo: Reuters

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem---From April 2004 - Upated March 25, 2013 .... It was 11 years ago and the days before Passover in Israel were not much different than today.

Cloudless skies, sun drenched streets, birds chirping as the Spring weather
smiled. The summer's intense sauna was ahead of us, and the winter's steady,
freezing rain has just passed.  Israeli shopping centers and Internet chat
rooms were abuzz with Israelis discussing Passover recipes, cleaning tips
and talk of vacations up north.

My wife, new born daughter and I had just arrived at my in-law's home for
Passover dinner in Netanya.

As we stood around the carpeted living room sharing compliments and jokes as
last minute Passover table preparations were being made, we heard a crack of
thunder.

This was not unusual. There was a slight drizzle coming down as we parked
the car minutes earlier.

Thunder storms are still generous in Israel's March before we enter the
seven months of endless days of sun. Then we heard an ambulance siren. Again
nothing usual about that either, there are an abundance of nursing homes
mixed in with the hotels marking Netanya's seafront. A second and third
siren screamed passed our building. The TV was turned on and we heard the
first reports of what is known today as the Passover Massacre.

In one of the most brutal terrorist attacks sustained by Israel, an Islamic
suicide terror bomber from the Hamas terrorist organization walked into
Netanya's Park Hotel on March 27, 2002. He strode passed the reception desk
and calmly walked into the main dining hall. As elderly Jews and children
were sitting over matza and chicken soup, the terrorist detonated a lethal
charge, murdering 29, and wounding 140. The dead included babies,
grandmothers and six married couples.

It was 7:30 p.m. and I had to make a judgment call, leave my family at the
start of this festive family meal or cover another terror attack in Israel.
I struggled with the decision, my family kept saying don't go. But I really
had no choice.

When I arrived on the scene, which was two blocks away, there were about a
dozen ambulances caring for the wounded.

Five dismembered and blood soaked bodies lay covered with blue and grey
blankets outside on the hotel's sidewalk. Many of the guests who had
survived the terror attack and were being rushed to nearby hospitals were
still dressed in their holiday best; the women in festive dresses, the men
in white shirts and dark pants.

Shreds of glass were sprinkled throughout the ground. The hotel lobby and
the second floor of the hotel had all of its windows blown out. The only
thing moving were the torn, white window curtains twisting in the cool wind.
A large pool of water created by the hotel's safety sprinkler system and
broken water pipes filled the reception area.

But this was not ground zero - broken glass and water were only a prelude to
the horror which was about 50 feet passed the front desk, the burned and
blood stained remains of a festive Passover dining room. White tables and
chairs were thrown several feet into the air, landing against the hotel wall
Unopened bottles of Passover wine and colorful flowers now littered the
floor. 

An eerie, death filled quiet had settled in where moments before
there was laughter, life and hope.

People were walking out of the hotel in a silent daze, all frozen in shock.
One elderly man walked slowly down the street with no apparent direction
wearing a blue dress suit with blood spilling out of his grey hair.
"I saw little children, bodies. And I want to say something to the Arab
leaders in Beirut. This is not resistance. This is murder. This is terrorism
it's most purest form" Natanya Mayor Miriam Feyerberg was telling the TV
cameras.

Among the dead and wounded in the bombing were entire families, Israelis and
foreign Jews visiting from abroad for the holiday. The force of the blast
devastated the dining hall, knocked down the facade of the hotel lobby,
shredded the paneled ceiling inside and crumpled cars parked on the street
outside.

Nichama Donenhirsch, a guest at the hotel, said that as she and her family
fled, they saw a little girl, about 10 to 12 years old, lying dead on the
ground, her eyes wide open as if in surprise.

Some of the wounded staggered out of the lobby, which was plunged into
darkness by the explosion. Others were taken to ambulances in stretchers,
including a young boy who had an oxygen mask pressed to the face. One
elderly man was covered by a blue blanket, blood dripping from his face. An
elderly woman, her face covered with blood, sat on the sidewalk, attended to
by several people.

The Park Hotel is located directly opposite the city square and on a hill
overlooking the beach. There are several other hotels in this residential
area of Netanya.

The mutilated bodies of murdered Israel men, women and children, who minutes
earlier were celebrating a Passover meal, lay lined up outside the Park Hotel in Netanya
Photo: AP

As police arrived they started to create a perimeter, a safety area as
police sappers began searching for additional explosives. About one hour
after the attack took place, Israeli security forces discovered that
explosives had been placed inside one of the many ambulances at the scene.

Immediately all of the ambulances and rescue workers were evacuated.

Mayor Miriam Feyerberg spoke with me and stated that Israelis must remain
strong. That we all must continue with our lives, go to work, continue
shopping, visit restaurants, otherwise the terrorists would win. "In recent
days, these terrorist groups have begun describing their actions as acts of
resistance', but resistance is not blowing up children and babies,"
Feyerberg said. "As the Arab leaders are talking peace in Beirut, their
associates are committing some of the worst acts of barbarism ever witnessed
in present history. The Israeli government will not swallow this. The same
people who destroyed New York's World Trade Center are the same one's
responsible for tonight's atrocity." 

When the bomb exploded tonight, the Mayor had been attending a Seder - with mothers of the victims of last summer's (2001) bombing in Tel Aviv.

Over 62 people were rushed to Laniado Hospital, 15 in serious condition
among them a 45-year-old man and a 5-year-old boy, both with head injuries,
who were later moved from Laniado to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
Hospitals were overwhelmed, setting up triage in their synagogues and
shuffling the less seriously wounded to their cafeterias. As is usually the
case, the bomb contained nails and other metal pieces to enhance its lethal
effect.

Another 33 of the injured were taken to Meir Hospital in Kava Sava, two of
them in serious condition.

Israel accused Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat of doing nothing
to rein in terrorists. Raanan Gissin, a Sharon adviser, said the attack in
Netanya "will require us to reevaluate our overall policy. We are still
working to achieve a cease-fire to which we are fully committed, but if the
Palestinians have decided to choose the road of terrorism ... then we have
to decide what measures we will take," Gissin said.

Secretary of State Colin Powell had urged Arafat to go on television and
demand an end to attacks against Israelis. The attacks endanger any
negotiations toward a Palestinian state, Powell said.
"This sort of activity and the tolerance of this sort of activity will
destroy the very vision the Palestinian Authority stands for and Chairman
Arafat says he's committed to," Powell said in Washington.

The 2002 massacre in Netanya came just hours after Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah presented a new peace initiative at the Arab summit in Beirut,
offering Israel normal relations with the Arab world in exchange for a
complete withdrawal from the territories it occupied in the 1967 Mideast war

Israeli police had been on high alert for possible attacks during the
Passover holiday, with more than 10,000 officers deployed in potential
trouble spots.

The country's police commissioner, Shlomo Aharonishki, said it was
impossible to prevent all attacks. ``Even with more policemen and a broader
deployment, we cannot block the centers of the cities,'' he said. ``This
attack is more evidence of that.''

Police and IDF roadblocks had been set up throughout the country with
increased patrols within both commercial and residential areas after the
Passover Massacre.

The mood in Israel had turned from festive Passover joy to depression and
anger.

Many Israelis who once held out hopes that a breakthrough peace agreement
might still be within reach, were eating matzah in March 2002 with salt in a
more realistic and pragmatic environment.

It takes two willing parties to negotiate a peace agreement and Israelis
have no plans to make a second Exodus here in the Middle-East.
After the Passover Massacre bombing, President Bush called on Arafat once
again to do all in his power to stop the escalating cycle of bloodshed.
This callous, this cold-blooded killing must stop. I condemn it in the
strongest terms. I call upon Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do
everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing because there are
people in the Middle East who would rather kill than have peace," Bush said
during a stop in Atlanta. 

In Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Colin Powell formally labeled an Arafat-linked militia a terrorist organization yesterday. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a branch of Arafat's Fatah
organization, has claimed responsibility the week before for a suicide
bombing at a Jerusalem shopping mall that killed two and injured more than
60.
If Hamas, Hezbolah, Islamic Jihad and Fatah believe that they can wear down
the Israeli people - then don't know the Israeli Sabra and his resolve. As
Americans became stronger after September 11th, Israelis have also closed
political and religious ranks and prepared for measures which will prevent
future terror attacks. Those measures in the Spring of 2002 took the form of
the IDF's Operation Defensive Shield.

Today, Israeli Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz announced during the government
cabinet session that the closure imposed on Judea, Samaria and the Gaza
Strip will last until after Independence Day. Mofaz added that security
authorities have decided on a series of preventative measures to thwart
terror attacks, including increased pressure on terror hubs, particularly in
Nablus.

The army and security services have once again gone on high alert in
anticipation of the Passover holidays. Defense sources report 50 warnings of
possible terrorist attacks, some in revenge for the assassination of Hamas
leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin two weeks ago.
The IDF has imposed a closure on the Gaza Strip for the duration of the
holiday. The Israeli border passes at Karni and Erez have closed down to
workers, but will enable the passage of merchandise. The Erez industrial
park will continue operating during the holiday. Authorities repeat that all
humanitarian aid will continue to flow into the West Bank and Gaza.

Thousands of policemen, border police, IDF troops and civil guard volunteers
will safeguard the borders, entertainment places and recreation sites over
the holiday. Security in synagogues, hotels and West Bank settlements will
also be beefed up with troops and technological auxiliaries.
Israeli police are beefing up security in shopping malls, market places and
other crowded places. Police also intend to set up more road barriers and
intensify its search for illegal Palestinian workers.

As Israel readies for this 2004 Passover, the news headlines are filled with
"Russia Condemns Israel's Threat Against Arafat" and "US Tells Israel Not to
Harm Arafat." The Passover Massacre did not take place in Washington or
Moscow.
Israel in it's war against terrorism, killed Hamas master terrorist Achmed
Yassin.

Yassin was responsible for the murders of 377 Israelis in at least 425
terrorist attacks over the past three-and-a-half years of the Palestinian
Authority's war against Israel. Among the most devastating attacks Hamas has
claimed responsibility for were the Park Hotel Passover Massacre in Netanya
on March 27, 2002; 29 killed, a suicide bombing of the number 2 bus coming
from Jerusalem's Western Wall on Aug. 19, 2003; 23 killed, including three
children and two babies; a suicide bombing at the Dolphinarium discotheque
in Tel Aviv on June 1, 2001; 22 killed, mostly teens; a suicide bombing of
Sbarro's in Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2001; 15 killed, including five members of
the same family - three children and their parents; a suicide bombing of the
Matza restaurant in Haifa on March 31, 2002; 15 killed, including two
fathers each with his two children and the list goes on.

On Passover night we traditionally ask at the Passover dining table "why is this night different from any other night?"

We must now remember - it's not.

ISRAEL NEWS AGENCY

Obama Israel Visit

        Obama Israel Visit 

 

On March 20, 2013 US President Barack Obama will arrive in Israel for an official state visit.       

Obama will visit the only democracy in the Middle East viewing the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Iron Dome missile defense system, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

Obama, who has called for Israel to return to pre-1967 indefensible borders, divide Israel's historic capital Jerusalem and continue talks with Iran as they build a nuclear weapon will meet with many Israelis. 

Will Obama understand that Israel cannot gamble with it's security? 

That Israel does not want another Hamas Gaza based in the West Bank with rockets targeting the center of Tel Aviv?

That Israelis have a legal, biblical, cultural right to build in their historic capital of Jerusalem?

That Iran is using "talks" to buy time to complete its nuclear weapons program. 
A program designed in the words of the Iranian government to "wipe Israel off the map".

Will he feel the tears of Sderot's children?

AIPAC: Stop Iran

AIPAC: Stop Iran From Wiping Israel Off Map


Israel Minister of Defense Barak greets US VP Biden at AIPAC.

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Washington, D.C. --- March 6, 2013 … If you are an Israeli, never feel alone. Over 13,000 Americans converged on the Washington Convention Center for the AIPAC Policy Conference this past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. A sea of people proudly wearing American Israeli pins on their suits and carrying grey, plastic AIPAC pens came to hear from both Israeli and American Jewish leaders.

As one who has dedicated over 20 years of his life to Israel, to Israeli advocacy. Having worked with American Jewish organizations, the IDF as an officer, as a journalist in Israel and as a senior media, marketing and cross-cultural consultant to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I have never witnessed an event as large and as supportive of Israel as this.

Once seated at the newly established press area, as AIPAC never had a section dedicated only to news reporters and editors, I must have turned my neck a dozen times to witness 13,000 Jews and Christians sitting behind me, to my right, in front and to my left.

That Israel has this enormous amount of support by the American people is a fact that transcends the physical threats we face and reinforces our moral responsibility to one another - in Israel and around the world. It provides morale to our troops in the IDF and to all who serve in the Israel security forces.

To hear speeches by US Vice President Joe Biden, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird and many in the US Congress that illustrate understanding and support against the threats we face by Islamic Jihadists - Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran which has sworn to wipe Israel off the map further provides Israelis with the motivation we need to keep moving forward. To maintain democracy in a region which only knows brutal dictatorships, the absence of human rights and the massacre of innocent civilians.

Many from AIPAC need to be acknowledged. But like the IDF, where does one start?

Allow me to praise AIPAC President Michael Kassen, AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr, AIPAC PR Director Marshall Wittmann, PGA Director Jeff Kuhnreich, AIPAC Director of National Events Jeffrey Shulman, AIPAC Director of Marketing and Creative Services Jeremy Rider, Technology Division Director Scott Dubin and many from sister organizations such Jewish Federations of North America President Jerry Silverman and JFNA Washington Director William Daroff.

But among all these numbers of support and praise of their leaders, one must look at where AIPAC is going. Many journalists, who give their blood for Israel, were prevented from attending critical sessions at AIPAC.

This is the first fault that I find with AIPAC. If there needs to be a system where AIPAC's strategy must be protected then by all means exclude the press - but not those who have a "security level" to attend. There are those of us in the media who have security access in Israel and we are not prohibited from attending sensitive news briefings. Just the opposite - we are encouraged to attend so that we have a better understanding in getting the word out to political, Jewish and Christian community leaders.

AIPAC is one of the finest Jewish organizations on the face of this good earth. But they are not perfect. That Hagel was nominated by Congress as Secretary of Defense, a man who calls Israel an Apartheid state, should never have happened. Yes, AIPAC needs to pick their fights. But this was a fight that should have been addressed.

As for details as to why it was not confronted by AIPAC I can only guess. But guessing is not good enough when it comes to saving lives in Israel. 

AIPAC needs to brief the pro-Israel media and not throw us all under the bus as "press" that we cannot be trusted.

In Israel we have "war corespondents" and have government issued press cards with different levels of access. AIPAC needs to implement the same system. I can assure you that Steve Linde, the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post and David Horovitz of the Times of Israel, that those who work for the Israel Broadcasting Authority and I do not represent a threat to the state of Israel. 

We are not Peace Now, J Street or the Jews of Satmar.

Having support for Israel is good but having policy direction for those numbers is critical. It is my educated guess that AIPAC is on the same page as the Israel Ministry of Defense, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office.

And we can see this in what was spoken at AIPAC.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel Ambassador Michael Oren's call for a "clear and credible military threat" by the US to Iran and repeated that diplomacy and sanctions have failed. That Iran is only using talks to stall to develop a nuclear weapon, a weapon which they will threaten to use against the Jewish, Infidel state.

US Vice President Joe Biden presented a list of supposed attempts to delegitimize Israel and a recent UN fact-finding mission on settlements. Biden addressed the threat by Iran and made it clear that President Obama "is not bluffing" about preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Iran and the actions of AIPAC to secure the Iron Dome defense system in Israel were repeated throughout the three days.

AIPAC also highlighted many of the achievements that Israel has recently been responsible for. From developing new health technologies, humanitarian rescue missions to Haiti and Japan to presenting Israeli climber Nadav Ben Yehuda who forsaked climbing to the peak of Mount Everest to save the life of a fellow climber - a Muslim from Turkey.

AIPAC concluded it's conference with several delegations, such as Hillel, coming together from every state to enjoy both good talk and food. But it was the Tuesday event - the lobbying of 100 members of Congress by thousands of AIPAC delegates which one must note.

The logistics here were fantastic. Having each and every delegate do what AIPAC staffers perform every day. Only one thing was missing. There was no press coverage. There was no press coverage by some of us who have and continue to carry an M-16 in Israel. We are the messengers. AIPAC needs to define which ones of us among the messengers will not report or leak AIPAC strategy.

We need to work together. Please don't place us all in the same boat with J Street, the ISM or BDS.

AIPAC is a wonderful, potent organization that deserves the full and unconditional support of every American Jew. They are truly the PR arm of the IDF in North America. They say that they are not in the business of PR but rather lobbying. They need to embrace lobbying, public affairs and PR as essential tools for Israel. They need to explain their actions, not all, but most to both Congress and the American public to remain relevant.

Israel: Canada An Example To Global Democracy In Cutting Diplomatic Ties With Iran