How does a country facing a “humanitarian crisis” accumulate an enormous arsenal of arms and build such a sophisticated network of tunnels to start and wage a war with Israel?

By Harris Zvi Green

January 26, 2024

My dearest friends,

This past week has been a particularly difficult one. Twenty-four young soldiers were killed in the space of twenty-four hours. Twenty-four more people died without a single wrinkle on their faces. Twenty-four more families whose lives will never be the same. How many more soldiers do we have to sacrifice so we can live in peace and security?

This terrible tragedy begs the question as to why Israel has elected to conduct her war against terror by using vulnerable foot-soldiers rather than less precise weapons to eliminate the militants and destroy their military infrastructure. Apparently, the rules of warfare require this. The bottom line is that an unnecessarily higher number of our soldiers are having to die in order to limit the number of civilian casualties in Gaza. Does that make sense to you?

A poll conducted in Gaza in 2014, revealed that more than 80% of Gazans supported firing of missiles into Israel. As an Israeli, I need to be more circumspect. If I advocate the elimination of terrorists and those who actively support them, my country can be found guilty of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Why is it that seventy-five years after achieving recognition as a member state of the United Nations, Israel still has to fight for the right to defend herself? It’s the responsibility of the United Nations to protect its member states and to condemn and prevent acts of terror against them. Unfortunately, the United Nations has abandoned principle in favor of politics.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, stated that Israel’s rejection of the Two-State solution is “unacceptable”. He claims it will only “embolden extremists” and “indefinitely prolong the conflict”.

But the reality is that until October 6, 2023, Gaza was essentially a self-governing entity administered by Hamas. Effectively, a Three State solution has been in place for the past 16 years. Where did this get us?

In this period, tens of thousands of rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Gaza matured into another lethal tentacle in Iran’s plan to destroy Israel. The Hamas administration, financed through UNRWA, systematically brainwashed and indoctrinated Gaza’s population to fulfill its military and Jihadi objectives. The UN is, wittingly or unwittingly, complicit in building and maintaining the Hamas terror machine.

The notion that an immediate ceasefire and implementation of a Two-State solution will bring peace and tranquility to the region is without foundation.

An even more significant fact is that the Palestinians don’t want a Two State solution. Those Palestinians who agree to a Two State solution, contemplate this as an interim solution rather than a permanent one. They refuse to acknowledge that a Two State solution represents an end to the conflict. The Palestinians have no real desire for a state of their own. Their objective is to deny the Jews a Nation State in the historical Land of Israel.

A Two-State solution at this time will further embolden Hamas and Iran’s other proxies in the Middle East. How exactly will a Palestinian State in Gaza, Judea and Samaria controlled by Hamas with military support from Iran and Russia, bring peace and tranquility to the region? Does Guterres and his UN Ragtime band think we’re stupid?

Guterres claims the population of Gaza is being subjected to destruction on an unprecedented scale. I certainly don’t envy the people of Gaza, but Guterres needs to look elsewhere. Hamas has embedded its military infrastructure in a network of reinforced concrete tunnels with access points from hospitals, schools, mosques and other public buildings using women and children as human shields. This military infrastructure is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

Guterres claims that half a million people in Gaza face hunger, yet he fails to address the question as to how a country, in the throes of a humanitarian crisis, is able to accumulate such an impressive arsenal of arms and build such a sophisticated network of tunnels to manufacture, operate and protect its military infrastructure.

At the school I attended, I was taught that problems are most efficiently solved by correcting their root cause. Guterres and I obviously attended different schools.

Succumbing to terror will not bring peace to the region.

Guterres self-image with his paymasters in Iran and Qatar is so important to him that he elected to take a rain-check on this year’s annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day memorial service at a synagogue that had invited him for years. His explanation was “because it would be centered on survivors, as well as the pain of the Jewish community as it contends with antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war”. What he neglected to explain was that this year he had not been invited – the first time since taking office in 2018 – because of his antisemitic comment that the October 7 massacre “did not happen in a vacuum.” Guterres seemed to prefer a public explanation that his non-attendance was his decision and not that of the synagogue.

Unfortunately, our problems don’t end at the UN.

The slogan “Bring Back Our Girls” was born in 2014 following the kidnapping of 276 Christian schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Islamic Boko Haram terror group. Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts were amongst the trendy celebrities who waved posters in protest. But where are the protests against the acts of sexual depravity being perpetrated against the Israelis held hostage in Gaza? I can only conclude that Julia Roberts isn’t such a pretty woman after all.

Weren’t the six million Jews so brutally murdered in World War II enough for the sadist racists? How, less than eighty years after the Holocaust, can Jews be assaulted on the streets of London? Ten distress calls made to the London Metropolitan Police went unanswered.

The charade at The Hague continues. The connection between Iran, South Africa and the ruling ANC party in South Africa is now in the headlines. Iran is the manipulator. The ANC is the benefactor while the South African government remains the useful idiot. So much for Nelson Mandela’s legacy.

As you can see, it’s been a really difficult and frustrating week.

My condolences to those mourning their nearest and dearest. My wishes to the injured for a complete and speedy recovery. May God protect our brave soldiers. May the hostages soon be reunited with their families.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and better times ahead.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Harris Zvi Green.

About the writer:

Harris Zvi Green was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Aged 77, he made Aliyah 53 years ago. An accountant by profession, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of Israel based hi-tech companies. He is married to Phyllis. They have 3 married children ,13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Harris Zvi Green is a founder member of Truth be Told, an organization engaged in public diplomacy on behalf of Israel.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

A visit to the scenes of crimes against humanity

By Rolene Marks

GRAPHIC CONTENT

Kfar Aza is frozen in time. In this small slice of verdant heaven, where trees heavily laden with citrus fruit line small roads where children once played and the sound of their laughter would ring out, the silence is deafening. The trees stand as quiet witnesses to the devastation that this close-knit community endured on 7 October 2023.

It has been over two weeks since I visited the “Otef” (Gaza envelope communities) who suffered the devastation of the 7/10 attacks. I am still processing my emotions and what I saw.  A small delegation, headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made our way to the south to bear witness. I did not sleep the night before. Not a wink. I did not know what to expect – how do you prepare yourself to visit what essentially are killing fields?

It has taken me a while to find the words to adequately describe what I saw and the impact that it has had on me. Images and video in the media do not do justice to the scale of devastation. It is overwhelming and devastating. Walking through these areas, you know what happened in all its brutality and savagery. These communities are crimes scenes that are evidence of the most horrific crime against humanity committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. These are not terror tourism sites – but places where thriving communities have been decimated. Our communities, our brothers and sisters, in our land. I did not know the human body could produce so many tears but I cry a lot. Every day. Sometimes a silent scream comes out. As a journalist, I have a purpose – to make sure the world knows what happened and does not forget.

Why did we go there? The answer is simple – to bear witness. To honour them. To be their voices to the world. To remind everyone of the crime against humanity that was 7/10. The remaining residents of these communities have been evacuated for their safety, the area is a staging area for the military and the air is punctuated with the booms of artillery shells and helicopters. Access to these areas is restricted unless cleared by the army under strict conditions and protective gear is mandatory.

We begin in Sderot, where Hamas terrorists ran rampage, murdering civilians in the streets. Sderot is the most bunkered town in the world, having been the target of thousands of rockets for over two decades. The streets are quiet, the residents evacuated, the sukkot still stand. We move to the open piece of land of what remains of the Sderot Police Station. After their rampage through the streets, Hamas terrorists took control of the police station, murdering the police inside. Some managed to escape to the roof, rescued by fire services. In order to eliminate the terrorists, the police station was destroyed. All that remains is an empty lot. I have taken many delegations to the police station over the years and this is a punch to the gut. Police and others come to pay their respects, understanding the massive battle that took place here. Fifty-nine police were lost on 7 October, each one fought valiantly.

We then went on to Kibbutz Nahal Oz. On 7/10, this little slice of heaven became hell. While the houses are intact, the ZAKA stickers on the doors and spray-painted notifications bear silent witness to the slaughters that happened inside. I took a few minutes to think of the exceptional responders from ZAKA, whose grisly task is to retrieve bodies and all the blood and detritus so that a dignified, Jewish burial is possible. They witnessed the unthinkable. The first house you see is that of the Zohar family. The family was slaughtered, except for Ariel, who had gone for a run. He is now an orphan without parents or siblings. He is only 13 years old. Nahal Oz has a dairy farm and while it has resumed operations, you can see where Hamas savages came in, setting fire and launching grenades into the milking section. The dairy manager tells us that a quarter of the cows were killed – and the rest are traumatized and that it will take time for them to recover. Thanks to people like Ibrahim from the nearby Bedouin town of Rahat, they are now being taken care of. I think of the Bedouin community. I remember Fatima, a nursing mother of 9 who was wearing her hijab when Hamas terrorists pumped 19 bullets into her. Her husband hit with their baby until the IDF came. I think of those from Rahat held captive in Gaza. On that black Sabbath, Hamas terrorists came for us all – Jews, Christian and Muslim.  A Sukkah stands, almost in proud defiance amongst the decimated and burnt communal structure. In the short distance, you can see Sujaiya in Gaza and hear the symphony of war. The people of Nahal Oz believed in peace. They dreamt of peace. That dream was shattered on 7/10.

They came to dance. They came to celebrate and hopefully manifest peace.  Their hope was that the people in Gaza on the other side of the fence would dance for peace too. The memorial in Re’im for those murdered at the Nova music festival is filled with the pictures of beautiful young people, hunted and killed in the prime of their lives. This broke me. Looking at the beautiful, smiling faces of the 367 victims, all I can see is rocket fire. I see the paragliders coming in with armed savages who shot them, launched RPG’s at their cars, brutally raped and tortured the women and mowed people down as they ran and fled for their lives. Some were taken as hostages into Gaza by laughing Hamas terrorists, who gleefully filmed everything so they could broadcast on social media and sow more terror. They murdered them as they ran, as they hid in porta loos, as they crammed into small shelters, hid behind trees and under bushes. It was a wholesale slaughter. As Bono sang a few days later, “Stars of David, they took your life, they could not take your pride“. He is right. We are determined and resolute. We will dance again.

NOTHING prepares you for Kfar Aza. Time stands still in this beautiful kibbutz. Over 100 days have passed since Hamas committed their crime against humanity, and while the bodies and blood have been cleaned and the cloying stench of death has been replaced by the smell of overripe citrus, rotting because nobody is left to pick them. The ravaged, devastated homes scream at you.

“Tell our story,” they beg.

“Tell the world of the horrors that happened here”

“Tell the world how we were murdered, tortured, burnt alive, beheaded, raped, mutilated and kidnapped ”

Each house has a marking. Red for murdered. A circle with a dot for bodies found. Yellow for kidnapped. The first wave of terror was followed by a second wave of civilians who also looted, raped, kidnapped and killed. Men and women and yes, children, participated in a festival of hate and carnage. The most devastating is the area for the young people, a row of tiny houses just metres from the fence. Each tiny house has been burnt or has had grenades explode inside them, killing the occupants. You get the impression that the young inhabitants were so proud of their first homes, only for them to be decimated and ransacked by savages. I am still processing my emotions. I just know their last moments were agony. The houses are cordoned off, many of them with signs of who was murdered inside. There is ash on the floor. Some of that ash is human remains.

As devastated and angry as I am, I will continue to speak for them, to be their voice and tell the world. You should as well. We all should. Every world leader should walk through here.

Over 100 days later, the devastation remains. Kfar Aza is one of 22 sites of carnage. Over 100 days later, some of the inhabitants are still hostages in Gaza. Over 130 of our brothers and sisters are hostage in intolerable conditions in Gaza. We need to be their voices. We need to be the conscience of the world. We said NEVER AGAIN.

Never again is now.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Reflections from a sunny South Africa on the darkness befalling an Israeli baby boy hostage in Gaza

By Lesley Sacks

It was a beautiful, bright sunny day in Cape Town. What a fabulous way to start the new year. Tourists and locals out to play with, seemingly not a care in world. 

Jogging and cycling up-and-down the busy pavilion. Children laughing, running, swimming and playing. Everyone enjoying the sun, the sea, the freedom of a perfect summer school holiday day. Out of towners picnicking on the lawns, parents pushing children in prams and on swings, everybody eating ice cream, everyone happy and joyful. Everybody free.

Kfir Bibas is not free but I’m sure he would also love to enjoy an ice cream and a sunny day. 

Kfir Bibas is a little, redheaded baby boy who has just turned one year old and already, he has been a prisoner for 100 days. 

Kfir is at that age where crawling is practical, but holding onto the edge of a low table and trying to take a few wobbly steps is much more fun. He’s at that age where he is curious about absolutely everything, when climbing and exploring is bliss. If he was at home, his parents and big brother would be encouraging him to walk; everyone would be calling to him and clapping when he got it right. His big brother Ariel would delight in holding out toys and treats for Kfir to reach; 4-year-olds love getting involved. His dad would be filming it all to share with the grandparents and his mom would be saying how she can’t believe what a big boy he is already. 

But Kfir Bibas is not getting to enjoy a perfect sunny day, even an imperfect sunny day. Kfir Bibas has probably not seen the sun or even felt its warmth for one hundred days. He has had nowhere to climb and explore. Has he even heard a kind word in 100 days?

100days! 

Now I am not a mathematician, but when you are only one year old, 100 days is a huge chunk of your life. It’s about a third of his entire life – 100 out of 365 days that Kfir Bibas has been locked away from the sun. He has been taken away from his home, everything he knows and caged in an underground tunnel like an animal living under ground. Is he with his mother? His brother? Or is he all alone? All alone in the dark? 

How is it that it is even possible that we live in such extreme contrast? How many of you, of us, humans on the planet, just get on with our day without even a passing thought for Kfir Bibas or any of the other kidnapped hostages living (hopefully still living) underground, locked away, dirty, hungry, lonely, starving, scared?

How many of us enjoy a coke or a cold glass of water on a hot day without even considering the small, parched mouth of a confined baby hostage! I am writing this in South Africa where it is summer and the days and nights are warm but in the northern hemisphere, in Israel and Gaza, winter is settling in. The nights are cold and dark. Does little baby Kfir have a decent blanket to keep him warm? When last did he have a proper meal to warm his belly? Or a bath to warm his bones? He should be cozy and warm, smelling like soap and powder being kissed and tucked in his cot. I don’t know what his conditions are but I am 100% sure it’s not that.

I’m not trying to cause feelings of guilt but rather to illuminate a dreadful darkness. To remind us to remember, lest we forget. To think and pray for sweet, innocent Kfir Bibas and his family and all the rest of the stolen Jewish people still being held captive by Hamas. 

Please bring them all home so that they too can enjoy ice cream on a free, sunny day. 

About the writer:

Lesley Sacks is a South African, living in Johannesburg but is a “proud holder of an Israeli passport.” Working with children of different ages for over 30 years, she is currently a teacher at  at a local Jewish school. 

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Is South Africa now the judicial wing of Gazan terrorists that decapitate, mutilate, rape, incinerate and kidnap women and babies?

By Harris Zvi Green

January 12, 2024

My dearest friends,

To-night we celebrated Omer’s wedding to Adi. And what a joyous affair it was.

It was wonderful celebrating this special event together with all our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, my late parents and my brother of blessed memory, weren’t spared to celebrate this event with us. But they were with us in spirit.

Celebrating an event like this, at a time like this, isn’t easy. I found myself worrying about the safety and wellbeing of the hostages and the many brave soldiers risking their lives so we could celebrate this event in safety. In the coming days, my grandchildren will return to their units. They will continue to defend their country, so other families can celebrate their special events in safety and security.

I found the words of G.K. Chesterton relevant on one hand, and consoling on the other. A true soldier fights not because he hates what’s in front of him, but because he loves what’s behind him. That, my dear friends, is what the IDF stands for.

As a former South African, I ask myself the question why South Africa took it upon herself to file a complaint to the International Court of Justice against Israel for perpetrating alleged acts of genocide in Gaza. The United States called the move “meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever”. A spokesman for the US State Department confirmed the US is “not seeing any acts of genocide”. South Africa’s move is contrary to her best interests.

Hamas has been outlawed as a terror organization by the United States, the European Union, Japan and Australia.

Take a look at the countries who recognize the Hamas terror regime. This list of dictatorships includes Turkey, Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar and Sudan. Not much to write home about if you’re flying the flag of human rights.

It’s difficult to fathom what the South African government hopes to gain from publicly supporting and justifying the savage attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7. Does the South African government identify with the decapitations and rapes that so vividly characterize one of the most gruesome events in the history of mankind? Whatever the answer is, I’m convinced they’re not speaking for the people of South Africa.

The decision to file the complaint begs the question as to whether senior South African government officials are abusing their positions of power to further the interests of non-democratic countries who wish to protect their own standings in the international community.

If a dictatorship like Qatar can get away with buying credibility in the academic world by pumping more than USD 13 billion into more than 100 American universities, buying favors from corrupt government officials in South Africa is small change.

South Africa’s motivation for filing this complaint is to demonize Israel and to justify the heinous crimes committed by Hamas on October 7. If the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity was even a remote consideration, where was South Africa and the rest of the world during the civil war in Syria when 350,000 civilians were murdered and half of Syria’s population was displaced? Where was South Africa when Russia invaded Ukraine? Why did South Africa defy a call from the International Criminal Court to arrest former Sudan President, Omar al-Bashir, for alleged war crimes in Darfur, while attending a summit of the African Union held on its soil?

Within weeks of the October 7 massacre, South Africa hosted a memorial event to mark the 10^th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death. South Africa saw fit to invite a 3-man Hamas delegation to attend the event. As an admirer of Nelson Mandela, I consider this a desecration of his memory.

Al Jazeera and the BBC may stammer when it comes to calling Hamas terrorists, but the facts are clear for all to see.

South Africa is on a path to self-destruction. Who will invest in a country riddled with corruption? Who will invest in a country that maintains an open relationship with the world’s most notorious terror organization? South Africa has been hi-jacked. Its national identity has been substituted by something that’s not even remotely South African.

South Africa has a relatively large and active Jewish community. More than 25,000 former South Africans live in Israel. Many of them hold dual citizenship. Almost every South African Jew has close family living in Israel. Jewish businessmen have made an enormous contribution to developing South Africa’s beleaguered economy. So why has the South African government chosen to alienate its Jewish community?

Hamas maintains its military wing in Gaza. Its political wing, clad in Armani suits, is stationed in Qatar. Its judicial wing carries South African identity cards and is firmly entrenched in Pretoria.

A useful idiot is defined as a naïve or credulous person who can be manipulated or exploited to advance a cause or political agenda. Unfortunately, that’s what’s become of South Africa. South Africa is clearly not acting in its best interests.

Those of you wondering about the futures of the families of the Hamas terrorists killed in action. According to Palestinian Law, their families will receive generous stipends for life as a reward for so efficiently executing the massacre of October 7. What’s more, the United States and the European Union will foot the bill. Who says crime doesn’t pay? If it wasn’t criminal, it would be funny.

My condolences to those mourning their nearest and dearest. My wishes to the injured for a complete and speedy recovery. May God protect our brave soldiers.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and better times ahead.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Harris Zvi Green.

About the writer:

Harris Zvi Green was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Aged 77, he made Aliyah 53 years ago. An accountant by profession, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of Israel based hi-tech companies. He is married to Phyllis. They have 3 married children ,13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Harris Zvi Green is a founder member of Truth be Told, an organization engaged in public diplomacy on behalf of Israel.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

In memory of Israel’s murdered and fallen and that salvation will come to our nation

A father and daughter join forces to perform Avinu Malkeinu at a time of war    אבינו מלכנו לעת המלחמה

In the first days of the war, the Young Israel Congregation in Ramot, Jerusalem, held a special prayer service during which the Avinu Malkeinu prayer was recited. It occurred to Richard Shavei-Tzion that a number of the lines of this prayer which had not been relevant to our times prior to October 7th had now been brought into sharp, tragic focus by the atrocities that had been perpetrated by our sadistic enemy. It is to these lines that he set this tune, a humble supplication that the great suffering of adults, children and elderly would not be in vain and that salvation would come to our nation. The song is dedicated to the memory of all the murdered and fallen, amongst them, the Slotki brothers, Noam and Yishai, who fell at the entrance to kibbutz Alumim after they had killed multiple terrorists. Their father Rabbi Shmuel Slotki is Richard’s rabbi and the family are close friends and neighbors of the Shavei-Tzions.

Richard’s daughter Tanya Yusupov sang the vocals and musician Erna Klein provided the instrumentation.

“THEY KNEW WHAT THEY HAD TO DO”

As Lay of the Land extracts from local media:

When the sirens began blaring that morning on October 7 in Be’er Sheva, brothers Noam and Yishai heard from neighbours what was happening near Gaza. Yishai immediately jumped into his reservist gear and headed towards Gaza. A few minutes later, Noam decided to go too, and they met up on the way, getting into the same car. At 10:30, Noam’s nervous wife determined by the location of his phone that Noam was outside of kibbutz Alumim, only a few hundred meters from the Gaza border. During the shiva, the Slotkis were shown actual CCTV footage documenting the bravery of their sons’ as they engage in battle.

“You see them arrive outside the kibbutz and park their car next to six vehicles that are all riddled with bullet holes, one even had been hit by an RPG. They knew full well what they were consciously getting themselves into but knew it’s what they had to do. They got out of the car, advancing towards the enemy with their guns firing.” 

Richard Shavei-Tzion is a widely published poet and is the author of “Poetry in the Parasha” and the Prayer for the Preservation of the Environment. His articles on social, sustainability and Jewish topics have been published around the Jewish world, principally in The Jerusalem Post and his photographic images have been displayed in solo and group exhibitions. For 26 years, Richard was the director of the Ramatayim Men’s Choir and now directs the Zimrat Efrat Choir. Recently retired from a career in property and medical management, he produces, “Gift of a Lifetime” – videos which preserve the stories and ethos of people for their progeny.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).