Itamar, Israel

This was the house of Ui and Ruth Fogel and their children. Yoav, 11, Elad, 4, and Hadas, just three months were stabbed repeatedly, with the baby nearly decapitated.   Their crime....being a Jew.  The Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigades of Imad Mughniyeh claimed responsibility for the attack.  This was my deciding factor for going with American's For A Safe Israel...I asked, "are you going to Itamar".  The answer..."well certainly we are going to Itamar".  We were there just a few weeks after this horrible event.

Ronald Reagan once said about evil...civilized people abide by "moral precepts which guide human relations.  Acts of barbarianism are born out of a culture that disregards individual rights and values of human life and seeks to expand and dominate others".  He could have easily have said this at Itamar.  The young men who butchered this family did not know there was a baby there.  They were already outside the house and realized there was "one more Jew they could kill"...a quote from one of the butchers.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4040974,00.html

It is a desire of my heart to take each one of my grandchildren to Israel.  This is Matthew Kaleb in New York...the day before our grand adventure to Historic Israel.

A picture in Samaria of an outpost.  This was our first encounter with Jewish settlers, a young family living  in an old bus.  We were greeted with great hospitality! This gentleman is trying to explain the plight of the Jews in Samaria and Judea ...The Mountains of Israel is what God calls this region, and some call it the West Bank.

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The next picture is of  the devastation caused by Israeli Security Forces in Samaria.  These people had only started a settlement (one had built his home several times)....yet, because of the pressure from the EU, Quartet, and U.S. the Israeli government  destroyed their homes.

We have seen this time and time again.

Beautiful Arab homes in Samaria

These are not isolated homes.  There are many homes  just like these, and many larger than these. The world would be shocked.  In many instances they do not have windows as they are simply "facts on the ground".

Sderot, Israel....most shelled city in Israel.

Entrance to Sderot's new high speed train station.  Less than an hour to Tel Aviv.  Sderot is booming with commercial and residential building.  Property that was hard to give away a few years ago is very popular with the new commute. These pictures are from May, 2014 and cranes were all over the city.  Remember this is not "disputed" land....this is ISRAEL PROPER...but at the same time has endured endless shelling from Gaza approx. last 10 years.  Under the most adverse of conditions they THRIVE.

A  children's play yard in Sderot .  It is a bunker/caterpillar as they have bare minimum of seconds, 15 at most to get to a shelter.  If you go to the schools, the play ground will have multiple bunkers scattered throughout. Even the roofs are built on the schools to deflect a rocket. The smallest of children are taught to throw themselves on the ground and cover their heads should they not make it to a bunker.  Gaza is less than a mile away....the next time you take a walk.... take note...a mile is not very far.  The next time you warm something in your microwave...set it for 8 seconds and see how long little children have to run with their little legs.

The state of arts mall in the Arab sector of Hebron.

The Arab's have universities and hospitals as well as this beautiful domed mall.   Today the Jewish Community is only 3% of Hebron ....People say apartheid is practiced in Israel....yes...against the Jews.  Hebron is an excellent example. 

Celebrating Chayei Sarah in Hebron, Israel

Pictures of Cave of Machpelah...Genesis Chapter 23 ...Abraham buys the burial cave for Sarah in Hebron.  This is Memorial Day 2014 in the late evening.

Americans for a Safe Israel meet Sheikh Jabari in Tent of Peace outside Hebron

Meeting Sheikh Jabari: The Hebron Fund, AFSI, and Hebron Residents

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VQjdj8OPz78" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>  These links take you to youtube to see a peace meeting.