30 Years Ago Today...

Via IDF release: France Jet Hijacked

An Air France aircraft that had been on its way from Lod to Paris with 258 passengers aboard was hijacked after a stop in Athens and flown to Benghazi, Libya, and then on to Entebbe, Uganda. The hijackers demanded the release of terrorists imprisoned in Israel, Germany, Switzerland, and Kenya. The hijacking was done by the terrorist organization of Wadia Hadad, with the support of Ugandan leader Idi Amin. During the IDF's counterattack in Entebbe, the captives were freed. The operation was executed quickly and successfully. The seven terrorists were killed. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Netanyahu, commander of the Israeli force, was mortally wounded during the battle and one soldier, Surin Hershko, was seriously wounded. Three of the captives were killed and six wounded. An additional captive, Dora Bloch, had been taken to a Ugandan hospital and was murdered there.

My Pal Paul Went To Israel To Volunteer Again!

I realize my blogging has been less than stellar lately and for that I'm sorry. Health issues and 6-day work weeks have been hampering things but I'm very grateful to post my friend Paul's email from another Sar-El/Volunteers For Israel experience for you all to see, with his permission.

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM AN AMERICAN VOLUNTEER IN ISRAEL

I have returned to Israel on at least an annual basis during the last third of a century to bear witness to, and contribute in a small way toward, the greatest experiment of the Jewish People in its nearly 3,000 year history..... the rebirth of Israel. As I journeyed one weekend from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, my mind attempted to digest a variety of thoughts:

It was an idyllic, sunny day as I ascended to Jerusalem on the winding train, with my nose pressed against the window, it suddenly dawned on me as I gazed at the beautiful landscape, that a majority of the world's Jews had already made a commitment to cast their lot with, and join, their people in Eretz Israel. (Yes, a majority of the world's Jews now live in Israel) Does it logically follow then, that the rest of us, dispersed around the globe, are destined to wander the world as a dwindling and perpetual minority, in The Diaspora?

Further, those of us who claim we are Zionists are merely armchair Zionists coming on occasion to stare through the window of a moving train or perhaps to participate in a brief volunteer program. Earlier this day, in Tel Aviv's Central Railway Station headlines in the Jerusalem Post declared that rockets have been raining down on Israel from Gaza on a daily and increasing basis, over 30 rockets in the last 24 hours. Iran is still bent on nuclear weapons (WMD) I wonder, will the threat of Jewish annihilation ever dissipate? At Pesach, in the Hagaddah we read that "in every generation they shall rise up against us"

Now, the train pulls into "Malha Station" in Jerusalem, and my thoughts are jarred to more mundane matters like catching a taxi to my hotel.

Shalom, Paul

Events On Gaza Coast

Once again, poor Israel is taking a beating for something she didn't do. As more evidence piles in, it's becoming more and more apparent that it was a mine planted by Hamas that killed that family and not shelling from Israel. Hopefully this information will overtake the lies.

I Never Knew This About Actor James Woods & 9/11

I was watching Raid On Entebbe on the History Channel and they gave a little fact about one of its actors, James Woods and 9/11. So I decided to look up James Woods on Wikipedia and found out more about it. Here's what it said about this very interesting incident:

On a flight to Los Angeles slightly more than a month before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Woods grew suspicious of four of his fellow-passengers: well-dressed men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent. Throughout the flight, the men stared straight ahead, did not speak with one another except in low, hushed tones, and did not eat or sleep. Woods became so convinced that the men were "casing" the plane that he kept his cutlery after lunch and shared his suspicions with a flight attendant. "I said, 'I think this plane is going to be hijacked.' I told her, 'I know how serious it is to say this,' and asked to speak to the captain." The first officer promptly assured Woods that the cockpit door would be kept locked and the plane landed safely.

On the evening of September 11th, Woods told the FBI in Los Angeles about the encounter. At six-forty-five the next morning he was roused by a telephone call from an FBI agent. "I said, 'I'll get ready and I'll come down to the federal building,'" Woods recalled. "He said, 'That's O.K. We're outside your house.'" (I laughed myself silly over that line.) When he was shown photographs, Woods thought he recognized two of the hijackers - Hamza Alghamdi, who was on United Airlines Flight 175 (which struck the south tower of the World Trade Center) and Khalid Almihdhar, who was on American Airlines Flight 77 (which struck The Pentagon).

According to writer Annie Jacobsen, FBI agents told her in a private conversation that Mohammed Atta, who was the unofficial leader of the 9/11 hijackers, was in fact on the flight with Woods.

How wild is that??!

Blogway Is Handing Out Sweets Today

Zarqawi's dead.

I Might Have Seen Everything, Now...

Does this strike anyone else as putting the fox in charge of the hen house? Then again, the third paragraph at least addresses the elephant in the room, while the fourth is an exercise in understatement.

And So It Begins...

Hurricane season is upon us once again. May I suggest everyone check out this fantastic video made by the Blogway's good friend, Seawitch, about the devastation last year's had on Mississippi.