Thanksgiving in Palestine under a ‘Pillar of Cloud’

Roi Tov, so you know, is a hero and dissident first of all, even though he has been declared a Political Prisoner of Bolivia, a country which, as he writes, does not “respect human life.” He adds, “I am held in Bolivia illegitimately, violently and against my will. I am violated daily; please make this public in any possible way.” He was exiled in Bolivia by the Mossad. Now you know. Here’s more . . .

Tov grew up as an outsider in a tight-knit kibbutz along the Jordan Valley. In his book The Cross of Bethlehem II—Back in Bethlehem, Tov shares how he was caught between staying steadfast in his Christian faith and remaining obedient to his country’s military. Caught in a military that challenged his spiritual and moral beliefs, Tov achieved the rank of captain while serving in the IDF.

When he left Israel and threatened to disclose the details of what he’d witnessed to the world, Tov traveled to Thailand, China, the United States and Bolivia, where he became first a refugee, and afterwards a political prisoner. “There are no other works about Israel from a Christian angle and by an IDF officer,” says Tov. “Israel is in the news daily, and I believe my book gives a refreshing view on the events occurring in Israel.” The book reads independently of Part I, The Cross of Bethlehem—The Memoirs of a Refugee.

In his last article Tel Aviv Under Fire, Tov writes “Operation Pillar of Cloud’ began with the assassination of Ahmed al-Jabari, commander of Hamas’ militant wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on November 14. In the two days since then, the IDF has already killed 18 Palestinians, including 7 civilians, while a rocket fired by the Palestinians killed three civilians in Kiryat Malachi. Gaza’s Health Ministry announced that among the killed Palestinians are a pregnant woman, an 11- month-old child, and a 3-year-old girl. Probably only Israel considers these as enemies. In fact, in all the frays that result from Israeli disruption of Palestinian life, the latter’s dead and wounded counts are significantly higher. For verification, see Occupied Palestine.

This time, “One of the Grad rockets fired by the Palestinians almost reached the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona. For the first time, the Palestinians fired long-range unguided surface-to-surface artillery rockets Fajr-5, developed by Iran. With a range of 75km, these rockets reached Tel Aviv. Shortly afterwards, Benjamin Netanyahu, faced with public panic, announced that the government had authorized the call-up of 30,000 reservists for a possible incursion of the IDF into Gaza; this was part of the already announced Operation Cast Lead II. This time the main target will be the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader acting as Prime Minister in Gaza.”

Obviously, the reality of the fired rocket hitting near the Negev Nuclear Research Center, where the Israelis do have some 300 to 500 nuclear warheads, was a shocking wakeup call to Netanyahu from the Palestinians, who suffer an ongoing brutality dished out to them daily in Gaza and the West Bank. Ergo, the cavalry was called out, 30,000 reservists of the IDF (Israeli Defense Force), known for its checkpoint cruelty and its blessing of the Rachel Corey bulldozer murder. Suddenly the posturing Goliath had been shaken.

Parenthetically, a good friend of my wife’s, Nora Tolop, went to Palestine with a group of women, including Rachel Corey’s parents, whom she described as the kindliest, most decent people. Nora reported their mission was to help the struggling olive tree growers, seeing how the trees are being cut down just as the American bison of the plains were slaughtered by U.S. settlers moving West by train. Also, she witnessed green pellets containing poison that had been thrust by settlers in these farmers’ land, feeding poison to grazing goats and sheep. The calculated sadism of that act is worthy of the Nazis of WWII Germany, whose Third Reich lasted only 12 years.

How can the Zionists take pride or pleasure, stooping to this horrific level of holocausting animals, still fatal to so many humans in its 64^th year? It began with the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, as told by Orthodox Jewish historian Ilan Pappe’s brilliant book of the same name in 1948.

Pappe writes, “In that year, one of the largest forced migrations in modern history began. Nearly a million people were expelled from their homes at gunpoint, civilians were massacred, and hundreds of Palestinian villages destroyed. It demonstrates that from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removed of the indigenous population, a strategy that continues to the present day.” Dr. Pappe’s book spreads a new light on the origins and development of the Palestine-Israeli conflict.

Returning to Roi Tov, he writes, “Israel’s naming of the campaign that resulted in the bombing of Tel Aviv is preposterous. It originates in a verse related to the Exodus from Egypt. In Exodus 13:21 we read ‘And the LORD went in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go day and night.’ Israel performed a vain attempt to manipulate the public into believing that its deplorable act of violence was backed by god.

“Sadly, this is a dominant theme among heretic American Zionist-Christians, who have become the Pillar of Vanity supporting Zionist violence; this is nothing but self-idolatry. In a comic fast answer, the snake was reminded of that with two missiles hitting near its Ministry of Defense. Instead of an invisible pillar of cloud, we are witnessing a solid Pillar of Punishment towards Israel.” That Pillar comes with a sizable cost in Palestinian lives and wounded and other atrocities to be sustained by the oppressed. They won’t stop till the U.S. sanctions Israel by not giving it its expected $4 billion per year for weapons.

“About two weeks ago” Roi writes, he published “The Rebirth of the Stern Gang, wherein the new Netanyahu-Lieberman alliance was analyzed. One of the oddest answers I got supported Labor as an answer to the expansionist policies of Likud.

“Zionist parties all support similar policies,” was my answer, “expanded in Israel’s Big Bang. Operation Pillar of Cloud supported this claim. Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich, Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz, and former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni are among those applauding Netanyahu’s violence; they have no choice, otherwise they would lose votes. In past election campaigns, one of the Haredi parties coined a catchy slogan ‘Right and Left are only sand and sand,’ meaning secular-Zionist parties are all the same; in Hebrew, ‘sand’ is a synonym for ‘valueless’ and ‘common.’

“I dislike nagging, but reality is simple. Israel goes to elections in January. Netanyahu cannot solve the social protests plaguing his violent fiefdom; instead he needs a war that will unify the voters behind a militaristic leader. The American election results shocked Israel, ruining Netanyahu’s dream of a war with Iran. Moreover, President Obama didn’t answer the Israeli provocations analyzed in Obama’s Victory Shocks Israel. The next best thing is a reproduction of Operation Cast Lead; a few missiles on Tel Aviv would only increase the support for Netanyahu. In sin, Operation Pillar of Cloud was born.”

Thus as we in America were enjoying our heritage of Thanksgiving this year, eating our oversized turkeys, yams, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie, etc., while Palestine was savoring this bitter fruit of Israeli anger. And no thanks are called for that trauma. Yet, if President Obama would cut Israel’s $4 billion in arms, this would be a painful sanction that could stop the madness. Just as the painful sanctions Netanyahu so consistently calls for on Iran, based on the baseless fact that Iran is weaponizing their medical nuclear work, somehow are permitted. Never mind, the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists by Israel, or using the Stutnex virus to cripple Iranian computers.

Quoting from the link, ‘Due to the complexity and sophistication of the code contained within the Stuxnet worm, the possibility of it being used to take control of a nuclear warhead is high, according to a security expert. At Check Point’s Sydney conference this week, Check Point Israel security evangelist, Tomer Teller, said he analyzed the code of the Stuxnet worm, which was used to take control of a nuclear facility in Iran in June, 2009. Teller confirmed the code in Stuxnet could be modified to launch new SCADA attacks.

“’Nuclear warheads are controlled by computers so if someone managed to slip a worm inside a facility that will reach the warhead component, they could launch it and then aim it back at the country’s facility,’ he said. ‘Stuxnet is the first cyber weapon that could cause major disruption.’”

And on and on we go with the mad Zionist modus operandi. This is a people so tragically traumatized over 12 years by the Nazis that their only relief seems to come from the slow-murder of the Palestinians day by day, year by year, decade by decade, nearing 70 years. Their “never again” has become a “never stop” maiming and killing. As much it pains me to write all this, because I do know many decent Jewish Americans, like my friend Nora, people of quality and integrity, compassion and brilliance, who are committed to justice for Palestine. And I wonder if their combined protest to Netanyahu and President Obama’s actions can stop this madness and stem the flow of blood.

My sympathy, concern and respect also go to Roi Tov for continuing to report on the slaughter of Palestinians while suffering torture in a mad Bolivian prison. He sends me his articles regularly, sounding like he’s on the edge himself. I try to counsel him that his courage, spirit, and compassion will carry him through this dark night of the soul.

His answer is always, “I have been declared a Political Prisoner of Bolivia, a country which does not respect human life. I am violated daily; please make this public in any possible way.”

Now hear this, readers. You can purchase Roi Tov’s two books, The Cross of Bethlehem from Amazon, in paperback and Kindle editions. You can reach him at tovroy@aol.com. I’m sure he would be would overjoyed to hear from you and thankful for your support.

May his suffering and that of the Palestinian people come to an end and bring with it a new day of freedom, life, justice and joy for all. That’s my Thanksgiving wish for the Palestinians, including the peaceful Jews trapped in the vise Zionist hands.

Jerry Mazza is a freelance writer and life-long resident of New York City. An EBook version of his book of poems “State Of Shock,” on 9/11 and its after effects is now available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. He has also written hundreds of articles on politics and government as Associate Editor of Intrepid Report (formerly Online Journal). Reach him at gvmaz@verizon.net.