I sometimes despair when I read the Israeli press. I have just read a Jerusalem Post article about the sanctity of Israel's snakes, how they mustn't be harmed, how imported glue traps are cruel ( I won't link to the JP as deep linking doesn't work. The article is reproduced below).
Nowhere in the article is there anything about the dangers of poisonous snakes to humans, or even that the glue traps aren't left willy nilly in the wild but inside people's houses where people should be able to feel safe.
There is not even a mention of whether snakes that get into houses are at all threatened. I believe that if snakes are getting into houses, then the population in the wild has increased leading to the need to expand even into built up areas they would not normally inhabit. If this is so, why should venomous snakes have priority over the lives of families?
Surely an Israeli has the right to protect himself, his wife and his children from snakes within the confines of his own house? There is no mention in the article of the dangers to the Israeli child, of his right not to be hurt, his life put in danger.
I'm beginning to understand how Israeli governments have allowed 12,000 Hamas rockets to blast away at the south of the country for so many years. There seems to be mindset in Israel that life, any life is sacrosanct, especially that of your enemy or an animal that might very well hurt you or your child. If you have power then you are beholden to think umpteen times, have manifold checks and balances placed upon you before you use that power. All well and good, but there comes a point when limiting the possibility of abuse of power means crippling your ability to act in a timely or effective fashion.
I am also beginning to understand how when arabs attack jewish settlements guards are afraid to draw their weapons. Jews frequently have their weapons taken off them for firing at their attackers in self defence when they clearly felt their lives threatened. The mind of the Israeli establishment is hard to fathom.
And this is of course why Iran has been allowed to get so far along its program to develop weapons. Heaven forbid Israel should bomb Iran's nuclear industry, even when Iranian spokesmen make it ever clearer what they intend to do with their weapons when they get them.
I hope Netanyahu knows what he is doing by continuing to talk and to wait, as he has been waiting for 15 years. Will he show he has not only the bluster but the mettle of Mr Beigin who in an Israel that was much weaker than it is now dared to go against the US and bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor before weapons could be developed?
Netanyahu must not only draw diagrams and make noise, but inform the world that when the balance is between Jewish and Iranian lives, Iranians will have to take the consequences. This rule applies in all other conflicts, and the stakes are now too high.
From Rafsanjani to Ahmadinejad the message has been clear, Israel will soon cease to exist.
Israel must act when it feels the time is right, and when it does act, inform Iran that any mass firing of indiscriminate weapons against Israel will be met with an 'overwhelming' response.
If Iran can not be stopped after 15 years of talks and sanctions, then any method Israel has at its disposal must be used to take Iran back to that medieval state of development, the same place where its country's genocidal rulers' mindset is.
Israel has the wherewithal to set Iran back not for one or two years but for fifty. Israel must be prepared to use its might to protect its people.
Human rights of one's enemies and the rights of animals are all well and good, but when the chips are down, every nation has a right to defend itself against those that are intent on harm.
Israel's obligation is first and foremost to its people, to the Jewish People, to make sure that never again will a country be able to threaten another Holocaust. Netanyahu is beginning to lose his credibility, that he will prevent the Holocaust that Iran intends for Israel.
The JP article:
Nowhere in the article is there anything about the dangers of poisonous snakes to humans, or even that the glue traps aren't left willy nilly in the wild but inside people's houses where people should be able to feel safe.
There is not even a mention of whether snakes that get into houses are at all threatened. I believe that if snakes are getting into houses, then the population in the wild has increased leading to the need to expand even into built up areas they would not normally inhabit. If this is so, why should venomous snakes have priority over the lives of families?
Surely an Israeli has the right to protect himself, his wife and his children from snakes within the confines of his own house? There is no mention in the article of the dangers to the Israeli child, of his right not to be hurt, his life put in danger.
I'm beginning to understand how Israeli governments have allowed 12,000 Hamas rockets to blast away at the south of the country for so many years. There seems to be mindset in Israel that life, any life is sacrosanct, especially that of your enemy or an animal that might very well hurt you or your child. If you have power then you are beholden to think umpteen times, have manifold checks and balances placed upon you before you use that power. All well and good, but there comes a point when limiting the possibility of abuse of power means crippling your ability to act in a timely or effective fashion.
I am also beginning to understand how when arabs attack jewish settlements guards are afraid to draw their weapons. Jews frequently have their weapons taken off them for firing at their attackers in self defence when they clearly felt their lives threatened. The mind of the Israeli establishment is hard to fathom.
And this is of course why Iran has been allowed to get so far along its program to develop weapons. Heaven forbid Israel should bomb Iran's nuclear industry, even when Iranian spokesmen make it ever clearer what they intend to do with their weapons when they get them.
I hope Netanyahu knows what he is doing by continuing to talk and to wait, as he has been waiting for 15 years. Will he show he has not only the bluster but the mettle of Mr Beigin who in an Israel that was much weaker than it is now dared to go against the US and bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor before weapons could be developed?
Netanyahu must not only draw diagrams and make noise, but inform the world that when the balance is between Jewish and Iranian lives, Iranians will have to take the consequences. This rule applies in all other conflicts, and the stakes are now too high.
From Rafsanjani to Ahmadinejad the message has been clear, Israel will soon cease to exist.
Israel must act when it feels the time is right, and when it does act, inform Iran that any mass firing of indiscriminate weapons against Israel will be met with an 'overwhelming' response.
If Iran can not be stopped after 15 years of talks and sanctions, then any method Israel has at its disposal must be used to take Iran back to that medieval state of development, the same place where its country's genocidal rulers' mindset is.
Israel has the wherewithal to set Iran back not for one or two years but for fifty. Israel must be prepared to use its might to protect its people.
Human rights of one's enemies and the rights of animals are all well and good, but when the chips are down, every nation has a right to defend itself against those that are intent on harm.
Israel's obligation is first and foremost to its people, to the Jewish People, to make sure that never again will a country be able to threaten another Holocaust. Netanyahu is beginning to lose his credibility, that he will prevent the Holocaust that Iran intends for Israel.
The JP article:
Parks Authority demands end to illegal snake traps
09/23/2012 22:47
Photo: BRC Pest Control Compnay Ltd.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) is working against the sale of illegal snake glue traps.
Thousands of them have already been sold across the country and pose a serious danger to the animals.
Snakes are defined in Israel as a protected animal by law, and therefore the INPA has demanded that the importer of the traps immediately remove the products from the market and collect them from store shelves around the country.
Such traps have been illegal in Israel since 1955 because they can cause serious harm to the animals, according to the authority. In addition to recalling their products, authority staff members have been speaking with snake trappers and discouraging them from using the already purchased instruments.
Eldad Peled, INPA director of inspection and enforcement, stressed that all harm to protected wildlife such as snakes is prohibited by law.
“Catching snakes requires great skill, both in the method of the capture – so that no damage occurs to the snake – and in the treatment of the animal after the capture,” Peled said.
“An authorized snake trapper knows that he must transfer the snake to the authority and that our inspectors release the snake into nature. The glue traps sold recently in Israel harm the snake during the time of the capture, and therefore we are acting aggressively against their sale,” he said.
In response, the importer has agreed to stop sales and said that it would work vigorously to collect all traps still on the shelves, according to the INPA.
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