There is this absurd concept in the media that stone throwing can’t really hurt, it’s just their expressing their anger.

Rocks kill. Rocks…what a silly word – they are throwing boulders…at cars…with children in them. Several children have been hurt, even killed, little Yonatan Palmer, only 1  year old. Yehuda Shoham…and others. To this day, Adele Biton remains in critical condition…she’s three years old.

This is what a stone can do… it’s time to let the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) do what it can do…what it needs to do…to protect our citizens.

In recent years there have been too many reports of Arab terror attacks and riots instigated/directed/inspired by journalists.  They get paid to show action, and the Arabs love to cooperate.  Having an audience well equipped with cameras to record Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers injured and cowering is great encouragement for them.

algemeiner.com recently published a video which shows how this is done.

This reminds me of a BBC Radio report I heard over twenty years ago, when the Intifada was a new Arab term for attacking Jews.   I don’t number them since I’ve never heard of an official end.  It comes and goes in waves but never totally stops.  In that report, the radio journalist made it clear that he was crouched together with the attacking Arabs as they threw rocks and bricks at Israelis. You could hear the noises and his uncontrolled excitement. The IDF began responding with teargas, and the journalist told us how the Arabs had come equipped with cloths and remedies to protect their eyes and lungs from it.  He very emotionally described how parents comforted their children and covered their eyes to protect them.  It was 100 precent clear that the journalist was totally identified with the Arab attackers and considered this a great adventure for himself.

Unfortunately, not only foreign journalists identify with the Arabs who attack Israel, so do Israeli journalists, politicians and academics. They consider themselves “post-Zionists.”  But to tell you the truth, there has always been Zionist, mostly Left-Labor who considered it important to give the Arabs their own country next to the State of Israel, even before the establishment of the state.  It’s not enough that the British imported the Hashemites and gave them Transjordan to rule, but the United Nations Partition Plan, approved by David Ben-Gurion’s followers, allocated most of what was left of the British Mandate of Palestine to the Arabs.

The World expected the Arabs to defeat us in 1948 and at best we’d be governed by a continuation of the Mandate.  Luckily God had other plans.

There’s nothing new in journalists trying to make news; they just can’t make facts out of lies.

Visit Shiloh Musings.

Arab stone throwing and other violent disturbances near Efrat continues.

Following in the footsteps of the pipe bomb found near the northern entrance last week, a girl was hurt Thursday when rocks were thrown at a car she was riding in. A number of cars were hit and damaged near Efrat’s northern entrance.

Last week an Israeli car was totaled on the road to Beitar after Arabs poured oil on the road, and the car spun out of control.

On Friday, Efrat, Beitar, Kiryat Arba-Hebron, and other Gush Etzion residents on planning a massive vigil on the roads, at 10:30 AM to protest the lack of security.

Two female Arab motorists were hurt by Arab rock throwers on Road 60, near the tunnels in Gush Etzion, at around 9PM Wednesday night.

Over the past few days, Arabs have been throwing rocks and paint at Israeli cars driving down Highway 60, near Efrat, trying to cause an accident.

Last night, Arab stone throwers from El Hadr attacked a car they thought was Israeli, but was actually an Arab car with two women and 6 children in it.

The two Arab women were hurt by the Arab stone throwers, one seriously. They managed to drive to to the tunnel checkpoint where they received medical attention.

Last night, Israel security forces also captured a group of 5 Arabs who were attacking passing Jewish motorists on Highway 60 with stones. They were the unbelievable ages of 9 through 12. They got started young.

A Palestinian Authority prisoner on a long-term hunger strike in an Israeli jail will be released in March, but violent protests continued Thursday near the Ofer Prison, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Samer Issawi was sentenced to eight months in prison for violating the terms of his release under the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap, and he will be eligible for release March 6.

He has become a cause célèbre for Palestinian Authority Arabs, 1,000 of whom rioted on Thursday near Ofer prison where he is being held. They injured two journalists with rocks, and security forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets, wounding about 29 people.

Issawi has been on a hunger strike for more than 200 days and is reportedly to be near death, although Israeli officials are doing everything possible to keep him alive. His death would turn him into a “martyr” and would set off a wildly violent reaction.

Over the past few days, Haredi residents of the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood in Jerusalem have been running an intense campaign against one of their neighbors, reportedly a mother of 11, who is living alone, and conducting a life style which the residents find objectionable.

Pashkvils (warning posters) were spread around the neighborhood, criticizing women wearing tight clothes, calling them “animals.” According to the website Hadrei Haredim, the woman in question is being accused of luring young Haredi women to her path.

A source inside the Haredi community in Jerusalem told the Jewish Press that the woman in question is running a house of ill repute.

It appears that because of their reluctance to “name a spade a spade,” the Haredi community is finding it difficult to raise effective public objection to the shameful enterprise in their midst. Some Chasidic rebbes and Haredi rabbis have issued a strong letter against the woman and her “apartment of abomination,” but stopped short of saying what type of abomination was being practiced there.

On Saturday night, rabbis and several dozen local residents (and curious onlookers) demonstrated outside the apartment. One of the leaders of the campaign, a local rabbi, announced: “We will fight vigorously” against this abomination.

Stones, eggs and bags of water were thrown from adjoining buildings at the protesters. Miraculously, no one was hurt, except for one minor injury sustained by one of the people on the street.

Police force and Riot Police eventually came down and blocked the area outside the building where the targeted woman resides, to prevent violence.

Our source said the Haredi inability to articulate the problem in the neighborhood reminded him of a joke: a man goes to see his rabbi and confesses that he sinned, but he just can’t utter what he had done.. “Was it with that woman from that street?” the rabbi asks. “No,” says the man. “Was it with that other woman from that other street?” the rabbi asks. Again, no. Finally the man comes out and his friend asks him, did the rabbi give you absolution? “No,” says the man, “but I took down plenty of prospects.”

Just a few days ago, I bumped into a former student in the supermarket. When she saw me, she stepped away from her shopping cart full of fruits and vegetables and warmly hugged me. “Mrs. Schonfeld, I wanted to tell you something that you said to me a few years ago that has stayed with me until today.” We had worked together on social skills to help her feel more comfortable when meeting new people. I tried to jog my memory and remember something specific I had said to bolster her confidence, but nothing particularly stood out. Instead, I smiled and said, “Yes, Sarah, what was it that I said?”

Her eyes filled with tears and she revealed, “You mentioned that when I smile, I often smile with my eyes too and that my whole face lights up. You told me that my sincerity comes through when I genuinely smile. As I was going on shidduchim, I would always remember what you said about my smile and would hope that others felt the same way. And then, when I went on a shidduch with someone who seemed really special, I had a stronger belief in myself. Most importantly, I didn’t hesitate to smile. And, now we are married and already have our first child.”

I congratulated Sarah, chatted with her for a few minutes, and then continued with my shopping. As I was picking out my string beans, I began to think a troubling thought. One comment that I had made to Sarah several years ago had influenced her in wonderful ways. Yet, I did not even remember making the comment. Of course, in this instance, the comment I made was positive and helpful. However, what about comments that might have indirectly hurt one of my students? Years later, an accidentally ill placed comment could still have a negative effect. Simple words can have such a huge outcome on those around us. That’s why we have to be so careful about both what we say and the way we say it.

Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones,
But Words Will Last Forever

Many of us remember our parents telling us that if people called us names or hurt our feelings, we should simply tell ourselves, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never harm me.” Unfortunately, that logic does not hold true. In fact, verbal abuse can be as harmful, if not more, than physical abuse.

The New York Times reported several extreme instances of verbal abuse or bullying. In March, 2007, 17-year-old Eric Mohat shot himself after a long-term tormentor told him in class, “Why don’t you go home and shoot yourself; no one will miss you.” More recently, Carl Jospeh Walker-Hoover, an eleven-year-old boy from Springfield, Massachusetts hung himself after being incessantly hounded by classmates about his appearance.

The instances above are radical cases of verbal abuse and bullying; however, they illustrate the power of words and their effect on children’s psyches. Often, we underestimate the consequences of our comments, but even seemingly innocuous comments can have disastrous results. A poem by Chani Zirkind beautifully demonstrates how five simple words can change a person’s life:

WORDS

I burst out laughing when I heard her say,
The funniest joke I heard all day.
She didn’t say one, she didn’t say two,
I marveled at what her humor can do.
I was sitting here just moments ago,
A little bit bored and a little bit low,
And in she walked with her comments and all,
And my gloominess left with no trace at all!
I wondered what part she had in the play,
I heard took place in the school yesterday.
I sat and imagined the friends she attracts,
Her lucky campers with whom she interacts.
Baruch Hashem for a talent like hers!
Creating happiness just out of words…
Words
I’m not so sure
Words
There’s more to her.
What I thought
isn’t true
Because of what
words
can do.
I’ve seen her true self with family at home,
But once she steps out her humor’s unknown.
Yes, she’s tried to tell others her jokes,
But what occurred put down her hopes.
Someone said five words, no more,
That closed her in, closed up her door.
Her self-confidence to never give up,
Was lost in a comment,
“I thought you grew up.”

Adult Impact on Children

Miriam Adahan’s book Sticks and Stones: When Words are Used as Weapons transplants the discussion of verbal bullying into the realm of Jewish thought. Rashi explains that Lo sonu (Vayikra 25:17) refers to hurting others with words – ona’as devarim. There are multiple examples of ona’as devarim: