This is a more difficult post to write than the last one. This one means a wake up for me and many others who so far have managed to treat world events as academic. The realm of debate and moral and ethical games.

Israel has retaliated against Gaza by air strikes against military targets and limiting civilian damage to the best of its capabilities. Many posts will argue the rights and wrongs of it so no need for more of that here. I’m sure the vast vast majority have already made up their minds as to who is right and wrong and why.

I am writing on another aspect. Strategy and outcome.

So far, Islamist forces world wide (and Gaza is no exception) have overwhelmingly chosen to go after the softest targets possible and the ones which would garner the most outrage and horror. It is not at all unusual for example, for a Palestinian receiving free and excellent medical care in Israel to return to the hospital wrapped in explosives with hopes of murdering the very doctors nurses and destruction of the facilities which had treated her. We also have seen attacks going back decades in Argentina, France, and recently Bombay targeting Jews with no strategic value whatsoever but because they are Jews. More recently, The UK, Germany Scandinavia and frankly much of Europe where Muslims are moving in large numbers in the past year has seen anti semitic violent attacks grow.

Hamas will ‘retaliate’ (I put retaliate of course in quotes as the Israeli action was in fact retaliation for over 800 rockets fired at Israeli civilians over the past few years most of which was during an agreed ‘cease fire’) as will Hizbolah, Al Queda/Taliban and any number of Islamic groups which as usual will create a new name for themselves for each attack by targeting easy to access unsuspecting targets of Jews. It could as easily be Ottawa as Bombay or Pembrook Ontario as London England or Ipswich Mass. as easily as Madrid Spain. The only thing these attacks will have in common, will be that it is against Jewish people.

If you live as a Jew in most western nations, it is against the law to arm yourself. not just for jews of course but for all. The police or more likely politicians would prefer you get killed cleanly and quickly then get the police and ambulance to the scene so City councils can show how efficient they are. Outside of small pockets of the USA where there is still some sense of individual right to life and self defense this is the norm. However given the history of Islamic terrorist movements and the ascendancy of same, the moral relativism of the modern left who dominate the civil service of most western nations and the consequent ethical ambiguousness which has made terrorists the victims and victims the aggressors, Jewish people may want to start thinking about their own security. Predicting the future at some levels is imposable. At others is as easy as looking at the past.

Let’s have a look at what the official reaction has been from various bodies in order to better understand how officialdom may react to the deaths of Jews by Muslim attackers in their own cities and nations.

Here I borrow heavily from the excellent site, The Gates of Vienna…

Spokesman For Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General

“The secretary general is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel.

“[He] appeals for an immediate halt to all violence [and reiterates] previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population.”

Gordon Johndroe, White House Spokesman

“Hamas’ continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop. Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people.

“The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza.”

Spokesman For Javier Solana, EU Foreign Policy Chief

“We are very concerned at the events in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exert maximum restraint.”

British Foreign Office Statement

“The only way to achieve lasting peace in Gaza is through peaceful means. Whilst we understand the Israeli government’s obligation to protect its population we urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties.

“We also call on militants in the Gaza Strip to immediately cease all rocket attacks on Israel.”

Russian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Moscow considers it necessary to stop large-scale military action against Gaza, which has already led to major casualties and suffering among the civilian Palestinian population.

“At the same time, we call on the Hamas leadership to stop shelling Israeli territory.”

Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary General

“We are facing a continuing spectacle which has been carefully planned. So we have to expect that there will be many casualties. We face a major humanitarian catastrophe.”

Syrian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Syria is following with great anxiety the barbaric Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza… a horrific crime and terrorist act.

[…]

“Syria as president of the Arab League calls on Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to assess the dangerous situation in Gaza.”

Hasan Qashqavi, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman

“Iran strongly condemns the Zionist regime’s wide-ranging attacks against the civilians in Gaza.

“The raids against innocent people are unforgivable and unacceptable.”

And the most useless and mealy-mouthed reaction of all comes from — surprise! — the Vatican:

Rev Federico Lombardi, Vatican Spokesman

“Hamas is a prisoner to a logic of hate, Israel to a logic of faith in force as the best response to hate.

“One must continue to search for a different way out, even if that may seem impossible.”

So from this we get a fairly clear idea how our leaders will react to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets. A few words careful not to offend Islamic terrorists. Hence the responsibility ends where it should begin. In the hands of each individual Jewish person to decide how exactly they should protect themselves. The state will not be able to do it nor has the will.

Perhaps the radical sounding words of the founder of the JDL, Rabbi Meir David Kahane don’t sound so radical now. “Every Jew a .22″.

Frankly, I think a .45 would make a lot more sense.

The bleeding hearts of the Toronto Star would have you believe that yesterday’s dawn raid on the black gangs of North Toronto (which netted 95 perps, guns, drugs, and dirty money) were bad because they scared the children.

Here’s a different perspective on yesterday’s police raids.

It comes from Andrene, who is 10 years old and experienced the first minutes at the end of police guns after officers burst into her bedroom just before dawn.

She was there with her mother, Sharon Mitchell, 32, and baby sister, Alexandra, 2. Down the hall in another bedroom were her cousin, Joanna, 9, and Joanna’s mother, Charmaine Osbourne, 30.

“This morning, the police officers, they came and they were kicking down the doors,” said Andrene in a solemn voice. “And they came in with their guns and they were pointing at my sister and me.

“My sister got scared and she was crying.”

Alexandra was trying to coax Boss, a little white poodle-mix, to play. But the dog whined. The fur on its left side was burned to the skin.

***

She is angry that police had children at gunpoint. A supervisor for the Toronto school board, Osbourne said police should have known better than to do that, especially when she believes their surveillance would have shown children lived there.

Osbourne and her daughter, Joanna, hit the floor at the first blast, but police ordered them back up on the bed. “They had both of us on the bed with high-powered rifles pointed at us,” said Osbourne, claiming they were held at gunpoint for about half an hour before being allowed to wait outside the house.

“My daughter was crying like there was no end to it. She was there crying and they had a gun on her.

I would be far more worried about having my criminal brother in the house with my little girls than having the cops come in. No children were harmed yesterday, but Toronto has seen little kids caught in gang crossfire many times over the past couple of years, some even losing their lives. As a matter of fact, child services should take those kids away and charge the mother with endangerment just for letting a gang-banger in the house with them.

As for little Andrene, let me tell you a little story…

It was 1984 and I was eight years old when we heard the banging and the boot steps that seemed to come from everywhere. It was winter, and it had darkened early. I was in the living room, in front of the bay window through which there was only blackness and the reflection of the TV, watching Three’s Company. My father was in the next room, on the phone. He looked out the window, slammed down the phone, and ran out to the living room. I was grabbed unceremoniously from the La-Z-Boy and herded to my bedroom just as the pounding began on our front door. “Stay here” he said. “Don’t you dare leave this room!”

The noise coming from the upper duplex above us was deafening. Yelling, a scream, more boots. I hid under the bed, terrified. What was going on? Who was at the door? What was happening to my daddy? Soon the door was opened by my mother, and our doberman was shoved in with me, the door closed again. Valentine (the dog) crawled under the bed with me (classic misconception that dobies are scary animals - really they’re big pussies), shaking and whimpering. I put my arm around her and we cowered there for an hour, until the noise stopped. Until Daddy came back to get me.

I’ve just told you a story from an 8 year old’s perspective - scared, unsure, clutching her dog, wondering if her daddy would ever come back. That little girl was me. Now I will tell you the adult version of what happened, which was explained to me that night and that I have never forgotten. Robert Mingo, our upstairs neighbor, with his two brothers Melvin and Nelson, had stolen $68 million of stocks and bonds from Merrill Lynch. They hid the suitcases in our shared garage, in an old car my father had up on blocks. That night, after thorough investigation, our duplex was descended on by the Montreal SWAT team, who surrounded the building, guns pointed at every door and window. They busted into Mingo’s upstairs, ordering everyone, including Robert’s heavily pregnant wife, face down on the ground. The team ransacked the house, and all were arrested. They came to our door and dragged my father outside, down into the garage, to present him with his suddenly valuable car, and to do preliminary questioning. Obviously he had no idea what was going on, and he was free to return to his terrified family (and dog).

I learned a very valuable lesson that night. I learned that if you commit crimes, bad things happen. You might be a nice person (the Mingo’s were extremely nice people, and used to have barbecues with us), you might be friendly and family oriented. But bad things will still happen if you break the law. The cops came to my house, heavily armed. I was afraid. But ever since that night, I have not feared them. Once it was explained who they were and what they were looking for, I knew I was in no danger from them. Twice more in my life I have been in situation where the SWAT team were involved, and I was never afraid. I merely did what I could to protect myself should there be shooting (get in a room without windows, stay low), and I knew that when it was over the bad guys would be gone.

I hope Andrene realizes that they weren’t coming for her - they meant her no harm. She was just in a dangerous place at a dangerous time, but that the police are not to blame. Her mother and her uncle are to blame for putting her in that situation. The police are responsible for getting her out of it. Good for them.

A tip from a Canadian resident ended Richard Steve Goldberg’s stint on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and the alleged child molester is now awaiting extradition, the bureau said.

According to the Web site for the television show, “America’s Most Wanted,” Goldberg had been seeing a nonprofit counselor under the alias Terry Wayne Kearns. He allegedly told the counselor he was an American fugitive, but the charges against him were “trumped up,” the Web site said.

The counselor told a friend, who found Goldberg on the FBI Web site, according to “America’s Most Wanted.”

The 61-year-old former engineer had been on the run for six years after he was charged in 2001 with producing child pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography and six counts of performing lewd acts on a child, the FBI said. He also faces unlawful flight charges.