Staying Real in Israel
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"The Marty Roberts Show"

What it’s like for me and about 1,000,000 others living in Southern Israel after 4+ days of continuous rocket and missile barrage from Gaza…

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Israel eliminates 2 top Popular Resistance Committee terrorist leaders on Friday, thus foiling another massive terror attack on Southern Israel…The palestinians in Gaza reply with more than four days of almost continuous rocket and missile bombardment of Israeli cities and towns…

On today’s show:

What it’s like living through this surreal adventure…

Israel’s fantastic Iron Dome missile defense system stops 90% of the missiles in mid-air…

What is really happening on the ground, here, in Southern Israel…

Also…Israel continues to pay the price in blood for the Gilad Shalit prisoner release swap deal…

Plus…In spite of it all…Record numbers of tourists flock to Israel in February…

All this and more on The Marty Roberts Show

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Guess that’s life in Southern Israel these days…

So me and the wife are settling in the other night for our evening ritual of TV series and snacks. I’m setting things up and Ellen is downstairs getting into her ‘jammies and sweats.
She calls me, but, me being a new member of the 60+ generation and a bit hard of hearing even before qualifying for membership in the AARP, I don’t answer, so she tries a bit louder.

“MARTY!!!”

“WHAT?”, my witty reply.

“It’s a siren”, she says, a bit louder this time. “You better get on down here”.

“Oh, crap”, says me, “We’re going to miss the beginning of Boardwalk Empire!…”Okay, okay, I’m coming…and I’ll bring the dogs.”

I realize that we better get in the “safe room”/bomb shelter that every home in Israel is required by building code to have. It’s rare that Hamas hits anything with their primitive missiles, but every now and then there’s a wrecked house, and there’s even been a few dead people.

So we gather downstairs, in the basement, under a doorjamb, far from any glass windows, but NOT QUITE in the bomb shelter itself. It’s kind of too cluttered with old cribs, books, dental molds and bird food for a full size human to fit in, let alone a couple and three dogs. Besides, the missiles don’t usually hit anything, right? But that siren is still wailing and it’s kind of a scary sound, even after the tenth time hearing it and running (slowly) to the shelter. Better safe than sorry.

So after a couple of minutes the siren stops. Ellen says, “Let’s go upstairs and watch TV”.

“But the orders say we wait in the shelter for10 minutes to be sure nothing explodes”.

“But we’re not REALLY even in the shelter.”

“Alright, alright”

After about 90 seconds, we get tired of standing there like fools, so we head up and hit the popcorn (now a bit burned), sunflower seeds. Boardwalk Empire, House and Dexter are waiting.

I turn to Ellen about an hour later and say, “You know, I was just thinking. How weird is it? There are people that are actually shooting rockets and missiles at our house. For real. They want to blow up our house and kill you, me, the dogs and the children. FOR REAL!!! Could you imagine that if we were still living in America?”

“Shhhhh…”House” is starting.

I guess you get used to anything after a while.

Life in Southern Israel…

The Lion of Judah awakens…A special extra-large version of the Marty Roberts show…

Update on the war against Hamas in Gaza…What can we expect in the future?…Events leading up to the Israeli attack…International and domestic reaction to the war…The Israeli-Arab third column…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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More war coverage from Southern Israel…What is it like to be under rocket and missile attack in your home?…And…Is there really a humanitarian crisis in Gaza?…Also…War in Israel vs. war in Gaza…Two different world-views…And WHAT a difference there is!!!…Plus…Was all this REALLY necessary?…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…Listen to the show below…

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Are we approaching the end of the war?…What will it look like?…Talk of further military action, talk of ceasefire…Which will it be?…Also…They cry “No place to run, no place to hide left in Gaza”…Just why is that so?…And how about humanitarian aid…Where is IT going?…More…What about that UN school that the Israeli Army shelled?…What was REALLY going on there…Plus…More up-close-and-personal coverage of Israel’s Channukah War against Hamas in Gaza…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…Listen to the show below…

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Rockets and missiles are falling on Israel EVERY DAY!! Do you understand what that means? These are not little firecrackers. These are not rocks and bottles. These are lethal ROCKETS AND MISSILES! People are being killed. It is expected that Israel will accept as part of our daily life the rain of ordnance upon our heads.
Can YOU imagine this happening in YOUR neighborhood?
How about just ONE lethal rocket falling out of the sky and whistling into the playground of your childrens’ or grandchildren’s pre-school?
What measures would you expect your government to take?
How would you feel if the world and the UN condemned YOU for taking action against those that were threatening your families?
How would you feel if the animals launching the rockets at you day after day were depicted by the world as the victims, not the murderers that they are? Aid convoys and millions of YOUR tax dollars funneled to exactly those same rocket-launching terrorists?
Might you want to do something to stop the flow of supplies for rocket-making into the area (a blockade of sorts, if you will)?
Would you understand it if, occasionally, while striking those that are shooting missiles at your children, once in a while, an innocent civilian or two on the other side was injured, or even killed? Would you understand this and, sorrowfully, accept this as a fact of life, given the evil surrounding you?
Try to imagine, just try to imagine…This is the daily reality of southern Israel…My home…and pray that it NEVER happens to you,,,

Qassam hits south of Ashkelon


No injuries or damage reported as rocket fire emanating from Gaza continues. ‘Terror groups taking advantage of PM’s trip to US,’ local council head says

Reprinted from YNet News Shmulik Hadad

A Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists in north Gaza Sunday night landed south of Ashkelon. There were no reports of injury or damage.

The rocket landed in an open area within the Ashkelon Beach Regional Council’s limits.

“When they say that the rocket exploded in an open area, from our standpoint it is a field in which farmers work. Therefore, such attacks should be dealt with just as any direct hit on a house,” council head Yair Farjun said.

“I assume the groups that are firing the rockets are taking advantage of the fact our hands our somewhat tied because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the US for meetings. It is not my place to give the security establishment advice – it has proven that it knows what to do against the Palestinian organizations,” he said.

Ashkelon’s Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen, formerly a senior official with the Shin Bet security service, said, “We are witnessing a deterioration whereby the rockets are getting closer and closer to Ashkelon. This merely validates our fears and demands for the fortification of educational institutions.”

On Saturday four rockets emanating from the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave landed in open areas in Israel’s Negev region. Another Qassam landed in Palestinian territory near the Kissufim Crossing.

Saturday saw a rocket land near a kibbutz located within Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council limits. There were no injuries or damage, but the IDF retaliated with strikes on a Hamas facility near the defunct airport in south Gaza. The Palestinians said 14 people were injured, among them two seriously.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon crossed into Gaza Sunday morning as part of a regional tour aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process.

Ban was met on the other side of the border by a small group of people waving Palestinian flags. “I’ll go to Gaza to express my solidarity with the plight of the Palestinian people there and to underscore the need to end the blockade,” Ban told reporters on Saturday. He added that the siege was causing “unacceptable human suffering”.

During his meeting with President Shimon Peres Saturday evening, Ban called on Hamas to release Gilad Shalit, and Peres thanked him for scheduling a meeting with the kidnapped soldier’s Shalit’s parents. The UN chief also called on the Palestinians to end rocket attacks from Gaza, while urging Israel to lift the Gaza blockade.

The world, including Obama and Clinton and Co.’s US, are more interested in the “damage” done by Israel building apartments for her citizens than they are in the daily death toll of palestinian rockets and missiles on Israel. More than 100 rockets fired into Israel since the end of Israel’s “criminal” Operation Cast Lead into Gaza to stop the preceding 8 years of attacks.
Where’s the outrage? Where’s the UN commisiions of inquiry? What about some charges of war crimes?
No chance, is there???

Gaza rocket kills man in southern Israel


A rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Thursday killed a migrant worker in the northern Negev.

Reprinted from HaAretz.com

Paramedics brought the man to the infirmary at Moshav Nativ Ha’asara, but declared him dead shortly after. This was the third rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in less than 24 hours, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

One rocket hit an open area in the south Wednesday night. There were no casualties in the incident, but two women were treated for shock after hearing the Color Red rocket alert.

Two more rockets were fired on Tuesday at the western Negev, causing no casualties or damages. Residents of nearby communities said they did not hear the rocket alert before the explosion.

The rocket on Thursday was launched as European Union’s foreign affairs chief was visiting the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The EU’s top diplomat, Briton Catherine Ashton, had crossed into the Gaza Strip from Israel about an hour before the attack, the first deadly strike from the territory since the end in January 2009 of Israel’s Gaza war.

More than 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel since Operation Cast Lead ended in January 2009, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel has responsed to strikes since the war with air raids, targeting militants and suspected weapons-manufacturing facilities in the territory.

Hamas Islamists, who seized the Gaza Strip in 2007 in fighting with forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have been urging other militant groups not to mount attacks on Israel, voicing concern about retaliation.

An unknown Gaza group, Ansar al-Sunna, claimed responsibility for the attack, launched a day before the international Quartet of Middle East peace mediators was to meet in Moscow to discuss ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks

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If this is your idea of peace…What did Operation Cast Lead accomplish?…Why is the US threatening Israel and not the Palestinians with loan guarantee economic sanctions?…Plus…An incredible anti-Israel, anti-Semitic exchange on C-SPAN involving a former CIA official…Also…Jimmy Carter’s apology is a lie…And…Celebrating a great Israeli Chef, Shalom Kadosh…Matisyahu gets bigger and bigger…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

Continue reading “Rockets, Missiles and Mortars, Oh, My…Here We Go Again” »

Are we approaching the end of the war?…What will it look like?…Talk of further military action, talk of ceasefire…Which will it be?…Also…They cry “No place to run, no place to hide left in Gaza”…Just why is that so?…And how about humanitarian aid…Where is IT going?…More…What about that UN school that the Israeli Army shelled?…What was REALLY going on there…Plus…More up-close-and-personal coverage of Israel’s Channukah War against Hamas in Gaza…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…Listen to the show below…

Subscribe to This Podcast

Listen to the Show Here…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

More war coverage from Southern Israel…What is it like to be under rocket and missile attack in your home?…And…Is there really a humanitarian crisis in Gaza?…Also…War in Israel vs. war in Gaza…Two different world-views…And WHAT a difference there is!!!…Plus…Was all this REALLY necessary?…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…Listen to the show below…

Subscribe to This Podcast

Listen to the Show Here…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Lion of Judah awakens…A special extra-large version of the Marty Roberts show…Update on the war against Hamas in Gaza…What can we expect in the future?…Events leading up to the Israeli attack…International and domestic reaction to the war…The Israeli-Arab third column…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…Listen to the show below…

Subscribe to This Podcast

Listen to the Show Here…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Drums of war to the North of me, terror to the South, Here I am…Things are heating up between Israel and Syria…The threats and counterthreats are flying amongst the mixed messages…Successful anti-terror operations continue by the Israeli Army in the Center of the country, while the missiles continue to rain on the South…Israel is searching for a solution to the cesspool of terror that she created by abandoning Gaza to Arab terrorists…Maybe the solution is right before your eyes?…Plus attacks ON and BY smokers in Tel Aviv and Gaza…All this and more on “The Marty Roberts Show”…

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