Israel, where beauty and danger, joy and grief walk side by side.
From reading my blog, it’s sometimes possible to forget I live in Israel… I can admit that I forget this myself sometimes as I dig in the garden or scatter some grain to the chickens – at those moments it feels like I might be anywhere.
However, there are moments when reality hits, brutally. Just last Friday night, a terrorist walked into the midst of a family celebration and stabbed three people to death. I do wish I hadn’t seen the photos of the murder scene. They haunt me day and night.
There is an important point which doesn’t come up, in my opinion, nearly often enough when this subject is discussed – namely, that the terrorist didn’t break in or even climb in through the window. He walked in through the front door, which was unlocked.
The Fogel family in Itamar, about whom I can’t ever stop thinking and hurting, actually went to sleep with the front door unlocked, because a teenager was late coming home, and they didn’t want to sit up for her, or be bothered to open in the middle of the night. Five people lost their lives, including a four-month-old baby.
When I pointed this out, people turned on me: am I blaming the victims?! And the answer is no, no, and no. Absolutely not. I believe that the murdering beasts should be shot on the spot. Unless they are tortured first, which I would entirely support. Do I blame a girl who walks alone at night for getting raped? No. But I still say that it’s wiser and more prudent to thwart danger by, say, choosing a different route.
I’m merely saying this: let’s not make it any easier for those who try to do us harm. Locking doors and windows is basic, common vigilance. People living in town always do it on account of housebreaking. But somehow, people in settlements, who have so much more to fear, neglect this simple precaution.
Lock your doors and windows. I repeat; lock your doors and windows. Do it during the day and during the night. I always do. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to sleep or not. The convenience of just being able to tell a neighbor “come in” rather than go and open the door is insignificant compared to the terrible risk. And I don’t open doors to strange men when my husband isn’t present. I don’t care if people think I’m weird or rude. Safety first.
I do hope that one day, we will live in a world where no one has to bother about whether the door is locked or not; and most certainly, where no one pays with their life for neglecting to lock the door or window. But for now, the most important thing is to stay safe.
Domestic Felicity 
We live in the Midwest of the U.S., in a small city. We do lock up, consistently. Recently, my husband neglected to lock his car doors upon returning from work. Our car was in our driveway up close to the house. The next morning, he found someone had gotten in the car and searched throughout. Now, we take an extra measure by leaving a light on just inside
the door. I believe the LORD watches over HIS own, while we take the wise precautions to avert evil. TheLORD bless tbee and keep thee…
Love when I find you’ve posted.🤗
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Thank you so much, Carol. Certainly, one can’t be too careful – especially when one’s life, and one’s children’s lives, are at stake.
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I m so very sorry and saddened by the act of violece you describr. The people who voted for trump or brexit did so because they felt desperate. Their needs had been neglected over the years by policy makers until they expressed their resentment by voting for radical change. If you look at an outcome without looking behind such a tragedy as you describe in your post, you are forgetting or choosing to look away from the reasons for such desperate acts of violence. And to condone torture? This is giving voice to the frightened terrorist within each of us. Terrorists as we like to call these tortured souls are born out of supression poverty and denial. We must not cut off and see only the outcomes of these tragedies. We all have a responsibility to look behind and see that hatred is born from suffering and do what we can to promote peace.
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Sam, unfortunately this is not merely about poverty and lack of opportunities. Muslims in Israel, even in the West Bank, live better than in most Muslim countries. We teach peace; they teach hatred. No doubt, sick individuals who are capable of brutally stabbing an infant to death did not spring out of the blue. But nevertheless, the attitude of our government has been too wishy-washy for decades, and people have lost their safety as a result.
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Sadly we have a lot of crime committed by white people and happily we have a lot of wonderful Muslims living here. But inequality breeds contempt and the UK is one of the most unequal. We must address this here and everywhere. As is becoming all to clear from recent terrorist attacks – locking our doors is simply not enough.
🙂
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First, I consider this a question of religion, not race; there are Jews, Christians and Muslims of all colors. At this point in history, Islam is the only major world religion that condones unspeakable crimes (practically, if not scripturally). Though theologically Islam is nearer to Judaism, Jews and Christians have a lot more in common culturally these days.
Second, “a lot” does not make statistics. Obviously there are some Muslims who commit crimes, and there are some non-Muslims who commit crimes, but what is the proportion? What is the percentage of violent criminals in each community?
We have some very poor communities in Israel that are not Muslim. Ethiopian Jews is one example. Poverty, lack of opportunities, cultural segregation (not lawful, obviously, but practical) and racism make them very bitter, and there are a lot of riots. But one doesn’t see them killing people to advance a cause.
Obviously locking our doors isn’t enough. This is a simple precaution taken by individuals. It’s the government’s job to make child-murdering terrorists know that they can’t expect a cushy prison and possible release after some political negotiations.
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Dear Anna: We live in a small southern town here in the US. Our neighbor just had another neighbor, not well known by them, simply walk into the front door because it was unlocked. Fortunately for them, he meant no harm, but is known to be “boorish” in the neighborhood. I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, keep my doors locked, no matter what time of day. I grew up in the Northern states, which at the time were less safe, than the south, now they’re about equal. In these uncertain times, we need to be cautious, let people think what they want
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Absolutely, Karoline. Better safe than sorry!
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We are in the farm land of the Midwest .I hardly ever lock up even when we leave day or night . This is naïve ,we have drug problems in our State, which can lead to the same outcome, and I need to learn from this horrible thing that has happened . I pray your little family will be safe. As far as terrorism being caused by “inequality ” or in other words GREED , I have read the book of their religion and see it as the inspiration for this violence against unbelievers. It has nothing to do with poverty as the terrorists in America are of that religion and living comfortable middle class lives. May God strengthen the leaders in both our countries. Karen
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Karen, do keep yourself and your family safe. You’re absolutely right – many of the terrorists here actually have an Israeli citizenship with all its privileges, have received prestigious scholarships, etc.
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Why not get a dog? Locking doors is simply not enough of a practical safety measure.
Wishing your family best and safe.
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Getting a dog is a good idea as well. But locks are a basic security measure. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that some people here actually don’t HAVE locks on their front doors.
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Having a dog is much more effective than locking doors. There are situations where one has to be in and out of the house every minute, or one is expecting guests (like Solomon family did) and one is very likely to leave the door unlocked. A well trained dog on the other hand will not even let an intruder approach the house. Ask a security expert.
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I realize that there are times when one has to be in and out of the house every minute. I, personally, try to minimize such events, especially after it’s dark.
We had kept a watch dog in the past, when we lived in an isolated house. She was, indeed, effective at alerting us to any movement in the yard but, A) she took up a lot of space, B) she was rather high-maintenance and needed to be exercised a lot, which isn’t always doable for every family, and C) we couldn’t keep her loose; she had a run line, and one side of the house was still exposed to intruders.
I’d say that overall, keeping a dog (when possible) AND locking doors and windows is best. One cannot say, “I have a dog, so I’ll just go to sleep with my front door unlocked”.
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Anna, you are absolutely right about Islam being the problem and I applaud you for being brave enough to say that. It is more of a political ideology than a religion, and it is evil. No one will come out and acknowledge this, though. In the US, we are watching Muslims commit terrorism, hearing stories like yours, and we keep saying tolerance. Acceptance. A religion that teaches what they teach should not be tolerated or accepted. I hope America wakes up to this before it is too late.
May God protect your family and keep you safe.
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Emily, people are talking about it… but they get no voice in the mainstream media. And I do believe people will wake up. It is a matter of survival.
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I totally condemn such murderous acts anna,
But there is a big “BUT”……
you are conveying most Muslims as terrorists and their religion the cause of this behavior, all of what you say is one-sided and needs in-depth debate, especially in terms of the Islamic holy book the Quran, which has been extensively misunderstood, and in most cases this misunderstanding has been maliciously on purpose!
There are astonishing instances of advise on murder and massacare in the Torah, so you can’t say that the Torah is a supporter of genocide, just as you can’t say this in the case of the Quran….
The important thing is to identify the source that funds and teaches murderous acts to ignorant muslims and non-muslims for that matter, throughout the world….
Might be very interesting to know which country actually brought ISIS into existence (the USA) and also get some facts on the role the IDF is playing in supporting this vicious, murderous group, as well as curing these wounded animals in it’s hospitalls!!!!!!
Israel has supported the ISIL and Al Nusrah brigades out of the Golan Heights.
Jihadist fighters have met Israeli IDF officers as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu. The IDF top brass tacitly acknowledges that “global jihad elements inside Syria” [ISIL and Al Nusrah] are supported by Israel.
Which country is fighting ISIS? A coalition of Shias and Sunnis led by Iran!
Some heavy food for thought there….
So before condemning any groups for terrorist acts, take a look at who your leaders are supporting… Don’t say that this is for the welfare of Israel, because we don’t have “good” and “bad” terrorists, double standards are never accepted by truthful souls.
Terrorists are terrorists!
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1. I’ve never said that all Muslims are terrorists. You cannot deny, however, that most terrorists these days are Muslims.
2. I am absolutely against any kind of negotiations or maneuvering with terrorists. Those who murder in cold blood should be killed at once.
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