Friends, the day (10th!) began with the first civilian search teams sent out to look in every well, pit, cave and underground tunnel within a large radius. It is tough to imagine how the kidnapped boys can be holding out, but there is still hope they are alive and well.
First, something general on the Middle East, where Syria is falling apart, Iran is in a state of flux and there’s more – from a friend in the know:
The Middle East, with the singular exception of a stable, prosperous, democratic Israel, is in a state of turmoil and transition – with enormous violence and instability the norm. We are seeing Sunni-Shia tensions, increasing radicalism, and the break down of borders. And the situation is only growing more severe and more convoluted. One of the most serious aspects of the current scenario is that it is devoid of good guys. It’s simply a question of who is less problematic, less dangerous for Israeli and Western interests, and sometimes that’s a hard if not impossible call.
We’ve seen this in Syria for some time: Assad is a vile dictator, with no concern whatsoever for the lives of his own people and a solid alliance with Iran. While many of the rebels arrayed against him are jihadists who are seeking a cross-border caliphate that is a lethal proposition.
Today we see it as well in Iraq with the brutal onslaught of ISIS there. A ruthless Sunni, jihadist, al-Qaeda off-shoot (now a rival of al-Qaeda) that began in Iraq, ISIS established itself in Syria after the civil war began, becoming a significant rebel force there. Now it is moving against the regime of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shia-dominated government – traveling across swaths of Iraq with lightening speed, taking territory and towns in the north and west of Iraq, and approaching ever closer to Baghdad.
Yesterday, the post of Turaibil, at the Iraqi border with Jordan was taken by ISIS, presenting a threat to the stability of Jordan.
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While on the ground, here in Gush Etzion most public buildings have been taken over by soldiers, moving in temporarily with mattresses and food supplies. They move from here down south and to Hebron, to search for the kidnapped boys. My ten-year-old daughter helped by making hot cocoa and delivering it just now to the soldiers standing in our busstops, protecting the youth and passersby as they get on buses and walk towards home. This is crazy.
Finally, for mothers, please ‘Like’ the Facebook page, Mothers Unite:#Bring Back Our Boys, share it, and send in a photo with : #MothersUnite and #Bringbackourboys:
https://www.facebook.com/MothersUniteBringBackOurBoys?ref_type=bookmark
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Eyal-Gilad-Naftali – we await your safe return to your mothers’ arms right away.
Praying for a miracle and for the IDF to work their magic.