I am interested -- and concerned

[The Mozilla browser USED TO BE my browser of choice, but since its latest update it is refusing to allow me access to various websites, including Blogspot.com.  In the name of enhanced security, it has turned itself into a useless piece of excrement.]

The American presidential election is huge here in Israel, possible the most important election in the country's history.  The Jerusalem Post, Israel's English language rag, has nothing but election recaps, election analyses, and foreign policy predictions.  The only things that are not election related are the weather and the sports (Israelis are very big on American, British and EU sports).

 

Basically, Israelis are very pleased with the results (with the exception of the leftist pockets in the Tel Aviv area, not too far from where I am located).  Even in Tel Aviv there is optimism over Donald Trump's victory.

Thursday evening my wife and I were walking down the street in our town.  We passed a sidewalk café frequented largely (but not exclusively) by American expats, and joined some of our friends who had just taken their seats at a table.  The conversation, of course, was about the election.

 

The concerns in Israel are whether Trump will be able to deliver on his promises to Israel, and, as always, the security situation here.

 

These days I am in Tel Aviv at least twice per week.  During the past two weeks I saw some subtle tightenings in security measures, including but not limited to more thorough backpack searches and a more visible presence of uniformed military, including at the largest shopping mall in Tel Aviv, where I have occasion to do lunch and/or shop on my Tel Aviv days.  I saw more people carrying at my shul this Shabbat, including some who are not law enforcement officers (including EMTs).  One of these non-LEOs is in my study group.  I asked him if there was any reason for special concern of late; of course he is very tight-lipped about such things, but he grinned and told me that it never hurts to be aware of one's surroundings.

 

Similarly, my wife has picked up some signals of enhanced security at the hospital where she is employed, including a colleague whose army reserve training exercise got revised to an earlier date.

 

I have a full schedule in the coming weeks.  Situational awareness will be a high priority.

 

The Cost of School Security Guards

The New York City Council has just enacted legislation providing reimbursement for the cost of unarmed security guards in non-public schools (as this is written, the measure has yet to post on the NYC Council website).

I do have mixed sentiments about the whole thing.  On one hand, it obviously is a measure to pander to certain vested interests whom Mayor de Blasio has slighted in the past.  On the other hand, my son once attended an eligible non-public school in the City of New York.  And, if a law can be evaluated by those who oppose it, there are some Blaine Amendment criticisms now being bandied about.

The catch:  The security guards, it seems, would be "unarmed" and accordingly, of limited value in actually protecting the schoolchildren.

Meanwhile, in Florida, a burglar named Matthew Riggins was eaten by an alligator while trying to evade the sheriff's deputies who were pursuing him.

Perhaps the alligators could be flown in from Florida to guard the schools.

But Blaz's legislation not only requires that the guards be unarmed, but that they be paid a minimum of $18 per hour.  Will the animal rights activists demand parity pay for the gators?

And everyone, have a Happy Chanukah!

A Good Name for Tefillin

The story has already saturated the internet news: Chautauqua Airlines Flight 3079 from New York (LaGuardia) to Louisville was diverted to Philadelphia, where Calev Liebowitz and his little sister were handcuffed and taken the plane. Why? Because Calev was praying his morning prayers with his tefillin ("phylacteries" in English/Greek), of which the stewardess was totally clueless. Once the Philadelphia Police realized what had happened, Calev and sister were released and sent on their merry way to Louisville.

Because I myself have a pair of tefillin which I lay on every day (except the Sabbath and Jewish festivals), I know exactly what they are and how they are used. But the fact is that most of the American population does not know what tefillin are. Accordingly, the stewardess was suspicious, and the pilot acted on the side of caution (he probably didn't know too much about tefillin either).

Of course, I now hear everyone in my own socioreligious circles screaming "anti-Semitism" and calling for the stewardess's termination. But the way I call it, everyone acted properly under the circumstances:

The Stewardess on Flight 3079: She saw Calev wrap two black boxes with long straps around his arm and over his head, respectively. She didn't know what they were. She said something. This was appropriate behavior (given that she didn't know what tefillin were).

The Pilot on Flight 3079: He decided to err on the side of caution after hearing the story second-hand from the Stewardess. This was an appropriate decision.

The Law Enforcement Officers: Working on a third-hand story, they handcuffed the suspected would-be bomber. Once they realized that he was just a religious Jew praying with his tefillin, they immediately released him. This was quite appropriate.

Calev Liebowitz: (A) He properly said his morning prayers with his tefillin. (B) He did it unobtrusively in his seat and didn't disrupt other passengers by trying to gather 10 or more Jewish men (a "minyan") all together in the aisles. (C) He totally cooperated with the cops and apparently didn't give them any backtalk. He behaved appropriately.

And so, all individuals involved appropriately (although the whole thing was certainly a collective over-reaction). But Chautauqua Airlines, the Philadelphia International Airport, the law enforcement authorities and the other passengers on Flight 3079 could have been spared the expenditure of much time, money and aggravation if only Chautauqua Airlines would have instructed its flight crews as to what tefillin are.


At the other end of the spectrum is some totally inappropriate behavior. Martin Grossman, now residing on death row in Florida, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on 16 February 2010. Martin Grossman is Jewish, and so, I am now being beseeched by certain groups to ask Governor Crist to spare Grossman's life. My gut reaction is that whenever a fellow Jew is in danger, I must go and help him or her. But under the circumstances, I must now ask myself what I would advocate if it were, instead of a Jewish criminal killing a Gentile victim, the situation were reversed. And so, stripping everyone of all religious and ethnic and gender labels, we have the following:

A 19-year-old person on probation from jail for a felony burglary and theft offense is high on drugs, has gone outside of the county and is in possession of a firearm, all in contravention of the terms of the person's probation. The person encounters a law enforcement officer, whom the person brutally beats because the law enforcement officer is about to report the person's misdeeds. The person then takes the law enforcement officer's weapon, and, while the law enforcement officer is forcibly wedged into the patrol car, shoots the law enforcement officer in the back of the head with the weapon, killing the law enforcement officer. The person and the person's accomplice then try to destroy and hide the evidence.

I really, really hate to see another Jew die, but Martin Grossman has given me damn little to work with in constructing an argument for mercy or lenity on his behalf.


Well now, it seems that Rabbi Menachem Katz of the Aleph Institute has been visiting Martin Grossman in prison. [This is appropriate behavior if, as I believe to be the case here, the visitor is not smuggling any contraband and is visiting in compliance with the prison visitation rules. The Aleph Institute is a credible organization, which offers its outreach services to Jews who are removed from the mainstream community. This obviously includes prison inmates, but Aleph Institute also reaches out to Jewish military personnel who are not in ready touch with Jewish communities.].

It has been reported that Grossman has requested a proper Jewish burial in the event that the execution is carried out. This I can endorse. Every Jew is entitled to a proper Jewish burial. The Hebrew Free Burial Association does precisely that for indigent Jewish decedents in the New York area (I myself send a check to HFBA every year). Surely a proper Jewish burial can be arranged for Grossman. They probably can dispense with the autopsy. And I do not doubt that there are Jewish law enforcement officers in Florida who would be willing to stand watch over the body between the time of death and the time of burial.

And, as further detailed per this Blog's 19 August 2009 posting, Grossman is entitled to a memorial plaque on a Yahrzeit board. The Jewish community of Florida is quite affluent, so I'm sure that they will find a way to underwrite Grossman's proper Jewish burial and Yahrzeit plaque.


Rabbi Katz also reports that he arranged for "special permission from the warden to allow Grossman to put on Tefillin." This I certainly favor, but hope and pray that Grossman doesn't give tefillin (and those of us who pray with them) a bad name.

Names On & Off the List

By now, the whole civilized world (and much of the uncivilized world) knows that Michaele and Tareq Salahi were waved through the White House security and attended Obama's State Dinner for the Prime Minister of India, and even got within handshake distance of Barack Hussein Obama himself.

My question: Suppose their name had been Cohen or Levy or Rabinowitz? Would the White House security staff have waved them through without making further inquiry to the party planners (i.e., consulted an actual copy of the official guest list)?

Before you answer, consider Tareq Salahi's connections in the Arab world which Obama is so anxious to please and grovel down to.

Hitting the Bottle

Well, my wife and I are back from visiting our son in the Holy City of Jerusalem, and visiting other friends and relatives, and seeing Israel. Our return flight was rather turbulent so the "Fasten Seat Belt" signs were on for almost the entire time (though we did get up and walk around a bit). One of the passengers had a medical exigency, but she seemed okay after they met her with a wheelchair at the landing.

But, with the tailwinds slightly more intense than anticipated, we actually landed a few minutes early. It's good to be back home again. But I already miss Israel and the Holy City of Jerusalem.

This posting deals with the differences between the respective security of American airports and Israeli airports. Specifically, the US Department of Homeland Security Transportation Safety Administration's "Three Ounce Rule" for carrying liquids on airplanes.

As is widely known, airline passengers are limited to 3-ounce bottles of liquids, in a 1-quart clear plastic bag, onto airlines. Accordingly, that liter of bottled water I was sipping had to be discarded when I entered the airport at Newark. At Israel's Lod Airport (while I appreciate what David Ben Gurion achieved, I am not a worshipper of Ben Gurion and accordingly, still call the airport "Lod"; just as I still call the international airport in New York City "Idlewyld"), I was permitted to continue sipping my liter of bottled water as I entered, and eventually to carry it onto the airplane; indeed, I carried the same bottle, with more than 3 ounces remaining, off the plane when it landed in the USA.

This is not an indicium of Israel's lax security. Indeed, they detected, in my wife's luggage, the two bottles of Prigat orange juice concentrate, and required her to open the suitcase before allowing it to be checked. Israeli air travel security has long been the benchmark. Even back in 1973, when I was traveling back via El Al, I was asked some pointed questions regarding my stay in Israel. I had spent time on an archaeological dig, and the airport security people asked me questions regarding the dig which, had I not been there, I would not have been able to properly answer. Had American airports even come close to Israel's standards in 2001, then the Muslim terrorist attack of September 11th would almost surely not have been successful (and might not have even been attempted).

The difference between TSA's security and Israel's security is that the TSA people inspect luggage and bags, while the Israelis check out and evaluate people. Suitcases don't commit acts of terror, terrorists do! And the Israeli's prime objective is to spot the terrorists, not to look into suitcases.

Until TSA starts looking for terrorists (which would include the use of valuable tools such as profiles) instead of measuring the ounces of water in the bottles carried by passengers, then I will feel more secure traveling from Israeli airports than from American airports.

Clearance Denied

Some good news in the fight against illegal aliens.

A security clearance was denied to an individual who knowingly hired an illegal alien as a babysitter and who failed to pay the Social Security taxes and other obligations in connection with the illegal alien's employment.

Controlling the illegals cannot be done if the illegals alone are targeted. The facilitators of the illegal aliens must also be held accountable. In this case, such seems to have been done.