On Friday, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai threatened a “shoah” on Gaza in response to qassam rocket fire directed at Ashkelon. “Shoah” is a Hebrew term for “big disaster” and is often used to describe the Holocaust. Vilnai’s comment to Israeli Army Radio (according to a CNIF bulletin):
“The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.”
The Independent has it slightly different:
“As the rocket fire grows, and the range increases – and they haven’t yet said the last word on this – they are bringing upon themselves a greater Shoah because we will use all our strength in every way we deem appropriate, whether in air strikes or on the ground.”
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Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Israeli and American celebrities rallied this week at a benefit concert in Los Angeles for the “rocket-weary people of Sderot.” The participants included movie stars Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight and Valerie Harper, comedian Larry Miller and Israeli singer Ninet Tayeb. Teenagers from Sderot were flown over for the concert in a bid to highlight their daily suffering.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959308.html (note the obligatory video appearances by ALL of the major candidates)
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Today’s NYT: “More than 60 Palestinians have died since fighting surged on Wednesday; one Israeli died in Sderot from a rocket, and five Israelis were wounded on Saturday from rocket strikes in Ashkelon.”
Today’s Independent: “[Israeli] Government spokesmen launched an immediate damage limitation exercise saying that Mr Vilnai was merely using the word to mean “disaster” and not in any way intending to convey the idea of genocide. But Shoah is rarely used in modern Hebrew parlance for events other than the Holocaust.”
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Wonder how many Hollywood galas there have been lately for “rocket-weary” Palestinians in Gaza?