Girl, 18, Ordered Off El Al Flight, Forced to Undress & Searched Without Explanation

SHOCKING EL AL INCIDENT: Girl, 18, Ordered Off Flight, Forced to Undress & Searched Without Explanation  Yeshiva World News

"What happened next was totally unexpected. A large, intimidating Israeli security guard approached her and ordered her to get up and follow him off of the plane. The victim says she was “petrified”, as any naive 18-year-old Beis Yaakov girl flying alone would be. She asked “why, what happened?” He refused to answer but said that if she didn’t do as told then she would be arrested. With no other choice, (and the entire plane watching) she gathered her belongings and followed the security guard off of the plane.

"The guard escorted her to a security interrogation room, where there were two other men waiting. The victim says they began shouting at her and asked for her phone. She was petrified and then began to cry. The second she took her phone out of her coat pocket, one of the men reached out and grabbed it from her hand. He then shouted at her to remove the coat, which she did and handed it to him.

"Then, she was ordered to go behind a curtain and take off her clothes because they needed to “check them.” At that point she says she began shouting for help. The men ran out of the room and called in female security guards to continue with the “security check.” The victim says she asked them to return her phone so she could call her parents. They shouted at her and said that if she disturbs the ‘security process’ one more time then they would arrest her and put her in handcuffs."

The story goes on to detail untznius things that I don't want to repost here.

Full story at Yeshiva World News.

Efraim Halevy on Hamas

Efraim Halevy is a former head of Mossad. I believe I have posted videos of him here before. He is quite articulate and reasonable, a very impressive figure on the political scene. He wrote an article called "Israel’s Hamas Portfolio" that discusses the Hamas issue, a bit on the history on the group, and what we might do about it now.

"The Hamas movement has been around for less than a quarter of a century. Its covenant and charter, approved in 1988, a year after the organization was established, clearly propagates a policy designed to bring about an end to the State of Israel. To fulfill that aim, Hamas has resorted to armed struggle, terrorism targeting innocent civilians (particularly children), and has launched and maintained a capacity to train and dispatch suicide bombers to densely populated urban targets, shopping malls, central bus stations and discothèques, all in Israeli territory.

"Throughout its short existence, just over two decades, the movement has borne the brunt of the combined force of Israel’s security and defense capabilities. The Israel Security Agency (ISA, commonly known as the Shin Bet) has mounted and perfected a massive intelligence-collection operation, second to none in the history of modern anti-terrorist warfare. All other branches of the Israeli intelligence community have joined hands with the ISA and the IDF in executing daring and precise surgical operations directed at terrorist groups and individuals in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip with deadly effect. The core leadership of Hamas, including its founding leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, has been brought before
Israeli courts, tried, sentenced and detained for long periods of time."

Keep reading

More on the Imperative to Study Grammar

"With regard to grammar, I note that my revered father זצ'ל held that its study is included in the מצוה of תלמוד תורה because its knowledge is crucial for reaching correct Halakhic conclusions. He cited a grammatical error which led a well intentioned author to propose building a מקוה in any Jewish home. Ignorance of the gender of the noun אצבע in רמב'ם הלכות ספר תורה פ'ה ה'ט had led that individual to advocate מקוואות in that were undersized and invalid; their use would have resulted in massive איסורי כרת. Knowledge of grammar is thus not פרפראות לחכמה, which the תוספות יו'ט defines as "studies undertaken to enhance knowledge" also not to be denigrated -- but גופי תורה , 'studies that affect Halakha.'"

R' Nathan Kamenetsky, Approbation for Grammar for Gemara, Yitzchak Frank (Jerusalem: The Ariel Institute, 1992)