An Act of Courage An Act of Courage

After unilaterally deciding to pullout of Gaza, it would be expected that the Israelis would experience a period of calm. Instead, they experienced rockets being fired at civilian towns in the south, attacks by Hizbollah in the north . . . and an attack by a suicide bomber in the center of the country. It must take tremendous courage just to live in a tiny country like that- surrounded by hostile neighbours who seek to annihilate them.*

The mainstream media in the U.S. reports suicide attacks, but doesn't report those that are thwarted by the Israelis. For every "successful" attack, several are stopped by the Israeli military, police, security guards at cafes, and ordinary citizens.

An article in today's Jerusalem Post tells the story of one such person. First Sgt.-Maj. Shoshe Atiya, 39, is an Israeli police officer . . . and pregnant. When she saw a person acting suspiciously, rather than run in the opposite direction, she ran toward the suspected suicide bomber. She saw that his hand was in a video camera case- she attempted to pull it out.

An amazing story of incredible courage, well worth reading.

*This map is of Israel plus the West Bank and Gaza. Israel no longer occupies Gaza, and part of the West Bank will probably be ceded when/if there is a final peace settlement, so the country is actually smaller than indicated in this map . . .

(This article has been cross-posted on A Deeper Look).