Opinion g ht-Loss LOSE 0 The Goldstone Farce 0 , 747,-- - , . . • I bs ■ '.4 tTlk- _ IN 8 WEEKS! ( New York/JTA T Dr Mark DeVore lost over 90 lbs! 248.352.8000 Food provided by Gourmet Everyday www.gourmeteverydaydelivery.com 29350 Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, MI 48034 1 www.franklinclub.com 1547470 Here is your chance to see Joan Rivers on Saturday, November 14th at Andiamo Warren and bring along 5 of your friends or family. Tell us Why yfti are Joan's Biggest Fan in 1st prizes is I sien one page or less Meet and greet with Joan River before the show Dinner for 6 at Andiamo/Warren 6 Front row tickets to the show 1/$100.00 gift certificate to be used for drinks * Does not include tax and gratuity 2nd prize.... 4/ticket to the show 3rd prize i,„„E 2/tickets to the show You can e-mail your entry to Keith Farber at kfarber@renmedia.us Or send it to The Jewish News 29200 Northwestern Hwy Suite #110 Southfield Mi 48034 c/o Keith Farber Winners will be announced in the November 5th issue of the Jewish News. They reason why they are Joan Rivers biggest fan will appear in the issue. 42 October 29 b 2009 All entries are due by Oct 30th, 2009 1543200 he No. 1 priority of any gov- ernment is to protect its citi- zens, whether from times of economic instability, crime or foreign threats. Stimulus packages and rebates are given to constituents to spur the economy. Additional police forces are deployed to counter crime. But what is a country to do when attacked by a foreign army? The answer to this ques- tion seems simple: defend its citizens by all means possible. But for Israel, doing so means condem- nation by the world in the form of the Goldstone Report. For eight years, since 2001 until Operation Cast Lead, 12,000 rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israeli men, women and children were forced to sleep in bomb shelters. Children's school days were disturbed by "red alerts:' an alarm announcing that a rocket had been fired and that they had 15 seconds to find shelter. The excuse for the rocket fire: occupation. Taking the unilateral step to bring peace to its citizens, the Land of Israel, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, dismantled every settlement and every military base in Gaza and relocated 10,000 Jewish residents. The result: 5,426 rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli citizens. Terror In Sderot Israel was forced to react and finally curb these attacks. From March 2008 until the end of Operation Cast Lead, I worked in the Israeli city of Sderot, Israel's hardest-hit community. Even today, I can still see the tear-stained faces and hear the cries of fathers, mothers and children as the red alert sounded and then the subsequent bang from a missile or rocket hitting a school, a home or a street. Every day, for eight years, rockets and mortars hit Sderot. Not a day went by that the siren did not sound. Not a night went by that children could sleep in their beds. In the rare instances that residents were allowed to leave the shelters for fresh air, and to get food and clothes for their extended stay, fear was rampant in the air. No one knew when the next rocket would be fired. Israel tried diplomatic ways, enter- ing into a truce with Hamas to bring peace to the residents of southern Israel. But Hamas chose war as we had our arms outstretched for peace. On Dec. 13, 2008, Israel announced that it wished to extend a truce that was scheduled to end Dec. 19. On Dec. 20, Hamas chose not to extend the truce. Choosing the path of war, on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, Hamas fired 87 rock- ets and mortar rounds at Israel in an operation titled Operation Oil Stain. The question of a government's right to self- defense is not the only issue on trial in the Goldstone Report. Also on trial is the world's right to fight terrorism, whether at home or abroad. Israel, a nation with laws and codes of ethics, was forced to defend itself from terrorists who intention- ally fired at innocent civilians and decided to hide among their own civilian population in order to defend themselves from counter action. Goldstone does not differentiate between a democracy using force to defend its civilians and a terror organization targeting innocent civil- ians on purpose. The report does not search for the truth, but rather instills Goldstone's own political beliefs on the situation. Such reports not only harm nation states in the war against terror, but also harm the prospects for peace in the Middle East. For peace to be given a chance, all citizens must know that their country will keep them safe — not only from econom- ic crisis and crime, but also from foreign threats. Joel Lion is consul for media affairs and spokesman of the Consulate General of Israel in New York.