07.30.06 Yesha Rabbinical Council:
During time of war, enemy has no innocents
The Yesha Rabbinical Council announced in response to an IDF attack in Kfar Qanna that "according to Jewish law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such term as 'innocents' of the enemy." All of the discussions on Christian morality are weakening the spirit of the army and the nation and are costing us in the blood of our soldiers and civilians," the statement said.
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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3284115,00.html
Here lay their corpses by Sever Plocker 31.07.06
The corpses of dozens of Lebanese children, shrouded in sealed plastic bags are laid down on the scorched and blood soaked ground of the village of Qana, it is a cursed village. The IDF's air strike brought down a building sheltering war refugees....
The images of the corpses are heartbreaking. It's true that Nasrallah used the village of Qana to launch rockets towards Israel, because among other reasons he too was aware of Israel's reluctance to bomb the village (which had become a symbol of a merciless massacre 10 years ago). But this reluctance in itself, does not acquit, cleanse or sooth the conscience of any Israeli. On a national level, we are all to blame.. This killing should be on all our consciences.
Can we explain it? There's no need to, there is a need however to take responsibility, to console and to ask for forgiveness. Taking responsibility is key in such a tragedy. So is asking for forgiveness. It's usually difficult for us, as Israelis to ask for forgiveness - even from one another, and even more so from a neighboring people. This character trait is perceived by other nations as a form of Jewish arrogance, as a show of indifference to the plight of non-Jews, as a stand of continuous victimization. Looking at the dozens of corpses, there is no room for such a stand. Let's just be human beings, completely humane. We'll weep. Our powerful stance will not be damaged by this approach. Our enemy's will not view us as cowards. The families of the dead will regard us as human beings, and perhaps will also forgive us................