"When G-d will return the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers. Then our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with glad song." Psalm 126
The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth, So Help Me HaShem. War Stories. Almost 2 years of this now. Sunday, 20 July, 2025
שבוע טוב!! A good new week!!! Shavuah tove!!
Last night I checked my email, my social media and my messages. Something I do right after Shabbat ends. And I had no less than seven people ask me “What the F*@% is going on with Israel?” And “Can you explain what is happening???” And “I used to think Israel was the good guys. I’ve now changed my opinion.” That last comment was from an old friend who was totally understanding and supportive. Now, not so sure. And six people sent me this one video (out of four video clips and several articles, I still haven’t opened some of the posts):
Pretty damning, no? Especially if you don’t know any of the background. (We subscribe to The Daily Wire among many other media outlets, just to let you know). When I listened to this the first time I was very shocked – and upset. My husband, John, who if you know him, is never wrankled, easy going, always joking, was hopping mad. HIS comments:
“ They never ever tell you what leads up to these stories.
There is never ever any reporting about the other side.
The stories are always piecemeal, ugly sound bytes without any context.
These so-called journalists and podcasters never seem to take extra time to research a story – they just parrot anti-Israel propaganda.
And some of Israel’s biggest supporters are Americans and the Christian community. If they can cast doubt with these people by throwing shade on Israel or the IDF, they can split and weaken the community and thereby win.”
First, let me start by saying I spent last week and this morning calling and talking to people who I know have expertise. Several don’t have a stake in the game, so to speak. They are foreigners who live and work here as observers, as aides, as clergy, as humanitarian aid workers. I also know soldiers serving in Gaza, in Judaea and Samaria and in the Golan. They have first hand information. And I speak with people living in Judaea and Samaria (West Bank) who see and guard and know about the area and what is happening. Some I can mention by name, others like specific soldiers, I cannot.
Let us start with what is happening in Syria. As you heard from Mr. Knowles, Israel is now “occupying Southern Syria.” No context. No backstory…please see my last post for the Syria story!! The IDF is in no way occupying Syria. The backstory:
Last Sunday, a Christian jeweler and successful businessman from Hasakah, Syria, George Ishoh, was shot in the back of the head outside his home as he was leaving for Church. Masked men came to his house to shoot him in front of family and neighbors as a warning sign. He had refused to pay the Jizya, a tax imposed upon ‘Infidels’ aka non-Muslims. He had been given the choice to convert to the Muslim religion or pay over $300,000 US dollars; he did neither. So he was assassinated. Mr. Ishoh died shortly after neighbors rushed him to the hospital.
Syrian Christian martyr, George Ishoh
His murder highlights the ongoing lawlessness, religious persecution and security collapse in Syria, especially in Christian and Druze areas. There is a dramatic escalation in violence since alJawlani/alSharaa came to power. Just the week previous, 27 young people were killed in the firebombing of the Mar Elias Church in Damascus. Last week the Mar Michael and Mar Charbel churches were looted and burned in southern Syria. The government is much to blame as it is the new army that is now leading attacks.
Last week a Druze elder was given the option to convert or die. A Syrian rebel in the armed forces posted a video in which he states:: “A message to the Druze pigs. Get out of Jeramana. Take your children out of the universities. Get out from among the Sunni Muslims. We are warning you for the second and third time. Leave from any place where there are Sunnis. Your problem is not only with the Syrian people. You have made two, three billion Muslims your enemies (The Druze support Israel, my clarification). You are outcasts. You are hated wherever you go. You will be trampled on. Let Israel save you, you thugs, inshallah. He who warns is excused. So you don’t say the Sunnis betrayed us. You are warned. Because we will not have mercy on you. You know what will happen when we catch a Druze in our hands. Your problem is huge with the Muslims. Let Israel save you. You pigs. We swear by Allah, the lord of all creation. Wherever we will see a Druze,we will chop his head off. A child will be burned like a Jew. You are no different from the Israeli dogs. All of your heads are wanted. Allahu ahkbar.” (This was interpreted for me and sent to me by a retired Arab Christian colonel in the IDF who could translate the Arabic.)
Last week, the Syrian forces with tanks, RPGs, guns and machetes raided Suweida province, made up mostly of minority Druze, Greek Orthodox, Latin Rite and Maronite Christians who have tried to live there peacefully for centuries. I have never shown any graphic footage on this blog, because I know some of my readers are easily offended. But last week over 130 Christians and over 350 Druze were massacred. Warning: SENSITIVE CONTENT!! I hope it was not already taken down.
The global media refused to cover this. This is the face of genocide. This is TARGETED killing. No one came to their help, but Israel. The IDF went in, boots on the ground after targeted warning airstrikes on the gates of the Defense Department building in Damascus. Also, the grounds of the royal palace was hit, causing alJawlani/alSharaa to run to Turkey. He then left his younger brother-in-law, an ‘ex’ ISIS (Daesh) commando. Supposedly a ceasefire was agreed upon, but the Muslims started attacking again with even more force. IDF airstrikes directly hit convoys of tanks and pickup trucks carrying RPGs, militants and weapons.
The Syrian forces under the new command were told to spare no one. The Bedouins and other Islamic splinter groups capitalized on this and started kidnapping young Druze and Christian children to sell as slaves on the black market. Women were beheaded. Christian men were ordered to jump from a building at gunpoint.
A hospital in Suweida was attacked. It was run by and serviced mostly Christians and Druze. Last Thursday, the ISIS come Syrian army invaded the grounds and shot everyone. Every patient in their bed. Every doctor, nurse and orderly. This from the Voice of Israeli Christian Eagles:
The U.S. got involved as intermediary, telling the Israelis to hold off, that there will be a ceasefire mediated in Turkey. Israel said in essence, “but they’re killing our Druze and Christian brothers in Syria. It’s a total bloodbath.” And Israel did not listen to US advice to stay apart and not get involved. The IDF and many Israeli Druze entered Suweida on Thursday evening to encircle it and cut off the Syrian army which still controls about 30% of the northern region. Supposedly a ceasefire has been reached. In the meantime, gross looting of the Christian and Druze property is occurring.
Israel is neither colonizing nor occupying territory. The IDF went in to stop the massacre. No other country would come to their aid. Israel does not want another 7 October with innocents to the East being mercilessly slaughtered by Islamic extremists, whether they be ISIS or Hamas. There is now talk of bringing these Druze and Christians into the north of Israel as refugees. It remains an ongoing story, but now you know the context.
Now for the “West Bank” balagan, also called by mainstream media and global politicians “settler violence.” I will try not to continually make excuses for Israel. We have good people who do good things, and thugs who are rabble-rousers, just like in any other country. This country is no different. There are myriad problems governmentally, religiously, societally, legally and militarily. First, the label settler. When you think of settler- primitive squatter and rustic pioneer comes to mind. Not permanence. Not modernity. Not civilized. Much of the ‘settlements are entire cities with full services, shopping malls, theatres and schools, sports facilities and synagogues.
Without going into too much detail of 100+ years of history, the West Bank occupies about 1/3 of the land mass inside Israel. It has been broken up into Areas A, B, and C. Area C is controlled by Israel and under IDF protection. Area B is mixed, Jewish and Palestinian (both Christian and Muslim) and area A is off limits to Jews under threat of death. It is completely governed by the Palestinian Authority. I cannot enter.
Much of Area C is made up of large thriving Jewish communities like Efrat, Maale Adumim and Tekoa. These areas make up the ancient Biblical area of Judaea (hence the word Jew…someone originally from Judaea and the tribe of Judah) and Samaria. The ‘settlements’ are scattered between Arab territory…Bedouin, Palestinian Muslims and Christian. Please watch this thorough explanatory video – it’s current and the best I’ve seen because it covers all sides. It’s 22 minutes, so….
About two and a half weeks ago there was an incident which involved Christians and the Jewish settlers in the area, a predominantly Christian city. I was sent the following article and asked for comments.
Priests of West Bank’s only remaining all-Christian town issue urgent appeal against Israeli settler violence
The three priests of Taybeh in the West Bank issued an urgent appeal for justice this week after Israeli settlers reportedly escalated their acts of violence and intimidation against Christians in the region’s only remaining all-Christian town.
“We, the priests of the three churches of Taybeh — the Greek Orthodox Church, the Latin Church, and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church — raise our voices on behalf of the people of our town and our parishioners to strongly condemn the ongoing and grave series of attacks targeting Taybeh,” the three pastors wrote in a letter.
Fathers Daoud Khoury (Orthodox), Jack-Nobel Abed (Melkite Catholic), and Bashar Fawadleh (Latin Rite Catholic) published the powerful letter just after alarming reports of a July 7 arson attack on the town’s most sacred holy site. The settlers “deliberately set fire near the town’s cemetery and the historic Church of Saint George (Al-Khadr), dating back to the 5th century — one of the oldest religious landmarks in Palestine,” the priests wrote.
“As priests, we bear a pastoral and moral responsibility toward our community,” the letter stated. “We cannot remain silent in the face of these relentless attacks that threaten our very existence on this land.”
The letter went on to call on “local and international actors — especially consuls, ambassadors, and church representatives around the world,” to support Taybeh in four ways:
1. Launch an immediate and transparent investigation into the incidents of arson and the ongoing assaults on property, agricultural land, and holy sites.
2. Apply diplomatic pressure on the occupying authorities to halt settler actions and prevent them from entering or grazing in Taybeh’s lands.
3. Dispatch international and church delegations to conduct field visits, document the damages, and bear witness to the deteriorating reality on the ground.
4. Support the people of Taybeh through economic and agricultural initiatives, and strengthen their resilience with effective legal accompaniment.
The priests also explained the great cultural significance the town ought to hold for Christians everywhere. Taybeh is not only the Holy Land’s “last remaining entirely Christian town” but is even mentioned in Scripture, the pastors pointed out. Taybeh is “known in the Gospel as ‘Ephraim,’ the place to which Jesus withdrew before His Passion (John 11:54).”
One resident told CatholicVote last month that his family’s roots in Taybeh go back at least five centuries. Others can trace their lineage much further back.
The town’s “wholly Christian population represents a unique presence in the region,” the priests’ letter asserted, “a living testimony that dates back to the time of Christ” and has been “preserved faithfully by the people of Taybeh across generations….”
That legacy “is now at serious risk of erosion and displacement due to the systematic targeting of land, sacred places, and the local community,” they warned.
Monday’s arson attacks were only the latest dramatic escalation in a series of aggressive actions on the part of Jewish settlers. As CatholicVote reported June 30, locals told CatholicVote that settler attacks have been occurring with increasing regularity, including physical violence against Christian residents and their homes. They also complained that Israeli soldiers often stand by passively, allegedly facilitating settler violence rather than policing it.
“These assaults threaten the security and stability of our town and aim at undermining the dignity of [Taybeh’s] residents and the sanctity of its sacred land,” the three priests stated.
The priests also confirmed what other locals have reported to CatholicVote: that Jewish settlements have encroached further and further into the Christian town, serving as bases from which settlers have worked to damage farmlands and destroy businesses vital to the local economy.
“In a scene that has become provocatively routine, settlers continue to graze their cattle in Taybeh’s agricultural lands, including family-owned fields and areas near residential homes, without deterrence or intervention from the authorities,” the priests pointed out. “These violations go beyond provocation; they cause direct harm to olive trees — a vital source of livelihood for the people of Taybeh — and prevent farmers from accessing and cultivating their land.”
The “illegal settlement outposts” in the eastern part of the town operate “under military protection,” the priests stated. “These outposts serve as a base for further assaults on the land and its people.”
“We believe that the Holy Land cannot remain alive without its indigenous people,” they concluded. “Forcibly removing farmers from their land, threatening their churches, and encircling their towns is a wound to the living heart of this nation. Yet we remain steadfast in our shared faith and hope that truth and justice will ultimately prevail.”
Fr. Fawadleh told CatholicVote over the phone in late June that “more than 140 families” have recently fled the West Bank in the midst of pressure from settler groups and local officials.
“In Taybeh we are also bleeding from emigration,” he said, noting that 10 families have left the town in the last two years.
“We have to stop this bleeding,” he said
I know there is settler violence, which I can in no way condone. I know there is a group of young, ultra religious and ultra nationalistic men called ‘The Hilltop Gang” whose acts I do not support at all. But I also know of first hand accounts from both Jewish people and Christians living in the area. Two things seem to be repeated in the stories. First, the instigators tend to be Bedouins and militant Islamists, Palestinians who wish to have the entire area free from Infidels, both Jews and Christians. They are usually funded and egged on by progressive leftists and communists (the free Palestine/From the River to the Sea folk) from the United States. Both Jewish leftist organizations and woke academia.
Second, there is no love lost between the Jewish population and the Christian population in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Neither group for the most part likes or supports the other. Many Jews lump all Arabs together as terrorists, which is not true. It is a stereotype and ignorance of ethnicities. On the other hand, many Christians (my husband and I have had long conversations with more than a few) believe the old libel that the Jews killed their Messiah. They have lived among the Muslims long enough to absorb their stories (one being ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’) and believe all Jews are occupying their ancestral land. It is a real poverty.
In addition, the Christians who live among the Muslims are being persecuted, having to pay protection money on threat of death, the jizya tax as we saw above. THAT is the real reason why so many Christians flee to other lands which they feel are safer. Away from Israel. Apart from Islamic terror. The IDF won’t get involved because they cannot legally do so when the area is under control of the Palestinian Authority. It is easier for the Christians to blame “Israel” than to tell the truth. If they spoke out against the Islamists (not all Muslims are radicalized), they would be flying from a rooftop somewhere.
(This is footage from Syria. The Christian’s are being forced off rooftops at gunpoint. This is true ethnic cleansing. This is the face of true evil. Sent from the Israeli Christians)
On Thursday, I called Luke Hilton of The Israel Guys. The Waller and Hilton families are American Christians who have set up residence in Samaria (West Bank) to help the settlers living there agriculturally; to promote Israeli products; to bring volunteers from abroad to help with planting and harvest, especially now when many reservists have been called up; and to broadcast the news of what really happens.
Luke wrote in response to my email to him:
Hi Tamar,
Thanks for reaching out to me again. We would be happy to help you with any information that we can.
I think you are mixing two stories from this week – the Taybe story is that Jewish settlers set fire to a Christian cemetery – the real story is that an Arab Bedouin set fire to a Jewish farm near Taybe. The Jewish farmer and others came to put out the blaze, and called the police. Unfortunately, the fire spread to a nearby Christian cemetery near Taybe. There was recorded collateral damage. The international press picked up the story and again labeled it settler violence.
The other incident happened near Ma’ale Levona – I still don’t have a lot of information, but yes, it appears that the American who was killed was a card-carrying Hamas member. Your information was correct. I’ll get back to you when I know more.
Let me know what other information you’re looking for. Hope to see you again soon.
Luke
According to both police reports from the Binyamina area as well as an eyewitness account, a spokesperson from the Binyamina Regional Council, there were three organized groups of Arabs (Bedouin and Palestinian Muslims) were heckling a group of Jewish shepherds. Video evidence shows this to be true. A fire was set deliberately to farmland and grazing pastures owned by Jews. The farm owner and the young shepherds called for help while trying to extinguish the blaze. Unfortunately, high winds picked up and the fire spread until it reached a Christian cemetery at Taybe. This news story was exploited by the activists who were among the rabble rousers and by the various Christian clerics who were all too quick to blame the settlers. Police reports show the farm owner had filed three previous complaints regarding arson attacks on his fields.
The story from mainstream outlets and the Catholic media was grossly misrepresented, but it does not stand alone. Just a few days prior, Israeli sources uncovered what was reported as a violent clash between the settlers and the Palestinians in Sinjil an Arab village near Ma’ale Levona. In what was later confirmed as a carefully orchestrated ambush, Palestinian terrorists armed with large rocks and concrete cinderblocks, slingshots and Molotov cocktails staged a roadblock intended to the Jewish settlers to defend themselves. Of course, this did happen: Jewish settlers came out to defend the road and their properties. Calls for help were made, leading to the IDF stepping in (it took place in area B, a mixed area where the Israeli army is allowed to operate in cases of violence or acts of terror are reported). Unfortunately shots were fired. A Jewish teen was severely injured. In addition two Arab youth were later found dead. One was a young Florida man. His death resulted from a sharp blow to the head.
According to his mother living in Tampa, her son, a young man from the States was visiting his Palestinian relatives “to experience their culture and to learn what the Palestinians are going through.” His father recounted their last phone conversation when his son said he wanted to take over the family ice cream shop when he returned, and that he had plans to marry and start a family. 20 year old, Sayfollah Musallet, was “beaten to death by the Jews. Those settlers. He was killed in cold blood. He was just gagging because of the pain from the beating,” his uncle Hesam Musallet recalled. Hiba Rahum, the deputy executive director of CAIR (Council of American Islamic Relations) in Florida called on Gov. Desantis to “remove the curtain of deception from its (the government’s) eyes and demand a stance. A full investigation of the heinous murder needs to take place. Justice needs to be served.” So both Desantis and President Trump along with Secretary of State Rubio and US Ambassador to Israel became involved.
Here is the rest of the story from Luke Hilton’s Younger brother, now a reporter on “The Israel Guys.”
Musallet was a card carrying member of Hamas. I have verified this from four separate sources. He is now being hailed as a victim and a martyr killed by settler violence, when in fact, we don’t know the story in full.
This is just part of the story. It’s taken me over 6 hours to research and put together this blogpost. The rest of the story – what has happened in Gaza with the Holy Family Church incident and other news I shall cover in tomorrow’s post. I hope this answers some of your questions. Just remember, it is always reported that Israel is evil. Israel controls the world. Israel is the perpetrator of all the world’s problems.
Please don’t believe everything you read or hear. There’s a lot of fake news and you must really dig to uncover the truth. It gets hidden a lot. Please don’t fall for conspiracy theories. World War III was not started when Israel bombed Iraq. The States are not being dragged into endless wars where Israel is concerned. The IDF are not hell-bent genocidal monsters. Conspiracy theories are not always true. If Israel really did rule the world there would not be pumpkin spice hummus or blueberry bagels.
Israel Dreams 