By sea and by air

Israeli police are preparing for the possibility that hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists will arrive on flights to Israel from across Europe later today, after Greece refused to let the Gaza-bound flotilla depart from its port. Police currently have information that a flight from Germany with 150 pro-Palestinian activists is scheduled to arrive this evening, followed by 130 activists on flights in the afternoon tomorrow. 

Foreign airlines have been asked to present their lists of passengers to Israel before takeoff, and suspicious persons will be detained at Ben Gurion and be put back on planes to their own country. If several activists are clustered on one plane, police will ask the plane to land on an outer runway and will proceed to question all passengers. Many police monitoring airport order will be undercover, so as not to allow activists to lure police into using force, as in last year's Marmara incident.

Police expect to extend security measures for several weeks. A Palestinian activist told Haaretz:

We are receiving European, South American and sometimes Japanese activists all the time - sometimes via the Allenby Bridge and sometimes from the airport - to work on a variety of projects for the community. Some take an active part in the struggle against the fence and against the settlements. This is something people want to make a big deal about because of the number of people coming.

In recent weeks, Israel's borders have been threatened, first by ground, when Syrian activists attempted to break a border fence in the North of Israel, then by sea, with new plans to sail ships into Israel's regional waters, and now by air, attempting to manipulate Israel's openness to the world and take commercial flights into the country to cause disorder. What other country feels threatened by groups of international activists--from supposedly friendly countries, who do not require visas--arriving at its airports, deceiving its personnel and infiltrating its society?

If these were peaceful activists, Israel would have no problem letting them in, as it has let in thousands of activists from around the world for years. Yet make no mistake; the current infiltration of activists is Marmara 2, where peaceful activists use their guise of non-violence to approach as close as possible to the shore, only to lash out, knowing no boundary to their misdirected rage. When a plane of 150 foreign activists aimed at your destruction arrive at the border of your country, however civilized and friendly their home country might be, no sovereign nation should have any second thoughts: the free entry and exit of persons in and out of a country is for the sake of travel, study, business, and pleasure--opening up the Holy Land for all who crave to experience its uniqueness, not for those whose gaze is fixed on its destruction by any legal or illegal means necessary.

May the borders of Israel be strengthened from within. 

כי חזק בריחי שעריך ברך בניך בקרבך

השם גבולך שלום, חלב חטים ישביעך

He has strengthened the bars of your gates, and blessed your children within you 
He has set peace at your borders, and feeds you the best of wheat 

Plane on fire makes emergency miracle landing

An engine on a Cathay Pacific flight from Singapore to Jakarta caught fire early Tuesday morning, forcing an emergency landing in Singapore.  The plane and all 136 passengers landed safely, but not before praying together for their lives.

...Pradipta, 15, said he saw nothing as he peered out the window.

"But I asked him to cup his hands to get a better view," [his father] Beawiharta said. "He shouted: 'I see fire! I see fire!'

"Panicked, he then asked: 'Will we die? Will we die?' I took his hand and told him firmly: 'No, we are going to live.'

"Behind us, passengers were praying: 'God, save our flight! Give us your protection!'"

The prayers got louder and louder, pierced by only the occasional cry of panic.

"A stewardess told us an engine had caught fire and we were on our way back to Singapore. Glued to the window, my son said he could see lights, the sea and ships and then lights on the ground. We all grabbed life jackets from beneath our seats, but the plane landed smoothly.

"Within five minutes, as firefighters doused the damaged engine, we walked off the plane into the terminal." (MSNBC)

Last week, the U.S. experienced three separate security scares on domestic flights.  The week before, Israel grounded all flights after jet fuel was found to be contaminated. Something is going on with fuel and air travel worldwide. One thing is for sure: nothing is to be taken for granted; in the air or by sea, we are utterly and completely in Hashem's hands.


They went up to the heavens, they came down to the depths; their soul melted with trouble.

They were frightened and staggered like a drunkard, and all their wisdom was destroyed.

They cried out to the Lord from their distress, that He take them out of their straits.

The tempest He had set up [settled] into a calm, and their waves were stilled.

They rejoiced that they were stilled, and He led them to the region of their desire.

They shall thank the Lord for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men.

And they shall exalt Him in an assembly of people, and in a sitting of elders, praise Him.

Psalm 107

Bacteria found in contaminated jet fuel

UPDATE: Israel Airports Authority inquiry finds bacteria, mold in contaminated fuel, seeks foreign assistance in testing

Air traffic at Israel's major airport halted on Thursday after the airport's jet fuel supply was found to be contaminated. Chaos at Ben Gurion ensued on the eve of Israel's Independence Day Weekend, and as thousands of Israeli basketball fans were scheduled to fly to Barcelona to watch Maccabi Tel Aviv compete in the Final Four. Walla! reported that 1600 people were stranded at Ben Gurion, and El Al canceled 20 flights. On Friday morning, flights resumed after army tankers hauled jet fuel to the airport from emergency reserves at Pi Gillot. Planes were given enough emergency fuel to reach Cyprus or Jordan, and then fully fuel from the intermediary airports.

On Thursday Transportation Minister arrived himself at Ben Gurion airport, emphasizing the gravity of the crisis, and declared that "a serious problem has been discovered." Former head of the Civil Aviation Authority Neri Yarkoni, who happened to be stuck in New York as a result of the fuel crisis, said that the current fuel troubles were a "serious and abnormal incident of international proportions of which no incident that I recall can equal" and that "only after the reason for the contamination is discovered will it be possible to know what brought it on and was it possible to have avoided it, including the legal consequences over the huge damages in addition to personal conclusions." He added that "if anyone in a position of authority knew anything about the contamination and remained silent, this incident is criminal."

The decision to ground all planes at Ben Gurion followed a malfunction in an Arkia plane on Thursday. Paz Aviation, one of Israel's major fuel providers, said Thursday that an unidentified oily substance in the fueling terminals caused the contamination. The Institute of Energy and Environment have not been able to identify the substance and ruled that it may be a hazardous material, according to YNet. According to one fuel provider employee, the problem was originally detected over a week ago, but the issue was kept quiet for financial reasons. As a result, the substance accumulated and clogged planes' fuel filters all week. The implications of this process are deadly, as clogged fuel filters can cause a plane to crash (God forbid).

What's more, the symptoms of contaminated jet fuel which halted flights out of Ben Gurion were seen in recent weeks in buses and trucks across Israel as well. Contaminated fuel contains unidentified greasy liquid parts which get stuck in gas pipeline filters, causing damage to vehicle tanks. Several days ago, the biological institute in Nes Tziona was summoned to take samples at a central Israel fuel terminal.

Fuel filters containing samples of the unidentified oily substance are now undergoing special chemical testing in Germany. If results show that the substance is dangerous, Israel will need to clean all fuel storage and transfer systems, a procedure which could take days. UPDATE: The German lab has refused to conduct tests on the jet fuel thought to be contaminated, citing that they only deal with military matters and do not conduct tests for Israel. Meanwhile, an Israeli air force kit was used to test the fuel, and no dangerous elements were detected.

On Saturday, Cyprus media reported that Tel Aviv-bound flights continued to be rerouted to Cyprus for refueling. A total of 42 planes have come to Cyprus, and a number of airlines in the U.S., Israel and Europe have been affected. The manager of Hermes airport predicted that planes would continue to land in Cyprus on Saturday as well.

Investigation into the source of the contamination occurs on the backdrop of the U.S. assassination of Osama bin Laden, and a week before calls to invade Israel on May 15th put out by Palestinians and their adherents. The UK Daily Mail is the first publication to consider terrorism, stating "It was unclear when flights would resume and there are questions over whether or not the incident was linked to terrorism." It also considers the proximity of the crisis to Wednesday's Fatah-Hamas peace deal.

והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו ועל פני כל אחיו ישכן

"And he shall be a beast of a man; his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and wherever his brothers dwell, he shall also be." (Genesis 16:12)