The Home Front Command went to Nazerth to discover why the sirens were not going off. Much to their surprise they found the city had disconnected the warning system from the country's main system. The reason they stated was so they did not have to listen to the sirens on Israel Memorial Day and Holocaust Rememberence day. What a pity they did not reconnect. Although, easier to blame us then take responsbility Paul

if you had read all the talkbacks before mine you would have seen that every building in israel is required to have a security room. The wholly Arab communities have a mayor who is responsible for overseeing that this is done. The mayor of Nazareth did not do this. Your talkback was vicious and attacking. I have lived in Israel for 30 years among Arabs and Druze, I have studied with them, and I have runned to shelters with them in public places. But of course you know more, you are from New York!

oh, and marlene, I forgot, most, not all, but most Arabs in Israel speak excellent Hebrew

Amazing how everybody especially Leftist Israelis immediately jumped in to blame Israel for racism, before any facts became known. Will the author issue a public apology?

One day after the tragic killing of two baby brothers in Nazareth, a leading Suffi Sheikh from the same town, who has been heavily involved in interfaith dialogue for two decades, equated the dispossession of Palestinians from their land in 1948 with the Holocaust. Sheikh Abdel Salam Manasra, Secretary General of the High Suffi Council in the Holy Land, also equated Zionism with idolatry. "Just as it says in the Bible that there were Jews who worshipped Ba'al [a type of ancient idolatry] so too there are Jews today who are Zionists," said Manasra. "You are not a Jew as you should be if you [support] Zionism," he added. "Zionism is a bad thing." Manasra rejected the idea that Israel was a Jewish state or a homeland for the Jews. "After the Europeans brought a Holocaust on the Jews, you Jews came here and brought a Holocaust on us," said Manasra. "None of the Europeans responsible for the Holocaust paid the price. Instead, I paid the price because I lost my land." Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish, Director of the Inter Religious Coordinating Council in Israel, who has participated in numerous interfaith dialogues with Manasra over the years, said the comments were very surprising. "If this is indeed that is what he said about the Holocaust and Zionism, I think those are very poor, unhelpful comparison. I have known Sheikh Manasra as a man of peace and dialogue. I urge him to rethink his comments if indeed he said them. "I am sensitive to the pain caused by the Naqba [Israeli victory against the Arabs] but it is not to be compared to the Holocaust." When Manasra discovered that The Jerusalem Post reporter interviewing him lived in a settlement beyond the Green Line he said, "You live on conquered land. Come live in Haifa, Ashdod or Tel Aviv. "Besides, most of you are there because you love money," said Manasra. "A lot of you settlers are not even Jewish. They are Russians who oppose Judaism. I see them come to the Church in Nazareth." Manasra was quick to condemn Israeli violence in Lebanon, but only after repeated questioning by The Post was Manasra willing to criticize the Hizbullah's bombing. "But I do not want that statement against the Hizbullah to be placed prominently in your article," said Manasra to The Post. He said that the relationship Sunni Arabs like himself had with the Shi'ite Hizbullah was "similar to the relation Jews had to the Black Hebrews in Dimona". Manasra said he has been involved in interfaith dialogue since 1987. He said that as a Suffi Sunni with more moderate views than other Sunni orders, he has suffered financially. "The Saudis are opposed to the Suffis," said Manasra. "It's not easy to be a promoter of peace."

Yariv, you MUST live in the center of the country as you are SO misinformed and out of touch with the rest of us. DId you not see all the IN ARABIC Home Front announcements on TV? And anyway, do you know a native-born American Jew who doesn't speak English or a native-born French Jew who doesn't speak French? That some native born Israelis choose to "dis" our language and culture and then complain about job discrimination or not knowing what is going on is NOT OUR PROBLEM. TO my fellow Israeli citizens who are Arab( not all of you, of course!) and who bitch, bitch , bitch day and night, Stop complaining! Take some responsibility! First you complained when the Negev Bedouin towns had Jewish mayors. Now you have Arab mayors for years but many of you won't pay taxes or observe laws. Ask the mayor of Hura, Laqiya, etc. PLenty of Jews have it hard ,too, in this land. Love it or leave it but don't HATE it and take everything this country gives you and lie to outsiders. 58 million Americans DON'T have health insurance. Every "poor Arab" in Israel does. Why don't you hypocritical lefty Americans and Europeans clean up your own houses first?! Does anyone, Jew or Arab, REALLY have sympathy for Israeli citizens who get bombed by Arabs in Lebanon and blame Israel? (as happened in Nazareth by a Moslem preacher?) Arab Israelis: spend your money building shelters like the rest of us are forced to! It may even save your lives. Long live the People of Israel. Brothers and Sisters, unite! To my Arab brothers who are fed up with disloyalty in your community, speak up, for Heaven's sake!

Andrew, There are plenty of muslim groups devoted to peace but not one of them ever directs any of their efforts towards other muslims no matter how violent, facist and warlike. The truth is that the definition of peace for the muslims includes only islam and other muslims. By their definition, everyone but muslims are to blame for a lack of peace. On the other hand, all muslims who resort to violence only do so because theur were first provoked and so their actions are the understandable and brave actions of the desparate and the patriotic. So the correct answer to your question is this. No there is no muslim equivalent of Peace Now which criticizes from within. However there are quite a few muslim groups devoted to the phony and erroneous muslim definition of peace.

Instead of looking at people as Israelis or Arabs, why not look at them as human beings. Enough hatred in the world!!! Enough killings!!!! It's not the Hizb'Allah resistance fighters that the Israeli army is killing. It's the unarmed children and their families. Please visit this site: http://www.fromisraeltolebanon.info May God the allmighty bring his reign down on earth, and may he install peace on all his followers, Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

Mr. Oppenheimer should blame the arabs for not giving previous notice of the shooting of missiles, and by the way, are the shooting at civilians? Mr. Oppenheimer shold give better instructions to the shooters, so they should kill only Jewish children.

I found this article to be not only obscene, but very biased and misleading. The Israeli Arabs receive countless measures of Jewish protection, support and welfare and all they can do is whine and chant "Long Live Hizbullah!" RIGHT ON THEIR OWN ROCKET-LAIDEN SOIL. The reason these Arabs don't have sirens to warn them of the incoming rockets is their OWN CHOICE. Read up on it here: http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=107981

Are we talking about the same arabs who have, at the begining of this horrible affair, danced on the roofs everytime they heard the katyusha blasts? Are these the same arabs who held the flag of the hezbulla close to their hearts and demonstrated in support of this terrorist movement? Yes, no doubt! These are the same arabs!!! They built their houses illigaly wherever they want to and dont bother to get a building permit which specifically requires that any apartment or house built in Israel should be built with a built-in bomb shelter. Why do I, as a jew, have to adhere to the Israeli law and the Israeli arabs dont? Where does all the money that the arab municioalities are getting from the goverment of Israel go? Why dont they built bomb shelters just like any other municipality (since they ARE getting the funds to do exactly that!)? Why always blame Israel and not take responsibility for their own actions? Why not support Israel who is protecting these "faithful" citizens from the wrath of their own "brothers"?

From what I here from many in this talkback, these Israeli Arabs have somehow launched these rockets from Lebanon at their villages, and have run back just in time to be blown up by them. Whether or not these areas have adequate protection is based on the amount of subsidie given by Tel Aviv. Imagine Tel Aviv subsidising Arab homes in Israel. You never know, they may come around next week to bulldoze the place. What would be the point in shelling the money out? Oh, and another thing, having an all Arab leadership does not mean they can get on with the job without adequate funding and backing, something seriously missing at the moment.

the druze people put there lifes on the front line ,yet some jews feel they are not citizens????? For once in your life stop and have a good think, they are great people, we love then in OZ ,so please stop feeling sorry about yourselfs and have some respect.One in all in

could it be that that no one envisioned that Arab would rocket their own in Israel? I am sure that this is a rude awakening for those Arab Israelis who now find their own attacking them, while at the same time claiming to be their liberators.

We are Arabs no matter what your propoganda filled tabloids wish to advertise. Yes we have been misled and we continue to sacrifice the lives of our young men to the state of Israel but hopefully this will soon change, we will wise up to the atrocities that the state commits on our fellow Arab brethren. No Jewish Israeli is going to ever see us as equal, they use different terms for Arabs such as Druze, Christians and Muslims so that they may create a divide between us. This sort of casuistry will no longer work, we have seen through the lies, the state of Israel sees all Arabs as a problem and maintain their racist view of wanting to rid us from the state. Fortunately for us that will never happen, because unlike these new occupiers, we belong to the land and just as every other occupation has come and gone (Crusaders, Turks, English), so to will this one, we just need to be patient and stop listening to their lies.

when i hear about things like this i feel like crying. we say oh but the arabs are enemies why shud we help them they wouldnt help us. That maybe true now, but once they did in morrocco for example during ww2. Besides we shudnt help them cos there loyal or whateva but because they are humans like us My father is from nazareth and my brother lives there (thankfully he was in Cyprus with his wife during the war) shame on u ppl.