Chaval! An Unintelligent Move In Qana

Balashon told us the story in Gittin 57b about the mother of 7 martyred sons, where the seventh son replies to Ceaser, "Woe (chaval) to you, Caesar, woe (chaval) to you, Caesar! If your own honor is so important to you, how much more so the honor due the Holy One, Blessed is He!".

Today, we must say woe! to ourselves as we read the story of the mis-intelligence information which led to the fiasco in Qana where many children were killed. This is not a "good" mistake to make. חבל! What a public relations disaster.*

Qana קנא
envy, protect ownership, being jealous, demanding exclusive rights, being zealous [1]

[1] Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark

*see comments for more detail: The casulties resulting from the airstrike in Qana are human beings indeed (and we won't forget this), but this is war, and it can be psychologically incapacitating to go beyond seeing it as more than that, at this point.

In parallel consideration, we cannot also just forget that the parents of these children were warned to leave the area.

Israel cannot be blamed for the children's deaths. Nevertheless, the mis-intelligence and spiritual source of this "error" must be addressed. Now.

UPDATE: Qana Fraud Exposed Staged Photos

technorati tags: Israel Middle East Lebanon Qana war political intelligence strategic intelligence