Jews renew old bond with dogs to guard settlements

Reuters | 8/16/02 | Dan Williams

[kattracks]

TAPUACH, West Bank, August 16 (Reuters) - Jewish mysticism 
holds that dogs can sense the presence of the Angel of Death. 
    Now Jewish settlers are reviving an ancient partnership,  
acquiring specialised canines to fend off Palestinians waging a 
22-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation in the West 
Bank and Gaza Strip. 
    By night, settlers from the self-styled "Jewish Legion" 
patrol their hilltop communities with Belgian shepherds donated 
by foreign friends and trained to sniff out and pounce on 
intruders before they can go on shooting sprees. 
    "Generous donors from abroad -- gentiles and Jews alike who 
believe in our right to live -- supplied the dogs hoping they 
will prevent men, women and children being butchered in their 
homes," Legion director Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov said on Friday. 
    He said dogs were considered by ancient Jewish canon as 
gifted with a "sixth sense" for danger. They are mentioned in 
the Talmud as guardians of ancient Israelites. 
 "Our sages say dogs are blessed because when the Israelites 
fled Egypt at the time of Exodus, they did not bark and alert 
the Egyptians," Ben-Yaakov said. "They looked out for us then, 
and they're looking out for us now." 
    He declined to disclose how many of the dogs -- costing 
between $3,000 and $10,000 each -- had been deployed, saying 
only that they were already in use in several West Bank 
settlements which had suffered serious attacks.  
    In one of these, Itamar, two night-time Palestinian 
infiltrations in as many months killed nine people this year. 
    In nearby Tapuach this week, Legion trainers put a dozen 
trainee handlers through their paces with the dogs. 

TRAINING PROGRAMME A sleek bitch called Zara bared fangs on command and galloped across the settlement's open field to seize the kevlar sleeve worn by a trainer posing an attacker. The moment he put his hands up in surrender, she backed off watchfully. Smell becomes the animal's trigger after dark. "Fear, exhilaration and hatred make a person exude a distinctive odour, which the dogs pick up. Their rudimentary bomb-sniffer training means they are also sensitive to the presence of ordnance," Guy, a Legion trainer, told Reuters. Around 200,000 Jews live in 145 settlements built in the West Bank and Gaza since Israel took the two territories in a 1967 war. The international community regards the settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this. Though common household pets in Israel, dogs are not used extensively in its security forces aside from select police and army bomb-sniffer units. The Legion, and a government-backed initiative called Kalbi designed to supply Israelis with dogs trained to spot and subdue Palestinian suicide bombers, are recent exceptions. Some experts believe Jews are burdened by their unhappy history with the beasts. "Our problem is that the use of dogs by us immediately invokes memories of the Holocaust, because the Nazis used dogs in the concentration camps," veteran trainer Nir Harman told Israel's mass-circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth. Palestinians are also uncomfortable with canine culture, shunning the animals because Islam considers them unclean. Many Palestinians also believe Israel's use of sniffer dogs at border crossing points in the Gaza Strip is designed to intimidate and humiliate them. Ben-Yaakov rejected such associations with his work. "Our dogs are not attack dogs, per se. They are defensive guard dogs trained to subdue, rather than kill," he said. ((Jerusalem newsroom, 972-2-537-0502, jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com))

16 AUG 2002 07:12:30 Jews renew old bond with dogs to guard settlements

© 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

[Ann Archy]

The Palis are uncomfortable around dogs.....BINGO!!

I NEVER have looked at a dog and thought about Concentration Camps.

[sheik yerbouty]

Paliwackers. They're nuts.

[ChasingFletch]

Dogs? Rubin, Lieberman, and Levin? These dogs will concentrate on Martha to keep the light off themselves. Dogs?

[RightOnline]

"Cry 'Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war!!"

[Alouette]

Belgian shepherds are beautiful dogs.

[tictoc]

This

is why I can never look at a German Shepherd without feeling a measure of fear and revulsion. Hitler's dog.

[Cacique]

My last dog was a Belgian shepherd. Never had a better or more loyal friend bump.

[4Freedom]

Yeah right, like it was the dog's fault. Get over your misplaced fear and revulsion, because a dog is going to pick up on that and you're going to get bit.

More of these noble animals have been used in search and rescue, as guide dogs for the blind and to save lives than were ever used in concentration camps.

Whatever evil man bends the will of an animal to do is not that animal's fault.

Look at all of the evil wrought by men riding horses. Attila the Hun for instance. Are we supposed to have an irrational fear and revulsion of horses?

[tictoc]

The only time I got bitten by a dog it was a German shepherd.

I don't like them, never will.

[Rifleman]

The Israelis could hire some goys as handlers and use sniffer pigs at the border crossings. The Pali reaction to THAT would entertain. They might not even need the goys. I think the prohibition just applies to eating pigs. Hey is there a Rabbi out there?

[MarkL]

Many Palestinians also believe Israel's use of sniffer dogs at border crossing points in the Gaza Strip is designed to intimidate and humiliate them.

Yeah, that's right... Border guards use dogs to humiliate them. It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that 1) palestinians have a habit of using explosives against innocent civilians, and 2) Dogs can detect explosives...

I guess I can understand why they'd complain... "Hey, it's not fair!" I only want to kill women and children, but those jooze use dogs to humiliate me!"

Mark

[BrooklynGOP]

is why I can never look at a German Shepherd without feeling a measure of fear and revulsion. Hitler's dog.

Wasn't Hitler an aspiring artist in his youth? That is why I have never bothered to learn to draw.

[4Freedom]

That's a shame. They're magnificent animals. That breed has done and continues to do much good for mankind.

They're among the noblest of the noble.

[tomkat]

get over it ...

[Revelation 911]

I got attacked by the neighbors german shepard as a kid (way back in '65) - I still love 'em though- especially the black ones - they are such intelligent animals - second choice would be a chinese chow, jack russel or border collie

[Mr170IQ]

I think the prohibition just applies to eating pigs. Hey is there a Rabbi out there?

Not exactly. There is a prohibition against eating pigs, and one against handling the carcass of pigs. Handling a live pig is not actually forbidden, if I remember correctly.

And before anyone asks, no, I am not a Rabbi.

[PJ-Comix]

Palestinians are also uncomfortable with canine culture, shunning the animals because Islam considers them unclean.

There is some truth to this. Back in L.A. I knew an Iranian Muslim but he wasn't at all religious. Anyway we were visiting a friend of mine who owned a large Sheepdog. Well, the Sheepdog suddenly hopped up on the Iranian guy's lap as he was sitting down and licked him right on the face. Suddenly the Iranian guy started screaming and fell to the floor while grabbing his face where he got licked. He was in a complete state of panic and continued thrashing about on the floor. It was like a vampire getting touched by a cross.

[tomkat]

just had to say border collie, didn't ya ??

half aussie shepherd, too ...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Perfect !