ZGram - 2/1/2003 - "Omen?"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

February 1, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Today is the day when I make an appeal to my readers to help 
underwrite the Zundelsite.  However, in the wake of the space shuttle 
tragedy I just don't have the heart. 

Instead, I thought I should share with you a few comments from 
readers and gleaned from the Internet.

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That the Columbia space shuttle exploded on re-entry is all over the news.

Meanwhile, the 'synchronicity' is interesting:

The debris of the space shuttle Columbia, with Israeli astronaut Col Ramon
on board, has rained down in the vicinity of Palestine, Texas. Ramon was a
hero in Israel, and reported to have carried with him Holocaust literature
into outer space (as the 'son and grandson of Holocaust survivors').

But a few weeks ago, a German citizen buzzed downtown Frankfurt, Germany,
with a small plane, to draw attention to Jewish-American astronaut Judith
Resnick, who had died in the January 1986 Challenger disaster.

As I write, the CNN reports are tending to focus on the person of Israeli
astronaut, Col Ramon, when it comes to the matter of profiling members of
the crew. Indeed, the female reporter reporting from Israel apologized at
one point for having said the word 'spy' when she intended to say 'space'.

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Mission Control reported no communication with the shuttle after 9 a.m. EST.

The shuttle was carrying the first Israeli astronaut and six Americans, and
authorities had feared it would be a terrorist target.

Why all the pro Israeli propaganda on cnn ?  What does the holocaust 
have to do with the shuttle being crushed by something that equates 
to high energy lightning ?
Your views are appreciated.

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Israelis, in Shock, Pray for Their First Astronaut

Updated 12:50 PM ET February 1, 2003 

By Michele Gershberg

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rare symbol of hope for Israel vanished in three trails
of smoke on Saturday when its first astronaut appeared lost in the explosion of
the Columbia space shuttle over Texas just minutes before landing.

Israeli Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon was part of Columbia's seven-member
science mission which took off on January 16, bringing a rare sense of
celebration and pride to a country mired in more than two years of conflict
with the Palestinians.

The launch of Ramon's space flight had virtually erased news of the country's
woes, spreading space fever among Israelis embittered by a Palestinian uprising
for statehood, a scandal-plagued national election and a domestic recession.

On Saturday, shocked Israelis wondered if fate could have anything worse in
store for them as they tuned in to watch the disaster broadcast live on local
television channels, instead of the landing which had been scheduled at 9:16
a.m. EST.

Their disbelief deepened as newscasters reported the shuttle crash was first
heard over a town in Texas named Palestine, a bitter irony lost on no one.

"It's terrible because Israelis, my kids in school for instance, have been
studying about space and the Israeli astronaut Ilan," said Ricky Ben-Or in
Jerusalem.

Ramon's space mission was "one of the best things that has happened to us for a
couple of years," he said. "We are a very depressed country at the
moment...this is going to hit Israelis quite hard because it is very 
personal." (...)

(Ramon) was Israel's first citizen to head out to space, entrusted with several
scientific projects on dust storms and a palm-sized Torah scroll kept safe by a
Jewish boy in a German concentration camp during World War II.

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JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, gave his 
compatriots something to cheer about when he blasted off last month 
on the space shuttle Columbia. The evident tragedy just minutes 
before landing Saturday brought back a familiar sense of dread.

``The government of Israel and the people of Israel are praying 
together with the entire world for the safety of the astronauts on 
the shuttle Columbia,'' Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said in 
a statement. ``The state of Israel and its citizens are as one at 
this difficult time.''

Ramon ``is fulfilling everyone's dream, to be the first Israeli in 
space,'' Israel's Channel Two commentator said just before liftoff 
last month.

The station was broadcasting the planned landing when the Columbia 
lost communication with ground controllers Saturday. Ramon's father 
was at the Channel Two studios in Jerusalem at the time, but the 
station said he would not be available for comment.

Ramon, 48, is an air force colonel and the son of a Holocaust 
survivor. His air force career included bombing an Iraqi nuclear 
reactor in 1981.  (...)

Ramon was one of the fighter pilots who destroyed an unfinished 
nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, a senior Israeli government official 
said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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In the newspapers of the United States, America's astronauts take a 
back seat to Israel! What about the lady from India, with the PhD in 
aeronautical sciences? Why is her loss not worthy of equal note?

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``At this time, we have no indication that the mishap was caused by 
anything or anyone on the ground,'' NASA's administrator, Sean 
O'Keefe, said in a news conference this afternoon. He said President 
Bush was speaking to the families of the astronauts.

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Reuters (Feb. 1, 2003)

"...Their disbelief deepened as newscasters reported the shuttle crash
was first heard over a town in Texas named Palestine, a bitter irony
lost on no one."

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