Thursday, September 01, 2005

Katrina & Katif

Some religious Zionists have wondered aloud whether the utter devastation brought by Katrina is somehow related to Gush Katif (a judgment upon America for having pressured Israel on disengagement). I was skeptical about the connection. Then I saw the cover of yesterday’s Daily News. (August 31, 2005)

An officer in a blue-gray uniform evacuates a terrified little girl in an orange T-shirt. For a moment I wondered whether the editor had gotten his New Orleans photo files mixed up with Gush Katif’s—but no. The man’s shoulder patch reads, “Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement.”

The headline: Katrina’s Horror—No Power, No Water, No Food, NO HOPE. NEW ORLEANS TO BE COMPLETELY ABANDONED.

Abandoned--not evacuated. The stories on the following pages are truly heartbreaking. Former mayor of New Orleans: “We’ve lost our city. I fear it’s potentially like Pompeii.”

It gets eerie. Pages 2/3 are a spread with the headline: NEW ORLEANS THE LOST CITY. I hate to read too much into apparent coincidences, but I have to mention this. Page 2 features a rescue ‘copter doing an airlift. The aircraft is orange. Right next to it is a picture of a traumatized woman being lifted from a rowboat. The boat is also orange.

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