"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse"

It is no secret that in the Holy Land, rain is a blessing from God and has been that way since Biblical times. But this year this blessing seems to be peculiarly biased.

In Israel, the torrential rains and even snow that is pouring down this weekend is being greeted with great joy. The parched Kinneret rose eight inches so far with much needed fresh water, and farmers finally have reason to smile after a very dry winter.

But this weekend's rain has not been such a blessing for Palestinian Arabs in Gaza. Five were killed as a smuggling tunnel collapsed on their heads; 170 homes were flooded in the West Bank; Gazan officials were concerned about residents in tents being exposed to the rain.

Even more remarkably, a rocket that was fired from Gaza to Israel this evening did not cause any damage to the house it landed next to - because it landed in mud from the rain.

But far be it for me to say that Palestinian Arabs don't also have Allah on their side. After all, last week an Arab carpenter from Tulkarem found a piece of wood whose damage by beetles formed the word Mohammed at the angle he cut it.

The Lord indeed seems to work in mysterious ways.