Jerusalem Diaries:In Tense Times

...And it's all about the settlements, right??

2009-07-08T19:59:00.002+03:00

Spotted this sign on the outside wall of the Hebron Municipal Recreation Center yesterday...

"Jaffa...My City." Yes, the same Jaffa that's miles inside the Green Line. Just in case anyone thought that any kind of settlement freeze was about to herald peace in our time...

Entebbe: 33 years on...

2009-07-03T10:12:00.002+03:00

Yoni Netanyahu z"tl

This week marks the 33rd anniversary of Operation Yonatan, Israel's dramatic rescue of 103 hostages that took place on July 4, 1976 at Entebbe, Uganda.

As a college student in the US, I vividly remember watching events unfold as most of the rest of the nation was focused on the celebration of America's bi-centennial.

Jews around the world held their breath as the terrorist incident ended with a relatively minimal loss of life. Pride and admiration for the daring and courage of Israel's decision-makers and generals was the order of the day.

In Israel, the anniversary of the operation was marked for years by public official commemoration ceremonies. This year, it appears that the only remembrance will be for Yoni Netanyahu, commander of the operation and the
only Israeli soldier killed at Entebbe. The Netanyahu family placed a newspaper ad announcing the annual pilgrimage to the grave of Yoni, older brother of Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

Back in July 2001, during the height of the terrorist war that followed the Camp David talks, things were different and an official state commemoration of the 25th anniversary took place at Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem.

In a masterful, moving event that was at once entertaining and educational, the state of Israel marked the passage of a quarter of a century since the dramatic hostage rescue. If the event were to be translated and exported,
Israel 's image problems could be improved dramatically, and Jews the world over might even begin to regain pride in the Jewish state.

In the week leading up to the anniversary, Israel's media focused on the unprecedented operation that took dozens of soldiers from Israel's elite brigades on a daring and dangerous mission to rescue Jews thousands of miles away.

A TV documentary focused on Yoni Netanyahu's career, featuring extensive photos, film clips and interviews with his brothers and former girlfriend.

True to form, a post-Zionist columnist in Haaretz said the program, "Seems more like a propaganda film," and opined "the Yoni that emerges from the film is not a flesh and blood character, but something closer to a modern
day Bar Kochba."

A few years after his death, the Netanyahu family published a book of Yoni's letters written over a 13-year period between 1963-1976.

Entitled 'Self Portrait of a Hero,' the letters paint a picture of a passionate Zionist as
they chronicle Yoni's passage through the army and his participation as a paratrooper in two of the most crucial battles of the Six Day War.

The 25th anniversary event was attended by the nation's leading politicians; those who took part in the Entebbe operation? former hostages and their rescuers; and thousands of soldiers from Sayeret Matkal, Tzanchanim and Golani? the brigades that carried out the rescue 25 years ago.

On film, we watched as the political leaders of 1976 debated what to do about the Jewish hostages who had been sitting under Ugandan dictator Idi Amin 's guard for days. The familiar faces of Yitzhak Rabin, Yigal Allon,
Yitzhak Navon and Shimon Peres flitted across the screen.

Interspersed with film clips, the accomplished singing troupes of several army and air force divisions belted out some of the old rousing Israeli anthems.

President Moshe Katzav thanked those who had liberated the hostages. "We say to the terrorists of today: we did it then and we can do it now if we want."

Following Katzav 's speech, several minutes of film of former hostages describing their ordeal were screened. The hostages tell of their disbelief that the IDF had sent their forces across the African continent to rescue them. In excruciating detail they calmly recount the selection procedure that separated the Jews and Israelis from the non-Jewish passengers on the
Air France flight.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres rose to speak and chose to address himself to the assembled young soldiers who filled the hall. He urged them not to think of the Entebbe fighters as legendary heroes. "Each of you has the potential to do the same thing," he said. "You represent the best hope for the people."

Next on film was a short clip of an interview with a handsome middle-aged civilian who was a pilot of one of the Hercules planes that left the Sirkin air force base for the seven hour trip to Entebbe. "We were so afraid of failure," he says, his dark eyes looking unflinchingly at the camera. "But on the way back, I felt like it was Pesach. I recalled the words of the
Hagaddah: 'I and no angel: I and no messenger brought you out of the land of Egypt,' concluded the pilot who wore no kippa on his silver hair. "If they told me now, 25 years later to go on such a mission, I'd go without hesitation. Ayn Lanu Eretz Acheret? we have no other country," he said, in a theme that was to echo throughout the evening.

Film interviews with others involved in the rescue followed. Almost all those who played significant roles in Entebbe went on to illustrious military and political careers. We watched as Ehud Barak, Matan Vilnai, Dan Shomron and Ephraim Sneh spoke of their recollections twenty-five years on.

Shomron, the overall planner of the operation told the former hostages: "We knew we were endangering you too. No one had any idea how many would fall.

You were part of the campaign, you're part of the fight against terror."

Two of the paratroopers came on stage to read short statements in their own words about their feelings on the anniversary of the operation.

One tall, balding man with a gray mustache said he was disappointed that his teenage son 's classmates knew nothing about Operation Yonatan. "We're facing the same things today?they need more than virtual Zionism, " he said.

Benny, a younger man who was only 13 years old when he was taken hostage by the terrorists, told the audience in a trembling voice that he remembers every moment of the torment. "I was a kid who saw death in front of him."

Tzipi Cohen was only 8 years old when she witnessed her father Pasco bleeding to death as he was accidentally shot by Israeli soldiers in the confusion of the rescue. Pasco Cohen lifted his head to look for his son when the shooting started and became one of four Jewish hostages who perished in Uganda. His daughter ended her brief remarks by reiterating her gratitude to the IDF for saving all the hostages, despite her personal tragedy.

The final segment of the two-hour program was entitled 'The Price.' Besides the loss of Yoni Netanyahu and the four hostages, one soldier, Surin Hershko, became a quadriplegic as a result of the injuries he sustained at Entebbe. We watched on screen as Surin used his computer at home. He uses an elongated straw manipulated by his mouth to write on the keyboard.

Hershko is completely paralyzed, but rolled to the front of the auditorium in his wheelchair to reminisce about the last time he ran or walked. "I remember what it was to be a fighter," he recalled.

After presenting Hershko with a special medal commemorating Entebbe, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivered a speech that tied Israel's efforts to combat terror in the 1970s to today's struggle against the same enemy:

"In these confusing times, when there are those who question our capabilities or the justness of our cause, we return to those few hours when
Israel stood up and in the face of the entire community of nations, waged a battle against violence and terrorism, proving that we can win.

These days, when we are in the midst of an ongoing battle against terrorism, violence and incitement, and when we are making a joint national effort to return to political negotiations without fire, we must rekindle the spirit of that operation. The secret of our strength lies in such spirit and faith, and if we learn how to renew it we will be able to meet all the challenges that still lie ahead."

Israeli Tourism Officials Accused of Promoting PA, not Jerusalem

2009-06-25T14:06:00.001+03:00

With the summer tourism season underway, and numbers of visitors down around 30% from last year, Israeli hoteliers are furious at tourism officials for promoting stays in Bethlehem at the expense of Jerusalem hotels.

Hmm--ever take a look at the hugely inflated hotel prices in Jerusalem ??

Click here to see the full report: Israel Travel Guide

What about the Iranian Nukes??

2009-06-23T15:16:00.003+03:00

Ahmadinejad has called on the United States and Britain to stop interfering in Iran's internal affairs, threatening to deprive them of a place in "the circle of friendship with the Iranian nation."

Ahmadinejad evidently took his lead from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had already warned foreign leaders not to meddle in Iran's domestic affairs. Khameni declared that continued interference would lead Iran to respond "in other fields". Clearly a reference to the country's nuclear or advanced missile capabilities.

So while the world's attention is riveted on the drama playing out on the streets of Iran where courageous opponents of Ahmadinejad continue to try to make their voices heard, the over-arching agenda of Iran's nuclear threat has been pushed into the background.

Mistake!

As Jeffrey Fleishman writing in the Chicago Tribune notes: "Iran's nuclear program is ingrained in the national psyche. It began decades ago and is embraced across the Iranian political spectrum. Its future rests more with the wishes of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the ruling clerics than it does with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or the more moderate Mousavi.

The nuclear endeavor, along with geography, vast oil supplies and resistance to Western pressure, are critical to Iran's stature in the region. The political tumult and bloodshed over this month's elections may force a shift in domestic affairs, such as mending the troubled economy, but not a scientific mission that predates the 1979 Islamic Revolution and whose spinning centrifuges and technological breakthroughs have become a mark of pride."

The election crisis might change internal Iranian issues, but the nuclear agenda will not be modified. Iranians are united around this.

This is where DeNukeIran comes in. As the community continues to grow--we are close to 500 members--we can keep attention focused on the nuclear threat.

Pass the word--Iran must be denuked!

Visit DeNuke Iran at: www.DenukeIran.ning.com

Jerusalem's Light Festival

2009-06-16T16:05:00.001+03:00

Mt of Olives cemetery facing east
Originally uploaded by judyinjerusalem

Here the 7 Arches Hotel on the summit of the Mt of Olives is lit up by the sunset...

How Much Do You Know About International Law & Gaza?

2009-06-14T13:13:00.006+03:00

Click here to take the quiz....

Obama: De Nuke Iran!

2009-06-04T12:33:00.003+03:00

40 minutes until Obama begins his speech in Cairo. Hope he focuses on the real issues and not on whether Shloimie and Dalya in Efrat are building a new patio...

Take a look at www.DenukeIran.com Sign the declaration and join the community so we'll have a voice...

Oops…this just got tucked into my jacket .

2009-06-02T09:38:00.001+03:00

A repentant American Christian tourist shipped an 8lb piece of a marble column excavated from the Temple Mount back to Israel last week.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority reports:

“In 1997, a twenty one kilogram fragment of a marble column disappeared from one of the excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority was conducting south of the Temple Mount.

Several weeks ago, the IAA received an unexpected e-mail from a priest in the state of New York: “I am requesting forgiveness for a member of my congregation”, he writes. “The fellow confessed to me that twelve years ago he took a stone from Jerusalem and his conscience has bothered him ever since. I wish to return the stone to Israel and hope that you will forgive the man for his transgression”.

A letter from the fellow was attached to the heavy stone fragment, which arrived in Jerusalem in a wooden crate that was specially constructed for the flight back to Israel. “I came to Israel on an organized trip. As a student of archaeology, I was very excited when we visited an excavation south of the Temple Mount. I asked how I can purchase a stone from the excavation because I wanted a souvenir with which to pray for Jerusalem and was told it was not possible. On the last day of the trip our Israeli tour guide approached me and took the stone fragment from inside his coat. ‘Take it’, he said. ‘It’s a present from me’. I asked him how he obtained the stone and he replied, ‘It’s okay; don’t worry’. I was very happy and took the stone with me on my flight back to New York. Only later did I realize that he probably took the stone from the excavation without permission. For the past twelve years since then, rather than remind me of the prayer for Jerusalem, I am reminded of the mistake I made when I removed the stone from its proper place in Israel. I am asking for your forgiveness”.

According to Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem District Archaeologist in the IAA, who directed the excavation from which the stone was taken, “What we have here is a column fragment that was discovered during the excavation of one of the Umayyad buildings located south of the Temple Mount, similar to others that were found and that are on display in the archaeological garden in the Davidson Center. These are four very large structures that extended over an area of c. 200 dunams, which were probably the official palace complex of the Umayyad caliphs c. 1,200 years ago”.

Shay Bar Tura, Deputy Director of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery in the IAA, stated, “Because of the unique case of sincerity and the fact that the item was ultimately returned, we decided not to take any legal steps against the people who were involved in the incident. In the coming days the stone will be turned over to the State’s Treasures after which it will be returned to the archaeological garden from whence it was taken. It should be emphasized that any activity conducted at an antiquity site requires permission from the IAA. Taking archaeological artifacts from antiquities sites constitutes a severe criminal offense which is punishable by law with imprisonment”.

Yom Yerushalayim 2009

2009-05-21T22:20:00.004+03:00

The amplified wail of the muezzin from the Al Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount couldn't drown out the celebrations ringing out over Jerusalem tonight.

From every corner of the Old City, youthful voices join in singing all the classic Six-Day War songs as the city celebrates the 42nd anniversary of reunification.

The sounds of prayer and thanksgiving at the Kotel rise up above the ancient walls--no longer the 'wailing wall' of years when others ruled Jerusalem and determined the Jewish fate here. Groups of teenagers clad in blue and white dance in front of the Kotel and clog downtown streets.

They've come to the capital, along with thousands of kibbutzniks, members of workers committees and regional councils from all over Israel, to join with various army bands, street performers and musicians who all wind their way through the center of
the city and then disperse amongst the myriad of events marking the opening of Jerusalem Day.

The main challenge of the day is getting anywhere. With roads closed throughout the city center, driving is out of the question. Many bus routes suspend operations for a couple of hours during the parade, and getting close to the Old City is virtually impossible except on foot, so the masses take to the streets in a jovial mass of Jerusalem humanity.

Beit Orot, the hesder Yeshiva on the Mount of Olives celebrates Yom Yerushalayim in their usual festive manner, with an all-night event. Traditionally known as THE happening Jerusalem Day party place for the national religious yeshiva crowd, this year's festivities uphold its reputation. The bands stop playing around 4:30 a.m. when the young crowd picks up their flags to retrace the footsteps of the paratroopers of 1967. They walk down the same road from the Mt of Olives, turning left at the Kidron Valley and following the Jericho Road as far as Lion's Gate where they climb the hill to enter the Old City, just like the paratroopers did 42 years ago. The students generally makes it to the Kotel in time for the Vatikin early morning prayers. Forty-two years ago, it was midday as the IDF soldiers made their way down from their conquest of the Temple Mount to become the first Jews in 19 years to gain access to the Kotel.

For the Ethiopian community, Jerusalem Day has evolved into a memorial day. Thousands of Ethiopian Jews who trekked through Sudan and the Ethiopian countryside to take part in Operations Solomon (1991) and Moses (1984) died before they saw Jerusalem. Their relatives mark the day with prayer and ceremonies in the Holy City.

The festivities and commemorations continue all day with the flag parade culminating in a swirl of dancing and celebrating at the Kotel; the official memorial ceremony at Ammunition Hill for the fallen soldiers who helped liberate Jerusalem; the Mayor's annual open house reception at the Tower of David and the Bereishit Children's Jerusalem Quiz. It's all topped off with a series of outdoor evening concerts and a final fireworks display.

For one day, at least, we ignore the security concerns and political realities (even though it's hard to swallow the fact that not a single country in the world maintains an embassy in Israel's capital and that EU and US officials never attend Jerusalem Day observances) and we focus on the miracle that restored the Jewish people to the city that King David declared as his capital so many thousands of years ago.

Commenting on the visit of the Pope for KIRO Radio

2009-05-13T15:43:00.002+03:00

Here's the link to my conversation yesterday with Seattle veteran talk show host Dave Ross of KIRO News Radio, the CBS affiliate for the Pacific NW. We're discussing the visit of the pope to the Middle East...

http://icestream.bonnint.net/seattle/kiro/2009/05/p_Dave_Ross_Show_20090512_10am.mp3

Is he or is he not a "true friend" of Israel?

2009-05-10T20:09:00.006+03:00

Does he expect Israel to prostrate itself in front of him too?

At a briefing today for journalists at the Jerusalem press center set up for the visit of the pope, an Israeli newsman demanded to know who had come up with the message that was found in every press packet. "Israel Loves You" read the heart shaped magnet in English. This, after Stas Mezeshnikov, the new tourism minister, had definitively stated in his opening remarks that Pope Benedict XVI is a true friend of Israel. "Certainly not everyone in Israel loves the pope," the Israeli reporter exclaimed.

In answer to the journalist's question, the minister said that the message applied to the army of pilgrims and media people who are accompanying the pontiff, as much as to the pope himself, "who is more than a wanted guest."

The incident highlighted what promises to be a far more contentious visit than that of Pope John Paul in 2000. A few demonstrations are planned, and commentators are wondering how the pope will handle questions about Vatican participation in Durban II; the pope's treatment of Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson; various recent statements about Israel's conduct and the fact that he was a member of the Hitler Youth Movement in the 1940s.

Add that to the draconian traffic rearrangements published in the weekend papers that will make everyone's life miserable in a city not designed to accommodate normal vehicular traffic, let alone papal levels of security and you have a recipe more inclined to exacerbate rather than improve Vatican-Israeli relations..

Remembering. Again.

2009-04-28T11:22:00.006+03:00

Photo, right:Israeli Military Cemetery

It's eerie how often the elements reflect events occurring here in Israel. At last week's Yom Hashoah commemoration at Yad Vashem, participants huddled together in the chill of the Jerusalem evening as the ceremony marking the systematic murder of six million European Jews unfolded. The youthful members of the choir were shivering in the frigid air. Six survivors delegated to light the memorial torches stood stoically at attention as a cold wind blew across the hilltop.

Just one week later, as the State of Israel pauses to remember on Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for the Fallen and the Victims of Terror, the ritual takes place as a similarly chilling breeze envelops hundreds of bereaved families gathered in the plaza facing the Western Wall.

The flag at half mast flutters in the brisk wind, and the memorial flame flickers boldly in front of the subdued crowd. Those commemorated on Yom Hazikaron, however, are not the mass victims of yesteryear's death camps, they're our youth who have died and continue to die, defending the state and its citizens.

It's slightly disconcerting to see the Kotel bereft of worshipers, replaced by rows and rows of men and women with profound sadness in their eyes and pain etched into their faces. A significant number of the men choose not to wear any head covering--I can't help wondering if it's an indictment of God or an expression of secularism that has nothing to do with their loss.

Apart from the ultra-orthodox who generally do not serve in the army, the full spectrum of Israeli society is represented at the service--national religious and secular; Ashkenazi and Sephardi; rich and poor; old and young. Bereavement itself makes up a complete social strata here--according to the Foreign Ministry, 22,570 soldiers and civilians have died in the 61 years of statehood leaving thousands of families to join the ranks of the bereaved.

This year, thanks to the Gaza War and the ongoing assault on the south, another 133 names have been added to those we mourn.

As the siren sounds marking the beginning of the ceremony, I notice a young child next to me dropping her head along with the formal honor guard who face us across the plaza. Sadly, the culture of grieving and remembering is ingrained at an early age here in Israel.

Called to light the memorial flame together with Prime Minister Shimon Peres, is Tziona Netanel, the young widow of Yehonatan Netanel, 27, the last soldier killed in the line of duty last January. Radiating strength and dignity, the young mother struggles to retain her composure as the light of the flame illuminates her pain.

At the end of the formal program, President Peres and Chief of Staff Gabi Askenazi pass among the families offering brief words of comfort. The gesture reinforces a remark made by Peres during his address to the gathering--that each loss is a national loss, felt keenly by the entire country.

As we wait to leave at the close of the 40 minute ceremony, I fall into conversation with the young couple sitting next to me. The wife, whose brother was murdered in a terror attack in the late '90s, tells me she finds it difficult to attend the Memorial Day observance. "There were a few years when I actually got ready to go, but just couldn't make myself get here," she says through tears. Her parents have never come to the Kotel ceremony. They find it easier to sponsor a Torah lecture in Oded's memory in their home community.

What upsets Michal most is the fate of her younger brother's murderer. Captured by officers of the Palestine Authority in Jericho, the terrorist spent just one month in jail before being released in Yasser Arafat's notorious revolving door policy. Just one month ago, Israel was considering releasing 450 Arab security prisoners in return for the safe return home of captured IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit.

As we walk together out of the Old City through Dung Gate, the breeze evaporates into the night, leaving a chill wind in its place.

Enough Ceremony

2009-04-21T21:57:00.001+03:00

Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed in Israel today. When I was growing up, Yom Hashoah was never commemorated in my home. Who needed one day a year for dignitaries, politicians and theologians to solemnly proclaim their solidarity with the murdered and pledge, "Never Again," when many nights were seared with my mother's screams as she revisited in her sleep the guilt of her survival and her helplessness in bringing her parents to safety.

Who needed to be reminded of the Nazi killing machine when my father's desk was filled with paperwork documenting his stay in Buchenwald and his parent's death in Treblinka, and we kids accompanied him on his frequent visits to the reparations office of the German Embassy to demand compensation.

Yet here in Israel, with my parents long gone and no known Yahrzeit date for any of my four grandparents murdered in the death camps, I find myself year after year yearning to mark the day in some meaningful way. At first, I would attend the official ceremonies at Yad Vashem. In those years, sitting in the cold, early spring Jerusalem evening surrounded by hundreds of survivors and their families, dwarfed by the dark symbolic sculptures and the flickering eternal memorial flame, I found it hard to evoke much emotion. What did rise up from my soul as I listened to the poems and the familiar poignant songs at the commemoration was the feeling of gratitude and wonderment that a little more than half a century after my grandparents were killed, I had somehow merited to live and breathe and pay taxes in the Jewish state.

These days, I no longer go to the official ceremonies. Fewer and fewer survivors are there too, since not many have the stamina to endure the lengthy security procedures, the wait for the president and prime minister to arrive and the hour-long ceremony itself. Besides, how many times can we listen to the pronouncements of the politicians and watch the endless laying of wreaths ?

This Yom Hashoah, as dusk descended and the somber memorial day unfolded, I found myself at the Israeli premiere of a powerful play by Bernard Weinraub called 'The Accomplices,' that dealt with the failure of the US government and the organized Jewish community to intervene in the Holocaust.

On the way home, it's easy to sense the heaviness that descends on the city. Flags fly at half mast; all cafes and places of entertainment are closed; only somber music plays on the radio.

On the morning of Yom Hashoah, the country comes to a standstill at precisely 10 a.m as the sirens wail marking the only ritualistic aspect of the day. I'm standing on Rachel Imeynu Street during the two minute call to attention. It's a moment of solidarity and comfort as the nation joins together in remembrance and resolve. In Musrara, on Jerusalem's seam between the eastern and western parts of the city, Israel's schizophrenia is exhibited for all to see. My son who lives in that neighborhood reports that the Arab commercial area doesn't miss a beat even as the Jews bring traffic to a halt just a few yards away.

My teacher and mentor, Rabbi Avi Weiss, has written extensively about the need for ritual in assuring Holocaust memory. "I am concerned about how the Shoah will be remembered. Survivors are growing older. Neither can Shoah memory be entrusted to the museums. While they are of importance for memory, there are those controlled by universalists who take their orders from non-Jewish institutions. We dare not allow the Shoah to be politicized. Nor will the camps where the horror took place tell the story. Too many have already been Christianized and the emphasis on financial restitution has raised other serious challenges. No doubt assets should be recovered. Still, our community should be concerned that as this effort continues, the Holocaust will be remembered for stolen money rather than for stolen souls.

The only way to ensure the Shoah will be remembered is through Jewish ritual; by speaking and re-enacting what our people endured sixty years ago, much in the same way as we do for yetziat Mitzraim (the Exodus from Egypt)." Rabbi Weiss goes on to suggest various meaningful rituals that would go a long way to effectively preserve memory.

Here in Israel, along with the need to appropriately memorialize the Shoah, there's a rising awareness of the urgent need to take care of the remaining survivors. It's estimated that more than 80,000 of the 240,000 survivors in Israel live in dire poverty. The meager monthly compensation allowance from the Finance Ministry stands at 1,040NIS (about $250), but even this is only paid to those who arrived before 1953. Recent Knesset legislation has provided more assistance, but to date only 2,000 out of 8,000 survivors eligible have actually received any payments. As one radio talk show noted in his Yom Hashoah morning broadcast, "When Yom Hashoah is over, almost all our politicians will go back to their petty squabbles and fights over their own pensions and their budgets that pay for phones and newspapers for life."

All afternoon, despite the bright sunshine outside, I can't help but stay glued to the TV, watching documentary after documentary of almost unfathomable tales of every facet of the human experience that took place during and after the Shoah. I long ago found it impossible to read any more Holocaust memoirs, but there's something compelling about hearing the incredible stories of those who survived and made it to Israel; seeing on film how second generation Israelis are trying to unearth the truth about their parent's experiences.

At the end of the day, as the memorial candle on my window-sill burns down, after all the talk and ceremony, there are, of course, no new answers to the greatest tragedy to befall the Jewish people in the modern era. What remains is a sense of protracted shiva. We get up and resume our lives, internalizing our collective memories.

Birkat Hachama 2009

2009-04-08T10:31:00.008+03:00

Reciting the blessing over the sun
Originally uploaded by judyinjerusalem

Instead of joining the other 50,000 Jews who trekked over to the Old City to recite the once every 28 years blessing over the sun, I greeted the sun on the rooftop of the nearby home of members of my shul in Old Katamon.

Truth be told, I didn't want to diminish the experience of watching the sun rise over the kotel that I savor every Shavuot. That, and the fact that I slept through my alarm and barely made it to the rooftop before sunrise...

Feeling the rays of the sun and seeing it rise over a Jerusalem awake to receive it, was a moving experience. Reciting the bracha together with a multi-age group of people--we wondered who would be around for the next opportunity..

Nine MKs are Graduates of Yeshivot/Ulpanot Bnei Akiva

2009-04-06T12:05:00.002+03:00

As an old Bnei Akiva member from England, I'm proud that nine of the 120 members of Israel's new Knesset are graduates of the Bnei Akiva religious Zionist higher education system.

They include three graduates of Yeshivat Nechalim (right next door to Kibbutz Beerot Yitzhak where I did ulpan back in the early 70s):

Uri Orbach (Habayit Hayehudi party)
Zvulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi party)
Avraham Michaeli (Shas party)

Gilad Erdan (Likud) attended Yeshivat Netiv Meir in Jerusalem

Michael Ben Ari (National Union party)and Yaakov (Ketzele) Katz (National Union party) attended Yeshivat Kfar Haroeh

Tzipi Hotubeli (Likud) is a graduate of Ulpana Tel Aviv

and Leah Nes (Likud) graduated from Ulpana Kfar Pines

Second Temple-era Steps

2009-04-02T11:18:00.002+03:00

A quick unplanned visit to the City of David this morning gave me the opportunity to take a look at the Second Temple era stairs that were uncovered a couple of years ago. They’re just on the other side of the exit to Hezekiah’s tunnel and directly above the Shiloah pool and garden—where the ancient kings and priests of Israel were anointed…

Twenty Ways You Know Passover is Coming in Israel

2009-03-29T08:19:00.010+03:00

Burning chametz on Agrippas Street, Jerusalem

For the past several years I've been putting out a light-hearted '18 Ways You Know Pesach is Coming In Israel' piece to describe the frenetic days leading up to Pesach in the holy city.

This year, there are a few additional notable events that are driving the news cycles over here.

Apart from the upcoming Mid-East visit of the pope and the ongoing saga of whether Gilad Shalit will be home for Pesach, there's the controversy over the Chametz Law. Never heard of it? Well, since 1986, Israel has had a law on the books that forbids leavened products from being displayed in public during Pesach. For the duration of the holiday, supermarkets cover their shelves containing non-Pesach items with thick white paper, whether to abide by the law or to avoid causing further pain to customers suffering from bread withdrawal is not clear.

Last year all hell broke loose when a Jerusalem judge overturned the law (that no one had ever been charged with violating) opining that it's permissible to sell chametz, as long as it's not publicly displayed. Meanwhile, Haaretz revealed in a poll that 68 percent of the population answers 'no'� when asked if they are planning on eating chametz during Pesach.

Citizens of southern Israel have far weightier concerns, as they face the prospect of a Passover under fire for the eighth year running. The ceaseless barrage of Kassam and Katyusha rockets toward our southern cities and surrounding western Negev kibbutzim has shattered any semblance of the 'enhanced security' we were promised by the 2005 Gaza pullout.

As if that weren't bad enough, almost all the former Gush Katif residents are still in temporary housing almost four years since their eviction. Many who moved into the vast and dismal caravilla camp of Nitzan, near Ashkelon are still unemployed and dealing with the emotional and psychological effects of displacement.

Meantime, on Pesach the extent of the dire poverty of hundreds of thousands of Israelis is exposed. Latest figures indicate that roughly 20.5% of Israeli families live below the poverty line. Moreover, 24.7% of Israel's residents and 35.9% of its children live in impoverished families. Families and the elderly form almost endless lines in every city around the food banks and soup kitchens that do their best to provide the basics necessary to celebrate the holiday. The Mesamche Lev group distributed 46,278 pairs of shoes to 10,200 needy families last week, while all the other voluntary social welfare organizations report unprecedented demand for their services this Pesach.

In every Charedi neighborhood during the week before Pesach, men and boys block the narrow streets with handtrucks piled high with sacks of carrots, potatoes, oranges and cartons of eggs--all courtesy of the Kimcha D'Pischa funds that funnel donations from abroad to the Charedi communities, specifically for Pesach food.

The tourists, largely oblivious to our problems are expected to descend on us with a vengeance. Most visible are the busloads of pilgrims from eastern Europe, Nigeria and an assortment of Asian countries--the Jews arrive in much smaller family groups, excited to be in Israel for one of the three pilgrimage festivals.

So, as the popular Israeli expression goes, "We overcame Pharoah, we'll overcome this too..." This year, as always, we'll celebrate Pesach, the festival of our liberation and the birth of the Jewish people as a nation in the hope that we'll soon merit a saner reality.

Meanwhile, for those who have read this far, here's an updated version of the 18 (now 20) Ways You Know Pesach is Coming To Israel:

1. The Israeli Army presses into service some 200 IDF chaplains including reservists, to commence the massive task of kashering the hundreds of kitchens, mess halls and eating corners used by soldiers all over the country.

2. Street scenes in Israel change every day before Passover according to what's halachically necessary: In the days before the holiday, yeshiva students wielding blow torches preside over huge vats of boiling water stationed every few blocks on the street and in the courtyard of every mikveh. The lines to dunk cutlery, kiddush cups and the like start to grow every day, and, at the last minute, blow torches are at the ready to cleanse every last gram of chametz from oven racks and stove tops lugged through the streets.

3. No alarm clock needed here--the clanging garbage trucks do the trick as they roll through the neighborhood every morning during the two weeks before Pesach to accommodate all the refuse from the furious cleaning going on in every household. Two days before the Seder there's the annual pick-up of oversized items and appliances. Dozens of antiquated computer monitors and old toaster ovens stand forlornly next to the garbage bins on their way to the dump.

4. The day before Passover, families replace the yeshiva students, using empty lots to burn the remainder of their chametz gleaned from the previous night's meticulous search. In vain, the Jerusalem municipality sets up official chametz burning locations and issues strict orders banning burning in any other areas. Yeah, right!

5. Most flower shops stay open all night for the two days before Pesach, working feverishly to complete the orders that will grace the nation's Seder tables.

6. Meah Shearim and Geula merchants generally run out of heavy plastic early in the week before Pesach. In a panic, I make an early morning run to the Machane Yehuda market to successfully snap up a few meters of the handy counter-covering material.

7. No holiday in Israel is complete without a strike or two. In years past the Histadrut Labor Union threatened to launch a general strike 10 days before the holiday to protest planned economic cuts. Ben Gurion Airport was included. This year, it's electric company workers who are out on strike...

8. Observant Jews mark the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot by carrying out some of the laws of mourning--one of these is the prohibition against cutting hair.

Good luck if you haven't scheduled an appointment for a pre-Pesach/Omer haircut. You can't get in the door at most barber and beauty shops.

9. Mailboxes are full of Pesach appeals from the myriad of organizations helping the poor celebrate Pesach. Newspapers are replete with articles about selfless Israelis who volunteer by the hundreds in the weeks before the holiday to collect, package and distribute Pesach supplies to the needy.

This year, Hazon Yeshaya Soup Kitchens plan on serving 7,000 meals per day during Passover. More than 15,000 food parcels will be distributed before the holiday, just by this one organization. With so many newly-unemployed, every food bank is stretched to the limit.

10. The biggest food challenge to those of us ashkenazic, non-kitniyot (legume) eaters is finding cookies, margarine etc. made without kitniyot, but an increasing number of ashkenazic rabbis are coming out with lenient rulings regarding legumes.

11. Since most of the country is on vacation for the entire week of Pesach, all kinds of entertainment and trips are on offer. Ads appear for everything from the annual Boombamela beach festival, kid's activities at the Bloomfield Science Museum and concerts in Hebron, the City of David, Sderot and the Dead Sea.

12. Pesach with its theme of freedom and exodus always evokes news stories about recent olim. This year, general immigration numbers are significantly down, but American aliya has enjoyed a mini-boom. For a couple of thousand new Israeli-Americans, it'll be their first Seder at home in Israel. Israel Radio announces that 700 prisoners will get a furlough to spend the holiday with family.

13. This just in: According to Israel's Brandman Research Institute study, 43 million people hours will be spent nationwide in Israel's cleaning preparations for Passover this year. How does that break down? Of those cleaning hours, 29 million are done by women and 11 million by men. Persons paid to clean do the remaining 3 million hours at a cost of NIS 64 million ($15.6 million).

14. Israel's chief rabbis sell the nation's chametz to one Hussein Jabar, a Moslem Arab resident of Abu Ghosh and manager at Jerusalem's Renaissance Hotel. Estimated worth: $150 billion secured by a down payment of NIS 20,000. Jabar tool over the task some 14 years ago, after the previous buyer, also from Abu Ghosh, was fired when it was discovered his maternal grandmother was Jewish.

15. Radio commercials for all sorts of products and services are set to Seder melodies. Last year, Volkswagen used the Mah Nishtana tune to advertise its cars. Another favorite is "Echad Mi Yodeya?--Who Knows One?" that has become a jingle for one brand of coffee. "Four mothers, three fathers, two sugars, one cup of coffee!"

16. For those of us too lazy to go to our rabbis to sell chametz, one Israeli website offers the possibility of performing this ritual in cyberspace: For those of you out there with Hebrew enabled computers, take a look at http://www.kipa.co.il/passover/sell.asp

17. Sign of the times? A few years ago, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu issued a ruling that Viagra may be taken on Pesach provided the pill is encased in a special empty capsule so that the drug itself is not in direct contact with the body. In a move to ease another kind of Pesach yearning, the Israeli branch of Ben & Jerry's ice cream has developed Matza Crunch flavor. French vanilla with chips of chocolate-covered matza make up the new flavor, which is being sold for $4.50 a pint in Israeli supermarkets.

18. At the Kotel last week, I watched as workers performed the twice-yearly ritual (pre-Pesach and pre-Rosh hashanah) of removing thousands of personal notes from the crevices of the Kotel to bury them on the Mt of Olives.Due to the large volume of notes, the process now takes three days, conducted during the Wall's "slow hours.."

19. Guess Who's Buying Matza? According to Iyad Sharbaji, the manager of Gadaban Supermarket at the entrance to the the Galilee Arab town of Umm al Fahm, his Matza is consumed entirely by local Arabs. Sharbaji told Haaretz that he generally stocks up on Matza for Passover and has to replenish stock before the end of the holiday, due to keen demand by locals.

It turns out the avid consumption of matza is not a new trend in Arab towns and villages, whose inhabitants view the traditional Jewish food as nothing more or less than a welcome and refreshing change in the menu. "It's not a religious issue, and certainly not a political one," Sharbaji explains.

20. A sign of our economic times--supermarkets entice shoppers with a promise to allow us to settle up the bill in six equal monthly payments on the credit card. Yes, many of us will still be paying for the Seder come Rosh Hashana!

Don't think I ever saw this sign in Seattle!

2009-03-25T21:54:00.002+02:00

Spotted today along route 40 between Beersheva and Mitzpe Ramon...

Another Corrie Anniversary...

2009-03-17T08:43:00.004+02:00

Rachel Corrie burns an Israeli and US flag shortly before her death in Rafah.

Yesterday marked the 6th anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie--a young American member of the International Solidarity Movement. Today, another ISMer, Berkeley tree-hugger, Tristan Anderson, is being treated in Tel Hashomer Hospital after sustaining life-threatening injuries while he too was in a closed military zarea protesting Israel's attempts at fighting terrorists. What would have happened if Corrie would have been taken to an Israeli hospital instead of the Arab hospital where they let her die??

Here's an in-depth piece I wrote last year on the circumstances of her death...

Jerusalem: The news that a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist, Shadi Sukiya, was captured by an elite anti-terror unit of the Israel Defense Forces while hiding out in the Jenin offices of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) did not make a ripple in the flood of coverage from the Iraqi front in late March 2003.

Just eleven days earlier, on March 16, the ISM did make world headlines when Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old ISM member, was run over by an Israeli bulldozer in Rafah and died of her injuries.

Maybe the fact that a "peace organization" was found to be defending terrorists twice in a two-week period will factor into the inquiry called by several Washington state congressional representatives into the circumstances of Rachel Corrie's death.

With the fifth anniversary of Corrie's death having just passed us, only one thing remains certain about the events of March 16: Corrie died in Rafah, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, under very questionable circumstances.

The questions remain: Is Israel responsible for Corrie's death, or do the doctors at the Arab hospital where she was taken still alive after the accident bear any responsibility? What about the ISM that organizes protests in a closed military zone and encourages its members to play cat and mouse among the tanks and bulldozers? Or the Arabs who invite the "internationals" to risk their lives in a war zone? How she died, exactly where she passed her last moments and who should take the blame for Rachel Corrie's death are questions that demand answers.

The inconsistencies in eyewitness testimony raise doubts about the simplistic conclusions drawn ever since the event.

By all accounts, Rachel Corrie was one of a group of protesters attempting to disrupt the work of two IDF bulldozers leveling ground to detonate explosives in an area rife with terrorist activity. The bulldozers moved to a different area to avoid the protesters, and Corrie became separated from the group. Some of the agitators stood with a banner, while Corrie picked up a bullhorn and yelled slogans at the driver encased in the small cabin of the dozer. This went on for several hours on the afternoon of March 16. It's the kind of activity favored by the young pro-Palestinian types who make up the ISM.

There wasn't enough action for Corrie. According to fellow Evergreen State College student, Joseph Smith, 21, who was at the site, Corrie dropped her bullhorn and sat down in front of one of the bulldozers. She fully expected that the driver would stop just in front of her. "We were horribly surprised," Smith told me by phone from Rafah the day after the incident. "They had been careful not to hurt us. They'd always stopped before," he said.

As the dozer plowed forward heaping up a pile of dirt and sand, Corrie scrambled up the pile to sit on the top. Smith says she lost her footing as the bulldozer made the earth move beneath her feet. She got pulled down, he says. "The driver lost sight of her and continued forward. Then, without lifting the blade he reversed and Rachel was underneath the mid-section of the dozer, she wasn't run over by the tread."

Capt. Jacob Dellal of the IDF spokespersons office confirms what Smith says about the driver: he lost sight of Rachel. Inside the cab, some six feet off the ground, visibility is very restricted. The protesters should have known that and kept within the driver's line of sight to avoid getting hurt, Dellal asserts.

The strange thing about this part of the story is the discrepancy over the photos given to the press and posted on several pro-Arab websites.

As Smith describes to me his version of events, I ask about the series of photos printed in an Arab newspaper I picked up the morning after the incident, in Jerusalem's Old City. "They aren't of the actual incident," he states firmly. "We'd been there for three hours already, we were tired, we already had a lot of pictures."

Yet these are the pictures used on the ISM website to document the before and after of Rachel's interaction with the bulldozer. The same pictures are featured as a photo-essay on the site of Electronic Intifada, where they're even attributed to Joseph Smith.

There are several shots of the back of a woman with a blond ponytail facing a bulldozer. She's standing in an open field, wearing an orange fluorescent jacket, holding a megaphone.

Even Michael Shaik, the ISM media coordinator at the time, wouldn't confirm that these are pictures of Corrie taken the day she died. "I'm fairly sure they're of the incident," he tells me by phone from his Bethlehem office. In the same conversation, Shaik asks me not to contact Joe, Greg or Tom, the Rafah ISM eyewitnesses again directly: "They're still in trauma."

The pictures should have raised all kinds of questions to photo editors, but all the major newspapers and wire services chose to run the photos regardless. If there are pictures of Rachel before and after, why didn't the same photographer consider it important to document the act of the bulldozer running her down?

Where is the mound of earth Rachel clambered up and was buried in? The woman shown lying bleeding from her nose and mouth is lying on a flat piece of ground.

So, Corrie was either knocked down by the dozer, or fell in front of it. ISMers assume that she was intentionally run over, but there's no proof that was the driver's intent.

The real issue is, was Rachel alive when she was taken by Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance to Martyr Mohammed Yousef An Najar Hospital? In other words, where did she die? Were adequate efforts made to save her in the hospital?

Again, there are conflicting stories. Joseph Smith tells me in a telephone interview the day after the tragedy, "She died in the hospital or on the way to the hospital." CNN also reported that Rachel died there. (Israeli bulldozer runs over 23-year-old woman. CNN, Monday, March 17, 2003)

In his account posted on www.arabia.com, ISMer Tom Dale has a slightly different story. On March 17 he writes: "I ran for an ambulance, she was gasping and her face was covered in blood from a gash cutting her face from lip to cheek. She was showing signs of brain hemorrhaging. She died in the ambulance a few minutes later of massive internal injuries."

But Dr. Ali Mussa, director of Martyr Mohammed Yousef An Najar Hospital where Corrie was taken, seems confused. On the day of the event, Dr. Mussa tells AP Gaza reporter Ibrahim Barzak that Rachel died in the hospital. (American Killed in Gaza. AP. March 16, 2003)

One week later, in a telephone interview, Dr. Mussa states definitively to me that Rachel died at the scene, "in the soil," as he puts it. The main cause of death was suffocation, Mussa asserts. There were no signs of life, no heartbeat or pulse when she arrived at the hospital, he says. Mussa states that Rachel's ribs were fractured, a fact determined by X-rays.

Doesn't quite jive with the photo essay on the pages of the Electronic Intifada website for March 16, 2003. (Photo story: Israeli bulldozer driver murders American peace activist by Nigel Parry and Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, 16 March 2003.)

A caption under one photo of doctors leaning over a female patient reads: Rachel arrived in the Emergency Room at 5:05 p.m and doctors scrambled to save her. By 5:20 p.m, she was gone. Ha'aretz newspaper reported that Dr. Ali Mussa, a doctor at Al Najar, stated that the cause of death was skull and chest fractures. Dr. Mussa told me he was one of the treating physicians, yet he alone maintains that Rachel was dead before she was put into the ambulance.

To further complicate matters, on that same website, a report from the Palestine Monitor is cited. Here, the writer says that Rachel fractured her arms, legs and skull. She was transferred to hospital, where she later died, says this report.

Just who is Dr. Ali Mussa? Clearly a man in favor with the Palestine Authority hierarchy. Dr. Mussa's views are aired on the official website of the PA's Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation: (January 27, 2003)

There, Dr. Mussa accuses Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "terrorist government" of deliberately killing Palestinian children in Rafah.

A few days after the incident, ISM Media Coordinator Shaik tells me by phone from Rafah that three ISMers, Tom, Alice and Greg were in the ambulance with Rachel. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, says Michael.

But Greg Schnabel, 28, who is quoted in numerous wire service and newspaper stories, never says he witnessed the death of his comrade in the ambulance. In his account published a few days later on the ISM website, he carefully states that she died twenty minutes after arriving at the hospital.

What happened to Rachel's body after her death? Depends whom you ask. Dr. Mussa says it was kept for 24 hours at the hospital before a Red Crescent ambulance transported it to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, via the border where an Israeli ambulance took over. l Shaik says "we lost track of it (her body) after she died." Three ISMers tried to escort the body, but only one was permitted on the ambulance on the Israeli side. According to his account, the ambulance drove straight to the Israeli Forensic Institute at Abu Kabir, where an autopsy was performed. The Israelis are trying to say she died from a blow to the head by a rock, Shaik recounts.

Speaking about the autopsy, one of Rachel's ISM trainers, Iowa native LeAnne Clausen, a fieldworker for the Christian Peacemaker Team based in Beit Sahour, tells me: "The general sentiment within ISM is that the Israelis are trying to suggest perhaps Rachel was on drugs."

In reality, IDF spokesperson Dellal says that initial Israeli investigation results indicate that the cause of death was most likely a blow to the head and chest by a blunt object, possibly a chunk of cement dug up by the bulldozer.

In keeping with ISM sympathies, Rachel received a shaheed (martyr) procession in Rafah, the day after her death. But here again, there's confusion between reality and photo op. Some accounts noted that her coffin draped in an American flag was paraded through the streets. Yet a picture on the site of her college town's peace movement, the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, shows Arab women holding a coffin covered by a Palestinian flag with the caption: Palestinian funeral for Rachel.

Confusion and obfuscation seem to be a trademark of the ISM. In May 2002, a number of ISMers raced past Israeli soldiers into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where dozens of Palestinian terrorists had holed up to evade capture by the IDF outside. After an agreement was reached, the ISM members refused to leave the church, holding up the solution. Then they charged that they were mistreated by clergy, who claimed the ISMers desecrated the church by smoking and drinking alcohol.

Another revealing ISM action took place shortly before the Bethlehem incident, when a number of protesters managed to make their way past IDF barricades into Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound to protect the terrorist leader.

Strange, given the fact that most ISMers are avowed anarchists decrying any kind of governmental authority. Corrie's Swedish boyfriend and fellow ISMer told a reporter for Seattle's The Stranger newspaper, (April 4, 2003) that Corrie could be described as an anarchist.

Still, the politics of the Ismers are predictable. Another Evergreen student who arrived in Israel around the same time as Corrie says he has "been at war with the multinational corporations for some time now." His "baptism of fire" took place at the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, he proclaims.

Joe Smith, recounts his motivation to join forces with the ISM . "Because I felt it was one of the best ways for me to use my privilege as a white middle class American male to directly serve impoverished people of color who are under-privileged due to the Israeli and other Western governments, especially mine.

I have dedicated my life to serving such people (ed. Arabs), as I believe my over-privilege is a direct result of their under-privilege. I have benefited from their suffering, and this must stop."

ISM activity in Rafah has more to do with being used to defend terrorists than preventing suffering of the masses. IDF efforts in Rafah were concentrated on preventing the flow of arms and explosives over the border from Egypt into the terrorist's dens that riddled the area. Less than a week after Rachel died defending terrorists, Israeli tanks moved into Rafah , surrounded several houses, and arrested two Hamas members. IDF spokesperson, Dellal calls Rafah, "the most dangerous area in the West Bank and Gaza," and decries the provocative protests of ISM. "There's nothing wrong with civil disobedience, but these people crossed the line of what was safe for everyone," Dellal says.

So, while the memorial services laud and remember Rachel Corrie as a peace activist murdered by Israeli occupation forces, the truth lies elsewhere.

An Israeli bulldozer injured Corrie as she tried to prevent it doing its job of protecting Israeli civilians, but she was alive when she was taken to An Najar Hospital, according to at least three eyewitnesses. Only Dr. Mussa, a man intent on accusing Israel of child killing, claims otherwise. None of Rachel's comrades have stated they were with her in the hospital when she died. No one has commented on the extent of efforts to preserve Corrie's life at An Najar.

And all the while, the ISM continues to encourage misguided young people from around the world,like Rachel Corrie, to spend time in the Middle East providing cover for terrorists.

A Day Later--Shushan Purim

2009-03-09T23:45:00.004+02:00

Shushan Purim in Jerusalem (Photo: Yoninah)

Jerusalemites celebrate Shushan Purim, the holiday observed by residents of walled cities, a day after the rest of the world has returned to normal after the raucous Purim festival that celebrates Jewish survival.

Back in Purim 2000, when, just to add to the bizarre nature of the occasion, Shushan Purim coincided with the first day of Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel. The authorities wisely decided that the pontiff would be better off with Yasser Arafat on that day, so they packed him off to Bethlehem to avoid having to explain why there were so many little popes and nuns in costume running round the city.

In the afternoon of the festival, after a swift Purim seudah, I headed off to the press center to watch the live TV feed from the Palestine Authority and attend the press briefing about the Pope's visit. As I hopped on the #15 bus, I noticed that the shops in my neighborhood were already closed, the owners home enjoying their festive meal. I'd brought along a newspaper to pass the time on the 20-minute trip, but the street proved to be far more entertaining than any paper.

The #15 passes by Beit Hanassi, the President's residence, where workers were putting the final touches to the marquee which would host the pope the next day. Down on Jabotinsky Street, kids in costume could be seen bustling in and out of apartment buildings delivering baskets of mishloach manot--gifts of prepared foodstuffs--to friends and neighbors. Most were unaccompanied by adults--children as young as six or seven years old are frequently seen riding the bus alone here.

As the bus arrived in town on Jaffa Road, I could see that the main post office and the banks were closed in honor of the holiday. A group of bewildered Christian tourists from Indiana got on the bus and turned to ask why everything was closed and people were running around in costume--wasn't Purim yesterday, they wondered.

The #15 climbed up Strauss St. headed for Geula, right next to Mea Shearim. Music blasted through the windows as we approached Kikar Shabbat, the main intersection of the neighborhood--the place the ultra-Orthodox generally hold their demonstrations and post their community pronouncements. Today, the posters announced that the Pope is the wordly representation of the cross that had caused Jews so much grief over the centuries. But most people in the streets were far too busy enjoying the one day in the year when they could act out with the sanction of the rabbis. Some men had exchanged their somber black hats for bright red, tassled Fez's. Others wore cowboy hats, their long peyot mingling incongruously with the strings of their foreign headgear.

The women, apparently, had been too busy making sure their offspring were adequately decked out to bother with their own costumes. Most wore regular Shabbat clothes. But the kids, who clogged the sidewalk and spilled out onto the narrow street causing massive traffic jams, were happily trying out their new identities. Little Rabbi Ovadya Yosefs were running around everywhere, chased by a few Yasser Arafats and some more traditional Mordechai characters.

Everyone was hauling mishloach manot baskets. Some parents took their kids over to deposit a basket with the beggars on the street who were standing back to watch the action. Our bus was stuck in the gridlock for almost ten minutes. While we were sitting there , a young man sitting in costume at the front of the bus, suddenly opened the window and yelled out to a pedestrian walking by with an upturned hat: "Is that for matanot l'evyonim?" (Gifts to the poor?) Seeing a nod, he stuffed a 20-shekel note into the hat and sat back, satisfied that he hadn't even had to get off the bus to perform the mitzvah. Cars hired by various charities roamed up and down with megaphones blasting, offering the opportunity for others to fulfill their obligations..

A few creative young men had pulled gloves onto their windshield wipers, pulled them away from the windshield, and turned them on, so that they appeared to wave to passers by in time to the music.

Despite the injunction that one is supposed to imbibe enough strong drink to blur the distinction between Mordechai and Haman, there was no sign on the streets of anyone being overtly drunk. Passing the large Yakiray Yisrael Yeshiva, however, we could see bottles being passed around amongst the men in the large study hall that had been converted into a makeshift all-male dance hall.

When I finally arrived at the press center, things there felt a little tame after all the street action. Several hours later, I took the same #15 bus back home. It was already dark, so the holiday was technically over, but there was still plenty of entertainment going on. Back in Geula, buses clogged the streets waiting to return the Hasidim back home. Scores of Ger Hasidim were scurrying around, still dressed in their holiday finery--their tall fur hats making them stand out in the crowd.

At the last stop in Geula, two young men climbed onto the bus holding a bottle and half full shot glasses. One sat quietly a few rows from the front, but his exuberant, and obviously quite drunk companion, plunked himself down next to a poor, unsuspecting fellow at the front of the bus.

Sizing up the situation, a young yeshiva student further back yelled out: "Come sit next to me." "Nah--why should I sit with you--you're already religious! I have work to do on this brother..." the drunk one replied. It wasn't clear whether he was still in costume, or whether in fact he was a genuine Hasid, with fine kapote and fur hat. But he threw his arm around his neighbor and loudly started to tell him how he had become religious in reaction to his Reform family. In rapid fire Hebrew the Hasid told of how his parents had come to visit from the States and expressed only a passing interest in the kotel. "They wanted to come here to relax," Hasid said, contemptuously. "They didn't see the beautiful holiness here--could you imagine?" he asked his fellow traveler. The young man next to him quietly squirmed in his seat, unresponsive. Undeterred, Hasid went on--describing how a life of soccer matches, work and TV was a complete waste of God's gift of creation. Finally, before rolling off the bus at Kikar Zion, Hasid invited the man to study with him and experience the fulfillment of Torah learning. "Anywhere, any time," he said, in his parting effort, before the doors of the bus swooshed shut.

In the square, the Bratslaver boys, those whirling dervishes of Hasidism, were just warming up for their evening's performance. Their white heavy-knit kipot visible among the curious crowd gathered around as they bobbed up and down to the music.

The bus carried on, past the stately YMCA building across from the King David Hotel. A dozen tourist buses disgorged their passengers to take part in the kitschy Israel/Arab folklore evening in the ornate auditorium.

A few more stops and we arrived at the elegant Belgian Consulate at the top of Jabotinsky--revelers could be seen here too. Perhaps Shushan Purim coincided with Belgian independence day this year, or maybe the Belgian Catholics were celebrating the Pope's visit?

Finally, we arrived at my stop. What a deal--a 5-shekel bus fare for all that Shushan Purim entertainment!

"Ish" Has It Right

2009-03-05T09:20:00.005+02:00

I first met Ishmael Khaldi in Jerusalem when he was a Foreign Ministry trainee back in 2003. He had come to speak to the Association of Ammericans and Canadians in Israel during the crazy period at the beginning of the Iraq war when Israelis were dusting off their gas masks and preparing our sealed rooms against the specter of renewed SCUD attacks from Sadaam Hussein.

Khaldi's fluent English was even then, better than most Israeli Foreign ministry flacks, and his ability to connect with his audience was equally good. Khaldi inspired me to write a piece about Israel's Bedouin population that I included in my latest book, Jerusalem Diaries II: What's Really Happening in Israel

Today, Khaldi, or "Ish" as he's known to his pro-Israel friends in the Pacific NW, serves as Deputy Israeli Consul in San Francisco.

In an outstanding piece in a San Francisco paper, Ish goes after the useful idiots who are currently celebrating Israel Apartheid Week.

SFGate
Lost in the blur of slogans

Ishmael Khaldi

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march through San Francisco...

For those who haven't heard, the first week in March has been designated as Israel Apartheid Week by activists who are either ill intentioned or misinformed. On American campuses, organizing committees are planning happenings to once again castigate Israel as the lone responsible party for all that maligns the Middle East.

Last year, at UC Berkeley, I had the opportunity to "dialogue" with some of the organizers of these events. My perspective is unique, both as the vice consul for Israel in San Francisco, and as a Bedouin and the highest-ranking Muslim representing the Israel in the United States. I was born into a Bedouin tribe in Northern Israel, one of 11 children, and began life as shepherd living in our family tent. I went on to serve in the Israeli border police, and later earned a master's degree in political science from Tel Aviv University before joining the Israel Foreign Ministry.

I am a proud Israeli - along with many other non-Jewish Israelis such as Druze, Bahai, Bedouin, Christians and Muslims, who live in one of the most culturally diversified societies and the only true democracy in the Middle East. Like America, Israeli society is far from perfect, but let us deals honestly. By any yardstick you choose - educational opportunity, economic development, women and gay's rights, freedom of speech and assembly, legislative representation - Israel's minorities fare far better than any other country in the Middle East

So, I would like to share the following with organizers of Israel Apartheid week, for those of them who are open to dialogue and not blinded by a hateful ideology:

You are part of the problem, not part of the solution: If you are really idealistic and committed to a better world, stop with the false rhetoric. We need moderate people to come together in good faith to help find the path to relieve the human suffering on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Vilification and false labeling is a blind alley that is unjust and takes us nowhere.

You deny Israel the fundamental right of every society to defend itself: You condemn Israel for building a security barrier to protect its citizens from suicide bombers and for striking at buildings from which missiles are launched at its cities - but you never offer an alternative. Aren't you practicing yourself a deep form of racism by denying an entire society the right to defend itself?

Your criticism is willfully hypocritical: Do Israel's Arab citizens suffer from disadvantage? You better believe it. Do African Americans 10 minutes from the Berkeley campus suffer from disadvantage - you better believe it, too. So should we launch a Berkeley Apartheid Week, or should we seek real ways to better our societies and make opportunity more available.

You are betraying the moderate Muslims and Jews who are working to achieve peace: Your radicalism is undermining the forces for peace in Israel and in the Palestinian territories. We are working hard to move toward a peace agreement that recognizes the legitimate rights of both Israel and the Palestinian people, and you are tearing down by falsely vilifying one side.

To the organizers of Israel Apartheid Week I would like to say:

If Israel were an apartheid state, I would not have been appointed here, nor would I have chosen to take upon myself this duty. There are many Arabs, both within Israel and in the Palestinian territories who have taken great courage to walk the path of peace. You should stand with us, rather than against us.

Ishmael Khaldi is deputy consul general of Israel for the Pacific Northwest.

Jewish eastern Jerusalem

2009-02-23T13:59:00.004+02:00

Another example of Jewish eastern Jerusalem--this find in Um Tuba, a southern area of Jerusalem that is today Judenrein, indicates the prominence of Jewish life here in past eras. This is part of the very area that Olmert/Kadima and the Obama/Clinton administration are more than ready to give away...

Royal seal impressions were discovered in excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority at Umm Tuba, in the southern hills of Jerusalem.

A large building that dates to the time of the First and Second Temples, in which there was an amazing wealth of inscriptions, was discovered in a salvage excavation conducted by Zubair Adawi, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in the village of Umm Tuba in southern Jerusalem (between Zur Bahar and the Har Homa quarter), prior to construction work by a private contractor.

Considering the limited area of the excavation and the rural nature of the structure that was revealed, the excavators were surprised to discover in it so many royal seal impressions that date to the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah (end of the eighth century BCE). Four “LMLK” type impressions were discovered on handles of large jars that were used to store wine and oil in royal administrative centers. These were found together with the seal impressions of two high ranking officials named Ahimelekh ben Amadyahu and Yehokhil ben Shahar, who served in the kingdom’s government. The Yehokhil seal was stamped on one of the LMLK impressions before the jar was fired in a kiln and this is a very rare instance in which two such impressions appear together on a single handle.

Another Hebrew inscription, 600 years later than the seal impressions of the Kingdom of Judah, was discovered on a fragment of a jar neck that dates to the Hasmonean period. An alphabetic sequence was engraved with a thin iron stylus below the vessel’s rim in Hebrew script that is characteristic of the beginning of the Hasmonean period (end of the second century BCE). The letters hay to yod and a small part of the letter kaf were preserved on the sherd. Similar inscriptions bearing alphabetic sequences were discovered in the past, usually on ostraca (inscriptions written in ink on pottery sherds) or engraved on ossuaries (stone receptacles in which human bones were buried). The alphabetic inscription that was discovered in this instance is unique and the significance of it requires further study: was this a “writing exercise” done by an apprentice scribe or should we ascribe it some magical importance?

The remains of the large building included several rooms arranged around a courtyard. Pits, agricultural installations and subterranean silos were hewn inside the courtyard. A potter’s kiln, a large columbarium cave in which there is a rock-hewn hiding refuge, pottery vessels, etc were also discovered inside the built complex. The pottery vessels that were recovered from the ruins of the building indicate it first dates to the end of the Iron Age (the First Temple period) in the eighth century BCE. Following its destruction, along with Jerusalem and all of Judah during the Babylonian conquest, Jews reoccupied it in the Hasmonean period (second century BCE) and it existed for another two hundred years until the destruction of the Second Temple. During the Byzantine period the place was reinhabited as part of the extensive rural settlement of monasteries and farmsteads in the region between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Some three years ago the impressive remains of a monastery from this period were excavated that together with the remains of the current excavation confirm the identification of the place as “Metofa”, which is mentioned in the writings of the church fathers in the Byzantine period. The name of the Arab village, “Umm Tuba” is therefore a derivation of Byzantine “Metofa”, which is Biblical “Netofa” and is mentioned as the place from which two of David’s heroes originated (2 Samuel 23:28-29).

Secret??

2009-02-20T16:08:00.006+02:00

Jews from Yemen on their way to Israel 60 years ago.

You might have heard that yesterday, 10 Yemenite Jews arrived at Ben Gurion on a "secret" aliya mission--SECRET?? Every journalist in the country received a news release about the new immigrants a few hours before they landed. Meanwhile, the remaining 240 Jews in Yemen are left to their own devices...

We don't know if they didn't want to join their 10 brethren; weren't permitted to leave by Yemeni authorities or preferred to wait for the Satmar and other non-Zionist groups in America to whisk them away to Brooklyn....or was it a case of the Sochnut (Jewish Agency) just needing to show that they're still relevant? In any case, my colleague Jacob Richman posted a nice page of photos of the event at http://www.jr.co.il/pictures/israel/history/aliyah.htm

Yesterday's mini-aliya op was sparked by a recent spate of violence against the Jews of Yemen culminating in the murder of a teacher a few months ago.

Boker tov, readers of Jeffrey Goldberg

2009-02-05T13:19:00.006+02:00

Writing in The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg writes:

Once, in Khan Younis, I actually saw gunmen unwrap a shrouded body, carry it a hundred yards and position it atop a pile of rubble — and then wait a half-hour until photographers showed. It was one of the more horrible things I’ve seen in my life. And it’s typical of Hamas.

Ooohh--what a revelation! Those of us who have been here for a while covering this story can regale you with reams and reams of incidents like these that we've seen with our own eyes. In fact, some of us were writing about these kinds of things years ago...My 3-part series on Palestinian Intimidation of Journalists was published in 2001 and focuses on the reasons why...How many more years of this will it take before people (including reporters) realize that lying and deception is endemic in this part of the world.

Letter from IDF Reservist:I Occupied Your House in Gaza

2009-01-29T14:30:00.004+02:00

My accountant's son-in-law, Yishai, penned the following letter that appeared in Hebrew in Maariv. Here's the translation...

An Open Letter to A citizen Of Gaza:
I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home:By: Yishai G (reserve soldier)
Yishai's e mail is: ygoldflam@gmail.com

Hello,

While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which
remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone
was in your home while you were away.

I am that someone.

I spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into your
home. How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had slept on
your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.

I knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this
violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as your
enemies, with stinging humiliation. I am convinced that you hate me with
unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what I
have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to say the following
in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.

I spent many days in your home. You and your family's presence was felt in
every corner. I saw your family portraits on the wall, and I thought of my
family. I saw
your wife's perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife. I saw
your children's toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your
personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next to
the screen, just as I do.

I wanted you to know that despite the immense disorder you found in your
house that was created during a search for explosives and tunnels (which
were indeed found in other homes), we did our best to treat your possessions
with respect. When I moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and
lay them down neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer. I
even covered the computer from dust with a piece of cloth. I tried to put
back the clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as
you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.

I know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the
destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a ridiculous
light. Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that you will
channel your anger and criticism to the right places.

I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your
home.

I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in
your household that are university students. Your children learn English,
and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what
is going on around you.

Therefore, I am sure you know that Qassam rockets were launched from your
neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.

How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would
say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch
rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you?
How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?

I can hear you saying "it's not me, it's Hamas". My intuition tells me you
are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad reality in
which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make
excuses about "occupation", you must certainly reach the conclusion that the
Hamas is your real enemy.

The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israel
withdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from
Gush Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity,
water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I
guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of
trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).

Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of
any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three
years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could
not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in
order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality that is painful but
very easy to explain.

As soon as you agree with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them,
your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must
come from within. I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier
to write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are connected
to the world and concerned about your children's education, must lead,
together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.

I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads,
building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of
dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your Israeli
neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now. If your leaders were
not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed.
If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in
launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your
kitchen as a soldier.

You don't have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine.

Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat,
millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the
Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders
bank accounts. Gulf States, the emirates - your brothers, your flesh and
blood, are some of the richest nations in the world. If there was even a
small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but
the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people - your
situation would be very different.

You must be familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger
than the Gaza strip and it is considered to be the second most populated
country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and well
managed country. Why not the same for you?

My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly.
I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my
army did, and what I did. However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the
destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a
personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as
much as possible.

In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine. I am a
civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with
the military. However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a
uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked. I have no desire
to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to
sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea
seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.

The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take
responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take
control of your destiny. How? I do not know. Maybe there is something to be
learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human
tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a
flourishing and prospering country. It is possible, and it is in your hands.
I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.

But only you can move the wheels of history."

Regards,
Yishai, (Reserve Soldier)