Israel & Palestijnen Nieuws Blog: PLO ambassadeur in Brazilë vindt dat "Israel moet verdwijnen"

Israel & Palestijnen Nieuws Blog: PLO ambassadeur in Brazilë vindt dat "Israel moet verdwijnen"

Eye on a Crazy Planet: What Palestinian leaders say in Arabic but not English: Goal of statehood is to wipe out Israel

Eye on a Crazy Planet: What Palestinian leaders say in Arabic but not English: Goal of statehood is to wipe out Israel

Israeli history: The true mystery of Daud Abu Yusuf, the Jewish Bedouin

Dedicated to the memory of Ami Isseroff z”l and Joe Hochstien z”l (right to left)

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The first teacher
In the modern history of the Jewish people Daud Abu Yusef is referred as ‘the miraculous rider from the desert.’ But in my opinion a more fitting title will be ‘the first teacher’. Since he was the first to teach the Jewish pioneers in the land of Israel how to protect themselves and their community. His students were the founders of what is now the modern city of Petach Tikvah. The very first pioneers who came to the malaria infested swamps that covered much of the arable land in the land of Israel. Like them he wanted to change the fate of the Jewish people for the better. And gladly joined the members of the Jerusalemite Association “Petach Tikvah,” which means opening of hope in Hebrew.

Coat of arms of the city of Petach Tikvah

Opening of Hope
Just east of Tel Aviv, the modern city of Petach Tikvah holds proudly the title of the first Zionist community in the land of Israel. It is a title disputed by the people of the city of Rosh Pinah near Safed in the Galilee, but this dispute will not be sorted out here. The founding fathers of Petach Tikvah included David Gutmann, Yehoshua Stampfer, Eliezer Rab, Natan Greengrant, Zerakh Baranet, and the leader of the group, Yoel Moshe Solomon.

In July 8 1878 they bought for 1,100 Napoleons 3,400 dunam from a Christian trader from Jaffa by the name of Salim Caser and named it after their association. Located near the origins of the Yarkon, (a river in the eyes of the locals, and a stream in the eyes of passing tourists), the abundance of water made the place look promising but looks can be deceiving. Their intention was to find a way to live as farmers. But the challenges they were facing were daunting. The biggest threat was malaria. It decimated the Arab population along the marshlands and had no mercy on the Jewish pioneers. Finding the right crops was another critical challenge since that was the financial justification of their enterprise. 

 Founder of Petach Tikvah, Yoel Moshe Salomon

The security challenge

There was also the problem of security. These were the last decades of the Ottoman Empire. As it decayed, lawlessness and destitution spread along its diminishing provinces. And the land of Israel was no exception. The Arab Israeli conflict, as we know it today, of Jews vs. Arabs, did not exist at the time. Then it was the destitute vs. the poor. Those with nothing but an empty belly vs. those with very little. And those with very little, like the people of Petach Tikvah, had to watch tirelessly over the little they had. Guarding from thieves, robbers and trespassers. The trespassers came from nearby villages and wandering Bedouin tribes. They often harvested the fields of Petach Tikva and brought their cattle there to graze. The Bedouin tribes were the greater potential threat. Since quite often they were the real law of the land. Picking a fight with one of them was asking for trouble. Therefore a good guard had to be a good diplomat who knew the ways of the Arabs and the Bedouins.

First of the Jewish guards, Yehoshua Stampfer

For this complex task of security three men volunteered. Yehoshua Stampfer (1852-1908), Yaacov Ben Mimon Zarmati (1838-1928), and Yehuda Rab (1858-1948). The first is best described as the problems solver of the association. Enthusiastic, committed and charismatic, his been taking head on many of the setbacks that came their way. From recruiting backers and members, to farming, and protecting their small newborn community. The second was a 40 years old Moroccan Jew, native of Jaffa. Yaacov Ben Mimon Zarmati was a merchant who knew much of the land around them, from Sinai to northern Syria. He knew the ways of the Arabs and the Bedouins, and in his travels went to the lands of the most hostile of tribes. He knew no fear and no illness. The 21 years old Yehuda Rab, was the son of Eliezer Rab and cousin of Yehoshua Stampfer. Although young, he had behind him experience equal to a lifetime. Married for the second time, he already run two businesses before coming to Petach Tikvah. He run a mill in Jerusalem and before that an estate in his country of birth, Hungary. There he also learned the use of personal weapons from an elderly friend of the family, a veteran of the failed Hungarian revolt of 1848 and of the American Civil War. Rebellious and unruly, yet loyal, Yehuda preferred the company of Arabs to that of the Yeshiva life in Jerusalem. Because of that he was called ‘Yehuda Arab.’
Each of them had some knowledge and experience to offer. But it was not enough. Very quickly these three remarkable men were overwhelmed by the security problems. They needed a more professional help. And they got it, unexpectedly, in a perfect timing, the kind of which history isn’t known to offer.



First of the Jewish guards, Yaacov Ben Mimon Zarmati, age 90

One heck of a coincident
Daud Abu Yusuf did not plan to be in the land of Israel in the winter of 1879. As a devout Jew he undoubtedly wanted to. Maybe he even made a few plans. But if he did they never materialized. In 1879, year 5,639 of the Jewish calendar, a thief stole his precious white mere somewhere in Arabia. And Daud chased him all the way to Damascus. Since Jerusalem is nearby, he decided to make pilgrimage. On his way back, at the village of Faga, east of Petach Tikvah, he heard of Jews trying to make a living as farmers. Curious, he went to have a look. But all he saw there were a bunch of Europeans. Disappointed he immediately left. For Yehuda Rab, who welcomed him there, this was also confusing. He saw a strange looking Bedouin coming from the east on a tall white mere, the kind Yehuda never saw before. According to the local customs he greeted him and invited him for a cup of coffee. But instead of accepting, the rider grunted and left, after replying in a few words in an Arabian dialect uncommon to this region. Returning from the fields the next morning Yehuda was surprise to see the stranger coming from the same direction. His surprise grew several times over when the stranger announced “Ana Israili,” followed by, “Shma Israel adony Eloheinu Adony echad.”
No one expected to meet a Jewish Bedouin. But there he was, a Hebrew speaking Bedouin with Talit and Tefilin among his few belongings. Yehuda’s immediate thoughts were of the Jews of Khaybar. They were a mysterious tribe of Jewish nomads from the Arabian Peninsula. At the time a source of many legends and rumors, but of no actual encounters. As they introduced each other Daud dismissed that possibility. His name was Da-vid, but the Arabs called him Daud Abu Yusuf, after his 20 years old son, who was then with his mother in Baghdad. Daud came from a group of Jewish families in Baghdad that spend the greater part of each year among the Bedouins in the desert, trading with them in camel wool. Only he went even farther, and made the desert his home. In that conversation Daud also dismissed the possibility that the Jews of Khaybar existed. He recalled that he was hired once as a guide by a British expedition that wanted to find this tribe. They went across the Arabian Peninsula as far as Yemen, were they met Yemenite Jews. But saw no evidence of the Jews of Khaybar.

First of the Jewish guards and teacher, Yehuda Rab

The first lesson
Hearing of their problems and difficulties he immediately offered his experience, his first advice, no rifles. That night he took Yehuda outside to set a campfire. Yehuda thought this would immediately attract hostile fire. Daud was counting on that. They waited on their horses some distance away in the dark. And when someone began shooting at their campfire they did nothing. The shooters revealed their location by firing and when they reloaded Daud and Yehuda charged at them from behind, scaring the living daylights out of them. Simple and effective, Daud’s plan gave Yehuda his first night of sleep in a long time. After that night Daud decided not to return to his wife and son in Baghdad but instead to spend a year teaching the people of Petach Tikvah everything he knows. Especially to Yehuda Rab who carried the greater brunt of guarding.

Philosophy and legacy
His main tool was diplomacy. Gaining the respect of the surrounding villagers and Bedouin tribes, through firmness and hospitality. Stand your ground but always give your adversary the highest respect. By winning every confrontation on one hand, and they were numerous, and honoring his neighbors with hospitality Daud’s fame spread throughout the land. And many Arabs regarded him as a sheikh. He knew that smart diplomacy can avoid confrontations and war, therefore he honored the Arab custom of hospitality by accepting all their invitations and inviting their leaders to Petach Tikavh, where they were treated as kings. Once he refused to take part in a contest of skills in order not to humiliate their host, the head of the powerful Abu Kishek tribe.
When it comes to surviving an actual confrontation Daud’s philosophy had just two rules. Rules that required a cool head at all times.
“Always be quicker than your foe, but no matter what you do, don’t ever kill unless this is an extremely severe danger. – This is not a fantasiya!” “There is no point,” he reasoned, “to start an endless blood feud.” Fantasiya were local festivities were weapons were fired into the air just for the fun of it. For experienced men like Daud Abu Yusuf war is something they engage in out of necessity and not for the fun of it. He knew and taught that a battle avoided is a battle won.
This first rule is a wisdom that echoed across the history of Jewish self-defense in the land of Israel. Mendel Portugali, 1888 – 1917, one of the founders of “Hashomer,” the predecessor of the “Haganah” instructed, “ You do not seek an encounter with a thief, you chase him off, and only when you have no choice do you shoot. After all, he is "out to steal a sack of almonds, not to murder you, so don’t murder him, drive him off. Don’t sleep at night. If you hear footsteps, fire into the distance. If you feel that he is not far from you, and you can fire without fear that he may attack you, fire into the distance. Only if your life is in danger – fire.”
And from later years, Yigal Alon, 1918 – 1980, recalled an incident with thieves in his family fields, when he was only 13 years old. In that incident he saw his father confronts the thieves and chases them away, without killing them, even though he had the opportunity to do so. His father’s explanation echoed the wisdom of Daud Abu Yussef and the empathy of Mendel Portugaly: “A shot can end up in death. The death of an Arab opens a blood feud that can last for decades. We live here with them and any conflict that can be resolved with hands and sticks has to end without the use of a weapon. Use it only when there is a real danger to your life.” Yigal Alon became a leading figure in the establishment of the state of Israel and its armed forces. Where he, and others like him raised generations of soldiers, commanders and military leaders.
Daud Abu Yussef second rule is best described as “Always prefer the night over the company of a campfire.” Knowing your surrounding in the dark without the use of a light source is the skill of the commando, the tracker, and the native fighter. A skill a bunch of foreign intruders are not supposed to have. Israeli historians may dispute the idea that Daud Abu Yusuf gave the Israeli side the skills of army trackers – ‘Gashashim’ in Hebrew. But the fact of the matter is that Jews with this skill were present in land of Israel from the very beginning of pioneering Zionism and Daud Abu Yusuf was there to teach.

Who was he?
Daud spent only one year in the company of the people of Petach Tikvah, from the Passover of 1879 to the Passover of 1880. There is only one source about that year, his friend and student, Yehud Rab. From him we have a few clues about his life before he came to Petach Tikvah.
40 years of age, short and not so good-looking, his face carried the scares of an illness that stroke him some years before, probably Chicken Pox. His most recognized feature was the rababa, a single string musical instrument common among the Bedouins. With it he sang Bedouin songs from the desert’s heartland and Jewish prayers. He also liked to play the ud, a well-known guitar like Arab musical instrument.
True to his teachings, he carried no firearms. He had a lance in his right arm and a frightening Damascus Sword in a sheath on his left thigh. When asked why this seemingly risky choice, he explained that a rifle has no honor. “Even a woman can kill with it the greatest of heroes”. Was he a chauvinist? Or was this a better explanation to give to the kind of world he lived in? His one-year stay in Petach Tikvah Suggests the later. Once a massive confrontation between the men of Petach Tikvah and the men of a nearby village was about to take place. Seeing this face-off the women of Petach Tikvah took the initiative, rushed to the field and lay down between the two sides. Daud was as surprised as the rest of the men, from both sides. But there is no indication he was bothered by this “unwomanly” behavior. Along with everybody else he was glad the fight was aborted.
Daud gave a year of his life to Zionism, but his life was his wife and son in Baghdad. This we know since he never stopped talking about them, especially his wife. On the eve of his departure he met Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, a senior rabbinic personality from Jerusalem. He was the only leading rabbi to support the Petach Tikvah initiative, and that against strong and sometime near violent opposition from the rabbinic establishment in Jerusalem. Recognizing Daud’s importance Schlesinger offered him a special permit to marry a second wife from the land of Israel, should his wife in Baghdad demands his return. Politely and firmly Daud refused. It is quite possible that Daud had a woman for a boss.
Daud was a man of contradictions in more ways than one. Once he saw a Turkish unit taking government cattle to the fields of Petach Tikvah. Furious he charged at them and slapped the Turkish lieutenant on the chick, and quickly rode away. Smart move giving the troubles this act nearly put him into. Like most of the men in that era he liked to hunt. And was excited to see a wild boar. Against his friend’s advice he decided to hunt it and threw his lance at him. But the wild beast was only hurt, and as always in such cases attacked him and his mere. His mere was nearly gutted before Daud was able to slash the boar’s neck with his sword.
In my opinion these stories betray an earlier layer of personality, one that is more adventures and impulsive. And that raises the highly likely possibility that he too had a mentor once, an unknown teacher. From him learned survival skills that may have conflicted with his adventures nature.




Daud Abu Yusuf, a sketch made by Yehuda Rab in 1944. Source, 'The First Furrow’

A fading memory
Daud’s life from before he came to Petach Tikvah is a mystery; all we have is second-guessing based on a handful of clues. But what happened to him afterwards is a complete blank. Even though most Baghdadi Jews and their descendants live today in Israel, no one came forwards claiming to be his descendant. And the British expedition he said to have guided across Arabia hasn’t been identified. As a result the mystery of Daud Abu Yusuf got bigger. And as always when history and mystery meet, legends and folktales emerge.
When Daud left his image got split into two different persons, the historic one and the legendary one. The historic one, of the lone and remarkable Baghdadi Jew that lived as a Bedouin, is the one described here. It was known only to Yehuda Rab and to his family; and to whoever read his memoirs. They were written by his son Benyamin Ben Ezer in 1930,  and published in 1956 under the Hebrew title ‘Hatelem Harishon,’ ‘The First Furrow.’ In 1922 the Rab family Hebraized their name to Ben Ezer, after Yehuda’s father, Eliezer.
The legendary image described Daud as the head of a mysterious and powerful tribe of Jewish Bedouins hidden somewhere in the vastness of Arabia. This is how the general public in Israel knew him, from before there was an Israel, probably from the very beginning of the 20^th century. At the time of Daud’s stay in Petach Tikvah Yehuda was not the only one who mistaken Daud for a member of the Jews of Khaybar. But only he was there he to hear Daud’s own story. The rest of the people saw someone who was clearly a Jew and clearly a Bedouin. Therefore it was logical for them to assume that he came from a Jewish Bedouin tribe. And the people of that era knew of only one such tribe, the mysterious Jews of Khaybar. The great deeds Daud made during that year convinced many that he was the head of that tribe.


While the historic image of Daud Abu Yusuf remain hidden among the old books in public libraries, the mistaken one kept growing in the collective imagination. In Israel’s earlier decades children & youth literature writers turned the Khaybar version into an action figure hero, an integral property of Israel’s world of fiction and fantasy. It may have seemed like a safe place to preserve a memory, albeit distorted one, but it wasn’t. With an image of a character in children & youth literature Daud was simply not in the radar of most early Israeli historians and researchers. This kept his memory only in the fiction world of Israel. But the fiction world everywhere is never a stable one. There, characters and stories are subject to changing trends and fashions. And in the Israeli culture the leading trendsetters were in the United States of America. This is a fact of life that goes back to the very beginning of Modern Hebrew speaking lives in the Land of Israel. And in the 1980’s, when the influx of imagery from the United States to Israel turned into a flood, Daud did not have a chance.

By 1988 it was probably too late. Then, journalist and historian Ehud Ben Ezer (1936-), Grandson of Yehuda Rab and son of Benyamin Ben Ezer, Republished his grandfather’s memoirs. With it he published a children & youth story recounting the same events. The two books meant to counter the misinformation in the public’s mind, but there is no evidence that major interest arose. Thus the memory of Daud abu Yusuf, real and fiction, faded to near obscurity.

But ultimately, the main reason was Israel herself. The hi-tech over urbanized Israel of the 21^st century is a sharp contrast to the impoverished desolated and thinly populated land Daud and Yehuda knew in 1880. And today many in Israel and outside of Israel will find it difficult to believe that the origins of the IDF, one of the most technologically sophisticated armies in the world, goes back to four Jews on horse backs carrying as their main weapons wooden quarterstaffs known in Arabic as naboots.



Ehud Ben Ezer, the only authority in the whole world on Daud Abu Yusuf

Eurovision 1976, nostalgia and patriotism, Emor Shalom

This is not exactly nostalgia for me since I don’t recall the Eurovision of 76, but it is a nice song and nice glimpse into a different area. So here they are, the old Israeli female trio ‘Shockolad Menta Mastik,’ Yardena Arazi, Ruti Holtzman, and Lea Lupatin, in Emor Shalom.

Jawaher Abu Rahma, why the mainstream media interest in the story of her death faded so quickly?

In the heated debate between Israel’s defenders and bashers over the tragic death of Jawaher Abu Rahma, on December 31^st 2010, one aspect seems to slip from the discussion. And that is the fact that the mainstream media lost interest in this story very fast.
It was pushed aside by the stories of the referendum in South Sudan, the riots in Tunis and the evolving crisis in Lebanon and now in Egypt. Since each of them affects the lives of millions and can deteriorate the entire region it is of no surprise. But even before that it was over taken by the ludicrous Saudi Mossad’s vulture spy story. From the point of view of the past success of Palestinian propaganda, the Jenin massacre that never happened, the cruel Al Dura hoax, and the Mavi Marmara ambush, this is humiliating. And the family of the deceased should find it deeply insulting and infuriating.

What happened this time?

Did the good guys finally score a point, and all that effort put into Israeli advocacy at last achieved something?

Tempting.
It is very tempting to believe this.
Beware of temptation.
I mean it!!!
Still it is possible. If this is the case, it is nothing more than a dent in the MSM willingness to accept everything the Palestinians say.

But even as mere dent, the precedent is there, MSM shunning away a Palestinian story. And if that is the case then most of the credit goes to Philippe Karsenty who exposed the Al Dura hoax, and made us al realize what we are dealing with.

WELL DONE PHILIPPE - For casting the first stone, and well done to all those who followed.

But there is another difference between this libel and the previous ones. This time the media was there. Either at the actual event or countless like it, therefore they can tell if the Israeli teargas is nasty enough to kill. Not to mention the holes in the Palestinian version. Which is actually two, one where she died inside her house and one where she died outside. Along with the hasty burial, with no autopsy, this is a story a seasoned journalist will stay away from.

And as January is passing it turns out there was another reason this story faded quickly. Al Jazeera, the megaphone of anti Israel rhetoric, a news channel that will spit every libel there is, no matter how ridiculous, even 9/11 conspiracy theories, had other plans. They could not have this tragedy, no matter how useful to Palestinian propaganda; interfere with the ambush they had prepared to the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, what is known today as the 'Palestine papers leak'. Which is kind of lucky for us. And that is very humbling. Because if it took this long to get this success with the help of luck then there is a lot of hard work ahead.

But at least now our belief in our ability to make a difference can draw some strength.

“Power to the people”

“Speaking truth to power”

“Keeping hope alive”

Zionism is the cause where all these slogans are real.

Palestinian propaganda: When honesty slips out

Palestinian propaganda long ago reached impressive levels of sophistication and fabrication. Arguing for the delegitimation of one nation, an act that contradicts the core values of liberal progressive societies, while pretending to be a national liberation movement with social liberal progressive values, is quite a feat. And when we see the automatic trust their propagandists enjoy from the mainstream media and left-leaning intelligentsia including Jews, this success is very impressive. But sometimes their true intentions and their supremacist view of the world make their way to the surface as a result of their own words and actions. This is the case with their set of maps below, which appears in many of their demonstrations and websites, but only recently caught the attention of the pro-Israel blogosphere.

The four maps below are supposed to represent Zionist lust for Arab lands. As usual with Palestinian propaganda, it has its omissions.  For example, the map showing Israel giving up the oil-rich Sinai Peninsula in exchange for peace in 1979 is missing. While it does have its falsehoods, as pointed out by Jeffrey Goldberg, Adam Holland, and at Zionism-Israel, when they debunked misguided convictions held by pro-Palestinian activists; this set of maps does portray a genuine feeling of loss, one that comes from losing actual property that was in the possession of the Arab world prior to the formation of the state of Israel. However this property was not land, land was just the means by which this property was lost:

The first map, on the left, that of 1946, represents the ultimate sin, Jews aspiring for life of liberty, already taking significant steps toward that goal on land bought and paid for with hard currency and earned by blood and sweat.

The second map is the ultimate outrage; the world acknowledges that Jews are their own property, free to have a land, a country and a will of their own, like all nations on earth. Today the Palestinian propagandists say they couldn’t have accepted the partition offer of 1947 because the Jews got 55%. However, when the Peel proposal of 1937 offered only 17% to the Jews, the Arabs violently rejected it. Why? Because it was not about land, it was about the use of that land. To the Palestinian propagandist, a free Jewish society on any portion of the land of Israel, even with zero Arab population, is something to be totally rejected.

The third map is the ultimate crime: A free Jewish state and free Jewish people as a fact of life, of everyday reality. The fact that in that alleged abomination Arabs do own land, privately and through organizations such as the Islamic Waqf and the Greek Orthodox Church, is not surprisingly omitted, along with the fact that in the Arab world, then and now, Jews are not allowed to own land. And prior to 1967 those lands were not Palestinian; they were Jordanian and Egyptian.

The fourth map, which is vaguely based on the phases of the Oslo peace process, has its own set of omissions, and quite a list of them:

• It omits the fact that it was Israel, the enemy of the Palestinians who gave them land to rule on, and not Egypt or Jordan, who ruled the Gaza Strip and the West Bank prior to 1967.
• It omits the facts that more land was offered by Israel in exchange for peace in 2000 and the Palestinian leadership rejected it completely.
• It omits the murderous violence launched against Israeli citizens after that rejection.
• It omits the disengagement from Gaza and the subsequent rise of Hamas.
• It omits the Qassam rockets attacks on Israeli population centers in the south of Israel, Olmert’s offer to Abu Mazen in 2008 of more land, and Abu Mazen rejection of that offer.
• It omits the attacks on Israeli citizens by Palestinian terror organization in 1994 and 1996.

It omits so much one has to wonder what the little green enclaves in the last map really represent, after all their connection to reality is more tenuous than any of the other maps?

Is it possible that their size is a metaphor for the propagandists’ own lack of confidence in their own beliefs and arguments, and that in spite of their successful deception they fear reality and morality will close in on them, exposing their lies and delusions?

Know this, even the most successfully sold fabrication has a major flaw, it is a fraud based on a lie. And as such it will always fear exposure, and that fear will be its downfall. And it is up to us, the ‘stolen’ property that gained its liberty by owning land legally and becoming a sovereign nation like most of the nations on this earth, to catch it.

Happy Passover.

The ‘Daily Show’ forum, debating Israel, hope among bashing

When you ask an Israel basher a tough question you may get a reply. Whether that reply can be considered an answer that is open for interpretation.

Having seen last October that Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer were to appear as guests on the 'Daily Show' I placed a question in the Daily Show forum, suggesting to the host, Jon Stewart, to present it to his guests.

I would like to make a suggestion to Mr. Jon Stewart regarding tonight guests Dr. Mustafa Barghuoti and Anna Baltzer. My suggestion is that he should ask Dr. Barghuoti if Jews have the right for life and liberty.

Been an Israeli, and a Zionist, I naturally do not have an objective view of Dr. Barghuoti and his colleague, but I would state that I, Boaz Tibon (Dvar Dea is my pen name of a sort) acknowledge that Palestinians have the right for life and liberty, that been the freedom to live, worship, accumulate property and national freedom and self determination.

Transparently speaking the real target of the question were the various Israel bashers who kept congratulating the two guests, over time after the show aired, few replies did come, surprising they weren’t, but they were informative, especially to those who want to know why the Israeli Palestinian conflict is so protracted.

VHSingularity wrote:

Why would Jon Stewart waste time by asking his guests a question that has no basis in reality? Are you really suggesting that during the last 42 years in which Palestinians have lived under Israel's military occupation that the Palestinians have been secretly infringing on Israeli liberty? How would they even accomplish that when in the West Bank Palestinians are hardly allowed to leave their own towns? Palestinian children often face military checkpoints and harassment or even violence at the hands of Israeli settlers just on their way to school. In Gaza the situation is even more stark. You know that Israel doesn't allow for the importation of food or basic building supplies for even for homes and schools? Now how is it that the Palestinians are denied food to eat and you are talking about the the "right of accumulation of property" for Israelis??

As you have claimed that you acknowledge the right of Palestinians to self-determination, then I have a better question for you: Do you call on Israel to immediately withdraw from all territories occupied in the 1967 war, to end the military siege of Gaza and to quit the illegal and racist Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank?


The only thing standing between the Palestinians and their self-determination is the Israeli army. And by the way, I have been to the West Bank. When I say the settlements are Jewish-only, I mean... they do not allow non-Jews to enter or live there, or they will physically and violently expel you.

VHSingularity response is probably close to ‘No’. ‘Probably’ because he doesn’t say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, he does make a big deal from the fact that the question had been asked in first place. He is upset about it. Apparently he does not acknowledge the other persons right to live as real, which suggests that elementary moral human and democratic values do not exit in his own, personal, moral code. A possibility supported by the evident fact that terrorism, that is the targeting of innocent civilians by armed Palestinians, does not exist in his response, or he simply has no problem with it.

Christine (with no capital c)  wrote:

It is not about right or wrong. It is about humanatarian needs. When the U.S. had the riots in in the ghettos during the Civil Rights, we as a country stood tall to support those rights. Here in the U.S. we tend to fight for freedom and individual rights. But, when it comes to Gaza and what is happening there you want us to turn a blind eye. The truth will be known. We will fight for people to be treated in a humane way.



Just the facts
Killed: 1,072 Israel - 6,348 Palestinians
Injured: 8,864 Israel - 39,019 Palestinians
Prisoners: 1 Israeli - 10,756 Palestinians
Children Killed: 123 Israeli - 1,435 Palestinians
Homes Destroyed: 0 Israeli - 18,147 Palestinians
Illegal settlments: 23 Jewish only settlements and outposts - 0 Palestinians
UN Resolutions broken: Israel 65 (more than all other countries combined) - Palestine 0
Money Daily Given by US Taxpayers: Israel $7,000,000 - Palestine $0


Do those in the Gaza strip have a right to live freely on their land? When will Israel stop the invasion? Kicking people out of their homes and either tearing them down or just moving in, is that right? Stealing the livelihood of a whole people, is that right?



I suppose since those people that Zionists (not Jewish) are stealing land from need a place to live you can invite them to live next door to you. (Syria is already flooded with refugees from Iraq and Palestinians.) Where do you suggest those people live? Who do you think should feed those people? Or do you have the "let them die" attitude? This land is ours and we don't care what the world thinks!


I think the U.S. should stop giving Israel the $7 million dollars every day they receive from U.S. taxpayers. Obama just recently gave a slap to American farmers. He OK'd a $17,000 rebate back to a Israel butter maker who brings his goods to American soil. He is bringing butter into the U.S. at a time when many farmers here are suffering the "recession". He also waived most tariff's and taxes f;or Israel and Israel alone. They can bring commodities into U.S. without paying for it. Therefore they can undercut our own countries livelihoods. Obama did this without the approval of the Congress.


I think we need to treat Israel the same way we treat any other country. Or better yet maybe we should treat Israel the same way they treat the Palestinians.


Let us not forget the USS Liberty!!!!!
Go to IfAmericansKnew.org

Christine has a very long and not very smart reply, as indicated by her first sentence; humanitarian is not a right or wrong issue? Of course it is. Her comparison between a war situation that exist in the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the civil rights struggle in the US is very far from reality and the numbers she brings are best described as empty, empty from content and credibility. The number of casualties on each side that she gave lacks the breakdown to combatants and non-combatants, on the Israeli side for example percentage of civilians, non-combatants, is higher then on the Palestinian side, where a significant percentage of the dead are Palestinians killed by their own people.

‘Children killed’ has its own breakdown according to age, because there is a difference between a 15 years old engaged in violent, stone throwing and Molotov Cocktail throwing demonstrations and a 4 years old playing in the street. Not forgetting omitted categories such as ‘blown up buses’ and ‘killed by a lynch mob.’ The numbers she gives regarding aid to both sides are a show of ignorance that is not helping the Palestinian cause, because Palestinians to get aide from international resources including the USA, and the loans Israel receives from the USA are definitely nor per day. And I have no idea what ‘slap to American farmers’ she’s talking about. But I guess there are more then a few like her in every crowd. Her directing me to Alison Weir infamous site is not surprising.

Related links on the statistical breakdown of casualties:
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Institute of Counter Terrorism “An Engineered Tragedy.”


Clint wrote:

I have always been a supporter of Israel and have thought of them as one of our strongest allies. But, as an American, I believe in the concept of fairness and I have seen so many Israelis stick their fingers in their ears and scream LA! LA! LA! LA! LA! anytime anyone has the audacity to discuss the issues of the Palestinian people. Thank you Jon for taking your fingers out of your ears and facilitating a fair and even keeled discussion. You are the voice of reason in a cacophony of hate.

Clint is funny, a self proclaimed Israel supporter who knows nothing about internal debates in Israel and regards the Israelis as a whole as been unfair, and that is his response to a question that has nothing to do with his reply.

Msherif wrote:

Response to Dvar Dea: As a Palestinian who cannot return, I would like to ask you how you feel about the rt of Jews from any country being able to become citizens of Israel, but those of us non-Jewish Palestians not having the same rts. Also, Palestians who have Israeli "citizenship" are not permitted to own over 98% of the land in Israel because of their religion (the late Israel Shahak documents this apartheid system in his books). Also - Israelis are able to build on confiscated Palestinian land - in violation of international law - and the USA pays for it. So how do you, Dvar Dea, feel about Palestians having the rt to defend themselves against this injustice. Should the just say - Israelis are superior and just take it?

Msherif, him I shouldn’t have missed, though most of his reply is the usual anti Israel mantra, here as an excuse for not answering the question, it could have been a good opportunity to explain Jewish nationhood and the right of self determination for all nations, where the ‘Law of Return’ is a key tool in gaining and maintaining that right for the Jews, as well as to correct several misguided conceptions about land ownership in Israel.

Related links on land ownership in Israel:

Zionism Israel.

Jewish Virtual Library.

Middle East forum.


Canadian Arab wrote:

I would like to reply to you sir by one simple link to a website. please you call yourself a Zionist, take a moment and be proud of what your past LEADERS have said about the Palestinians and "their right to exist" because being a Zionist and believing in the right to life to Palestinians are 2 complete opposites. If you truly believe in your comment I would SUGGEST to you to never say you are a Zionist. Here's the link: http://www.monabaker.com/quotes.htm It’s quite disturbing and extremely appalling to say the least.And yes, Arabs believe in the right to life for Israelis just as long as you don't take our life in order to prosper yours.

Canadian Arab has a ‘no matter what we do we lose’ response, a catch 22 of a sort. He is willing to acknowledge our right for life and liberty, on the condition of that we won’t do a list of lies we are accused of doing. But since these are lies, no matter how much we, the Zionist Israelis, will try not to do them, his kind (or is it her kind?), will consider us doing them anyway, thereby refusing our right for life and liberty. Msherif, him I shouldn’t have missed, though most of his reply is the usual anti Israel mantra, here as an excuse for not answering the question, it could have been a good opportunity to explain Jewish nationhood and the right of self determination for all nations, where the ‘Law of Return’ is a key tool in gaining and maintaining that right for the Jews, as well as to correct several misguided conceptions about land ownership in Israel.


Sam samurai wrote:

To the self proclaimed Zionist I say, asking a person if they will give you Life and liberty, while taking his mother, father, brother,sister, and his identity is like asking a man you are about to murder to sign off on the murder with the hope that the signing off may allow you not to be killed; when all along you know you are going to kill him, because only then can you get his wife, his land, his house, his identity and his his claim to his citizenship. Isreal has more Liberty than any nation in this world and also growing resentment of the world, beware of History- Isreal one man may not be able to do anything but the entire world against Isreal autrocities is a burden no nation wants to face.

Sam Samurai’s response is a part of a concentrated reply to several other posters in the forum. The section where he replies to me makes his response is important. Putting aside the lies about Israel killing “father, brother, mother…” and stealing identity, (how exactly do we do that?), he apparently regards the very existence of Israel, and for that matter Jews who enjoy life and liberty, as murder, and calling something murder is a far stronger negation then just saying no.

And then there is this from seife, who signed as Adam.

Thank you Mr. Tibon for your objective view. I am the son of an Arab Muslim and Christian couple. I married into a Jewish American family. I know for a fact, that the majority of Arabs (Muslims and Christians) believe that the Jewish people have the right for life, liberty, and dignity. I am always surprised of how politicians on every side (not only Arab and Israeli) have been so successful in convincing both sides that the other group is a monster! Just read the history of the Jewish people and you will come to a quick conclusion that Muslims treated Jews better than anyone else over the years. The recent conflict started only after the massive immigration of European Jews to Palestine, and the declaration of the establishment of Israel. It is very understandable that the Arabs (Muslims and Christians) opposed it then. Who would like to give up land and control freely? Most of them accept it now, but unfortunately, are always surprised by the unjust one-sided rules they are subjected to by Israel. Many objective observers (not the current major news agencies, they are part of the problem) could consider the Israeli treatment of Arabs in the occupied territories as a form of racism. Unfortunately, the constant propaganda on all sides (Arab, Israeli, and American) has just fueled the emotion of everyone thus, the call by many, especially the extremists on both sides, to destroy the other. Very unfortunate and sad!!!



Adam

His claim that most Arabs would say ‘Yes’ to my question means his answer is ‘Yes’ or close to that. It is interesting that he considers me objective since I made it clear that I do not consider myself as such. And while I disagree with him on several of the points he made, it seems that on a moral level we have some common ground, which is encouraging. I never expect the other side to agree with me 100%, but if on morality and realism there is a common ground then may be there is hope.I am not a big fun of debating on forums, each and his/hers own taste I guess. In many cases the company on popular forums is similar to that associated with talkbacks, I prefer exchanging views on blogs, where there is a greater possibility for a constructive ex change. This is why I made no effort to reply and let the thread grow.

The dominant views themselves are not unique and can be found in Politico the Daily Kos, and elsewhere. Adam’s answer was certainly a surprise, one that undermined my lost of fait in human kind, the one that partake in popular forums and talkbacks that is, and it’s a good thing too. But when we look at the Israel bashers, those who have hard time keeping the word ‘No’ from slipping through their lips when asked whether Jews have the right to live; what their dominance among the critics of Israel tell us about the academic world and the political world they reflect?

Hope did surprised me, but it still a minority, and after all on the Israeli side we got our share of Arab bashers.

IDF Soldier Saves Palestinian Girl Life

A great news piece available on YouTube.
Shows the true face of the Israeli army despite the blood libels.



And remember, “stones can kill”

Haiti disaster, the media coverage of the Israeli rescue efforts, questions of pride and shame

There is no question that like the rest of my people I feel proud at the work my fellow countrymen are doing Haiti.
Proud, though I myself had very little to do with it.
Proud of the lives they saved.
Proud of them becoming an integral and critical part of a Global Team Effort, as the news services reported.
Proud as every member of every nation that have people there that help, save, and provide the helpless and the needy.
The Americans, that came in mass to prepare the infrastructure to receive the help they and the whole world sent and to secure it.
The neighboring nations of the Caribbean and the Americas, whether rich or poor, that rushed to help.
And many other nationalities and organizations from all over the world that came to save not only the lives of Haitian but the dignity of the entire human race.

For an Israeli like myself it is good to be apart of this Global Team Effort to do so much good. But as an Israeli I am also a part of this world, a part of this planet. As an Israeli I am also one of the many that allowed the world to make places like Haiti what they are today.

ABC News Senior Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser Assists in Complicated Birth Case.

Fox news: Israeli medical core in Haiti.




On Israeli rescuers
SKY news:

BBC.

Haiti disaster, the media coverage of the Israeli rescue mission to the stricken Caribbean nation

By all accounts the earthquake that had hit Haiti is a disaster far worse then we can imagine. There are no words or images the can describe properly the scales of that catastrophe, despite constant efforts by the international media to just that.

When it comes to covering this disaster the important task in front the world news services is telling it’s scale, the helplessness of the survivors there, and the life threatening conditions of many of the injured. In my personal opinion the internal media had done just that and for that, CNN, BBC, SKY, Fox, and the American network deserve the highest praise. Though I was unable to review all the work done by other networks the general impression is the same. The works of Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN covering the places were the gallant medical crews that came from around the world were unable to reach, and his college Anderson Cooper who went farther out of Port Au Prince as possible are in my opinion the best and most persistent attempts to capture the magnitude of that distraction. And while the heroes of this tragedy are undeniably the rescue teams and medical crews from around the world, credit must also go the international media for doing its part. The part it suppose to do, and while at it taking part in the rescue efforts themselves, as did the medical correspondents, in some of the examples below.

CNN: From the Israeli angel by Paula Hancocks



CNN: Elizabeth Cohen, “Infections out of control.”



CNN: Chris Lawrence on IsraAID and the international effort:





CBS Dr. Jennifer Ashton the Rolls Royce piece:


Watch CBS News Videos Online

MSNBC Dr. Nancy Snyderman

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

There is no denying that as an Israeli and an Israeli advocate I take much pride and pleasure in seen the efforts of my country, the field hospital, the rescue teams, Israaid, doing their part in face of a desperate situation, as a part of a global team effort.

One year after ‘Operation Cast Lead’, Israel’s picture of victory.

This picture, taken by photojournalist Gadi Caballo, and published in Israel leading newspaper Yediot Achronot on December the 28^th 2009 is in my opinion Israel’s picture of victory of the ‘Gaza War’ or as we call it in Israel ‘Operation Cast Lead’.

This picture shows the normality of the town, which was always harsh, but did not include the immediate presence of death.

The structures behind the old woman, attached to those two floors buildings are security rooms, their propose is to provide immediate shelter in case of renewed enemy attacks, be it Qassam rockets, Katyusha rockets or Grad missiles.

These structures are Sderot recognizable feature. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Venice the canals and gondolas, London the Big Ben and the black taxi cabs, the small town of Sderot has these.

The fear of another round of violence shows that the victory is not complete, but the fact that we won, that we are the ones who have returned to normality, is something for the enemy to think about, especially Hamas.

Women of valor – heroines of Zionism and Israel

A recent debate in Israel about whose portrait should be on the yet-to-be issued new currency notes put the focus on the role of women in the history of the state of Israel and the years leading to its establishment.

This led me to make this long, yet incomplete list of prominent and other remarkable women in the history of Israel and Zionism. I’ve gathered most of the information from the Hebrew web. On some there is material in English, and I provided links in those instances. In many cases the information is scant, some had even been forgotten from Israel’s collective memory.
This list is by no means complete, but a farther research will require some leg work in universities and public libraries. I do hope that by just mentioning them I’m giving them some of the honor they deserve, though no doubt they deserve far more than a blog post can provide.

Dona Gracia Nasi (?1510-1568)

First among the firsts and first ahead all the firsts, a banker, a philanthropist and a stateswoman, a member of a known family of Jewish marranos who fled the inquisition in Portugal to Antwerp. Like Yehuda Halevi befor her, she was a precursor of Zionism. He dreamed about the return to Zion in his poems, she lobbied for it in Istanbul. Her work led to the return of the Jews to the city of Tiberias, one of the four holy cites in Judaism. (The others are Jerusalem, Safed and Hebron). For more information click here

Emma Lazarus 1849-1887

Where does this bond between the United States of America and Israel exist?

It exists in numerous places along history and culture; and in the very psyche of both nations. One such place is Emma Lazarus; her famous words carved at the statue of Liberty gave America a new ethos and a place of morality among the nations. Like Dona Gracia, she was a Jew of Portuguese origin, and one of the firsts public figures to embrace Zionism. For more information click here.

The four mothers of present day Israel

Little needs to be said about most of these remarkable women.

Golda Meir, 1898-1978

Israel’s first woman prime minister was a stateswoman of great stature, who has been through Israel’s toughest hours, when hard decisions had to be made, from The War of Independence to The Yom-Kippur war. For more information click here.

Shoshana Damari, 1923-2006

She began her career in the times of British mandatory rule. Her song reflected the resistance to the foreign power, and served as a focus of hope and a source of strength to the entire society. In the years following Israel’s independence, her voice and songs became national symbols of Israel, along side the flag and the national anthem.

Hannah Robina, 1890-1980

The first ‘First Lady’ of the Israeli theatre.

Henrietta Szold, 1860-1945

An educator and a leading social activist, her memory has eroded in Israel over the years, as sadly did her legacy. She made Israel a welfare state long before there was Israel, and shaped its society into one that puts the concerns for the weak and the needy close to its heart, and the education and well being of its youth at its center.

Israeli legends

Other famous women of legendary fame the warriors Sarah Aharonson, 1870-1917, and the poet Hanna Senesh, 1921-1944. They lived in different times but those periods were demanding and dangerous. Of their own choice they volunteered to help change the fate of their people for the better. Sarah chose the risky and ungrateful work of espionage during the upheavals of the First World War, and Hannah volunteered to be a commando deep in enemy held territory, recruiting people to fight the Nazi menace. They both paid the ultimate price, which built their legends. But their legends are not the stories of their death but the stories of their lives. More on Hanna Senesh.

Haika Grossman, 1919-1996
She was a partisan, a legislator and a civil rights activist, a warrior for good in the full sense of the word.

The soul of a nation and its culture is in its authors, poets and singers, weaving their words and rhythms into an intense experience of been and living. And women made their mark on it just like men.

The author Leah Goldberg, 1911-1970

She is a major pillar of The Modern Hebrew literature.

Naomi Shemer, 1930-2004

She is Israel’s most famous poet and lyricist.

Rachel Bluwatein, 1890-1931

Known as Rahel Hameshoreret (Rahel the poet), her words touch heart and soul of everyone who reads, sings or just listens to her poem.

Ofra Haza, 1957-2000

A captivating singer and actress, the tragic end of her life did not overshadow a glamorous career, filled with upbeat songs.

From among the pioneers who carried the burden of creating Israel out of the destitution of the people and the land these women stand tall: Manya Shohat, 1880-1961, a pioneer, a revolutionary, a guard and a negotiator; and her friend Rahel Yanait Ben Zvi, 1886-1979, the wife of Israel’s second president Yizhak Ben Tvi, and a counsel to the younger generations..

Other preeminent figures from history and society

Haviva Reich, 1914-1944

Like Hannah Senesh she volunteered to fight the Nazis, deep behind enemy lines, where the odds were against them. She was eventually caught and executed, “every day that we remain alive is a gift from the heavens” she said about their chances, yet she went on.

The singer Bracha Tzfira, 1911-1990
The first voice of Zion.

Sarah Levy Tanay, 1911-2005
The mother of modern Israeli dance and a composer

Talia Shapira ,1947-1992
Actress and comedian.

Thelma Bentwich Yelin 1895-1959
A cellist who founded the ‘Thelma Yelin High School for the Performing Arts’, a school that has educated many of Israel’s actors, musicians and directors.

Bracha Peli, 1892-1986

A publisher and a businesswoman.

Bracha Habas, 1900-1968
Journalist, editor and documentarian, one of the first women journalists in the land of Israel, wrote for “Davar” and edited its children supplement “Dvar Le Yeladim.”

Baba Eidelson Trachtenberg, 1885-1975

A pioneer and a legislator in the very first years of Israel’s parliamentary life, she focused on workers’ rights and women’s rights. Her approach was that even the language of the law can’t differentiate between the genders, and every right given to men is a right given to women as well.

Miriam Schwartz who died in 1983
Founder of Beit Hagalgalim for disabled children. See also here

The price of an armed struggle

We did not choose to make this an armed struggle, the choice was made for us, and when it was made we fought. In many cases men and women fought next to each other, and fell next to each other. The following is barely a sample of the price women had paid in the course of this violent conflict.

Rahel Halevi Hadad, from the first to settle in Petach Tikvah, died 1886. Beaten to death by a looting Arab mob she tried to fend of with her bare hands that raided Petach Tikvah when most of the men went to the court in Jaffa carrying evidence of a previous Arab raid on their cattle.

From the heroes of Tel Hai

Along with Yosef Trumpeldor, 8 people died in the battle of Tel Hai, and the circumstances leading to what is considered the first battle in the history of Zionism, two of them were women.

Deborah Drechler was killed on March 1^st 1920, just as the battle began. A heroine in her own right, during the First World War she helped her fellow men pioneers when they were held prison in Turkish jails, first in Nazareth then Damascus, she smuggled food to them and help them exchange letters with the outside world.

And Sarah Chizik, her fried and fellow pioneer who was killed the day after.

Latrun
Israel war of independence was demanding and costly from everyone.

During the second battle over the Latrun police station in late May 1948, Hadassah Lempel Halenia was the radio technician in the armored vehicle that broke into that fortified garrison. Her death from heavy enemy fire was recorded in the film “Cast a Giant Shadow.” She was a gifted painter.

Jerusalem
Esther Cailingold, 1925-1948

She was a member of an affluent Jewish family from England. She volunteered to help her people and the state of Israel following the horrors of the holocaust. Helped Jews immigrate to the land of Israel against the British blockade. In Jerusalem she was a teacher. She was killed while defending heroically the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Gush Etzion
The names of the women killed in that battle and the massacre of the prisoners that followed. Ester Koyfman Dersiyger, Tzipora Rozenfled, Tzipora Kurtztag, Rahel Zegelshtein, Sarah Midzinsky, Haya Masha Musel, Shoshana Tenenboim, Haya Ledermam Hela, Hannah Zinger, Haya Vesertil Lena, Rahel Hiler Rania, Hadassah Noyger Krantz, Batia Pas, Ester Rosentzveig , Zilpa Caraso, Tzipora Yaacobovitz, and Rahel Viner.

Most of them holocaust survivors that have been through the death camps, a few came to Israel in the middle of WW2 in what was called “Teheran children.” They were all members of religious Zionists movements.

The Second Lebanon War

Sergeant 1^stclass Keren Tendler, 1979-2006, a helicopter flight mechanic in ‘The Second Lebanon War’. Killed when her helicopter was shot down by enemy fire.

This list is by no means complete, but it is more then enough to show that in a society considered chauvinistic and patriarchal, women had made an important and impressive mark, even more so when we look at present day Israel.

Sources:

Israel’s memorial site for the fallen (Hebrew)

Jewish Women Archive