When my son misbehaves at school should the school attempt to help him acknowledging him as a disruption and a part of Israeli society or should the school simply pass him on to another school. Sheetrit seems to see the problem of the Nazi boys as lets get rid of them. He wishes to extradite them.
I am not so sure. Infact the opposite , if in a Jewish country as Jews we are in serious trouble if we simply throw them out. How to deal with them. First they must be severely punished in a way that any other neonazi will see and realise what is happening. Next we must check our own society. The mother of one of the boys, Eli the Nazi" Boanitov claims her son had done no wrong and was a victim of persecution of Russian immigrants. Not a reason but worthy of checking and amending, even more we must check how we are treating Ethiopian Jews, and other minorities including Arabs. We are so self righteous but is their behaviour not a super highly exaggerated extreme of what people and government do every day.
Yes I was shocked when the story first broke a month ago. I have had time to digest since they had been arrested my feelings and opinions. Now the names have been made public (it has been a closed case up to now) one feels that the politicians all have to say too much in public-that should have been said before we knew who they were. Now is the time for real solutions, we must stengthen our society against racism etc.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
40 years on
no doubt one of the most famous pictures in Israeli history. You can see the mortals next to the immortals. The 6 day war was said to be one of Israel's finest moments. I have read that long term we gained nothing from this war but ironically from the yom kippur war we did gain long term...... I am not convinced....for starters the Israeli economy boomed after that war and people walked with their heads in the air. Israel was put on the world map as a nation of winners and winners in style.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/
Here these haradim live in Israel-see previous article!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Traditional Jews Are Not ZionistsAlthough there are those who refuse to accept the teachings of our Rabbis and will continue to support the Zionist state, there are also many who are totally unaware of the history of Zionism and its contradiction to the beliefs of Torah-True Jews.
Words of the Rabbis Opposing Zionism - Today's Quote
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Sholem Dov Ber Schneersohn ZT"L
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Sholem Dov Ber Schneersohn ZT"L
"Regarding your question about the Zionists, allow me to respond briefly. Those who assist the Zionists will pay at the Day of Judgment, because they are causing the masses to sin. Therefore, whoever is on the side of G-d and his Torah shall not join with evildoers and not become attached to them. On the contrary, they should oppose them as much as possible."
Your friend in truth, Shalom Dov Ber from LubavitchHe also said:"The Zionists were more clever than the others, since they exchanged nationalism for the Torah and commandments, as Mandelstam wrote publicly, that a Jew doesn't have to be someone who keeps the commandments , but rather is a Zionist, even if he does not wear phylacteries and does not keep the Sabbath...."
Words of the Rabbis Opposing Zionism - Today's Quote
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Sholem Dov Ber Schneersohn ZT"L
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Grand Rabbi Sholem Dov Ber Schneersohn ZT"L
"Regarding your question about the Zionists, allow me to respond briefly. Those who assist the Zionists will pay at the Day of Judgment, because they are causing the masses to sin. Therefore, whoever is on the side of G-d and his Torah shall not join with evildoers and not become attached to them. On the contrary, they should oppose them as much as possible."
Your friend in truth, Shalom Dov Ber from LubavitchHe also said:"The Zionists were more clever than the others, since they exchanged nationalism for the Torah and commandments, as Mandelstam wrote publicly, that a Jew doesn't have to be someone who keeps the commandments , but rather is a Zionist, even if he does not wear phylacteries and does not keep the Sabbath...."
just a minute
just a minute was a BBC programme but it seems apropriate that from time to time I should take a minute to think abot life within Israel.
My brother sent me a news item asking how Israel is coping with the haradim. When the law was passed exempting them from army service they were very few in numbers. Today according to the artical they represent 10% of potential enlisting jews. As their birthrate is 4 times the average birthrate........The article also touches on the economic fact that few work in this community and that they are a social and economic burden to our society.
The complexity of Israeli society once again raises its head. I would even go as far as to say that the average Israeli jew understands this group of people less than than he does the druse or muslim way of life.
Here in the golan it is hard to put this statistic into reality. The religious population is high and also highly motivated. He believes as Israel as a special land that we have to work to keep and improve. Within this schedule he finds time for his religious commitments. Most of the religious people I know in this are believe in live and let live.
The first measurement of a person for me is how he conducts himself within society. If he wants to help his fellow man if his outlook is positive what difference does it make to me what his religion, nationality or colour are. I have perhaps ran away from the original problem because it is not clear to me how one should react to this population.
It is ironic but one of the the social problems is the same as kibbutzim once (and still to a lesser extent) had. They cover for and hide the less desirables among themselves. Thus for example it is very difficult for a woman to come out in the open and say her husband is beating her.
I do not know how I am supposed to react to this society within a society who appear to take and not give but I will make specific an earlier generalisation. I do not understand how they think, their way of life or anything about them. In this case do I have a right to decide their fate........?
My brother sent me a news item asking how Israel is coping with the haradim. When the law was passed exempting them from army service they were very few in numbers. Today according to the artical they represent 10% of potential enlisting jews. As their birthrate is 4 times the average birthrate........The article also touches on the economic fact that few work in this community and that they are a social and economic burden to our society.
The complexity of Israeli society once again raises its head. I would even go as far as to say that the average Israeli jew understands this group of people less than than he does the druse or muslim way of life.
Here in the golan it is hard to put this statistic into reality. The religious population is high and also highly motivated. He believes as Israel as a special land that we have to work to keep and improve. Within this schedule he finds time for his religious commitments. Most of the religious people I know in this are believe in live and let live.
The first measurement of a person for me is how he conducts himself within society. If he wants to help his fellow man if his outlook is positive what difference does it make to me what his religion, nationality or colour are. I have perhaps ran away from the original problem because it is not clear to me how one should react to this population.
It is ironic but one of the the social problems is the same as kibbutzim once (and still to a lesser extent) had. They cover for and hide the less desirables among themselves. Thus for example it is very difficult for a woman to come out in the open and say her husband is beating her.
I do not know how I am supposed to react to this society within a society who appear to take and not give but I will make specific an earlier generalisation. I do not understand how they think, their way of life or anything about them. In this case do I have a right to decide their fate........?
Monday, September 3, 2007
Complexity of Israel
Police officer tries to stop illegal Wakf Temple Mount digging
A Druze police officer lay down in a trench that was being dug illegally by the Wakf on the Temple Mount in an attempt to stop the digging today. His Jewish chief came over and told him to 'calm down.' I wish I were making this up. I'm not.
Gideon Charlap, a top Jerusalem architect and Temple Mount expert, told Arutz-7 what he saw when he visited the Temple Mount on Tuesday: "The Arabs there are digging a deep north-to-south trench, up to a meter [1.1 yards] deep. It is being dug in the area that served during Holy Temple times as the Ezrat Nashim [the area known as the Women's Courtyard, though it was not reserved only for women -ed.]. The trench passes through three east-to-west walls, according to my calculations - walls that probably served as separations for the Temple's offices and the like. This means that the destruction is tremendous...""At one point during the digging," Charlap continued, "a policeman - apparently a Druze - tried to stop the work from going on, and actually entered the cabin of the tractor. A struggle ensued, and when the Arabs finally pushed him out, he actually stood in the trench and physically blocked the rest of the work!"Charlap said that at that point, the chief officer of the Temple Mount police station, Shai Alali, arrived on the scene. "But instead of stopping the lawbreakers," Charlap related with incredulity, "he tried to 'calm down' the policeman!"Charlap said he was unable to see how the story developed from there, "because our allotted time was over." Jews are permitted onto the site - Judaism's most sacred anywhere in the world - only four or fewer hours a day.Police Chief Shai Alali was unavailable for comment. Police spokesmen say they will look into the assault and illegal digging.The digging is taking place just east of the Dome of the Rock.Our dhimmi government has turned our police force into a bunch of dhimmis. To see video of a similar trench, go here.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:42 PM
I have posted this to show people how complicated Israeli society is. I am not making a political statement but a social one. Try explainig the arabs that vote Likud (I have a friend who proudly shows everyone his party membership card) or even Shas. Israel is a very complicated piece of knitting and those who see it as jews vs arabs simply do not understand
where I work-havat bakfar (farmin the village)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Jews of lebanon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vslChFGonQ please view video and see site http://thejewsoflebanon.org/me/?page_id=123 it is about the sad plight of the Lebanese Jews. I so wish I could do something to help them!!
This was their pride and joy if u go to the site u will see how their synagogue looks 45 years on!! Help their cmmunity live on at least visit this site
This was their pride and joy if u go to the site u will see how their synagogue looks 45 years on!! Help their cmmunity live on at least visit this site
How world politics work to make money
Aug 30, 2007 8:42 Updated Aug 30, 2007 8:42 Defense official: SyriaBy JPOST.COM STAFF
Russia cause of tensions between Israel and
Russia was partly responsible for the heightened tension between Israel and Syria at the beginning of the summer, head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau at the Defense Ministry, Gen. Amos Gilad (ret.) said on Thursday.
During an interview with Army Radio, the former general noted that recent messages sent by Israel to Moscow have caused the Russians to cease their activity, thus easing the tensions in the region.
"At a certain time, the Russians caused the Syrians to believe that Israel was preparing for war," Gilad said. "I think that they have stopped this. Syria is not planning on attacking Israel, and Israel is definitely not planning on attacking Syria."
According to a report published in the Israeli daily, Ma'ariv, diplomatic and security officials in the Kremlin purposely mislead the Syrians in order to further maximize their profits from the sale of military equipment.
Russia is currently one of the main suppliers of military equipment to Syria.
The above articleshows how politics and money Interests can start wars. As u know I live in the Golan heights. Throughout the summer the army has been on full alert here following the news that the Syrian army had amassed its troups there towards the end of june. In fairness to priminister Almert he has said throughout this period that neither Syria or israel want war and there would not be a war. However the Israeli public did not believe these words and even dates for the start of war were circulated.
Assad I think has learned from Israels last war and knows he needs more missiles if he wants to go to war with Israel. I am not of the opinion that Assad wants war (others in power in Syria I must check before saying anything about them). Assad I think probably wants peace but his problem is how. For years our boarder with Syria has been our quitest boarder and despite never having been at peace it is known that Syria honours its agreements.
Monday, August 27, 2007
understanding what makes people say........
Help me understand
Yosef made the comments in his weekly sermon on Saturday night. "Is it a wonder that soldiers who don't observe the Torah, don't pray every day and don't put on tefilin every day are killed in war? It is no wonder
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is the founder of the religious party Shas. His influence in Israel is immense both for religious and less well educated superstitious people. The Shas party members even go to the rabbi to ask him how to vote on important issues.
It is not surprising that people were outraged by his comments so much so that I will not even quote condemnations from the whose who of Israeli politics.
However what I wish to understand is why he made these comments. The leader of the Shas party Eli Yishai defended him saying that the rabbi quoted from Gemara (biblical interpretations from the bible by famous rabbis of the past) he goes on to say "When a soldier is killed the rabbi sheds tears, he cries, he gathers everyone together and says "let us pray." Every one of us is commanded and obligated to pray and observe the Torah and commandments for the sake of the IDF soldiers. When a soldier is wounded we view this as the fault of all the people of Israel who need to repent,"
I try to understand what motivation would make him issue such a statement. I assume that he is intelligent enough to understand the reprocutions of what he said. Why should he wish to hurt thousands of families (all those close to those who died in the war) and the sensitivity of the vast majority of Israelis. To be honest I cannot find a good answer. I hope someone can help me understand by adding a comment. Thanks
Israeli Soldier Killed to Save Schoolchildren Learned Love of Jewish People at Lycee Sha’alvim in Ukraine
October 30, 1998 - Sgt. Alexei Nikov, who was killed when his Israeli army jeep thwarted a terrorist attack against a busload of 40 Israeli schoolchildren, learned his love of Judaism and commitment to the Jewish People and Israel at the Orthodox Union’s Joseph K. Miller Torah Center in his hometown of Kharkov, in the Ukraine.
The 19-year-old immigrated to Israel two years ago after graduating from the Lycee Sha’alvim, a yeshiva in Kharkov which is a joint project of the Orthodox Union’s Joseph K. Miller Torah Center and Yeshivat Sha’alvim.
Though his parents are Jewish, Alexei had no knowledge of his Jewish roots or heritage before entering the Lycee. His commitment to Israel, and his decision to make aliyah, were a direct result of the education he received at the Lycee.
The Orthodox Union joins the world in mourning the tragic loss of this courageous soldier who willingly sacrificed his young life to preserve the future of the Jewish people he so loved.
What can u say about this guy-did he also die because........Sorry I didn't intend to do this it is so obvious that what he said is rubbish!!!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The wonderful golan
i want to show you where I live. So far u have seen a bit of me through the articles that I have decided to publish. Now I wish to show u where I live. I like the desert a lot but for me the Golan is the most special part of Israel. First of all let me show u where the Golan is!!!!!
Ok now that we have that sorted out...............................The signpost really exists. The Golan heights became part of Israel when in 1967 the Arab armies felt they had a chance of pushing the Jews (Israeli) in the sea. Within 6 days of war Israel in the north took Syrian territories , an area called the Golan heights. The usual term used is occupied territory. Were the Jews expected to give it back after having taken it defending their right to live in smaller Israel? One minister recommended doing so although not in the Golan. His name was Allon. He lived on a kibbutz on the sea of galalli only a few miles from the Golan.
On 26 July he [Yigal Allon, then Deputy Prime Minister of Israel] submitted to the cabinet a plan that was to bear his name [The Allon Plan]. It called for incorporating in Israel the following areas: a strip of land ten to fifteen kilometers wide along the Jordan River; most of the Judean desert along the Dead Sea; and a substantial area around Greater Jerusalem, including the Latrum salient. Designed to include as few Arabs as possible in the area claimed for Israel, the plan envisaged building permanent settlements and army bases in these areas. Finally, it called for opening negotiations with local leaders on turning the remaining parts of the West Bank into an autonomous region that would be economically linked to Israel. The cabinet discussed Allon's plan but neither adopted nor rejected it."
The Golan heights were not part of the plan but I believe that the above plan would lead to the same happening in the north. However it was not to be and the Golan heights were developed by Israel
.
In 2005 the Golan Heights had a population of approximately 38900, including approximately 19300 Druze, 16500 Jews, and 2100 Muslims. The most interesting population are the Druze population. 10% have Israeli citizenship The other 90% have Syrian Citizenship. Since 2005 Israel and Syria have an agreement allowing druse to export their apples to Syria. Syria also offers those with Syrian citizenship free university education. they have a standard of living vastly surpassing that of their counterparts on the Syrian side of the border, which causes them to fear a return to Syria, though most of them identify themselves as Syrian. Ties to Syria are on the wane, and many have come to appreciate aspects of Israel's liberal democratic society, although few risk saying it publicly for fear of Syrian retribution. As I have mentioned previously on this blog I have Druse friends and am welcome in there houses. I know many of them have family in Syria have studied in Syria yet have come back to live in Israel. One of those men is my dentist whose practace is in Qasrin (where I live) a nearly totally jewish settlement.
I wish to post some pictures of the Golan heights
For now enjoy the Golan soon I will also talk about the capital of the Golan qasrin.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The world is full of suprises!!!!!
August 4, 2007Funny but its not a joke, this Israeli propaganda is circulating in South-America for few days, an article appeared on South-American newspapers claims that Che Guevara’s mother (Celia la Serna) is a Russia-Jew immigrated to Argentina.
Before her death in 1965 she told her son (Guevara) that she her brother (Samuel) lives in Israel and his son called Ariel serves in the Israeli Army.
The propaganda continues, the article claims also that Che Guevara visited Israel secretly with a false passport and met his "cousin" and took some religious lessons.
Although historians and Guevara’s biographers denied the story saying that Guevara’s mother immigrated from Spain.
You can read this story in Spanish:
- El Che Guevara, primo de Ariel Sharon?
- DESCARTAN PARENTESCO ENTRE CHE GUEVARA Y SHARON
Ok I don't know if this story is true or not......but it is a hell of a good story. I found it also in hebrew in a dependable newspaper called Maariv. hard to believe but ...........
why should they wait
I read that by the time the war started that there were only 29,000 Jews in Germany. The first group to be killed were the handicapped. Jews though were considered as the enemy. German Jews had mostly emigrated under the pressure of Hitlers government so the Jewish problem only became real again as Germany invaded other countries. I had often wondered why the camps were not in Germany and I guess that is the reason. It is said that the poles were the most antisemitic race. Thinking I wonder how much of this hate was due to the Nazi party and there need for a solution in Poland.
As we all know not all the Jews were found by the Nazi party because there were none Jews people who were willing to risk their life for the Jews. Anne Frank being a famous example of a Jewess who live most of the war in hiding. Towards the end of the war she was captured and sent to a camp where she was killed.
professor Weiss an Israeli politician behind the project to to stop poverty among the Jewish war survivors, the people who initially worked the land and made Israel a reality yesterday said that if Anna Frank was alive she would not be entitled to the special pension of just over a thousand shekels a month ($200) as she was not in a camp or ghetto. While this is not true, and he knows it is not true it is a very striking point.
As we all know not all the Jews were found by the Nazi party because there were none Jews people who were willing to risk their life for the Jews. Anne Frank being a famous example of a Jewess who live most of the war in hiding. Towards the end of the war she was captured and sent to a camp where she was killed.
professor Weiss an Israeli politician behind the project to to stop poverty among the Jewish war survivors, the people who initially worked the land and made Israel a reality yesterday said that if Anna Frank was alive she would not be entitled to the special pension of just over a thousand shekels a month ($200) as she was not in a camp or ghetto. While this is not true, and he knows it is not true it is a very striking point.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sudanese refugees in Israel
these Sudanese women live in Israel. There are 500 here as legal Immigrants. However an estimated 1160 and another 1,500 Egyptians have arrived here over the desert boarder with Egypt.....a large are without boarder fences. It appears that Israel intends to send the Illegal immigrants back to Egypt. I am sad for them.I understand that they want to live here rather than Egypt but i think Israel has little choice
Saturday, August 18, 2007
gaza in darkness
Defence bloody mindedness or fear?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
This is a view from manara-within Israel but it is similar to the view from Syria and Lebanon. I live in the Golan and today at work-a restaurant people were talking about the possibility of war. Syrian president Assad is weak as a leader and it appears that the general of the army: a war monger, is calling the shots. Iran is the power behind the general's movements and Assad, it appears cannot stop him. I am convinced that Israel does not want war. I want people to enjoy my gourmet food which they will not do if there is a war.I also want places like this to be enjoyed for their beauty and not for there strategic positions.Sunday, August 12, 2007
Khaled Diab
Almost four hundred years before the creation of Israel, Cyprus was on the cards as a Jewish colony and safe haven for Europe's persecuted Jewish minority.
I found this little nugget while brushing up on my history in preparation for my trip to Israel and Palestine.
The idea was the brainchild of the colourful Jewish financier and statesman Joseph Nasi (1524-1579), one of the 16th century's top movers and shakers. Born as a 'New Christian' or Conversos in Portugal half a century after the start of the Inquisition in neighbouring Spain, he was a 'secret Jew' or Marrano. As the Portuguese Inquisition kicked off in earnest around 1536, he fled that and moved north to the Habsburg Netherlands and settled in Antwerp, where he was very successful and much respected, until the Spanish Inquisition caught up with him there, whereupon he moved to France and Venice.
But, like many Jews of the time, he settled in the far more tolerant Ottoman Empire and became one of the Sultan's most influential advisers. He also openly professed his faith for the first time in his life. What I find interesting about his life story is how different Jewish attitudes to Arabs and Muslims were back then – and vice versa.
Nasi is best remembered for starting the first resettlement programme of European Jews to Palestine, when the Ottoman sultan appointed him Lord of Tiberias (in Galilee) and allowed him to set up a small colony there of a few hundred Jewish families.
But Tiberias was actually a consolation prize offered by Sultan Selim II, who was not too keen on Nasi's Cypriot designs. At the time, the majority of Jews saw Palestine as a pilgrimage destination, at the very most, and believed they would only 'return' there with the coming of the Messiah. For uninformed Christians and Muslims, Jews do not believe the 'anointed one' has arrived yet.
But what if the Sultan had reacted favourably to Nasi's plan. How different would subsequent history have been and how different would today's geo-political landscape be? How long would the colony have lasted? How would the native population have reacted? Would there have been a local 'intifada' against the colonists? Well, as it so happens, when his negotiations with the local Jewish community were uncovered, the non-native Jewish population of Famagusta was expelled in 1569 - native Jews were allowed to remain.
Would Cyprus have attracted Jewish immigration? I suppose 'Next year in Nicosia' would not have quite the same ring to it in Jewish ears as 'Next year in Jerusalem'. But there had been a large Jewish community there since Greek times and Jews were facing persecution in many parts of Europe, so these may have been major selling points for the colony. Would there have been a long and bitter conflict, like the one currently plaguing Israel-Palestine and, if so, how would it have been resolved? Would Cyprus have joined the EU as an island divided along a different Green Line? Would the subsequent colonisation of Palestine have taken place?
The original Zionist?
Binyamin Ze'ev – better known as 'Theodor' – Herzl is widely regarded as the father of Zionism. But given his various attempts at establishing Jewish colonies, does Nasi deserve the title of the first 'Zionist'? Both men were motivated by the persecution of their people: the Inquisition for Nasi and the pogroms in eastern Europe for Herzl, as well as the infamous Dreyfus Affair in France.
"We Jews are even now constantly shifting from place to place, a strong current actually carrying us westward over the sea to the United States, where our presence is also not desired. And where will our presence be desired, so long as we are a homeless nation?" he wrote in Der Judenstaat, the first book on Zionism.
However, Nasi had just about managed to keep one step ahead of being personally persecuted himself and seemed to be driven mostly by the pragmatic need to protect his people and give them somewhere where they could practice their faith in peace. He also set about avenging his near persecution and that of his people by stirring up trouble against the intolerant Spanish, such as encouraging he Calvinists in the Netherlands to revolt against Spain and promising the Ottoman support, as well as
On the other hand, Herzl was a comfortable member of the European intelligentsia – German-speaking Jews of his time were well integrated and more often than not part of the affluent middle and upper classes. Of course, he revealed a certain amount of pragmatism in that he was ready to form his Jewish state away from Palestine: the Jewish State is conceived as a peculiarly modern structure on unspecified territory," he wrote in Der Judenstaat.
But it was Palestine which he yearned for, in a secular manifestation of the Promised Land: "Palestine is our ever-memorable historic home. The very name of Palestine would attract our people with a force of marvelous potency," he extolled. In addition, his ideas were effused with the 19th century brand of cultural chauvinism, racism, imperialism and disregard for the will of the local population. "We should there [in Palestine] form a portion of a rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilisation as opposed to barbarism," he said in the same book.
Although the only Arab character in a novel he wrote was grateful for the then fictional Jewish colonisation of Palestine, Herzl's memoirs reveal a darker intention for the local population of whatever piece of land would become the Jewish state: "Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment… Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly," he wrote in his diary in 1895. Of course, this kind of cavalier attitude towards the will of the native population was fairly common in pre-20th century colonialism (including the Arab and Muslim variety). But it find its most perfect implementation in the near wholesale erasure of the native population of many parts of the Americas.
We are living with the consequences of Herzl's unrestrained drive to build a Jewish nation at any cost and the tragic near-extermination of European Jewry in the first half of the 20th century.
The above was written by an Egypian journalist by the name of khalid Diab an Egyptian journalist who was in Israel. It is very interesting as a piece of historical journalism. However the question I ask is not why the jews (my nation) are here but how do we deal with the problems that exist now. I would not expect the americans to leave their country because of what happened to the Indians or black people. We must adapt from the presnt situation and do what is best for all.
Almost four hundred years before the creation of Israel, Cyprus was on the cards as a Jewish colony and safe haven for Europe's persecuted Jewish minority.
I found this little nugget while brushing up on my history in preparation for my trip to Israel and Palestine.
The idea was the brainchild of the colourful Jewish financier and statesman Joseph Nasi (1524-1579), one of the 16th century's top movers and shakers. Born as a 'New Christian' or Conversos in Portugal half a century after the start of the Inquisition in neighbouring Spain, he was a 'secret Jew' or Marrano. As the Portuguese Inquisition kicked off in earnest around 1536, he fled that and moved north to the Habsburg Netherlands and settled in Antwerp, where he was very successful and much respected, until the Spanish Inquisition caught up with him there, whereupon he moved to France and Venice.
But, like many Jews of the time, he settled in the far more tolerant Ottoman Empire and became one of the Sultan's most influential advisers. He also openly professed his faith for the first time in his life. What I find interesting about his life story is how different Jewish attitudes to Arabs and Muslims were back then – and vice versa.
Nasi is best remembered for starting the first resettlement programme of European Jews to Palestine, when the Ottoman sultan appointed him Lord of Tiberias (in Galilee) and allowed him to set up a small colony there of a few hundred Jewish families.
But Tiberias was actually a consolation prize offered by Sultan Selim II, who was not too keen on Nasi's Cypriot designs. At the time, the majority of Jews saw Palestine as a pilgrimage destination, at the very most, and believed they would only 'return' there with the coming of the Messiah. For uninformed Christians and Muslims, Jews do not believe the 'anointed one' has arrived yet.
But what if the Sultan had reacted favourably to Nasi's plan. How different would subsequent history have been and how different would today's geo-political landscape be? How long would the colony have lasted? How would the native population have reacted? Would there have been a local 'intifada' against the colonists? Well, as it so happens, when his negotiations with the local Jewish community were uncovered, the non-native Jewish population of Famagusta was expelled in 1569 - native Jews were allowed to remain.
Would Cyprus have attracted Jewish immigration? I suppose 'Next year in Nicosia' would not have quite the same ring to it in Jewish ears as 'Next year in Jerusalem'. But there had been a large Jewish community there since Greek times and Jews were facing persecution in many parts of Europe, so these may have been major selling points for the colony. Would there have been a long and bitter conflict, like the one currently plaguing Israel-Palestine and, if so, how would it have been resolved? Would Cyprus have joined the EU as an island divided along a different Green Line? Would the subsequent colonisation of Palestine have taken place?
The original Zionist?
Binyamin Ze'ev – better known as 'Theodor' – Herzl is widely regarded as the father of Zionism. But given his various attempts at establishing Jewish colonies, does Nasi deserve the title of the first 'Zionist'? Both men were motivated by the persecution of their people: the Inquisition for Nasi and the pogroms in eastern Europe for Herzl, as well as the infamous Dreyfus Affair in France.
"We Jews are even now constantly shifting from place to place, a strong current actually carrying us westward over the sea to the United States, where our presence is also not desired. And where will our presence be desired, so long as we are a homeless nation?" he wrote in Der Judenstaat, the first book on Zionism.
However, Nasi had just about managed to keep one step ahead of being personally persecuted himself and seemed to be driven mostly by the pragmatic need to protect his people and give them somewhere where they could practice their faith in peace. He also set about avenging his near persecution and that of his people by stirring up trouble against the intolerant Spanish, such as encouraging he Calvinists in the Netherlands to revolt against Spain and promising the Ottoman support, as well as
On the other hand, Herzl was a comfortable member of the European intelligentsia – German-speaking Jews of his time were well integrated and more often than not part of the affluent middle and upper classes. Of course, he revealed a certain amount of pragmatism in that he was ready to form his Jewish state away from Palestine: the Jewish State is conceived as a peculiarly modern structure on unspecified territory," he wrote in Der Judenstaat.
But it was Palestine which he yearned for, in a secular manifestation of the Promised Land: "Palestine is our ever-memorable historic home. The very name of Palestine would attract our people with a force of marvelous potency," he extolled. In addition, his ideas were effused with the 19th century brand of cultural chauvinism, racism, imperialism and disregard for the will of the local population. "We should there [in Palestine] form a portion of a rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilisation as opposed to barbarism," he said in the same book.
Although the only Arab character in a novel he wrote was grateful for the then fictional Jewish colonisation of Palestine, Herzl's memoirs reveal a darker intention for the local population of whatever piece of land would become the Jewish state: "Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment… Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly," he wrote in his diary in 1895. Of course, this kind of cavalier attitude towards the will of the native population was fairly common in pre-20th century colonialism (including the Arab and Muslim variety). But it find its most perfect implementation in the near wholesale erasure of the native population of many parts of the Americas.
We are living with the consequences of Herzl's unrestrained drive to build a Jewish nation at any cost and the tragic near-extermination of European Jewry in the first half of the 20th century.
The above was written by an Egypian journalist by the name of khalid Diab an Egyptian journalist who was in Israel. It is very interesting as a piece of historical journalism. However the question I ask is not why the jews (my nation) are here but how do we deal with the problems that exist now. I would not expect the americans to leave their country because of what happened to the Indians or black people. We must adapt from the presnt situation and do what is best for all.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
What kind of person
Two pictures of a repectable looking woman. who knows perhaps she was a good woman and if u met her in the street perhaps u would have treated her as such a woman. However she was Adolf hitlers younger sister.
Headquarters 101st Airborne Division.
101st CIS Detachment
APO 472, U.S. Army
12 July 1945
Memorandum for the Officer in Charge.
Subject: Interrogation of Frau Paula Wolff (Frl. Paula Hitler)
I was born at the estate of my father in Hartfeld, Austria, in 1896. My father was 60 years old at the time of my birth. He died when I was 6. I know nothing of my father's family. My brother and I spent little of our time together, as he was 7 years older. He attended the Realschule in Styria and spent only his vacations at home. The death of my mother left a deep impression on Adolf and myself. We were both very much attached to her. Our mother dies in 1907 and Adolf never returned home after that.
Since I was so much younger than my brother he never considered me a playmate. He played a leading role among his early companions. His was favorite game was cops and robbers, and that sort of thing. He had a lot of companions. I could not say what took place in their games, as I was never present. Adolf as a child always came home too late. He got a spanking every night for not coming home on time.
After my brother finished school he went to Vienna. He wanted to go to the Academy and become a painter, but nothing came of it. My mother was very sick at the time. She was very attached to Adolf and wanted him to stay home. That's why he stayed. He left the house after her death in 1907. I never saw him from 1908 until 1921. I have no idea what he did at this time. I did not even know if he was still alive.
He first visited me in 1921. I told him that it would have been much easier for me if I had had a brother. He said: "I had nothing myself. How could I have helped you? I did not let you know about myself because I could not have helped you." Since my father was an official we received a pension of 50 kronen. This should have been divide between Adolf and myself. I could have done nothing with 25 kronen. My guardian knew that Adolf supported himself in Vienna as a laborer. Adolf was interviewed and renounced his half in my favor. Since I attended the Higher Girls' School the money came in handy. I wrote him a letter in 1910 or 1911, but he never answered.
I never had any particularly artistic interests. I could draw rather well and learned easily. My brother was very good in some subjects and very weak in others. He was the weakest in mathematics and, as far as I can remember, in physics, also his failure in mathematics worried my mother. He loved music. He preferred Wagner even then. Wagner was always his favorite.
My brother came to Vienna in 1921 for the express purpose of seeing me. I did not recognize him at first when he walked into the house. I was so surprised that I could only stare at him. It was if a brother had fallen from heaven. I was already used to being alone in this world. He was very charming at the time. What made the biggest impression on me was the fact he went shopping with me. Every woman loves to shop.
I did not see him regularly. About a year later he visited me again. We went to our parents' grave near Linz. He wanted to go there. Then we separated, he going to Munich, and I go to Linz. I visited him in Munich in 1923. This was before 9 November. He still looked the same to me. His political activities had not changed him. The next time I saw him was in the Dirsch Strasse in Munich. The only person that I met amongst his political friends was Schwarz, treasurer of the party. The next time I saw him was on the Nuremberg Party Day. I received my tickets like any other person.
(At this point the interrogator said: "We found some of your brother's letters to you. They are very short. A lady who worked with him once said that he had absolutely no family sense.") There is something to that. I think he inherited that from our father. He did not care for our relatives either. Only the relatives on our mother's side were close to use. The Schmieds and the Koppensteins are our dear relatives, especially a cousin Schmied who married a Koppenstein. I know no one of my father's family. My sister Angela and I often said: "Father must have some relatives, but we don’t even know them." I myself have a family sense. I like my relatives from the Waldviertel, the Schmieds and the Koppensteins. I usually wrote my brother a birthday letter, and then he wrote a short note, and sent a package. This would contain Spanish ham, flour, sugar, or something like that that had been given to him for his birthday.
I did not see my half-sister Mrs. Angela Hamitzs very often. She lived in Dresden. She had her husband and children and was happily married. I spent the last few days before the arrival of the Americans with her, as she was also in the Berchtesgadener Hof.
During the party day in Nuremberg my brother received me in his hotel, the Deutscher Hof. He wrote me very rarely, as he was "writing lazy". He wrote only a few words, and only once a year.
From 1929 on I saw him once a year until 1941. We met once in Munich, Once in Berlin, and once in Vienna. I met him in Vienna after 1938. His rapid rise in the world worried me. I must honestly confess that I would have preferred it if he had followed his original ambition and become an architect. (The interrogator interrupted to say that this was the most classical statement that she would ever say.) It would have saved the world a lot of worries.
My brother did not live on a special diet in his youth. Our mother would never have permitted that. He never cared much about meat. I suppose that later he became a vegetarian because of his stomach ailment.
The first time that my brother suggested my changing my name was at the Olympic Games in Garmisch. He wanted me to live under the name of "Wolff", and maintain the strictest incognito. That was sufficient for me. From then on I kept this name. I added the "Mrs." as I thought that less conspicuous. I was ordered to remain incognito also when I was moved from my home in Austria to the Berchtesgadener Hof.
I lost my job in a Viennese insurance company in 1930 when it became known who my brother was. From that time until the Anschluss he gave me a monthly pension of 250 Schillings. After the Anschluss he gave me 500 marks a month.
In 1940 I went to Berlin to see my brother. I was never under the observation of the Sicherheitsdienst. I could always move about freely. The criminal police once came to check on all the guests when I lived in a hotel in Munich during Mussolini's visit. Even they did not know who "Frau Wolff" was.
I am a Catholic, and the church is my biggest outside interest. My brother was also Catholic, and I don't believe that he ever left the church. I don't know for sure.
For the last few years I was employed as a typist in a hospital. My brother knew about it. He fully agreed that I should employ myself. I had to give it up later on, as it was too much for my health.
My coming to Berchtesgaden was very strange. I was in my house in Lower Austria between Vienna and Linz. I wanted to remain at home. It is very important that someone keep the vegetable garden in order, and see that everything thrives. One morning in the middle of April of this year a passenger car stood before the door. A driver entered the house and told me that he had the task of bringing me to the Obersalzberg. We were supposed to leave in two hours. I was amazed, since I had made no preparations. I said that under no circumstances could I leave in two hours. Then we agreed to drive away the next morning. I don't know who the driver was. I think the car was a Mercedes. There was also a second driver in the car. (The interrogator, who believes that the trip was arranged by Martin Borman and that Miss. Hitler was in grave danger of being killed, then asked: "That was done by Martin Borman?") I don't know about that. I knew Borman only slightly. When we were halfway to Berchtesgaden the one driver said to me that they had not reckoned on my coming along. I said: "Why did you not tell me that before? Then I would not have come along." The driver was not armed, and I have forgotten how he looked.
I saw Eva Braun only once. That was in 1934 in Nuremberg! My brother never discussed the subject with me. I have never visited my brother's place in Obersalzburg, either with him or now that the Americans are here. I was never invited.
When I arrived at the Dietrich Eckart Hütte, where Fäber of the Berchtesgadener Hof put me, no one knew who I was. I took my meals in my room, and did not talk to the people. I knew no one there. At present we are learning English. I still have to go over my vocabulary for today. I studied English at school, but have unfortunately forgotten most of it.
The personal fate of my brother affected me very much. He was still my brother, no matter what happened. His end brought unspeakable sorrow to me, as his sister. (At this point Miss. Hitler burst into tears, and the interrogation was ended.)
-------------------------
101st CIS Detachment
APO 472, U.S. Army
12 July 1945
Memorandum for the Officer in Charge.
Subject: Interrogation of Frau Paula Wolff (Frl. Paula Hitler)
I was born at the estate of my father in Hartfeld, Austria, in 1896. My father was 60 years old at the time of my birth. He died when I was 6. I know nothing of my father's family. My brother and I spent little of our time together, as he was 7 years older. He attended the Realschule in Styria and spent only his vacations at home. The death of my mother left a deep impression on Adolf and myself. We were both very much attached to her. Our mother dies in 1907 and Adolf never returned home after that.
Since I was so much younger than my brother he never considered me a playmate. He played a leading role among his early companions. His was favorite game was cops and robbers, and that sort of thing. He had a lot of companions. I could not say what took place in their games, as I was never present. Adolf as a child always came home too late. He got a spanking every night for not coming home on time.
After my brother finished school he went to Vienna. He wanted to go to the Academy and become a painter, but nothing came of it. My mother was very sick at the time. She was very attached to Adolf and wanted him to stay home. That's why he stayed. He left the house after her death in 1907. I never saw him from 1908 until 1921. I have no idea what he did at this time. I did not even know if he was still alive.
He first visited me in 1921. I told him that it would have been much easier for me if I had had a brother. He said: "I had nothing myself. How could I have helped you? I did not let you know about myself because I could not have helped you." Since my father was an official we received a pension of 50 kronen. This should have been divide between Adolf and myself. I could have done nothing with 25 kronen. My guardian knew that Adolf supported himself in Vienna as a laborer. Adolf was interviewed and renounced his half in my favor. Since I attended the Higher Girls' School the money came in handy. I wrote him a letter in 1910 or 1911, but he never answered.
I never had any particularly artistic interests. I could draw rather well and learned easily. My brother was very good in some subjects and very weak in others. He was the weakest in mathematics and, as far as I can remember, in physics, also his failure in mathematics worried my mother. He loved music. He preferred Wagner even then. Wagner was always his favorite.
My brother came to Vienna in 1921 for the express purpose of seeing me. I did not recognize him at first when he walked into the house. I was so surprised that I could only stare at him. It was if a brother had fallen from heaven. I was already used to being alone in this world. He was very charming at the time. What made the biggest impression on me was the fact he went shopping with me. Every woman loves to shop.
I did not see him regularly. About a year later he visited me again. We went to our parents' grave near Linz. He wanted to go there. Then we separated, he going to Munich, and I go to Linz. I visited him in Munich in 1923. This was before 9 November. He still looked the same to me. His political activities had not changed him. The next time I saw him was in the Dirsch Strasse in Munich. The only person that I met amongst his political friends was Schwarz, treasurer of the party. The next time I saw him was on the Nuremberg Party Day. I received my tickets like any other person.
(At this point the interrogator said: "We found some of your brother's letters to you. They are very short. A lady who worked with him once said that he had absolutely no family sense.") There is something to that. I think he inherited that from our father. He did not care for our relatives either. Only the relatives on our mother's side were close to use. The Schmieds and the Koppensteins are our dear relatives, especially a cousin Schmied who married a Koppenstein. I know no one of my father's family. My sister Angela and I often said: "Father must have some relatives, but we don’t even know them." I myself have a family sense. I like my relatives from the Waldviertel, the Schmieds and the Koppensteins. I usually wrote my brother a birthday letter, and then he wrote a short note, and sent a package. This would contain Spanish ham, flour, sugar, or something like that that had been given to him for his birthday.
I did not see my half-sister Mrs. Angela Hamitzs very often. She lived in Dresden. She had her husband and children and was happily married. I spent the last few days before the arrival of the Americans with her, as she was also in the Berchtesgadener Hof.
During the party day in Nuremberg my brother received me in his hotel, the Deutscher Hof. He wrote me very rarely, as he was "writing lazy". He wrote only a few words, and only once a year.
From 1929 on I saw him once a year until 1941. We met once in Munich, Once in Berlin, and once in Vienna. I met him in Vienna after 1938. His rapid rise in the world worried me. I must honestly confess that I would have preferred it if he had followed his original ambition and become an architect. (The interrogator interrupted to say that this was the most classical statement that she would ever say.) It would have saved the world a lot of worries.
My brother did not live on a special diet in his youth. Our mother would never have permitted that. He never cared much about meat. I suppose that later he became a vegetarian because of his stomach ailment.
The first time that my brother suggested my changing my name was at the Olympic Games in Garmisch. He wanted me to live under the name of "Wolff", and maintain the strictest incognito. That was sufficient for me. From then on I kept this name. I added the "Mrs." as I thought that less conspicuous. I was ordered to remain incognito also when I was moved from my home in Austria to the Berchtesgadener Hof.
I lost my job in a Viennese insurance company in 1930 when it became known who my brother was. From that time until the Anschluss he gave me a monthly pension of 250 Schillings. After the Anschluss he gave me 500 marks a month.
In 1940 I went to Berlin to see my brother. I was never under the observation of the Sicherheitsdienst. I could always move about freely. The criminal police once came to check on all the guests when I lived in a hotel in Munich during Mussolini's visit. Even they did not know who "Frau Wolff" was.
I am a Catholic, and the church is my biggest outside interest. My brother was also Catholic, and I don't believe that he ever left the church. I don't know for sure.
For the last few years I was employed as a typist in a hospital. My brother knew about it. He fully agreed that I should employ myself. I had to give it up later on, as it was too much for my health.
My coming to Berchtesgaden was very strange. I was in my house in Lower Austria between Vienna and Linz. I wanted to remain at home. It is very important that someone keep the vegetable garden in order, and see that everything thrives. One morning in the middle of April of this year a passenger car stood before the door. A driver entered the house and told me that he had the task of bringing me to the Obersalzberg. We were supposed to leave in two hours. I was amazed, since I had made no preparations. I said that under no circumstances could I leave in two hours. Then we agreed to drive away the next morning. I don't know who the driver was. I think the car was a Mercedes. There was also a second driver in the car. (The interrogator, who believes that the trip was arranged by Martin Borman and that Miss. Hitler was in grave danger of being killed, then asked: "That was done by Martin Borman?") I don't know about that. I knew Borman only slightly. When we were halfway to Berchtesgaden the one driver said to me that they had not reckoned on my coming along. I said: "Why did you not tell me that before? Then I would not have come along." The driver was not armed, and I have forgotten how he looked.
I saw Eva Braun only once. That was in 1934 in Nuremberg! My brother never discussed the subject with me. I have never visited my brother's place in Obersalzburg, either with him or now that the Americans are here. I was never invited.
When I arrived at the Dietrich Eckart Hütte, where Fäber of the Berchtesgadener Hof put me, no one knew who I was. I took my meals in my room, and did not talk to the people. I knew no one there. At present we are learning English. I still have to go over my vocabulary for today. I studied English at school, but have unfortunately forgotten most of it.
The personal fate of my brother affected me very much. He was still my brother, no matter what happened. His end brought unspeakable sorrow to me, as his sister. (At this point Miss. Hitler burst into tears, and the interrogation was ended.)
-------------------------
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Why should they wait
August 05 2007; 04:08PMThe Weekly Portion: Seeking justice for Holocaust survivorsPosted by Dr. Ephraim Sneh
The most upsetting issue of the past week has been the prime minister’s decision to allocate a “special” allowance to assist Holocaust survivors in the upcoming years. Seemingly, it is the right decision.
However, the sum is minimal and distributed to many – it is too late. We are talking about 120,000 survivors living in despair. In 2008, the budget will allow NIS 120 million to be allocated to them. This, in essence means that they will be receiving less than NIS 100 per month. A hundred shekels a month is a mockery.
The more cynical part of the decision is in fact the most promising - the annual amount will increase in 2009 and by the beginning of 2011 will arrive at approximately NIS 300 million. Every day, 40 Holocaust survivors pass away. Hence, the number of those in need is decreasing and this is what finance officials wait for.
How easy to forget the weak and how easy to blame Olmart our priminister. These people who escaped the Nazis and fought to make and keep a jewish nation are left to go hungry. The irony that Olmart not my favourite was the first to try and offer them some help!!
What to expect
I wish to give an insite as to what Israel is about and not what politicians and press want u to think Israel is about. Here there is a big mix of cultures not always living in perfect Harmony but sharing. There is no apartheid but racism often rears its ugly head. This is not only against the muslim population but also against various jewish population such as the ethiopian jews.
One of the things that makes this counry interesting is the very wide culture base. Within half an hour of my house I can go to druse villages (a culture and religion who do not consider themselves as muslims-but there religion is secret) or beduins (nomadic peoples who now live in permenent settlement) christians ,muslims and jews from all over the world. You meet jews who have arrived from african ,european and arab states to mention just a few. Two weeks ago I was in a druse village and satwith friends drinking coffee and discussing all sorts of things. The lives of the people are intertwined.
Life is imperfect but I think it is so in many countries. Life here is very vibrent but yes the army is active because the country believes it has to safegaurd its boarders. However it is not an army state people go around there business every day without fear of police or army. Ofcourse I am not talking about Gaza which is also worth a lot of disscussion but am trying to give u a feel of what Israel is about. Life is lead at a very fast pace and people have a reasonable standard of living (not only jews!!!!!). Most of all life is lead at a fast pace but people are optimistic.
For the record I am Jewish and like living here. I arrived about 20 years ago from England where I also enjoyed living and did not come accross more than minimal antisemitism that did not desturb my good life there. I came to Israel to work on kibbutz for the summer. The kibbutz experience convinced me to come and live here but in the end came to live in a small town.
Being jewish matters to me because i think it is a form of identity and way of life. I am not religious but much can be learned from religious teaching.
This is my first posting and would be most happy to hear any comment to help me move forward with this blog. Bye for now- I am off to teakwando (I enjoy it althogh I am not very good but it helps my body; flexability.
Bye for now Mike
One of the things that makes this counry interesting is the very wide culture base. Within half an hour of my house I can go to druse villages (a culture and religion who do not consider themselves as muslims-but there religion is secret) or beduins (nomadic peoples who now live in permenent settlement) christians ,muslims and jews from all over the world. You meet jews who have arrived from african ,european and arab states to mention just a few. Two weeks ago I was in a druse village and satwith friends drinking coffee and discussing all sorts of things. The lives of the people are intertwined.
Life is imperfect but I think it is so in many countries. Life here is very vibrent but yes the army is active because the country believes it has to safegaurd its boarders. However it is not an army state people go around there business every day without fear of police or army. Ofcourse I am not talking about Gaza which is also worth a lot of disscussion but am trying to give u a feel of what Israel is about. Life is lead at a very fast pace and people have a reasonable standard of living (not only jews!!!!!). Most of all life is lead at a fast pace but people are optimistic.
For the record I am Jewish and like living here. I arrived about 20 years ago from England where I also enjoyed living and did not come accross more than minimal antisemitism that did not desturb my good life there. I came to Israel to work on kibbutz for the summer. The kibbutz experience convinced me to come and live here but in the end came to live in a small town.
Being jewish matters to me because i think it is a form of identity and way of life. I am not religious but much can be learned from religious teaching.
This is my first posting and would be most happy to hear any comment to help me move forward with this blog. Bye for now- I am off to teakwando (I enjoy it althogh I am not very good but it helps my body; flexability.
Bye for now Mike
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)