Another Unpublished Letter to the Editor of the NYTimes

Yonaton Youval seeks to vilify Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanayahu in his opinion piece  ("Israelis Are Exhausted. There Is a Way Out.," Oct. 4). Inter alia, he writes, cryptically, "The emergency of 1948 is older than Mr. Netanyahu and will outlast him," a strange analysis conclusion given Youval's ideological stance.

In any case, as for being exhausted, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert infamously noted back in 2005, "We are tired of fighting...we are tired of winning". Two decades later and there are still slogans that never seem to outlast Netanyahu's critics.

Yisrael Medad

Shiloh, Israel

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Why Rebbe Nachman of Braslav is Compared to Kafka

A "story" as recorded in Chayei Mohran which is the journal of Rav Natan of Nemirov, Rebbe Nachman's secretary and companion and keeper of his writings, in which he rel;ates the happenings, travels and sayings of Rebbe Nachman.

"The year 5567, Breslov, Parashat Vayechi [December 26, 1806]:

After I had recited the Kiddush Levanah [sanctification of the new moon] by myself, he said to me: “If you had been happy, it would have been a great benefit to the world.” Afterward he told [me] what he had seen in a dream:

There were many, very many, soldiers marching along, and after them there were flying very many birds, a numerous multitude. And I asked him, the one who was with me, why were the birds flying after them, and he told me that they were going to help those soldiers.

I asked him how they would help them, and he replied that these birds release from themselves a phlegm substabnce, and through this moisture those who were before them are destroyed. In this way they help those soldiers.

This was difficult for me. Surely, in the very place where they release this mucus, those soldiers are also present, and it would harm them as well.

Meanwhile, I saw that the birds began to lower themselves until they all stood on the ground, and they walked after the soldiers. They were picking something up from the ground with their beaks. The thing they picked up was something round, and it was not something edible.

And it was difficult for me: how could these birds come along and follow the soldiers? For when a person walks, he goes faster than birds, and what was this thing that they were picking up?

They told me that what they were picking up became the aforementioned mucus, which kills those who are opposite them, as stated above. And wherever they deposited the moisture, those who were opposite them were thereby driven away and died in the place where they [were].

[It was difficult for me concerning this in several respects, but I do not remember them.]

I entered a secluded place and saw that there was a very low entrance. I entered there and lay down there myself. There were no windows at all in that room, and it was dark.

I entered there because I wanted to hide, and I hid there.

Meanwhile, all the birds began to enter there. I wanted to drive them away, and I was waving them away with my hand. And a cat stood in front of them, and it is the nature of birds to flee from a cat. Because of this, they all entered into the room.

And however much I waved them away with my hand, it was of no avail because of the cat.

I asked why they were coming here, and they told me that they were coming here to have the pox.

I asked why this was so, and they told me that the moisture of the pox was the aforementioned mucus that kills those who are before them.

I asked: Surely people can also die from the pox? And they told me that this is indeed so, and from those corpses that die from it, this is harmful to the place where they die there.

And I was greatly distressed, because I feared that, Heaven forbid, I might perish from the stench of the corpses, for there were very many birds there. And I prayed to God, blessed be He, concerning this.

Meanwhile, the pox left them, and they returned to their normal state. And a bird flew away from there with joy, and so they all flew after it.

And there was a cry throughout the world:

“Mazal tov! Mazal tov!”

And I, too, cried out:

“Mazal tov!”

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Do Ancient Non-Biblical Sources Parallel Biblical Texts of Events?

From the latest issue of "Let the Stones Speak" bi-monthly of the Armstrong Institute:

'Annals of Assyrian Conquest"

The following are excerpts from inscriptions relating to Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser iii, Shalmaneser v and Sargon ii, relaying their conquests of the northern kingdom of Israel and deportations of its inhabitants in waves in the late eighth century b.c.e.—culminating in the three-year siege of Samaria started by Shalmaneser v in 721 b.c.e. and concluded by Sargon ii in 718 b.c.e. Alongside each inscription excerpt is a parallel biblical text describing the events at hand. (For references, see James B. Pritchard’s Ancient Near Eastern Texts)

TIGLATH-PILESER III (r. 745–727 b.c.e.)

Tiglath-Pileser iii Annalistic Records: [T]he towns … of the Upper Sea, I brought under my rule. Six officers of mine I installed as governors over them. … [Lands] which are adjacent to Israel and the wide land of Naphtali, in its entire extent, I united with Assyria. Officers of mine I installed as governors upon them. … Israel … all its inhabitants and their possessions I led to Assyria. They overthrew their king Pekah and I placed Hoshea as king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold, 1,000(?) talents of silver as their tribute and brought them to Assyria.

2 Kings 15:29-30: In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead ….

SHALMANESER V (r. 726–721 b.c.e.)

Babylonian Chronicle i: On the 25th day of the month Tebet, Shalmaneser [v] ascended the throne of Assyria and Akkad. He ruined Samaria.

2 Kings 18:9: And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

SARGON II (r. 721–705 b.c.e.)

Sargon ii Gate Inscription: Property of Sargon, king of Assyria, conqueror of Samaria and of the entire country of Israel, who despoiled Ashdod ….

Isaiah 20:1: In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it.

Sargon ii Annalistic Reports: At the beginning of my royal rule … the town of the Samarians I besieged, conquered …. I led away as prisoners 27,290 inhabitants of it …. The town I rebuilt better than it was before and settled therein people from countries which I myself had conquered. I placed an officer of mine as governor over them and imposed upon them tribute as is customary for Assyrian citizens. … I conquered and sacked the towns Shinuhtu and Samaria, and all Israel. … Upon a trust-inspiring oracle given by my lord Ashur, I crushed the tribes of Tamud, Ibadidi, Marsimanu and Haiapa, the Arabs who live far away in the desert …. I deported their survivors and settled them in Samaria.

2 Kings 17:5-6, 23-24: Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. … So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

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Lena, the New Pro-Palestine and Anti-'Settler' Film

Alerted through Instagram, I discovered a new pro-Palestinian film.

Lena.*

Lena is an ewe.

Like the one:

The synopsis of this 'morality' tale:

In the mountain of Ramallah, eleven-year-old Adnan mourns the unjust arrest of his older brother Saif, who was illegally arrested on the fake accusation of throwing rocks at the Israeli army. Adnan spends weeks in solitude, unable to enjoy himself, but his spirits finally lift when given ownership of a newborn lamb born on his family’s farm, whom he decides to name Lena. Adnan and Lena become inseparable, spending every waking moment together, until Lena is stolen from him in the middle of the night by cruel Israeli settlers who wish to destroy his family's livelihood. 

Despite his father’s warnings, Adnan decides to sneak onto the settlement in hopes of getting his beloved Lena back and finds himself a witness to their savage way of life along the way. Representing Palestinian innocence, Adnan teaches us that Palestinian resistance will always defeat those who wish to destroy it.

The trailer is here. It's a  a UCLA senior capstone film.

From the credits:

And this is the writer/director Maya:

Just a comment or two.

"Saif" may not have thrown rocks in the film, but in real life, thousands of his felllow Arab youth do. And not only do the do damage and injure but their rocks kill.

Moreover, as I have been following the "settler violence" theme, in most of the cases involving livestock, Arabs have initiated poisonng water sources as well as leaving posioned food in the garzing fields. In addition, in many cases, sheep and goats, even entire herds, of Jewish shepherds have been stolen.

Oh, and an observation of dress: no Arab peasant woman out by us would dress like this:

And the other hand, here is that actress, Ghazellé, in other apparel:

and

In this field of liberated Arab feminism (I do not know if either of the ladies above are Muslim or Christian and I do not deny her the right to appear in public as she wishes), I doubt we could find a female "settler" woman similarly attired for the role of a youthtop girl/woman.

Incidentally, Ghazelle lives in LA so I wonder where the film was shot.

Perhaps we need a Jewish/Israeli producer to put something on nthe screen to balance this?

_____

*  I checked. Lena, in Arabic, means "tender," "soft," "delicate" and appears in the Quran, symbolizing grace and gentleness.

But see her creation here, which she entitled “ISRAELI FAMILY PHOTO” by Maya Abdallah and explained:

I created this mock israeli family portrait based on the European colonial migrants in “israel” who co-opt and rename Arab culture. Despite their tremendous efforts, it always appears unnatural on them - almost alien, highlighting the disconnext between their imposed identity and the authentic culture they attempt to mimic.

#netanyahuispolish

Description:
Three israeli aliens pose for a family portrait in their Arab style home. A plaque that reads “Am yisrael chai” (the people of israel)

Not very tender.

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The Conflict Amongst American Jewry between Judaism and Zionism - in 1926

More than 300 delegates from around the United States attended the 1926 conference that created the Association for Jewish Culture and Education called at the initiative of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) to create a permanent national organization for Jewish education. The official call says that the purpose was to overcome the fragmented and inadequate state of Jewish education in American Jewish communities.

It was held on May 16, 1926, at the Astor Hotel.

Its objectives included promoting Hebrew language and literature; increasing knowledge of Eretz Yisrael, then Mandate Palestine; strengthening Jewish youth organizations; promoting Jewish literature and the fine arts; encouraging Jewish education among children, youth and adults; and developing educational material about Eretz-Yisrael and Zionism.

A substantial proposed budget was $290,000 for its first year, including the educational and cultural organizations already affiliated with the ZOA, such as Young Judaea and Histadruth Ivrith.

Chaim Nahman Bialik was present. Ze'ev Jabotinsky was not invited although in the country.

And, of course, there was an important dispute over how explicitly Zionist the new organization should be.

The official program adopted by the conference spoke of Jewish cultural values, Hebrew, Eretz-Yisrael, Jewish aspirations, etc. But Max Rhoade of Washington, representing the minority of the program committee, proposed inserting a much more explicitly Zionist formulation. His amendment would have said that:

“Zionism as the expression of the Jewish national spirit is inseparable from Jewish education and culture…”

It called for Jewish education to be infused with “the Zionist spirit” and connected with the Jewish renaissance in Palestine.

That amendment was rejected.

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Yet Another Non-published Letter to the Editor

To the Editor, the Times of London,

In his column, Hugo Rifkind writes, "you can be in favour of a two-state solution, or you can be in favour of expanding settlements. But not really both" ("Settlements are a step too far for many British Jews", 9 Sept). 

In a two-state solution, will Arab settlements be permitted to remain in Israel's territory, pre-1967 or otherwise? If so, why cannot Jewish settlements remain in a future 'Palestine'?  

Or are the proponents of a two-state solution in favor of creating a second Islamic Arab ethnostate in the region of historic Palestine, the other being Jordan, while insisting Israel not only accept a topographical strategic security threat but accept as well a 20+ percentage of its population being Arab and all that entails? 

Yisrael Medad, Shiloh

Israel

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The Violent Status Quo's Origin in Jerusalem

We all know about the post-1967 "status quo" that applies to the Temple Mount.

To a great extent, its conceptualization was based on an existing framework that had been adopted by the Ottoman Empire.

How did the concept develop in Jerusalem? What were its historical roots?

A short summary of the original status quo (here, too):

The concept of the “status quo”1 was introduced in 1852, when the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Mejid, in a futile attempt to avoid a war, issued a decree freezing the rights of worship and possession of the religious communities in the Holy Places of Christendom. The decree terminated the bloody rivalry between the Greek Orthodox patriarchate and the Roman Catholic church for predominance in the Christian sanctuaries and recognized the paramount rights of the Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Places affirmed since 1757. In 1853, the sultan issued another decree, which transferred the power of jurisdiction over the sanctuaries from the local officials in Palestine to the Sublime Porte. Subsequently, Article 62 of the Treaty of Berlin (1878) proclaimed the inviolability of the decree of 1852 and declared it the “Status Quo of the Holy Places.” The successive governments of Palestine, the British Mandate, and the State of Israel further maintained the regulations as set forth by the status quo of 1852.

The British employed the term on the November 1928 White Paper. I have ealt with it and, for example, see here.  The Cust Report is also useful.

What is overlooked, though, is that the status quo, while seeking to fix in place a reality that should not change, was necessitated and gained through acts of force and violence to change a reality and then benefit from that behavior.

What had been the Christian practice amongst the various sects and their churches and other institutions was altered in 1757, a turning point as that Maudy Monday when a number of sanctuaries previoulsy maintainbed by the Franciscans were taken over by the Greek Orthodox in quite a violent confrontation. On April 2, 1757 (the eve of Palm Sunday), Greek clergy attacked the Franciscans at the Holy Sepulchre and ransacked and smashed much of the Latin treasure. A lamp, a gift of Emperor Charles VI, was badly damaged in the assault.

A Franciscan historical account gives an even more dramatic description: after the Franciscans had completed their Palm Sunday procession, the Greeks overturned their altar, broke silver lamps, tore down velvet and brocade hangings, destroyed Latin property and assaulted Catholics

Here:

At the beginning of 1757, French ambassador, the count of Vergennes obtained a new firman from Othman III, confirming the Latins as exclusive owners of the sanctuaries which Louis XIV had rendered to them in 1690. The pretentions of the Greeks had been declared without foundation, and the Pasha of Damascus, had ordered the severe punishment of the three oriental monks who had beaten our Brother sacristan at Holy Sepulcher. So, here on Palm Sunday, after the Franciscans had retired after their usual procession, the Greeks tipped over our altar adorned before the Most Holy Sepulcher, broke all the silver lamps, tore all the velvet and brocade tapistries which the Franciscans had put in place for the feast. They destroyed everything that belonged to the Latins, striking the Catholics they met and sought to end the lives of the religious. The governor was alerted too late, and deterred by a Greek, his secretary put off to the next day, his visit to the site. However it was too late for the Greeks to deceive him, so he sent the troops to allow the Franciscans to enter Holy Savior, and he declared an act legally and authentically acknowledging the Greeks’ vandalism. However, in the interim while he waited for the punishment, one of the three oriental monks who should have been chastised by virtue of the firman cited above, returned from Constantinople where he had purchased the favor of the Grand-Vizier for the sum of Five hundred million dollars (Turkish money). He is followed a few days later by a Turkish officer carrying a new firman which gave the Greeks the Basilica of Saint Helena in Bethlehem, the seven arcades of the Madeleine (in the Bailica of the Holy Sepulcher), the most holy Sepulcher of Our Lord, and that of the Blessed Virgin!!! M. de Vergennes wanted to protest against such a despicable conduct. The Grand-Vizier Regyb-Pasha was content to answer with insolence: “These sites belong to my master the Sultan. He can give them to whomever he pleases, and while they were in the hands of the French until now, His Highness wants from now on that they should belong to the Greeks.” All the catholic ambassadors present in Constantinople wanted to go before the Turkish government as a group, but all were of the opinion such action had to wait for the death of the Grand Vizier. That would happen a few years later, (1762), but the Catholic influence had already forgotten the Franciscans and the Sanctuaries of the Holy Land, as they were approaching the French revolution.

^ 

'An Issue About a Few Hills'

Hugo Rifkind, writing in the London Times, "Settlements are a step too far for many British Jews" on September 8, insists:

Thereby demonstrating a lack of knowledge of history, topography and strategic depth as well as disregarding 3000 years of Jewish existence, religious and cultural fundamentals to favor a collective that has proven it will not fulfill any peace agreement, will not accept Jewish national identity nor has it, since 1993, reduced terror and violence, introduced peace and coexistence educational programs into their schools, halted incitement or stopped the 'pay-for-slay' financial support for terrorists.

Moreover, his dismissal tone of minimizing the matter of Judea and Samaria and expressing disdain, is contemptible

^