Did you ever see “Christmas Time for the Jews,” that Saturday Night Live short by Robert Smigel? It’s a three minute claymation skit of Jews who seem to have their way on Christmas because all the gentiles are home drinking eggnog with their families. It’s very funny, complete with references to Seinfeld, the Daily show and Fiddler on the Roof played by non Jews. Catch it on Hulu.com and you’ll appreciate this piece all the more.
Like most Jews I view Christmas as a day off, and I look forward to it. Like the song says it’s a time I can do just about anything I want. I can go to the movies, eat at restaurants and walk the malls relatively free of people. Or, if I want, I can choose to stay home, watch videos, order pizza and vegetate on the couch for the day.
In the past few years I have been hearing about a program that sponsors Jews who want to work for Christians in vital jobs that cannot be abandoned even on Christmas day. Each year as the attack on Christmas from the left grows larger I continue to look at this option as a possible means for me to satisfy two desires. One, to show my support for Christians celebrating Christmas as a Jew who is appalled at the Left’s attack and the Jewish role in that campaign, and two, it appears to me that such a selfless mitzvah probably will not go unnoticed in this world or the next.
I googled “Jews who work for Christians on Christmas.” I got all kinds of hits, from white supremacists accusing Jews of killing Christ, to Jews being warned not to celebrate Christmas. In the middle of all this was an article from last year in Boulder Colorado that caught my eye, a group of Jews working for Christians on Christmas. Perfect! I wrote the author and asked him to give me more information. Maybe he could help me find the same group here in L.A., where I live. Not thirty seconds after I sent the query, it came back undeliverable.
Dead end.
I wrote to the Jewish Journal here in Los Angeles. Rob Eshman, their editor wrote me back and put me in touch with a guy who then put me in touch with Temple Israel in Hollywood.
Temple Israel sends Jews, like me who want to do something constructive on Christmas, to the United Methodist Church on Hollywood and Highland. They sponsor a Christmas dinner for the homeless. It’s a noble and worthwhile way to spend Christmas as a Jew.
And, that’s ok, but I was looking for something different. I wanted to work for someone, so I could physically feel myself doing a mitzvah for a complete stranger—a one on one exchange of goodness for happiness. I work for him or her and they go home to have Christmas with their family. The thought of that was very appealing.
So, I kept looking.
I called the Jewish federation, the Valley Alliance, and the Jewish Community Center thinking maybe they might know something.
Nothing.
I was running out of options here.
I had to accept the possibility that there was no group, at least not any more. Luckily, I had an ace in the hole. I work as an onsite home owners association manager at a local condominium project in Marina Del Rey. We have guards at our gates 24/7, and, Christmas is no exception.
Bingo! A vital job that cannot be abandoned, not even on Christmas. The only difference, it wasn’t anonymous. Going somewhere to relieve someone who is a total stranger was more in line with my thinking. But, they were no where to be found and this was a pretty cool second best.
Since Christmas falls on Friday this year, our post commander Michele would be faithfully sitting at her post on Christmas morning and would not be excused until 3:00 in the afternoon.
When I asked if she had to work that day, in complete resignation she said, “yes, I do.”
I thought about it awhile. I didn’t want it to appear self serving since everyone knows me there and would undoubtedly ask why I was running the gates that morning, (which I never do) and deliver the praise of such an act.
Decision making time.
This is it, I do it here, or I don’t do it.
I approached Michele with the idea, and of course, as a new grandmother she was ecstatic. I told her to clear it with her company and since I spoke for the homeowners association on such matters everything else would be in place for me to work for her.
While sitting in the guard shack that day, I kept thinking I could be home right now, watching some old Seinfeld, and have “the daily show reruns, running through my head” (straight from the Saturday night Live skit), But then there was Michele, spending the day with her family and that beautiful grand daughter of hers.
It never hurts to practice a little plain goodness in your life. “The day we control the town” was for me this year, a day of real thanksgiving and brotherhood. Because of me, one Christian woman enjoyed a memorable day with her family, was eternally grateful for that opportunity and gave me a sense of self worth that I don’t often enough get to experience in my life. I’m not sure why, but somehow, by the end of Christmas day I felt a little more connected to my own Jewishness. It was good to give something back. It was a good day.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Are We Too Late?
The United States continues to stall for time in stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Consequently, Iran appears to be exploiting American weakness to have the resolve to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies in the region. President Obama, coming off a disastrous policy decision on the Afghanistan problem, is following up with the same hesitant, restrained, indecisive pattern of ineffectiveness which has now put the west on the defensive against a growing Jihadi tide. And, this situation has our allies in the region, especially Israel, very worried because Obama at present is not risking the existence of the United States. He is using Tel Aviv as its minor’s canary to see how far he can stretch out the Iranian push to obtain nuclear weapons.
On December 19th Debka File reported that the Obama administration forced Israel to abandon any plans of direct action against Iran until the president has the opportunity to play out his hand at a diplomatic and peaceful solution. After all of Obama’s earlier tough talk at the United Nations last October in reality he is taking a much softer approach.
Our enemies are laughing at us
I would like to blame this on Obama’s Left wing agenda but the previous administration did the same thing. Like the Bush administration before him, he sends the wrong messages hoping the madman of Tehran will take them in the spirit in which they are given, as friends and colleagues on the world stage.
Wasn’t that what Chamberlain was hoping for at Munich in 1938?
Achmadinijad sensing American restraint on the issue demanded in Copenhagen last week “everything is possible, but not in a climate where they threaten us…those days are over.” Consequently, Obama is trying to appease Achmadinijad, telling him that America wants to make nice, even at the expense of the Israelis.
The president is hoping for another year to resolve the issue. But, Debka’s military sources say that it will be too late by then, Iran will have the bomb sometime in 2010. Israel will lose its strategic edge, and who knows what will happen after that. Does anyone really think that the Obama administration does not realize this is doomsday for Israel if they continue on this present course?
Like pulling an unloaded gun on a bad guy Obama made tough statements that America’s patience is running thin and that “tougher sanctions are imminent.” But, then, the administration acquiesced further this week with three measures all designed to appease. The first was a temporary shelving of a prior congressional approval to penalize American companies doing business with Iran. But last week John Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced that he “needs more time to consider the bill.” The second, the government announced a six month delay in deployment of the bunker buster bomb specifically designed for the Iranian strike, even though it is ready now. And third, Israeli journalists briefed by Obama administration officials have produced articles from those briefings that implore the Israeli electorate to get used to the idea of living with a nuclearized Iran.
Iran’s answer to the Obama acquiescence: the test firing of a new missile which can penetrate both Israeli and American defenses.
The time for talk is long over.
This kind of dialogue might have been constructive back in 2003 when Iran announced its re-initiation of its nuclear program. Once Iran had threatened Israel, and other American allies in the region, a plan for slowing them down should have been envisioned. Now, they have missiles which can hit Tel Aviv, advanced weaponry that nobody is really sure if it can be defended against, and an extra six years to build its defenses and strike capabilities in the event of an attack.
If Obama had the beitzim, he would have counted the last administration’s talks with the Iranian government as a failed negotiation and made direct plans either with or without Israel’s help to stop Iran from turning the world in a dangerous direction. But, sadly, he doesn’t, and therefore cannot do what is right. The West better get real serious about the Iranian situation soon. Time is running out fast.
The question for the Netanyahu government is simple but essential. Does it continue to rely on a weakened United States, led by an untested administration, one that cannot seem to recognize real evil in the world, and holds to the firm belief that it is possible to negotiate with it? Can it allow this kind of diplomatic brinkmanship to decide whether Israel lives or dies? Can Israel realistically put its survival in the hands of anyone else other than itself?
For Israel there is no choice, it would have been easier earlier but it has to remove the threat now at whatever cost. Not to will increase the possibility of a diminished Israel, in a region with enemies already bent on its destruction and the constant fear that at anytime, the worst enemy of the Jews since Adolph Hitler has got his finger on the button and is just waiting for an excuse. And, as we have seen previously, to Achmadinijad and his supporters, that excuse is the very existence of the Jewish state.
On December 19th Debka File reported that the Obama administration forced Israel to abandon any plans of direct action against Iran until the president has the opportunity to play out his hand at a diplomatic and peaceful solution. After all of Obama’s earlier tough talk at the United Nations last October in reality he is taking a much softer approach.
Our enemies are laughing at us
I would like to blame this on Obama’s Left wing agenda but the previous administration did the same thing. Like the Bush administration before him, he sends the wrong messages hoping the madman of Tehran will take them in the spirit in which they are given, as friends and colleagues on the world stage.
Wasn’t that what Chamberlain was hoping for at Munich in 1938?
Achmadinijad sensing American restraint on the issue demanded in Copenhagen last week “everything is possible, but not in a climate where they threaten us…those days are over.” Consequently, Obama is trying to appease Achmadinijad, telling him that America wants to make nice, even at the expense of the Israelis.
The president is hoping for another year to resolve the issue. But, Debka’s military sources say that it will be too late by then, Iran will have the bomb sometime in 2010. Israel will lose its strategic edge, and who knows what will happen after that. Does anyone really think that the Obama administration does not realize this is doomsday for Israel if they continue on this present course?
Like pulling an unloaded gun on a bad guy Obama made tough statements that America’s patience is running thin and that “tougher sanctions are imminent.” But, then, the administration acquiesced further this week with three measures all designed to appease. The first was a temporary shelving of a prior congressional approval to penalize American companies doing business with Iran. But last week John Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced that he “needs more time to consider the bill.” The second, the government announced a six month delay in deployment of the bunker buster bomb specifically designed for the Iranian strike, even though it is ready now. And third, Israeli journalists briefed by Obama administration officials have produced articles from those briefings that implore the Israeli electorate to get used to the idea of living with a nuclearized Iran.
Iran’s answer to the Obama acquiescence: the test firing of a new missile which can penetrate both Israeli and American defenses.
The time for talk is long over.
This kind of dialogue might have been constructive back in 2003 when Iran announced its re-initiation of its nuclear program. Once Iran had threatened Israel, and other American allies in the region, a plan for slowing them down should have been envisioned. Now, they have missiles which can hit Tel Aviv, advanced weaponry that nobody is really sure if it can be defended against, and an extra six years to build its defenses and strike capabilities in the event of an attack.
If Obama had the beitzim, he would have counted the last administration’s talks with the Iranian government as a failed negotiation and made direct plans either with or without Israel’s help to stop Iran from turning the world in a dangerous direction. But, sadly, he doesn’t, and therefore cannot do what is right. The West better get real serious about the Iranian situation soon. Time is running out fast.
The question for the Netanyahu government is simple but essential. Does it continue to rely on a weakened United States, led by an untested administration, one that cannot seem to recognize real evil in the world, and holds to the firm belief that it is possible to negotiate with it? Can it allow this kind of diplomatic brinkmanship to decide whether Israel lives or dies? Can Israel realistically put its survival in the hands of anyone else other than itself?
For Israel there is no choice, it would have been easier earlier but it has to remove the threat now at whatever cost. Not to will increase the possibility of a diminished Israel, in a region with enemies already bent on its destruction and the constant fear that at anytime, the worst enemy of the Jews since Adolph Hitler has got his finger on the button and is just waiting for an excuse. And, as we have seen previously, to Achmadinijad and his supporters, that excuse is the very existence of the Jewish state.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
A Call to Educate: Confronting Anti-Israel Bias on College Campuses
On November 14th I attended a talk by Jehuda Reinharz, the president of Brandeis University in Boston, at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. The subject was on the disturbing growth of Anti-Zionism on campuses and the relentless pursuit of defining the State of Israel as “evil” while recognizing that the Palestinian people deserve to have a home where Israel now stands. As someone who has experienced this phenomenon first hand as an older student returning to the university after many years, I jumped at the chance to hear what he had to say. I was not disappointed.
Because the university is where the best, the brightest, and the most influential reside, Dr. Reinharz pointed out that certain “Arab governments have figured out that the university is a good place to propagate their views.” These can cover a wide range of interests not the least of which is the demonization of Israel and advocating its demise. Convince a clip talking, bow tied, Ivy league prof, to condemn Israel and people will listen. A perusal through published theses, dissertations and journal articles show a preponderance of anti-Israel bias. Some of these papers are so malicious that it is hard to find the scholarly points that the writers are supposed to argue. Still, they are passed on by thesis committees and are published as books; end up in newspaper articles, in historical documentaries and of course, text books that grade school students learn from.
“Often to be progressively liberal today means to be anti-Zionist.” One of the great contributors to Israel’s demonization on campuses is the growth of the Left. The political Left wing, unbelievably potent in most history, English and political science departments, views the State of Israel as a tool of American imperialism, a colonial outpost of European Jews which have no right to be there. They basically hold that 1948 was a great mistake. Allowing the Jews to create a homeland in Palestine never should have happened. They defend a moral equivalency between terrorism against innocent Jews and what Israel does to defend against it. They support a two state solution, not as an end to the conflict, but as a punishment for Israel because of perceived crimes as an occupying power. This perception of Israel runs very deep in the academic community. Speakers on campuses supporting terror against Jews are allowed under the guise of free speech, and actions against Jewish students and offensive anti-Semitic slogans during anti Israel demonstrations are not discouraged.
The advocacy of the Left has no place on the university campus. Dr. Reinharz was clear on this point, “universities should not be in a position of supporting advocacy groups.” As Jews we are particularly sensitive to this matter because the “advocacy” promoted here is the destruction of Israel, and the Jewish return to a non sovereign status in world affairs.
So, what do we do about it? Professor Reinharz had several good suggestions.
The careful administration of endowments is very important. Funding in small amounts and getting to know the faculty Dr. Reinharz insists is key in understanding how your money is spent. “You cannot demand what to teach with the money you are giving them, but you can minimize the risk of it going to anti-Israel causes.” Talk to department heads, ask them how they will they teach classes associated with your endowment. Read the catalogue to get a feel for the classes and what is taught in them. While sitting there listening to him I thought of a couple more on my own. Before you endow read the schedule of classes for that particular semester. Research the department heads and the professors teaching the classes. Reading their curriculum vitae is an excellent way of determining how a particular professor leans politically and whether that leaning affects what he or she teaches.
The professor also called for the establishment of Israel Study Centers. Study centers are interdisciplinary programs run by the university to further study on a wide range of subjects. Study centers dedicated to Israeli culture, sociology, history, politics etc., can be great educating bases for compiling scholarly arguments among the world’s academics about the problems in the Middle East.
Birthright, a program that completely subsidizes young Jews to Israel, provides an excellent source of education by providing first person looks into what is happening on the ground. Of the many programs that are available to send young Jews to Israe, Birthright ranks at the top of the list in popularity. For a two week trip, air fare, and accommodations including meals are all paid for in full. Spending cash is up to the individual. While those two weeks don’t provide a lifetime of education on the Arab Israeli conflict they at least give young people some time on the land itself. They become connected, and form lifelong attachments with the State of Israel. Even the most erudite professor would have a hard time disseminating misinformation to someone with this experience. Birthright Israel is an important step in turning this problem around. It would be wise to expand on this program to be able to send more young people to Israel than is now possible.
The problem of anti-Zionism on college campuses is one that is not going away, it’s getting worse. Even with Jewish involvement, it provides a springboard for an anti-Semitism that has not been seen in the world since the Nazism of the 1930s. One has only to experience an on campus demonstration against Israel’s existence to understand its virulent nature. Dr. Reinharz provided some excellent ways to begin to reverse the tide. It’s time the Jewish community concerned with Israel’s survival get involved and channel their power to produce some balance in the university. Anti-Zionism nurtured by the Left and Palestinians bent on destroying Israel have had a head start but they haven’t won. Let’s get to work.
Because the university is where the best, the brightest, and the most influential reside, Dr. Reinharz pointed out that certain “Arab governments have figured out that the university is a good place to propagate their views.” These can cover a wide range of interests not the least of which is the demonization of Israel and advocating its demise. Convince a clip talking, bow tied, Ivy league prof, to condemn Israel and people will listen. A perusal through published theses, dissertations and journal articles show a preponderance of anti-Israel bias. Some of these papers are so malicious that it is hard to find the scholarly points that the writers are supposed to argue. Still, they are passed on by thesis committees and are published as books; end up in newspaper articles, in historical documentaries and of course, text books that grade school students learn from.
“Often to be progressively liberal today means to be anti-Zionist.” One of the great contributors to Israel’s demonization on campuses is the growth of the Left. The political Left wing, unbelievably potent in most history, English and political science departments, views the State of Israel as a tool of American imperialism, a colonial outpost of European Jews which have no right to be there. They basically hold that 1948 was a great mistake. Allowing the Jews to create a homeland in Palestine never should have happened. They defend a moral equivalency between terrorism against innocent Jews and what Israel does to defend against it. They support a two state solution, not as an end to the conflict, but as a punishment for Israel because of perceived crimes as an occupying power. This perception of Israel runs very deep in the academic community. Speakers on campuses supporting terror against Jews are allowed under the guise of free speech, and actions against Jewish students and offensive anti-Semitic slogans during anti Israel demonstrations are not discouraged.
The advocacy of the Left has no place on the university campus. Dr. Reinharz was clear on this point, “universities should not be in a position of supporting advocacy groups.” As Jews we are particularly sensitive to this matter because the “advocacy” promoted here is the destruction of Israel, and the Jewish return to a non sovereign status in world affairs.
So, what do we do about it? Professor Reinharz had several good suggestions.
The careful administration of endowments is very important. Funding in small amounts and getting to know the faculty Dr. Reinharz insists is key in understanding how your money is spent. “You cannot demand what to teach with the money you are giving them, but you can minimize the risk of it going to anti-Israel causes.” Talk to department heads, ask them how they will they teach classes associated with your endowment. Read the catalogue to get a feel for the classes and what is taught in them. While sitting there listening to him I thought of a couple more on my own. Before you endow read the schedule of classes for that particular semester. Research the department heads and the professors teaching the classes. Reading their curriculum vitae is an excellent way of determining how a particular professor leans politically and whether that leaning affects what he or she teaches.
The professor also called for the establishment of Israel Study Centers. Study centers are interdisciplinary programs run by the university to further study on a wide range of subjects. Study centers dedicated to Israeli culture, sociology, history, politics etc., can be great educating bases for compiling scholarly arguments among the world’s academics about the problems in the Middle East.
Birthright, a program that completely subsidizes young Jews to Israel, provides an excellent source of education by providing first person looks into what is happening on the ground. Of the many programs that are available to send young Jews to Israe, Birthright ranks at the top of the list in popularity. For a two week trip, air fare, and accommodations including meals are all paid for in full. Spending cash is up to the individual. While those two weeks don’t provide a lifetime of education on the Arab Israeli conflict they at least give young people some time on the land itself. They become connected, and form lifelong attachments with the State of Israel. Even the most erudite professor would have a hard time disseminating misinformation to someone with this experience. Birthright Israel is an important step in turning this problem around. It would be wise to expand on this program to be able to send more young people to Israel than is now possible.
The problem of anti-Zionism on college campuses is one that is not going away, it’s getting worse. Even with Jewish involvement, it provides a springboard for an anti-Semitism that has not been seen in the world since the Nazism of the 1930s. One has only to experience an on campus demonstration against Israel’s existence to understand its virulent nature. Dr. Reinharz provided some excellent ways to begin to reverse the tide. It’s time the Jewish community concerned with Israel’s survival get involved and channel their power to produce some balance in the university. Anti-Zionism nurtured by the Left and Palestinians bent on destroying Israel have had a head start but they haven’t won. Let’s get to work.
Monday, November 16, 2009
The option no one wants to think about
Published in the Jerusalem Post, December 2, 2009. you can find it at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1259243055252&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel at one time was the world leader in combating terrorism. Military colleges studied how it performed the Entebbe raid of 1976. People marveled everywhere at their courage at storming a children’s house on Kibbutz Misgav Am in 1980 and killed all five terrorists before they could kill the remaining children. They launched a successful commando raid against a particular terrorist in Lebanon where they stole into the night, killed him and then went back out again, without losing a man, a perfect surgical strike. Israel is responsible for mandating that terror can never be negotiated with, knowing that once you go down that path it is slippery slope to surrender and defeat.
But, Israel has been languishing in recent years, consumed with the same political correctness that is politically drowning the rest of the Western world facing a terrorist threat. They just don’t seem to have what it takes to deal the proper blow to the terror in its midst. The debacle in Lebanon in 2006 and again missing the golden opportunity to cut the head off of one of these snakes in Gaza last year, Israel appears like the rest of us, doomed to live with terror until it either destroys us or burns itself out in a hundred years or so. Of course, waiting it out means that a lacerated nation will be scarred for who knows how long after that.
Enter the Sri Lankans. I think they have an answer. And, I think Israel should listen to what they have to say. Sri Lanka used to be just like Israel. They had a perennial terrorist problem with their Tamil minority. For almost thirty years, organized bands in that community terrorized the Sri Lankan nation to the point where the country could not evolve. Navin Dissanayake, Sri Lankan Minister of investment Promotion claims that they “could have been another Singapore if it had not been for that war.” Terrorism, in Sri Lanka, as it did in Israel, held that country from progressing forward which would have been good for Sri Lanka and good for the world.
The Tamil Tigers , sometimes referred to by its long name, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resemble Middle East terror groups. Actually, it is more correct to say that Middle East terror groups resemble the Tamil Tigers as they are the innovators of many of the terrorist techniques that have been utilize by Israel’s enemies. They invented the suicide belt and perfected the suicide bombing attack, turning it into a tactical device. They were the first to use women and children in these attacks. And, they have been accused of using their own innocent civilians, as human shields in their confrontation with Sri Lankan government forces. They are a vicious crowd and were implicated in the assassination of Ragiv Ghandi of India in 1991. As we all know, Palestinians have imitated these tactics with a devastating brutality against innocent Jews.
The Sri Lankans more or less lived with this horror since 1983. Then 9-11 happened and a new dynamic promoted by President Bush and the United States gave the Sri Lankans a new outlook. With a new administration elected on the promise of stopping the LTTE permanently, they embarked on a full scale military assault on Tamil positions which by 2007 held almost one fourth of the country, mostly in the north. They sent their army, a much stronger army than the Tamil tigers, into Tamil occupied territory and began to take back town by town, going street to street in some cases from their enemies. While doing this they killed anyone who resisted against them.
Jehan Perera of the Sri Lankan Peace Council said that “This government has taken the position that virtually any price is worth paying to rid the country of terrorism.” The price paid was indeed a heavy one. Many innocent people died. The Sri Lankan government regrets in the strongest terms the killing of innocent civilians but most government officials believe that they made a conscious choice of that “price” and that the alternative status quo was just not acceptable any more.
It was bloody and dirty, and they took a lot of criticism for it, “The U.N. Estimates that during the final months of fighting in Sri Lanka at least 7,000 Tamil civilians were killed and at least 13,000 were injured.” But, they also wiped out the scourge of terror that was choking the life out of their country. They did not stop until total victory was declared last May. Today, Sri Lankans can once again walk the streets of their cities, visit the marketplace, and conduct business without the threat of being murdered in such a way that not even their loved ones can identify their bodies. It is a new dawn and a new day for Sri Lanka.
Israel can take a real lesson from this experience. The threat facing the Jewish State from the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon is no different than the north of Sri Lanka and coastline into the south that the Tamils occupied before the Sri Lankan army began their elimination war against them.
The time has come to admit there might not be a solution to the Palestinian problem. But, there is a way to end it. The next time that terror forces Israel to take a military stand this option should be considered. Israel must realize that there will be no peace with an intransigent enemy that refuses to act in good faith. Palestinian rejectionist actions, and Iranian backed Hezbollah threats to their existence will never be placated, and they will never stop until Israel is destroyed. Once the population of Israel realizes this unfortunate reality, there is only one way to end it. Israel must take the Sri Lankan initiative and move into these areas one by one, corner, and envelop all armed resistance, and then kill it off.
Bending over backwards to make peace with the Palestinians has proved fruitless without Israel submitting to national weakening measures. It’s time to make the choice of a better life for all. More than sixty years of living with this is enough. When they have completely wiped out the enemy, a new dynamic will rise. Without the Muslim thuggery of holding their own people back, there will be nothing to stop them from negotiating a genuine peace with Israel. There might be a Palestinian, a Lebanese, a Syrian, maybe even an Iranian partner to draw up a peace which will transform the Middle East from a place of hatred and bloodshed to a prosperous community of nations which will work together making the daily lives of their individual citizens better.
No more Gilad Shalit's
Israel at one time was the world leader in combating terrorism. Military colleges studied how it performed the Entebbe raid of 1976. People marveled everywhere at their courage at storming a children’s house on Kibbutz Misgav Am in 1980 and killed all five terrorists before they could kill the remaining children. They launched a successful commando raid against a particular terrorist in Lebanon where they stole into the night, killed him and then went back out again, without losing a man, a perfect surgical strike. Israel is responsible for mandating that terror can never be negotiated with, knowing that once you go down that path it is slippery slope to surrender and defeat.
But, Israel has been languishing in recent years, consumed with the same political correctness that is politically drowning the rest of the Western world facing a terrorist threat. They just don’t seem to have what it takes to deal the proper blow to the terror in its midst. The debacle in Lebanon in 2006 and again missing the golden opportunity to cut the head off of one of these snakes in Gaza last year, Israel appears like the rest of us, doomed to live with terror until it either destroys us or burns itself out in a hundred years or so. Of course, waiting it out means that a lacerated nation will be scarred for who knows how long after that.
Enter the Sri Lankans. I think they have an answer. And, I think Israel should listen to what they have to say. Sri Lanka used to be just like Israel. They had a perennial terrorist problem with their Tamil minority. For almost thirty years, organized bands in that community terrorized the Sri Lankan nation to the point where the country could not evolve. Navin Dissanayake, Sri Lankan Minister of investment Promotion claims that they “could have been another Singapore if it had not been for that war.” Terrorism, in Sri Lanka, as it did in Israel, held that country from progressing forward which would have been good for Sri Lanka and good for the world.
The Tamil Tigers , sometimes referred to by its long name, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resemble Middle East terror groups. Actually, it is more correct to say that Middle East terror groups resemble the Tamil Tigers as they are the innovators of many of the terrorist techniques that have been utilize by Israel’s enemies. They invented the suicide belt and perfected the suicide bombing attack, turning it into a tactical device. They were the first to use women and children in these attacks. And, they have been accused of using their own innocent civilians, as human shields in their confrontation with Sri Lankan government forces. They are a vicious crowd and were implicated in the assassination of Ragiv Ghandi of India in 1991. As we all know, Palestinians have imitated these tactics with a devastating brutality against innocent Jews.
The Sri Lankans more or less lived with this horror since 1983. Then 9-11 happened and a new dynamic promoted by President Bush and the United States gave the Sri Lankans a new outlook. With a new administration elected on the promise of stopping the LTTE permanently, they embarked on a full scale military assault on Tamil positions which by 2007 held almost one fourth of the country, mostly in the north. They sent their army, a much stronger army than the Tamil tigers, into Tamil occupied territory and began to take back town by town, going street to street in some cases from their enemies. While doing this they killed anyone who resisted against them.
Jehan Perera of the Sri Lankan Peace Council said that “This government has taken the position that virtually any price is worth paying to rid the country of terrorism.” The price paid was indeed a heavy one. Many innocent people died. The Sri Lankan government regrets in the strongest terms the killing of innocent civilians but most government officials believe that they made a conscious choice of that “price” and that the alternative status quo was just not acceptable any more.
It was bloody and dirty, and they took a lot of criticism for it, “The U.N. Estimates that during the final months of fighting in Sri Lanka at least 7,000 Tamil civilians were killed and at least 13,000 were injured.” But, they also wiped out the scourge of terror that was choking the life out of their country. They did not stop until total victory was declared last May. Today, Sri Lankans can once again walk the streets of their cities, visit the marketplace, and conduct business without the threat of being murdered in such a way that not even their loved ones can identify their bodies. It is a new dawn and a new day for Sri Lanka.
Israel can take a real lesson from this experience. The threat facing the Jewish State from the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon is no different than the north of Sri Lanka and coastline into the south that the Tamils occupied before the Sri Lankan army began their elimination war against them.
The time has come to admit there might not be a solution to the Palestinian problem. But, there is a way to end it. The next time that terror forces Israel to take a military stand this option should be considered. Israel must realize that there will be no peace with an intransigent enemy that refuses to act in good faith. Palestinian rejectionist actions, and Iranian backed Hezbollah threats to their existence will never be placated, and they will never stop until Israel is destroyed. Once the population of Israel realizes this unfortunate reality, there is only one way to end it. Israel must take the Sri Lankan initiative and move into these areas one by one, corner, and envelop all armed resistance, and then kill it off.
Bending over backwards to make peace with the Palestinians has proved fruitless without Israel submitting to national weakening measures. It’s time to make the choice of a better life for all. More than sixty years of living with this is enough. When they have completely wiped out the enemy, a new dynamic will rise. Without the Muslim thuggery of holding their own people back, there will be nothing to stop them from negotiating a genuine peace with Israel. There might be a Palestinian, a Lebanese, a Syrian, maybe even an Iranian partner to draw up a peace which will transform the Middle East from a place of hatred and bloodshed to a prosperous community of nations which will work together making the daily lives of their individual citizens better.
No more Gilad Shalit's
Friday, November 06, 2009
The Parting of the Red Sea
Thanks to a very passionate letter by Jon Voight urging liberal Jews to stand up for themselves I was inspired to write the following piece. Now that it is written I don't know why I waited so long to do it.
As a conservative Jew I have been trying to figure out for a long time why the Jewish Left continues to serve in great numbers in the Democratic Party. I use to think that it was foolish for these Jews to place such high value on liberal causes since they long ago stopped having any advantage to our people. I left the Democratic Party myself in the 80s, disgusted by the reluctance of liberal Jews to speak out on their own behalf while the rest of the Democratic Party honed its Palestinian platform and condemned Israel for defending itself.
Until recently Jewish participation in the party was more or less irresponsible. Now, in a post 9-11 world that stubbornness to see only a moral equivalence in the Middle East conflict and not condone the right of Jews to defend themselves against a murderous enemy, has become more dangerous than foolhardy. Politics has changed and our interests in the 21st century reside on a different political plane than it did for our fathers and grandfathers. Old enemies have become friends and long standing political allies have become our enemies. Left wing Jews need to calculate the difference, swallow hard and make the move to insure our own survival.
As the Democratic Party moves further away from protecting Jewish rights whether here or in Israel, the Jews in that movement do little to counter the growing hostility. Left unchecked at the beginning of the 21st century, it’s as though the Left has finally uncovered its European anti-Semitic roots and is reveling in it. With Israel as a focus, Left wing Jews have largely ignored these signs. it is disturbing that they think as long as they leave their Jewish concerns at the door they will continue to be accepted as part of the perceived great liberal democracy experiment of 20th century America.
Jews who are troubled by what they see in their own camp on the Left remain silent. One of the professions where this problem is so prevalent and so influential is in the University. Scholars are respected, esteemed, almost anointed with the task of giving us the proper view of looking at the world around us. We count on them to get it right. For decades that institution has been overwhelmed with Left wing thinking and published positions. Liberal Jewish professors are afraid to say anything to their colleagues who talk of a weakened Israel as the first step to forcing that country into oblivion as the only means for peace. They eat lunch, socialize and have to work with these people every day. It is easier to remain silent than to defend Jews whenever or where ever they are being maligned. The fear of being ostracized as a scholar is so strong that they will allow their own people to be characterized as evil no different than the blood libels in Europe centuries ago. Their silence is despicable.
At present too many Jews are repulsed and slightly confused by right wing thinking, the Republican Party, conservative support for Israel, and the non Jewish right’s standing with the Jewish people’s struggle against Islamic terror, juxtaposed by their own political allies on the left who seem exactly the opposite. Consider this: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, former President Bush and Sara Palin are four of the most despised people on the democratic heavily Jewish left. All four of these individuals are conservative, ideologues for the Republican platform, and are also staunch supporters of the state of Israel and condemn without question Hamas terror. I defy you to name even one American non Jewish leftist who will categorically support Israel and unequivocally condemn terrorism against innocent Jews. You can’t. You can’t because I don’t think there is one leftist thinker or politician in this country today who will do that. Some pay lip service to it but none will unequivocally state it.
What must be so confusing to Jews on the left is that while their own non Jewish allies are moving increasingly to accept and advocate terror as a means of resistance against Israel and re-establishing old anti-Semitic canards reflecting “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the two most hated institutions on the left, the political Right, and the Christian Church are moving in the opposite direction with an intolerance toward anti-Semitism and recognition of the Jewish struggle to survive in Israel.
There is no ambiguity on the right of center in American politics. Its purpose concerning the Middle East is clear. Israel has a right to expect to remain free and is obligated to defend itself against any entity that seeks to undermine that freedom. Israel might just be our most important ally in the war on terror. Most right wing thinkers hold that opinion and realize that Israel is on the front line of this fight and we need to support its actions in protecting itself and its citizens.
The other most feared icon of the Jewish Left, the Church, has moved continually and directly to an acceptance of Jewish life as equals. Both the Catholic Church and non Catholic Christians have over the last 50-60 years changed their attitude 180 degrees concerning Jews and their relationship to Christians. The Jewish State and other Jewish causes are at the forefront of their political demands. It is in fact, the 70 million strong Christian evangelical movement in this country which has single handedly backed American support for Israel. The Christian community, the very backbone of America , has taken it upon itself to make sure that Israel remains safe with American power.
The Left insists that it is the “right wing” Jewish lobby which creates America’s seemingly unbreakable ties with the Jewish State. But logic dictates that cannot be true. Jews are not numerous enough to influence anything concerning Israel. The Left argues that Jewish money behind AIPAC, twists the arms of congress people to vote in favor of Israel on any number of issues. In fact, money used for that purpose plays a much smaller role than the religious Christian constituency that stands behind their representatives and insists that Israel receives our help. Left wing Jews must find it in their hearts to accept what is true. Christianity might have been our enemy in the past but that is not the case anymore. We have a powerful ally in those groups. We all should accept their apologies for passed transgressions and join them in their campaign to insure Israel stays strong. They deserve our loyalty and our thanks.
It is not the Left that holds the secret to our success anymore, it is the Right. We can no longer count on the strategy and political legacy of our fathers and grandfathers. The time has come to leave that part of our heritage behind. As hard it is may seem liberal Jews need to take a deep breadth, open their eyes wide and recognize who our enemies and friends really are. We need to join with those who will stand with us in our hour of need, who will be there to back us up as we move further into an uncertain future.
We Jews need to reassess our own political history. Ask yourself this question. Do we want to continue to snuggle up to those who will destroy us? The Left in the 21st century is no different than the right in the 20th. Left unchecked it will continue to move toward more vicious attacks on Israel, on Jews, on the Jewish religion and on all of us. We need to put our faith in those who have proven that they are our friends and allies in all matters political. Not to do this will continue to choke our culture, intimidate us to see Israel at fault, and tempt us with universal acceptance if we just leave that Jewish/Zionist world behind. No longer can Jews protect themselves as our fathers did by siding with the left of center philosophy. Our future and our safety has shifted to the right and we need to recognize and embrace it.
The Red Sea has been parted; all we have to do is cross it.
As a conservative Jew I have been trying to figure out for a long time why the Jewish Left continues to serve in great numbers in the Democratic Party. I use to think that it was foolish for these Jews to place such high value on liberal causes since they long ago stopped having any advantage to our people. I left the Democratic Party myself in the 80s, disgusted by the reluctance of liberal Jews to speak out on their own behalf while the rest of the Democratic Party honed its Palestinian platform and condemned Israel for defending itself.
Until recently Jewish participation in the party was more or less irresponsible. Now, in a post 9-11 world that stubbornness to see only a moral equivalence in the Middle East conflict and not condone the right of Jews to defend themselves against a murderous enemy, has become more dangerous than foolhardy. Politics has changed and our interests in the 21st century reside on a different political plane than it did for our fathers and grandfathers. Old enemies have become friends and long standing political allies have become our enemies. Left wing Jews need to calculate the difference, swallow hard and make the move to insure our own survival.
As the Democratic Party moves further away from protecting Jewish rights whether here or in Israel, the Jews in that movement do little to counter the growing hostility. Left unchecked at the beginning of the 21st century, it’s as though the Left has finally uncovered its European anti-Semitic roots and is reveling in it. With Israel as a focus, Left wing Jews have largely ignored these signs. it is disturbing that they think as long as they leave their Jewish concerns at the door they will continue to be accepted as part of the perceived great liberal democracy experiment of 20th century America.
Jews who are troubled by what they see in their own camp on the Left remain silent. One of the professions where this problem is so prevalent and so influential is in the University. Scholars are respected, esteemed, almost anointed with the task of giving us the proper view of looking at the world around us. We count on them to get it right. For decades that institution has been overwhelmed with Left wing thinking and published positions. Liberal Jewish professors are afraid to say anything to their colleagues who talk of a weakened Israel as the first step to forcing that country into oblivion as the only means for peace. They eat lunch, socialize and have to work with these people every day. It is easier to remain silent than to defend Jews whenever or where ever they are being maligned. The fear of being ostracized as a scholar is so strong that they will allow their own people to be characterized as evil no different than the blood libels in Europe centuries ago. Their silence is despicable.
At present too many Jews are repulsed and slightly confused by right wing thinking, the Republican Party, conservative support for Israel, and the non Jewish right’s standing with the Jewish people’s struggle against Islamic terror, juxtaposed by their own political allies on the left who seem exactly the opposite. Consider this: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, former President Bush and Sara Palin are four of the most despised people on the democratic heavily Jewish left. All four of these individuals are conservative, ideologues for the Republican platform, and are also staunch supporters of the state of Israel and condemn without question Hamas terror. I defy you to name even one American non Jewish leftist who will categorically support Israel and unequivocally condemn terrorism against innocent Jews. You can’t. You can’t because I don’t think there is one leftist thinker or politician in this country today who will do that. Some pay lip service to it but none will unequivocally state it.
What must be so confusing to Jews on the left is that while their own non Jewish allies are moving increasingly to accept and advocate terror as a means of resistance against Israel and re-establishing old anti-Semitic canards reflecting “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the two most hated institutions on the left, the political Right, and the Christian Church are moving in the opposite direction with an intolerance toward anti-Semitism and recognition of the Jewish struggle to survive in Israel.
There is no ambiguity on the right of center in American politics. Its purpose concerning the Middle East is clear. Israel has a right to expect to remain free and is obligated to defend itself against any entity that seeks to undermine that freedom. Israel might just be our most important ally in the war on terror. Most right wing thinkers hold that opinion and realize that Israel is on the front line of this fight and we need to support its actions in protecting itself and its citizens.
The other most feared icon of the Jewish Left, the Church, has moved continually and directly to an acceptance of Jewish life as equals. Both the Catholic Church and non Catholic Christians have over the last 50-60 years changed their attitude 180 degrees concerning Jews and their relationship to Christians. The Jewish State and other Jewish causes are at the forefront of their political demands. It is in fact, the 70 million strong Christian evangelical movement in this country which has single handedly backed American support for Israel. The Christian community, the very backbone of America , has taken it upon itself to make sure that Israel remains safe with American power.
The Left insists that it is the “right wing” Jewish lobby which creates America’s seemingly unbreakable ties with the Jewish State. But logic dictates that cannot be true. Jews are not numerous enough to influence anything concerning Israel. The Left argues that Jewish money behind AIPAC, twists the arms of congress people to vote in favor of Israel on any number of issues. In fact, money used for that purpose plays a much smaller role than the religious Christian constituency that stands behind their representatives and insists that Israel receives our help. Left wing Jews must find it in their hearts to accept what is true. Christianity might have been our enemy in the past but that is not the case anymore. We have a powerful ally in those groups. We all should accept their apologies for passed transgressions and join them in their campaign to insure Israel stays strong. They deserve our loyalty and our thanks.
It is not the Left that holds the secret to our success anymore, it is the Right. We can no longer count on the strategy and political legacy of our fathers and grandfathers. The time has come to leave that part of our heritage behind. As hard it is may seem liberal Jews need to take a deep breadth, open their eyes wide and recognize who our enemies and friends really are. We need to join with those who will stand with us in our hour of need, who will be there to back us up as we move further into an uncertain future.
We Jews need to reassess our own political history. Ask yourself this question. Do we want to continue to snuggle up to those who will destroy us? The Left in the 21st century is no different than the right in the 20th. Left unchecked it will continue to move toward more vicious attacks on Israel, on Jews, on the Jewish religion and on all of us. We need to put our faith in those who have proven that they are our friends and allies in all matters political. Not to do this will continue to choke our culture, intimidate us to see Israel at fault, and tempt us with universal acceptance if we just leave that Jewish/Zionist world behind. No longer can Jews protect themselves as our fathers did by siding with the left of center philosophy. Our future and our safety has shifted to the right and we need to recognize and embrace it.
The Red Sea has been parted; all we have to do is cross it.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Problem with Hybrid Cars
The love affair with hybrid cars because they are so economical and use so much less gas is not a cure all for our energy problems. In fact, if we become lulled into believing that it is we could be spelling our own doom. I wrote this after the "New" General Motors announced they have broken through with an engine that will get literally hundreds of miles to a gallon of gas. Written August 2009.
General motors leaked recently that the Chevrolet Volt will spearhead their new line of cars in 2010. Rising up from the ashes like a Phoenix, the leaner, meaner General Motors has taken a cue from the Obama administration putting its hopes of success in green technology. The Chevy Volt, an experimental model for many years has been dusted off, reengineered and is now ready for mass production. Bragging that it will leave Toyota’s Prius behind and will produce an unbelievable 230 miles to a gallon of gas, it will cost around $40,000. Well, even with that price tag getting 230 miles to a gallon, the car will pay for itself in no time. This has to be good news.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Deir Yassin remembered
When discussing the Israeli Palestinian dispute, some Palestinian supporters who like to point to a history of Jewish abuses against innocent Arabs over the last six decades sometimes refer to a particularly infamous battle during the War of 1948 that took place in a small town on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Hwy called Deir Yassin. For many reasons, not the least of which concerns political infighting between the major factions of the Israeli body politic, Deir Yassin has taken on a life of its own over the last 61 years.
Deir Yassin has been called a “massacre” by Palestinian and Arab groups as well as Leftist commentators in the West. It might be considered a “massacre” but no more than the Haifa Refinery massacre on December 30, 1947, and the doctors and nurses massacre on the road to Hadassa hospital on Mount Scopus, on April 13, 1948, or any of the other massacres that became part of the fighting history of Israel’s War of Independence. These other “massacres” have long been forgotten by most people accept for the few historians that deal with the course of this eighteen month war. This is not the case with Deir Yassin.
Deir Yassin was one of many towns and villages that had to be cleared during Operation Nachshon, the overall operation to open the road to besieged Jerusalem in April, 1948. Not to take action on this road would mean giving up on Jewish Jerusalem, which was as unthinkable then as it is now. The Jews of Jerusalem had been besieged since January, with no electricity, food, water, or any of the other vital necessities of life. People in the Jewish quarter of the city were literally starving to death. Without the opening of the road to allow convoys of supplies to enter the city, it was almost a certainty that Jewish Jerusalem would fall to the enemy. For this reason, Ben Gurion ordered 1500 Haganna troops to take part in the operation, the largest of its kind up to that time in the battle for Palestine in 1947 and 1948.
The Israeli military has long been the dominant force in the Middle East. No Arab army has been able to defeat it. A foregone conclusion for so long, that it’s hard to believe that the history was ever anything but total Israeli domination over its neighbors. But, this was not always the case. Before the start of the 1948 war it was very tenable on whether the Jews could defeat the Arab enemy and established their state by the time the British would leave in May. The belief that the Jews were in a dire strait and faced the very sobering possibility of defeat began to take shape almost immediately after the partition vote on November 29, 1947 and did not abate itself until June of 1948 when it became clear that by the end of the war a Jewish State of some kind would emerge intact. Operation Nachshon was part of the push to change this dynamic and many towns, including Deir Yassin along that stretch of road were fought over and won by Jewish forces. In discussing the beginning of this realization in March of 1948 Benny Morris, a prominent historian on the expulsion of the Arabs during Israel’s war of Independence wrote:
“The toll on Jewish life and security in the battle of the roads and dire prospect of pan-Arab invasion had left the Yishuv (community) with very narrow margins of safety. It could not afford to leave pockets of actively or potentially hostile Arabs behind its line. This was certainly true regarding vital roads and areas such as the Jerusalem Corridor…when the Yishuv faced, and it knew it faced, a life and death struggle. “ (p.236, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge, 2004.)
Depending on the source any where between 300 to 600 Arab towns and villages were destroyed during the eighteen months of war in 1947-1948. Why does Deir Yassin stand out among all of the others? Why is this remembered and the other villages are not, at least from the Israeli Left? The answer to this is simple. Although massacres were common during that war the Left in Israel, politically signified at that time as the Mapam party had a stake in making an issue out of the Deir Yassin battle. As independence approached, their influence over the Yishuv began to wane. Their reactions were to lash out at the now growing middle of the road leadership, led by David Ben Gurion, and attempted to subvert it by making accusations of improper and immoral acts against the enemy. Deir Yassin was the perfect model to make this stand for several reasons. First, this town was singled out to be fought with primarily LEHI (Sternists) and ETZEL (Begin’s Urgun) forces in a Haganna sanctioned attack. LEHI and ETZEL were the ideological enemies of the Mapam. Second, by indicting the Haganna as sanctioning the operation and allowing these “barbarian” groups to “murder, rape, pillage and steal,” they believed that they could make criminal any political belief to the right of the extreme Left in Israel. Third, they saw this whole incident as an opportunity to oppose the Yishuv’s shift toward American and British democracy and away from Stalinist Russia.
The Palmach, the armed wing of the Mapam, was, like ETZEL and LEHI not opposed to establishing a state by force, and indeed took part in many militant operations before May 14,1948. But, Mapam never indicted Palmach, only those groups that were their ideological opposites and only because they lost favor and support from the people as a political force. Although Mapam has long been disbanded and the Palmach like ETZEL, LEHI and Haganna have all been melded into the IDF, the extreme political Left still uses this tactic today. Deir Yassin, according to the Left, is one of a long line of accused abuses by the Zionist movement.
Today, it is mostly forgotten that Deir Yassin was an ugly battle among many ugly battles of that war which were fought hard by both sides and perpetuated the deaths of many innocent people both Jewish and Arab. But, as this story lingers now into the 21st century, it is apparent that Deir Yassin is a cause celeb against Israel’s motives during the War of Independence, and that the Arabs for whatever reasons needed to be defeated, did not deserve to be tortured and massacred in such a manner. Through propaganda and emphasizing Israeli brutality it is mostly lost on history that the Jews with their proverbial backs up against the wall fought hard to survive and won their state motivated by liberty rather than motivated by domination over a lesser equipped Arab minority.
After the War of Independence Deir Yassin was so touted by the Left it was of course picked up by the Arab propaganda machine sometime in the late 1950s and the two groups joined in an unholy alliance against a common enemy that exists until this very day. It is one of the rallying cries to show the “barbarous” nature of the Israeli occupation forces. It is still taught in universities across the English and Arab speaking world as the proof that Israel needs to be punished for its actions. The calls for this punishment range from a much weaker diminished Israel to its complete annihilation and in its place an Arab Muslim state from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.
If we are going to be fair, when considering the place of the Deir Yassin battle it must be looked at in the context of the time, the desperation of one people to quite literally survive the conflict and the total incompetence of the other side in trying to explain why they lost that war so badly. The fact is that Israel’s war of Independence was a war not unlike most wars in that the human tragedy factor was very high on both sides. Probably more on the Jewish side simply because the Arabs had the opportunity to flee to the safety of bordering Arab governments and the Jews didn’t. The Jews, unlike their Arab counterparts, had to make their stand in Palestine and no where else. Consequently, many innocent Jews, without guns in their hands died in this endeavor. However, this is never indicated by the Left or for the obvious reasons by the Arab side. As Morris explained in the above quote in April of 1948, with the survival of the coming Jewish State, the very lives of hundreds of thousands of Jewish men, women and children hung in the balance. And, it did not become clear that the Jews would survive at all until the first truce went into effect on June 9th, 1948.
Deir Yassin was awful. But, so were many of the battles fought during that time. We should be cognizant of that and urge our leaders, professors, journalists and historians to reflect that fairness in their reports on this history. It is time we set the record straight.
Deir Yassin has been called a “massacre” by Palestinian and Arab groups as well as Leftist commentators in the West. It might be considered a “massacre” but no more than the Haifa Refinery massacre on December 30, 1947, and the doctors and nurses massacre on the road to Hadassa hospital on Mount Scopus, on April 13, 1948, or any of the other massacres that became part of the fighting history of Israel’s War of Independence. These other “massacres” have long been forgotten by most people accept for the few historians that deal with the course of this eighteen month war. This is not the case with Deir Yassin.
Deir Yassin was one of many towns and villages that had to be cleared during Operation Nachshon, the overall operation to open the road to besieged Jerusalem in April, 1948. Not to take action on this road would mean giving up on Jewish Jerusalem, which was as unthinkable then as it is now. The Jews of Jerusalem had been besieged since January, with no electricity, food, water, or any of the other vital necessities of life. People in the Jewish quarter of the city were literally starving to death. Without the opening of the road to allow convoys of supplies to enter the city, it was almost a certainty that Jewish Jerusalem would fall to the enemy. For this reason, Ben Gurion ordered 1500 Haganna troops to take part in the operation, the largest of its kind up to that time in the battle for Palestine in 1947 and 1948.
The Israeli military has long been the dominant force in the Middle East. No Arab army has been able to defeat it. A foregone conclusion for so long, that it’s hard to believe that the history was ever anything but total Israeli domination over its neighbors. But, this was not always the case. Before the start of the 1948 war it was very tenable on whether the Jews could defeat the Arab enemy and established their state by the time the British would leave in May. The belief that the Jews were in a dire strait and faced the very sobering possibility of defeat began to take shape almost immediately after the partition vote on November 29, 1947 and did not abate itself until June of 1948 when it became clear that by the end of the war a Jewish State of some kind would emerge intact. Operation Nachshon was part of the push to change this dynamic and many towns, including Deir Yassin along that stretch of road were fought over and won by Jewish forces. In discussing the beginning of this realization in March of 1948 Benny Morris, a prominent historian on the expulsion of the Arabs during Israel’s war of Independence wrote:
“The toll on Jewish life and security in the battle of the roads and dire prospect of pan-Arab invasion had left the Yishuv (community) with very narrow margins of safety. It could not afford to leave pockets of actively or potentially hostile Arabs behind its line. This was certainly true regarding vital roads and areas such as the Jerusalem Corridor…when the Yishuv faced, and it knew it faced, a life and death struggle. “ (p.236, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge, 2004.)
Depending on the source any where between 300 to 600 Arab towns and villages were destroyed during the eighteen months of war in 1947-1948. Why does Deir Yassin stand out among all of the others? Why is this remembered and the other villages are not, at least from the Israeli Left? The answer to this is simple. Although massacres were common during that war the Left in Israel, politically signified at that time as the Mapam party had a stake in making an issue out of the Deir Yassin battle. As independence approached, their influence over the Yishuv began to wane. Their reactions were to lash out at the now growing middle of the road leadership, led by David Ben Gurion, and attempted to subvert it by making accusations of improper and immoral acts against the enemy. Deir Yassin was the perfect model to make this stand for several reasons. First, this town was singled out to be fought with primarily LEHI (Sternists) and ETZEL (Begin’s Urgun) forces in a Haganna sanctioned attack. LEHI and ETZEL were the ideological enemies of the Mapam. Second, by indicting the Haganna as sanctioning the operation and allowing these “barbarian” groups to “murder, rape, pillage and steal,” they believed that they could make criminal any political belief to the right of the extreme Left in Israel. Third, they saw this whole incident as an opportunity to oppose the Yishuv’s shift toward American and British democracy and away from Stalinist Russia.
The Palmach, the armed wing of the Mapam, was, like ETZEL and LEHI not opposed to establishing a state by force, and indeed took part in many militant operations before May 14,1948. But, Mapam never indicted Palmach, only those groups that were their ideological opposites and only because they lost favor and support from the people as a political force. Although Mapam has long been disbanded and the Palmach like ETZEL, LEHI and Haganna have all been melded into the IDF, the extreme political Left still uses this tactic today. Deir Yassin, according to the Left, is one of a long line of accused abuses by the Zionist movement.
Today, it is mostly forgotten that Deir Yassin was an ugly battle among many ugly battles of that war which were fought hard by both sides and perpetuated the deaths of many innocent people both Jewish and Arab. But, as this story lingers now into the 21st century, it is apparent that Deir Yassin is a cause celeb against Israel’s motives during the War of Independence, and that the Arabs for whatever reasons needed to be defeated, did not deserve to be tortured and massacred in such a manner. Through propaganda and emphasizing Israeli brutality it is mostly lost on history that the Jews with their proverbial backs up against the wall fought hard to survive and won their state motivated by liberty rather than motivated by domination over a lesser equipped Arab minority.
After the War of Independence Deir Yassin was so touted by the Left it was of course picked up by the Arab propaganda machine sometime in the late 1950s and the two groups joined in an unholy alliance against a common enemy that exists until this very day. It is one of the rallying cries to show the “barbarous” nature of the Israeli occupation forces. It is still taught in universities across the English and Arab speaking world as the proof that Israel needs to be punished for its actions. The calls for this punishment range from a much weaker diminished Israel to its complete annihilation and in its place an Arab Muslim state from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.
If we are going to be fair, when considering the place of the Deir Yassin battle it must be looked at in the context of the time, the desperation of one people to quite literally survive the conflict and the total incompetence of the other side in trying to explain why they lost that war so badly. The fact is that Israel’s war of Independence was a war not unlike most wars in that the human tragedy factor was very high on both sides. Probably more on the Jewish side simply because the Arabs had the opportunity to flee to the safety of bordering Arab governments and the Jews didn’t. The Jews, unlike their Arab counterparts, had to make their stand in Palestine and no where else. Consequently, many innocent Jews, without guns in their hands died in this endeavor. However, this is never indicated by the Left or for the obvious reasons by the Arab side. As Morris explained in the above quote in April of 1948, with the survival of the coming Jewish State, the very lives of hundreds of thousands of Jewish men, women and children hung in the balance. And, it did not become clear that the Jews would survive at all until the first truce went into effect on June 9th, 1948.
Deir Yassin was awful. But, so were many of the battles fought during that time. We should be cognizant of that and urge our leaders, professors, journalists and historians to reflect that fairness in their reports on this history. It is time we set the record straight.
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