Saturday, November 03, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
1 Year On - Gilad, Eldad and Ehud, WHERE ARE THEY??
Today marks exactly one year since Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were kidnapped by Hezbollah while doing a routine patrol of Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Their families have still not been given any sign of life.
Please go to http://www.szcsolidarityrally.blogspot.com to leave a message of support for the families of Ehud and Eldad, as well as the family of Gilad Shalit.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
3 January 2006 - Palmach Museum
My aunty, uncle and 13-year-old cousin came to Israel from Australia the other day. I took the opportunity to meet them in Tel Aviv (I am staying about a twenty minute drive out of Tel Aviv – 1 hour on the bus – so I don’t get to spend as much time there as I would like). Apart from simply enjoying spending time with some very familiar faces, it gave me the unique opportunity of being able to do a few things I probably would not have gotten around to doing on this trip.
The most important of all was a visit to the Palmach Museum.
I can honestly say without a doubt, it was the most fascinating museum I have ever been to and one of the most moving experiences of my life.
I think the most interesting element of the museum is that it does not chronicle the stories of the great heroes of the Palmach Movement, like Yitzhak Rabin or Moshe Dayan. Instead, it tells the story of a lesser-known hero - the everyday person.
These are the people who wanted to change their lives and did all that they could to secure their homeland and to achieve a Jewish State. They worked on the Kibbutz in the day to make money, and at night they convened, trained, and armed themselves to fight and to defend themselves.
The museum, through archived footage and re-enactments follows the lives of about eight young people, who banded together to fight for statehood. It moves through different rooms, chronicling each year that the Palmach was in existence. I will not go into the full story of the Palmach or the narrative of these eight people, but I will point out the most significant part of the museum for me.
In one of the rooms, the story is told of a young Palmach member, who had made his way to Palestine before the outbreak of World War II. When the war was over, the Palmach had the opportunity to take Holocaust survivors by boat to Palestine. The young man telling the story, by chance, was reunited with his sister, who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust but had seen her entire family be taken away to the camps never to return.
As the boat approached the harbour, a British Naval patrol spotted them and asked for their authorisation.
The Palmach, raising the Israeli flag high above the ship declared, ‘we do not need authorisation to entire our own country.’
The boat was captured, and the survivors were taken off at the port in Haifa where they were put onto another boat to take them to jail in Cyprus. This was a crushing blow to these people who had just endured years trapped inside walls. The young man said that his sister had taking only twenty steps on Israeli soil but this was enough for her to know she was at home. The sentiment was so touchingly expressed that I’m sure I will never forget what was said.
As I left the museum, I passed a group of soldiers coming to the museum on some sort of army excursion. The tour for them had just begun and most of them seemed restless and disinterested. Mobile phones were ringing, and people were calling out to their friends across the room. I only hope that the museum had even half of the effect on them as it had on me. Perhaps by the end of the tour they would truly understand how different life was back in the time of the Palmach, and that nothing they have should be taken for granted.
Finally, I hope they understand that the members of the Palmach fought for the very State that they are defending today.
The most important of all was a visit to the Palmach Museum.
I can honestly say without a doubt, it was the most fascinating museum I have ever been to and one of the most moving experiences of my life.
I think the most interesting element of the museum is that it does not chronicle the stories of the great heroes of the Palmach Movement, like Yitzhak Rabin or Moshe Dayan. Instead, it tells the story of a lesser-known hero - the everyday person.
These are the people who wanted to change their lives and did all that they could to secure their homeland and to achieve a Jewish State. They worked on the Kibbutz in the day to make money, and at night they convened, trained, and armed themselves to fight and to defend themselves.
The museum, through archived footage and re-enactments follows the lives of about eight young people, who banded together to fight for statehood. It moves through different rooms, chronicling each year that the Palmach was in existence. I will not go into the full story of the Palmach or the narrative of these eight people, but I will point out the most significant part of the museum for me.
In one of the rooms, the story is told of a young Palmach member, who had made his way to Palestine before the outbreak of World War II. When the war was over, the Palmach had the opportunity to take Holocaust survivors by boat to Palestine. The young man telling the story, by chance, was reunited with his sister, who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust but had seen her entire family be taken away to the camps never to return.
As the boat approached the harbour, a British Naval patrol spotted them and asked for their authorisation.
The Palmach, raising the Israeli flag high above the ship declared, ‘we do not need authorisation to entire our own country.’
The boat was captured, and the survivors were taken off at the port in Haifa where they were put onto another boat to take them to jail in Cyprus. This was a crushing blow to these people who had just endured years trapped inside walls. The young man said that his sister had taking only twenty steps on Israeli soil but this was enough for her to know she was at home. The sentiment was so touchingly expressed that I’m sure I will never forget what was said.
As I left the museum, I passed a group of soldiers coming to the museum on some sort of army excursion. The tour for them had just begun and most of them seemed restless and disinterested. Mobile phones were ringing, and people were calling out to their friends across the room. I only hope that the museum had even half of the effect on them as it had on me. Perhaps by the end of the tour they would truly understand how different life was back in the time of the Palmach, and that nothing they have should be taken for granted.
Finally, I hope they understand that the members of the Palmach fought for the very State that they are defending today.
18 December 2006 - Factional Fighting and Key Messages
The scary element of Middle Eastern conflicts is that no matter how divided certain factions may be, they are always united on one point – their hatred for the State of Israel. We see this daily in Lebanon – as I mentioned the other day, despite the fact that the country is in the brink of civil war, the regular anti-Israel chanting is still there.
At the moment, we are also seeing this very strongly in Gaza, where Fatah and Hamas are fighting against each other. Last night, while watching the news, they were interviewing a man, he could have been from either faction – its not important.
What’s important, is that the first thing he said, in English was, ‘we are an occupied people in an occupied place. We are fighting with each other about nothing.’ And yet, the guy wasn’t just anyone – he was Sufian Abu Zaydeh of Fatah, whom Hamas had kidnapped. Kidnappings, exchanging of gunfire – this is all nothing in comparison to the ‘occupation’.
This is why the Palestinian propaganda machine works so well. They have one catchphrase and they use it over and over again. It is their key message, and it is so simple that there is absolutely nothing that could possibly more effective. Former Ambassador to the United States Dore Gold put it best when he said something to the effect of: you could ask Saeb Erekat what he ate for breakfast and he would answer you with “the occupation”.
The Pro-Israel voices are never so united. You ask ten Israelis a question and you get twenty answers. It is the beauty of this country, but it the media it is her biggest downfall.
What scares me/interests me/ignites my interest is the fact that all of this Palestinian infighting is going on so close to me, and yet, had I not turned on the television the other day and seen the news, I would never have known.
Watching the images on the television frightens me, not only because of the magnitude of people who riot in the streets, but because this is all happening an hour or so away from me. It is the equivalent of the drive from Beth Weizmann to Tullamarine airport. Of course I do not need to explain Middle Eastern geography to the advocates, it’s just that when I sit in front of my computer or television back at home in Melbourne, I forget just how unique the situation is here. How ‘on top’ of each other everyone here is.
Meanwhile, I am surrounded by people who form one of two views.
The first is that there is nothing to worry about. Yes there is violence in Gaza, but this is the way it always has been and for the meantime, will continue to be. The country is dealing with the aftermath of the war, with the ceasefire with the Palestinians in Gaza, in their own way, and slowly, slowly, things will return to normal. Or even still, things are never or are always normal, whichever way you look at it.
The second view is that another war that will be fought on many fronts is imminent. Gaza and the West Bank will erupt out of control, and Israel will go to war against Lebanon, Syria and more frighteningly, Iran. Israel needs to prepare herself in order to be better equipped to handle herself during and afterwards.
At the moment, we are also seeing this very strongly in Gaza, where Fatah and Hamas are fighting against each other. Last night, while watching the news, they were interviewing a man, he could have been from either faction – its not important.
What’s important, is that the first thing he said, in English was, ‘we are an occupied people in an occupied place. We are fighting with each other about nothing.’ And yet, the guy wasn’t just anyone – he was Sufian Abu Zaydeh of Fatah, whom Hamas had kidnapped. Kidnappings, exchanging of gunfire – this is all nothing in comparison to the ‘occupation’.
This is why the Palestinian propaganda machine works so well. They have one catchphrase and they use it over and over again. It is their key message, and it is so simple that there is absolutely nothing that could possibly more effective. Former Ambassador to the United States Dore Gold put it best when he said something to the effect of: you could ask Saeb Erekat what he ate for breakfast and he would answer you with “the occupation”.
The Pro-Israel voices are never so united. You ask ten Israelis a question and you get twenty answers. It is the beauty of this country, but it the media it is her biggest downfall.
What scares me/interests me/ignites my interest is the fact that all of this Palestinian infighting is going on so close to me, and yet, had I not turned on the television the other day and seen the news, I would never have known.
Watching the images on the television frightens me, not only because of the magnitude of people who riot in the streets, but because this is all happening an hour or so away from me. It is the equivalent of the drive from Beth Weizmann to Tullamarine airport. Of course I do not need to explain Middle Eastern geography to the advocates, it’s just that when I sit in front of my computer or television back at home in Melbourne, I forget just how unique the situation is here. How ‘on top’ of each other everyone here is.
Meanwhile, I am surrounded by people who form one of two views.
The first is that there is nothing to worry about. Yes there is violence in Gaza, but this is the way it always has been and for the meantime, will continue to be. The country is dealing with the aftermath of the war, with the ceasefire with the Palestinians in Gaza, in their own way, and slowly, slowly, things will return to normal. Or even still, things are never or are always normal, whichever way you look at it.
The second view is that another war that will be fought on many fronts is imminent. Gaza and the West Bank will erupt out of control, and Israel will go to war against Lebanon, Syria and more frighteningly, Iran. Israel needs to prepare herself in order to be better equipped to handle herself during and afterwards.
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