David Collier: You think there is no Antisemitism? Take the anti-Zionist test
This is designed for people who think there is no antisemitism in the anti-Zionist, anti-Israel movements. If you know any, ask them to take the test.No Safe Space for Jews at KCL
Before you begin.
Imagine: Someone you are connected to continually posts racist memes and comments on Facebook. On his time stream are constant references to racial slurs, using words and phrases that are unacceptable in society. Viscous, vile, offensive posts that draw on awful stereotypes and link back to white supremacy websites. What would you do when you saw them? I hope, as an anti-racist, you would delete him from your friends list or at least confront them about their offensive views.
You may now begin the anti-Zionist test. When you have finished, please pass it on to your friends, or other anti-Israel protesters you know.
THE ANTI-ZIONIST TEST
A few days ago, I posted the result of an investigation into antisemitism inside Palestinian activism in the UK. Since its release, I have received abuse and threats. Some of the more measured criticism has been absurdly to throw the line that ‘anti-Zionism’ is nothing to do with antisemitism. So, I have designed a test to assist in measuring the level of ‘neo-Nazi’ antisemitism ‘IN YOUR ONLINE ENVIRONMENT’.
The test starts with an easy exercise in identifying blatant antisemitism.
Do you consider any of these comments to be antisemitic?
- The Jews were behind 9/11
- The holocaust is the biggest myth of our time
- Charlie Hebdo was a false flag carried out by Mossad to make Jews go to Israel
- Ashkenazi Jews are all fake Jews
- Kristallnacht was instigated by Jews to promote War against Germany
- Babylonian Talmud advocates sex with child age three
- Israel kills people to harvest their organs
The answer to this question is ‘all of the above’ and there is little ambiguity here. Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has nothing to do with any of the above statements.
Given what was to follow, this announcement was a kick in the teeth to any Israel supporters in the audience, including most of the Jewish students there (see below). The speakers simply assumed that Israel was The Great Satan and needed to be boycotted. There was simply no discussion of this and also no mention of Israeli casualties, eg those who have died in the stabbing and car ramming incidents in recent months and of those in Judea and Samaria who have been killed by Palestinians. No mention. Zilch.Gerald M. Steinberg: Empty slogans and half truths
The Chair was Rafeef Ziadah, a ‘Palestinian poet and human rights activist’ (she also seems to have a position at SOAS). She was on her best behaviour but it is not hard to find her extremist connections. She claims her family was ‘forced out’ of Haifa. The truth is that the Arabs who left Haifa in 1948 were not ‘forced out’ at all. And she has praised a terrorist member of Islamic Jihad, Khader Adnan. As Richard Millett commented at IAW five years ago, ‘when he is not on hunger strike he does a nice sideline in inciting the killing of Jews.’. Ziadah has also worked for War On Want (who sponsored the KCL meeting).
Aja Monet Farid is from Brooklyn. She began with a ‘statement’ which included the phrase ‘Zionists, racists and colonisers demean me’. She is a member of ‘Black Lives Matter’. She wants ‘Intersectionalism’ which is the theory that all the causes of the Left are connected, so for example ‘Black Lives Matter’ and anti-Israel activists need to work together. Her metaphor for the Israel/Palestinian conflict: “If you have a foot on your neck, what are you going to do to get it off?”. She is not a fan of ‘safe spaces’ either. “We need to stand for what’s right .. What does love look like as a political technology?” Pretty meaningless stuff so far …. Surprisingly little insights about (or even mentions of) Israel – just the assumption it’s the Great Satan.
With the release of its 2016/2017 annual report, which was published with much fanfare a week ago, Amnesty International, the strongest international human rights organization, first decided to distribute it to a limited number of "friendly journalists" by conducting closed briefings designed to produce instant headlines, without affording enough time for these journalists to independently examine the report and analyze its findings.
The organization acted to gain sympathetic media coverage instead of allowing free access to all those reporters that might have actually asked questions and checked the data. Amnesty International's conduct was the embodiment of a political system seeking to control information.
An article on Amnesty's website presenting the report is full of empty slogans, claiming that "today's politics of demonization shamelessly peddles a dangerous idea that some people are less human than others," and quoting the organization's secretary general, Salil Shetty, as saying that "the need for all of us to stand up for the basic values of human dignity and equality everywhere has seldom been clearer." Ironic declarations, given the fact that Amnesty employees have been accused several times of employing anti-Semitic rhetoric and the organization even refused to add the war on anti-Semitism to its agenda.
The report's section titled "Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories" employs the same tone, shamelessly exploiting legal terms and hurling accusations such as the "excessive use of force" and "subject[ing] Palestinian detainees, including children, to torture," to attack the Israel Defense forces without providing any evidence or source.
IsraellyCool: MUST WATCH: Muslim Lady Explains How She Went From Hater To Zionist
A special Muslim lady explains how she transcended her background to become a staunch Zionist.Two Canadian Imams Call for Death of Jews
Notice how she tells it like it is. She recognizes Jews as the indigenous people of Israel, anti-Zionism as really just antisemitism, and sees the hypocrisy of the left.
Two Canadian imams have attracted media attention for giving incendiary, antisemitic sermons.British Prime Minister Calls on UK Universities to ‘Swiftly Address’ Campus Antisemitism
In the first case, Ryerson University in Toronto announced that it had fired Ayman Elkasrawy from his teaching assistant position in the wake of reports that he prayed for Allah to “purify” Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque “from the filth of the Jews.”
He also prayed for anyone who “displaced” Muslims to be destroyed: “Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them, O Allah! Purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews!”
The Muslim Association of Canada later suspended Elkasrawy, describing him as a “junior employee” whose sermon was “unauthorized.” Toronto police are investigating Elkasrawy’s remarks to determine whether they constitute hate speech.
Elkasrawy apologized for his actions in a February 20 Twitter post, saying he misspoke: “I firmly believe that all human beings, Muslim, Jews and people of all and no faith, deserve to live a life free of any threat to their safety.”
In Montreal, calls for an investigation into similar comments made by Sheikh Wael Al-Ghitawi are increasing after the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) posted videos showing him denying Jewish roots in Israel.
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday called on UK universities to “investigate and swiftly address” campus antisemitism.Britain pledges £13.4 million for Jewish communal security
“Higher education institutions have a responsibility to ensure that they provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students, and we expect them to have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law,” May said, during the traditional weekly Prime Minister’s Questions Parliament session.
She also noted that Minister for Universities and Science Jo Johnson had urged college administrations to “follow the government’s lead in adopting the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism” and had “actually recently written to remind these institutions of [the government’s] expectations.”
May was responding to a query from Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who said: “This week, Jewish students are being subjected to intimidation, fear and antisemitism as a result of so-called Israel Apartheid Week. What action can my Right Honorable friend make sure [sic] that chancellors and principals ensure that antisemitism is not allowed to prosper on campuses?”
Blackman was referring to Israeli Apartheid Week, a series of annual BDS events held during February and March at universities around the world, and to the reported increase in incidents targeting Jewish students.
British Home Secretary Amber Rudd on Wednesday evening pledged to continue budgeting £13.4 million for the security of the country's Jewish community, noting that Jews remain a target for terrorists.Jeremy Corbyn sings Communist anthem with activists who shared shocking anti-Semitic posts about the 'ugly Israeli species'
"Daesh [Islamic State] literature continues to identify the Jewish community as a ‘desirable and legitimate’ target," she said, in an address to some 1,000 guests at the Community Security Trust’s (CST) annual dinner in London, in which she discussed the threat posed by terrorism to the country as a whole.
Rudd pointed to attacks against Jews in Paris, Brussels, Toulouse and Copenhagen in recent years, as well as a more recent case of a 16-year-old girl in Denmark who was charged for planning to blow up a Jewish school.
CST is a charity which has been dedicated to protecting British Jews since its founding.
Jeremy Corbyn was pictured singing a Communist anthem while embracing Labour activists who made shocking anti-Semitic posts on social media, MailOnline can reveal.IsraellyCool: Hugging Antisemitism at the Labour Party Conference
Supporters were seen punching the air as the Labour leader led a chorus of the Red Flag with campaigners who have said that Israel is responsible for ISIS, openly admitted to 'hating' Israel, and ranted about the 'ugly Israeli species'.
Mr Corbyn also supported a Muslim group which states on its website that the Labour Party is 'indebted to Jewish financiers with Zionist leanings', and attended one of its events last year.
The revelations will raise fresh concerns that Mr Corbyn – who is battling rock bottom popularity ratings after a humiliating Labour defeat in Copeland last week – is unqualified to deal with claims of anti-Semitism in his party.
It comes as the Labour leader appointed two virulently anti-Israel MPs, Kate Osamor and Sarah Champion, to lead his party's efforts to repair relations with the Jewish community, a move that was met with outrage from British Jews.
Together for peace and justice for Palestine. And perhaps a little 9/11 truth and Holocaust revisionism on the side. Just so nobody thinks, Tapash is just a photo bomber:NGO Monitor: Belgian-funded UPJB hosts event on “the cage of Gaza”
John McDonnellAnd this love fest between the antisemitic ‘9/11 truther’ of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Labour UK hierarchy goes on: Here is MP for Islington South and Finsbury, Emily Thornberry:
Hugh Lanning is also in the photo, as is Israel hating, Asa Winstanley, a ‘journalist’ who frequently writes for The Electronic Intifada.
Sinn Fein didn’t want to miss all the action, so here is another MP, Mickey Brady:
Sinn FeinThe Labour members in the House of Lords didn’t want to miss a little hug action with 9/11 truth and rabid antisemitism either. Here is Lord Thomas Pendry:
Other ‘friends’ of Israel also joined in the love fest. Here is Jon Snow (ch4):
So whilst Al-Jazeera spent their time at the conference looking for a Jewish conspiracy that didn’t exist, the PSC stall was manned by someone who pushes antisemitic Jewish conspiracy talk. A man who shares Holocaust denial websites.
The research I published showed that you cannot gather these activists together, without bringing hard-core antisemitism into your home. Just like the Labour Party conference. A real antisemitic Labour love-fest.
The Union des Progressistes Juifs de Belgique (UPJB) is a Jewish organization based in Belgium that regularly engages in politicized activities, including supporting BDS campaigns against Israel. On March 3, UPJB will host an event featuring two members of the politicized French organization UNION JUIVE FRANCAISE POUR LA PAIX, Sarah Katz and Pierre Stambul, to present their book “chroniques de Gaza, mai/ juin 2016” (chronicles of Gaza, May/ June 2016) and “describe the cage of Gaza using pictures.”Students at Ryerson U Welcome Firing of Teaching Assistant Over ‘Purify Filth of Jews’ Comment
In the description of the event, Gaza is characterized as “a cage buckled on the floor…Gaza is a laboratory where every two-three years the Israeli occupant experiments the most sophisticated weapons against a disarmed population.”
Terrorism and other violence emanating from Gaza are erased: “Gaza is regularly defamed as terrorists, fundamentalists. Defamed by those who have committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yet, in Gaza, they resist peacefully… they discuss politics in the wider diversity” (emphasis added).
UPJB has received Belgian government funding (through the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles) every year since 2003. Funding includes €80,000 each year from 2012-2015 for its “Permanent Education and Youth” and “General Affaires/ Cultural Centers” projects.
Jewish students at Toronto’s Ryerson University applauded the school’s recent decision to terminate a teaching assistant who called to “purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of Jews.”British universities have a duty to Jewish students to monitor Israel Apartheid Week
Aedan O’Connor — a campus activist who led a “Ryerson Against Racism” campaign to have Ayman Elkasrawy fired for his remarks — praised university officials for “doing the right thing and treating this situation seriously.”
“Although antisemitism is still a problem at Ryerson, this is a positive indication of support for Jews on campus. I appreciate the administration’s efforts to combat this issue and look forward to working with them in the future,” she told The Algemeiner.
Tamar Lyons, newly elected president of the school’s chapter of Students Supporting Israel, said, “I am proud that my university stepped up and sent a message to the Ryerson community that we do not stand for such hate and bigotry.”
“Ryerson’s president, Mohamed Lachemi, truly wants to work to make the school safer for Jewish students. This was an example of him turning his words and statements into actions. With the recent antisemitic actions that have been taking place on campus, it’s really important to be receiving this support,” she told The Algemeiner.
The University of Central Lancashire has made a powerful statement by prohibiting a proposed event featuring anti-Israel activist Ben White, for its lack of "a balanced view or a panel of speakers representing all interests.” Other higher education institutions in London and Exeter have likewise followed.SPME BDS Monitor: Neo-Nazi and Islamic Antisemitism on the Rise
Some universities, such as the School of Oriental and African Studies have denied that they have an obligation to accept the government's internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism.
Although the law in this area is complex, it is also clear. Universities and students’ unions must adhere to the government’s Prevent counter-extremism strategy, the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), charity law and numerous other requirements.
Specifically, Section 149 of the 2010 Equality Act requires them “to exercise their functions with due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, to advance equality of opportunity, and to foster good relations between students and staff of different nationalities, ethnic groups or religious beliefs, including by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding”.
Israel Apartheid Week fails on all these counts. It is a dishonest hate fest masquerading itself in the language of human rights and social justice. It represents a nefarious assault on truth and the well-being of thousands of students.
It is about time university chiefs stepped up their legal and moral obligation to monitoring these events and making sure they do not permanently damage relations between students on campuses.
February was marked by antisemitic incidents both on and off campus, originating from both the far-Right and the far-Left. Neo-Nazi and Islamist antisemitism was evident, and BDS hijacking of other movements continued — but new British antisemitism guidelines had an immediate impact, prompting universities to shut down “Israeli Apartheid Week” events.Edgar Davidson: Wow. This new UJS campaign is really going to force the antisemites to change their strategy
On the whole, February was an active month for the BDS movement, especially via the disruption of pro-peace and Israeli speakers on university campuses.
For example, a talk at Columbia University by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, was repeatedly disrupted by BDS protesters from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace. Even before the event, threats of disruption had prompted the administration to reduce the size of the audience, presumably to lessen the chance of violence.
A similar disruption forced the cancellation of a speech at Trinity College Dublin by the Israeli ambassador to Ireland. The university administration later condemned the incident.
At the University of Georgia, SJP members also disrupted a talk by former Israeli soldiers. In addition, BDS supporters attacked and vandalized pro-Israel displays at the University of Washington and at the SOAS in London.
Just in case anybody who supports Israel needed any more proof of how pathetic the 'official' Jewish leadership is in the UK, check out this latest offering from the Union of Jewish Students and the Board of Deputies.Israeli lawsuits prompt Facebook to enable reporting incitement
This really is not satire (I genuinely thought the whole thing was a spoof until I saw photos of students actually handing out this rubbish). Look at the UJS website. What the UJS has provided for Jewish students is analogous to sending the IDF to fight with a pea shooter in one had and a 'Palestine' flag in the other. But then again the UJS has form for this sort of dhimmi nonsense. They have a fetish for promoting the 'Palestine' flag. And as for the BoD - they never fail to disappoint.
It's not as if there is isn't plenty of good material out there. They should try reading any of the outstanding work by David Collier or Ryan Bellerose on the subject (Ryan explains the need to focus on the fact that the Jews are THE indigenous people of the land of Israel) or the many posters produced over the years by Elder of Ziyon. Or even try my own advice here.
The Brooklyn District Court on Wednesday began hearing arguments in the case of two federal suits against social media giant Facebook, filed by an Israeli advocacy group.Terrorism cases against Facebook reach climax
The Shurat Hadin Israeli Law Center filed the billion-dollar suit in October 2015 on behalf of American victims of Hamas terrorist attacks and 20,000 Israeli plaintiffs, over claims that Facebook facilitates incitement against Israelis and encouragement to harm them.
The organization is also asking the court in New York to issue an injunction against Facebook to remove the inciting pages, monitor the methods of incitement and block them, and hold the social networking giant responsible for allowing terrorists on its network.
According to the plaintiffs, Facebook knowingly provides sources of support for terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, which violates American anti-terrorism laws.
Shortly before the hearing began on Wednesday, Facebook provided its users with the option of reporting inciting content and organizations involved in "terror or organized crime."
American- Israeli Richard Lakin, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that he is “outraged” at Facebook for pretending that it has zero tolerance for terrorism.UKMW prompts Times of London correction over “fake” quote
He spoke minutes after a climactic hearing in a terrorism lawsuit against the social media giant.
Lakin was one of the original plaintiffs in a 2015 lawsuit filed by a group of 20,000 Israelis against Facebook for providing a platform for terrorists involved in the “stabbing intifada,” and demanding an injunction ordering the firm to act more forcefully against terrorist incitement on its pages.
Wednesday’s hearing was the final one in a US federal court in Brooklyn before the judge decides whether Shurat Hadin – Israel Law Center, representing the plaintiffs, has found the first-ever legal silver bullet for breaking what has been an impenetrable barrier protecting Facebook from terrorism lawsuits.
Lakin was wounded and later died from his wounds in an attack by two Palestinians armed with a knife and a gun on a Jerusalem bus in fall 2015.
Gregg Carlstrom’s Feb. 25th report at Times of London (Israel refuses visa for human rights director) detailed a controversial decision by Israeli authorities to deny a visa to anti-Israel activist Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director of the far-left NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW).In which BBC Radio 4 insists on describing a fence as a wall
Though the report was largely unproblematic, the opening sentence caught our attention.
We reviewed multiple media reports on the incident and couldn’t locate any other such claim alleging that an Israeli official characterised HRW as a “fake” group. The letter sent to Shakir by the Israel Interior Ministry denying his visa did accuse the NGO of engaging in “Palestinian propaganda, while falsely raising the banner of human rights”, but there’s no evidence that any official said HRW was a “fake” group, as Carlstrom alleged. (“Quotes” in journalism are sacrosanct, and are only used when precisely attributing exact words, either in written or spoken form.)
We contacted Times of London editors, and they upheld our complaint about the “fake” quote. Here’s the revised, accurate opening sentence.
As readers most likely know, 95% of the anti-terrorist fence constructed from 2002 onward in order to prevent terrorists from Palestinian Authority controlled areas reaching towns and cities in Israel is made out of wire mesh and the remaining 5% is constructed from concrete in order to prevent shooting attacks in sensitive locations.The Independent Uses Casualty Figures as a Moral Barometer
The BBC’s ‘style guide’ instructs its staff to use the term ‘barrier’ to describe the structure.
“BBC journalists should try to avoid using terminology favoured by one side or another in any dispute.
The BBC uses the term ‘barrier’, ‘separation barrier’ or ‘West Bank barrier’ as an acceptable generic description to avoid the political connotations of ‘security fence’ (preferred by the Israeli government) or ‘apartheid wall’ (preferred by the Palestinians).
The United Nations also uses the term ‘barrier’. It’s better to keep to this word unless you have sought the advice of the Middle East bureau.
Of course, a reporter standing in front of a concrete section of the barrier might choose to say ‘this wall’ or use a more precise description in the light of what he or she is looking at.”
Nevertheless, on February 27th listeners to BBC Radio 4 heard the anti-terrorist fence repeatedly and predominantly described as a “wall” during a forty-minute edition of ‘Start the Week‘ titled “‘Build That Wall’: Barriers and Crossings”.
The conviction of IDF soldier Elor Azaria to 18 months in jail sentence for the manslaughter of a neutralized Palestinian terrorist has quite rightly raised serious legal and ethical issues within Israel.If It Bleeds, It Leads — To Reuters’ Absurdity
The Independent‘s report on Azaria’s appeal against his prison sentence, however, includes a visual that strips these issues down in the most simplistic and crude way.
In the center of the story is an interactive graph comparing Israeli and Palestinian casualty figures as supplied by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
What’s missing, however, is any context whatsoever.
All that we can see is that more Palestinians have died than Israelis. Stripped of context, the only thing that the casual reader will conclude is that Israel is the aggressor. This is particularly prominent on the bar illustrating 2014, a year which included the Gaza War.
It was a clear-cut case of self-defense.Hear them roar: Female soldiers from Israel's 'Lions of Jordan' battalion take part in a last training exercise before being assigned their posting
And Reuters blew it.
"Israeli settler shoots, kills knife-wielding Palestinian assailant"
Imagine you’re a headline writer and a story reaches your desk that a Palestinian has infiltrated settlement farm in the Hebron Hills and stabbed an Israeli man in front of his horrified family. The victim managed to shoot the terrorist, who was subsequently pronounced dead by medics. The victim, thankfully, was only lightly wounded.
Photos of Israel's Lions of Jordan battalion have emerged showing heavily armed women taking part in combat training before they are deployed to potentially dangerous postings.
The Lions of Jordan is one of three existing co-ed reconnaissance units that have a number of female enlistees that guard Israel's borders with Egypt and Jordan.
In addition to the Caracal, Bardalas and Lions of Jordan units a yet to be named fourth mixed sex battalion will be inaugurated this month and be ready for potential combat in November.
Around 1,200 young Israeli women are expected to volunteer for combat positions this year and those not deployed in combat-intelligence posts are set to be stationed in the Jordan Valley with the artillery corps or infantry on the Jordanian border.
Top Indian Government Official: We Want to Expand Cooperation With Israel; Modi Likely to Visit Jewish State in June
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely visit Israel in June — marking the first-ever trip by an Indian prime minister to the country — to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, the Indian daily Mint reported on Wednesday.Israel becomes a gas exporter with first delivery to Jordan
At the New Delhi unveiling this week of an official logo celebrating the anniversary, Amar Sinha — the economic relations secretary in India’s Ministry of External Affairs — said, according to the Financial Express, that his country’s ties with Israel constituted a “very important contemporary relationship.”
“We are constantly trying to make it a more multi-dimensional relationship,” he went on to say. “We are exploring new areas of cooperation.”
Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon was quoted as saying, “From security to food security, energy to water, and academia, all are parts of cooperation between our two countries. Success stories in defense, agriculture and water are something we are very proud of.”
An Israeli company said Thursday it has started exporting gas from an offshore field to Jordan, marking the country’s first ever exports of natural gas.Cyprus deal could speed up Israel-Turkey gas project – envoy
The exports to Jordan began in January, Delek Drilling — part of a consortium leading the development of Israel’s offshore gas reserves — told AFP.
There was no formal announcement at the time but it is the first time Israel has ever exported natural gas, a company spokeswoman said.
Jordanian firms Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine signed a deal in 2014 to import 2 billion cubic metres (around 70 billion cubic feet) of gas from Israel’s Tamar field over 15 years.
At the time reports said the deal was worth $771 million.
A Cyprus peace deal would speed up Israel’s project to provide gas to Turkey, the new Israeli ambassador to Ankara said Wednesday.David Rubinger, photographer of the nation, dies at 92
Eitan Na’eh became Israel’s first envoy in Turkey in December when relations resumed in the summer after a six-year diplomatic rift.
“We think that the solution to the Cyprus problem can speed up the energy project,” Na’eh said, adding it was a “win-win” for everyone.
“A Cyprus solution will make life easier for all,” he told reporters during a briefing in Ankara.
Na’eh was referring to exporting gas from the Leviathan field off its coast, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019.
The best way for gas to be exported between Turkey and Israel would be a pipeline via the territorial waters of Cyprus.
Famed photojournalist David Rubinger, called “the photographer of the nation” by statesman Shimon Peres, died Wednesday. He was 92 years old.
Born Dietrich Rubinger in Vienna in 1924, he was a man of charm and conviviality with a slight European accent and a raconteur’s gift for relating his adventures.
He came to pre-state Israel in 1939 when he was 15 years old, escaping World War II on a youth immigration program. Rubinger’s mother died in Belarus in 1942 (according to his Geni profile, a genealogy app available online). His father, who had been sent to the Dachau concentration camp, escaped to England and survived the war.
Rubinger spent three years living and working on Kibbutz Beit Zera, on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee. When he turned 18, he volunteered in the Jewish Brigade of the British Army, serving in Africa and Europe.
