Barbara Kay: The once mighty Amnesty International has sunk to irrelevancy
I can’t remember the exact date, now decades ago, that I cancelled my monthly donation to AI Canada, only that it was due to AI’s rabid obsession with Israel, and its continual harping on the fallacious trope of Israel as an “apartheid” state.Irish charity gets ‘reminder’ from charities regulator over its anti-Israel activity
AI’s “researchers” on the Israel file have a record of anti-Israel activism and make no effort to hide it. For years, the “halo” effect of its past integrity protected AI from being criticized about its extreme bias on this front, but none of the charity’s disproportionate focus on Israel went unnoticed by NGO Monitor.
In a 2015 monograph, NGO Monitor detailed Amnesty’s “financial mismanagement; repeated examples of ‘lawfare’; systematic flaws in the reporting of human rights abuses; limited understanding of armed conflict leading to erroneous claims and incorrect analysis; and violation of the universality of human rights, including a consistent institutionalized bias against Israel through double-standards.”
Suffice to say that many of Richard Gladstone’s allegations against Israel in his own infamous report on the 2014 Hamas-Israel conflict — which he later publicly repudiated — were “based upon false claims proffered by Amnesty.”
There is no law that human rights organizations must exist in perpetuity. AI has done great work, and continues to do good work, but once a charity’s reputation for consistent integrity has been deeply contaminated in one area, as AI’s has, it has lost the moral high ground it once commanded.
In any case, the world has moved on, and AI is no longer needed. Scores of NGOs now inhabit the human rights terrain that AI tilled. The internet offers more revelations on human rights abuse in a day than AI once did in a year.
Sixty years ago, AI’s literal prisoners of conscience languished in filthy prisons or suffered torture for their courage in defying tyranny. By painful contrast, in 2020, along with other equally unsound NGOs, Amnesty Ireland signed a letter urging politicians to “no longer provide legitimate representation” to women holding “critical” views on gender ideology, which the letter equates with “bigoted beliefs that are aligned with far right ideologies.”
In my youth, I was buoyed by AI’s heroic defence of the right of South African dissidents to protest their lack of political representation. In my old age, I am horrified to witness AI calling for the removal of political-representation rights from gender-ideology dissidents. AI Ireland has clearly lost the plot. But limbs take their cue from the brain. This organism is rotting from the head down.
For too long, Trócaire was allowed to act with impunity regarding its anti-Israel political advocacy. That is until someone within the organization thought it would be a good idea to post Palestinian flags to Irish households as part of its Christmas 2021 campaign. It turned out to be a step too far.Stephen Daisley: Why won’t the UK recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital?
On Sunday, June 5th, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times revealed that Trócaire had finally fallen foul of the Irish charities regulator. The article stated that Trócaire had received a ‘reminder’ about its political activity. The letter from the regulator was prompted by two formal complaints about Trócaire’s recent campaigns, relating to the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
One of the complainants said he had received an unsolicited mailshot from Trócaire containing a Palestinian flag, along with a request to “display the flag overleaf inside your home to show solidarity with the children, women and men of Gaza and Palestine.” The complainant went on to say that “it is particularly reprehensible this is done at Christmas, the season of goodwill, when the same flag is flown over Gaza by Hamas, a violent Islamist, misogynistic, anti-Jewish cult pledged to wipe the world’s only Jewish state off the map.”
Trócaire means “compassion” in the Irish language, but as the overseas development agency of the Irish Catholic Church, its words and actions are nothing but a clanging cymbal if its compassion is not also seen to extend to the people of Israel. In a conflict as deep-seated and volatile as the Israeli-Palestinian one is, words and actions matter, and government-funded institutions like Trócaire have a responsibility not to add fuel to the fire.
In 2020, Trócaire received €21.4 million from Irish Aid, and while no one can deny that Trócaire does a lot of good across the world, it needs to decide whether it is a charity or a political lobby group with a strong anti-Israel bias. It cannot be both. The slap on the wrist from the charities regulator was long overdue.
The UK’s policy on Jerusalem has failed. It is not a prerequisite to peace but a hindrance, a well-intentioned bit of imperial fixing and post-imperial guilt which has calcified into catechism. The UK’s policy does not recognise Jerusalem because recognising Jerusalem is not the UK's policy. There is no rationale beyond that.
The signing of an FTA would be a prime opportunity to reset British policy on Israel. It would give the next prime minister a chance to break with the impotence and ineffectuality of the past. The lobby for the past – Foreign Office civil servants and diplomats – would be furious. No wonder: for once they would be implementing government policy on the Middle East rather than deciding it. All the same, a bit a ministerial bravery would be worth it.
If we are going to enhance our trade with Israel, we should afford it the dignity and respect of recognising its capital city. Israel does not dispute Westminster sovereignty over Scotland or Northern Ireland and Westminster should treat Israel in kind. Recognising Jerusalem would not prevent us from objecting to Israel’s rule over Judea and Samaria, over which Israel itself does not assert de jure sovereignty, or any aspects of that rule. Nor would it foreclose on territorial changes in any part of Jerusalem in future talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel has demonstrated time and again its willingness to cede territory in pursuit of peace (e.g. Sinai, Hebron, Gaza). It takes a certain Whitehall arrogance to think British recognition of Jerusalem would discourage the Palestinians from their national struggle or Israel from a land-for-peace policy it has followed for four decades.
Recognition is not about pre-empting final status arrangements, imposing British preferences, or inserting ourselves in a far-off conflict. It is about recognising facts on the ground. As the United States said when it moved its embassy to Jerusalem, the decision was about ‘principled realism, which begins with an honest acknowledgment of plain facts’. Similar realism, principled or otherwise, has been shown by Taiwan, Nauru, Honduras, Guatemala, and Kosovo, as well as Russia and Australia, which have both recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The UK should recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, quaint though this may sound, because it is the truth and, where possible, our policy should be based in truth, or at least not based in harmful, unproductive fictions like corpus separatum. The UK should re-designate its unaccredited Jerusalem consulate as its embassy to Israel. It should do so as a sign of good will to a friendly nation which shares intelligence that helps us break up London terror plots and whose pharmaceutical giant Teva supplies one in every six medicines prescribed in the UK. We should recognise Jerusalem because negotiating a trade deal with a country while pretending it doesn't have a capital city is as cowardly as it is absurd.
Why Are Cori Bush’s Ties To Palestinian Activist Who Tweeted About ‘Burning Israelis Alive’ Generating Zero Media Coverage?
Who Won’t Cory Bush Accept Funds From? Meet American Muslims for Palestine
Bush’s inability or unwillingness to call out Ayesh’s incendiary views on Israel seemingly dovetails with the group that the latter represents, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
AMP is a charity that effectively comprises an A to Z of antisemites, including its chairman Dr. Hartem Bazian, who, among other things, has called for an intifada in the United States; discussed a “Palestinian Holocaust” while likening Gaza to a concentration camp; accused Israelis of raping, murdering and harvesting the organs of Palestinians, and posted antisemitic cartoons, including one of an Orthodox Jew labeled an “Ashke-Nazi.”
Meanwhile, AMP’s Associate Director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing, Taher Herzalleh, who, rather worryingly, was invited to speak to students at the University of California San Diego in May, has sought to justify Hamas rocket attacks and praised the killing of Israeli soldiers as the most “beautiful” sight.
It could be that Cori Bush was until recently blissfully unaware of Ayesh’s chilling comments, or indeed the antisemitism that has been espoused by her colleagues at American Muslims for Palestine.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, will she now go on record to condemn her past association with Ayesh and unequivocally denounce her anti-Jewish hatred?
More importantly, will American news outlets publicize any mea culpa and report on the events that led to it?
SQUAD Congresswoman Cori Bush continues to fundraise w/ our 'Antisemite of the Week' Neveen Ayesh
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) July 25, 2022
Bush was made aware of Ayesh's atrocious antisemitism yet didn't blink an eye; she continued w/a fundraiser last week hosted by Ayesh.
Bush's Primary is August 2 - VOTE. HER. OUT. pic.twitter.com/ofDClZXRy6
More on Neveen Ayesh's antisemitism here: https://t.co/hhZ3ztBtDL
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) July 25, 2022
Unilever’s sale of Ben & Jerry’s: A corporate cop out - opinion
In response to Ben & Jerry’s boycott of selling their products in parts of Israel, its parent company, Unilever, has sold its interests to the Israeli distributor, American Quality Products (AQP), who’s again facilitating the sale of Ben & Jerry’s throughout the entire country. Unilever touts this as a public relations victory, meanwhile Ben & Jerry’s is now suing them for what’s really just a massive corporate cop out.CUNY Anti-Semitism fiasco continues
Unilever is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where I proudly live and serve as mayor. I’ve been watching the situation unfold in my backyard ever since the boycott was announced, last July. In fact, I sent a letter to Unilever’s CEO Alan Jope urging them to take a stand against Ben & Jerry’s injustice, but all I was met with was a reply full of corporate drivel and no commitment to correcting their wayward subsidiary.
Ben & Jerry’s claimed that it couldn’t sell its products to a country responsible for human rights violations, implying an alignment with the heinous BDS movement (boycott, divest and sanction) that threatens the existence of Israel. Their boycott also ended a 34-year partnership with AQP, which now owns the rights to manufacture and distribute Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Over the past year, Unilever has made statements saying they are totally against the BDS movement and that they were learning about the complexity of politics in Israel. Still, there’s been no repudiation of its subsidiary and its scandalous accusations.
Outsourcing Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s corporate and social responsibilities to a third party falls far short of standing proudly in support of Israel and its citizens. As I write, we are finally seeing public company boards start to realize that the latest flavor of social activism limits a business’ potential growth and shareholder value. In the case of Unilever, the proper support of a democratic Israel would have been to restructure Ben & Jerry’s board and not its business in Israel.
Can they be raising money, issuing letters, but doing nothing - or is there something we do not know?
The AJC letter claims they are “ready to assist in any way possible.”
Maybe they can assist by touching bases with the City Councilmember responsible for fighting against anti-Semitism in NYC? If they are raising money on this issue, couldn’t they actually after many months speak to the members of the City Council working on this issue?
The American Jewish Congress letter further notably ignores a simple fact – that the head of the Jewish caucus of the City Council, Eric Dinowitz, is a member of the progressive caucus, whose executive director, Emily Mayer is a virulent anti-Israel activist. Mayer has labelled Israel an “apartheid” state, and has a long record of anti-Israel activities which have been well-documented.
The American Jewish Congress ignores Ms. Mayer, and ignores the inherent conflict that Dinowitz, the head of the Jewish caucus, has in also sitting as a member of the progressive caucus. How can one fight Anti-Semitism and collaborate with someone who calls Israel an Apartheid state?
The American Jewish Congress (who refused to comment for this story) should work on this issue – and only then raise money for it.
This issue continues to be a stain on so many –
On the CUNY Chancellor for continuing to turn a blind eye to racism and Anti-Semitism,
On Eric Dinowitz for sitting on a progressive council whose executive director is anti-Israel
On the American Jewish Congress for being months late to the show and raising money but not seen working on this issue.
Wait… Israelis trained American cops and it led to less arrests and less crime? Don’t tell anyone, Students for Justice in Palestine will never recover. https://t.co/n8dW8B6iPN
— Blake Flayton (@blakeflayton) July 25, 2022
Publicly Funded France 24 Arabic Promotes Unsubstantiated Anti-Israel Conspiracy
France24 Arabic Jerusalem correspondent Laila Odeh has a history of biased coverage of Israel and Israeli affairs. Among other issues, the journalist in the service of the French public broadcaster misleadingly referred to nonviolent Jews who visited Jerusalem’s Temple Mount / Noble Sanctuary as “settlers storming the al-Aqsa Mosque” and also labeled Israel’s internationally recognized territory “occupied” and “the 1948 territories.”City TV Montreal Airs Palestinian Musician's Denial Of Israel’s Right To Exist; OMNI Reporter Signed Anti-Israel Open Letter
More recently, earlier this month she speculated about the investigation into the bullet which allegedly killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh:
Israeli officials have confirmed, both by a military statement and in the Israeli press, that the Israeli military or the Israelis took part in the process of inspecting the bullet which the PA handed over to the Americans; that the process of ballistic inspection was unable to determine the party responsible for Shireen Abu Akleh’s death; and even on the matter of the weapon from which the bullet was fired, it was not determined what was the weapon, which actually fired the bullet. That is to say, this could be a preliminary attempt to dissipate the affair and to avoid holding any of the parties liable, the Israeli side in particular.
Of course, the Shireen Abu Akleh affair today has taken a greater dimension, perhaps, within the attempt to wriggle Israel out of assuming responsibility [for its actions], but with overt American support this time.
There is zero evidence that an American-Israeli cover-up has ever taken place. Odeh’s injection of unsubstantiated speculations therefore amounts to unprofessional editorializing completely at odds with the journalistic standards incumbent upon the tax-funded French broadcaster.
On July 23, City TV Montreal broadcast a segment by OMNI reporter Farah Mustapha about how Palestinian brothers in a band called Le Trio Joubran are touring Canada and were performing in Montreal.'I was the first-ever foreigner to join the Palestinian struggle'
According to Mustapha, “They say they play to honour the struggles and oppression of their people through music.”
The OMNI reporter then quoted one of the brothers, Samir Joubran, saying: “My message is giving love, hope, we are still hoping that we can get the freedom to live in a free country without occupation.”
Though the brothers regard themselves as Palestinians, this report notes that they are from Nazareth, an Israeli city which makes them, drum roll please… Arab-Israelis. The musicians, according to this report, claim they travel the world to tell people about the Palestinian cause. Meanwhile, City TV’s report refers to the non-existent state of “Palestine,” despite the fact that the Palestinians haven’t been granted statehood yet.
OMNI reporter Mustafa quotes brother Wissam Joubran who says: “It is a poem that Mahmoud Darwish, the great poet, wrote in 1992… It is a very symbolic message actually because he is comparing this case [of the Indigenous and white man] to the Palestinian case. We are living this situation since 74 years and until today, and we aim to end this occupation and start the life.”
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as Carlos the Jackal, is an international terrorist who for decades was considered to be the most wanted fugitive in the world. He was born in Venezuela to a wealthy family. His father was a devout communist who hated the West and – against the objections of his wife – even named his son after Soviet leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.Israel, Argentina sign agreement to share Holocaust archives
Already from a young age, Carlos was involved in political struggles, and according to his own confession, was only 15 when he first kidnapped and killed someone.
His terror activities led to the deaths of over 1,500 people, mostly while working for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to which he got exposed after getting expelled from university and joining a training camp for foreign volunteers of the PFLP in Jordan in 1970.
He experienced the events of Black September firsthand when King Hussein had thousands of Palestinians, who had set up military training camps in Jordan, massacred.
Carlos fought on the Palestinian side and later joined the PFLP as a member.
During this time, he terrorized targets in Israel and Europe. All major intelligence agencies tried to capture him, which he managed to evade for 20 years, hiding in countries such as Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan.
He was close to such leaders as Saddam Hussein and Mu'ammar Gaddafi, and as a mercenary terrorist, collaborated with other Arab leaders against the West and Israel.
In 1994, after two decades on the run, Carlos was captured in a daring mission and has since been imprisoned in France.
Argentina agreed to share archival records about Jews who fled the Holocaust to the country this week in a new agreement signed between the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center and the Archivo General de la Nación (General Archive of the Nation) in Buenos Aires.Memorial at Buchenwald concentration camp site vandalized twice in a week
In addition, the countries agreed to increase Holocaust-education programs in the Latin American country.
"Holocaust remembrance, education and research are the keys to fighting intolerance, hatred and anti-Semitism," said Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan, who signed the agreements on behalf of Israel. "Argentina took an additional step in the right direction to bringing meaningful and historically accurate knowledge about the Holocaust to its youth and future generations, as well as to allow for the expansion of our repositories of documentation of the events of this dark chapter of our not-so-distant past."
He added that "with the opening of Argentinian National Archives, Yad Vashem will be able to delve deeper into the multifaceted elements – and meanings – of the Holocaust."
The agreement was signed in the presence of Argentinian Interior Minister Eduardo de Pedro.
Yad Vashem was established in 1953, less than a decade after the conclusion of World War II and the Holocaust. Since then, it has been gathering relevant archival documentation from around the world and bringing it to the Mount of Remembrance as the bases for all of its commemorative and educational efforts.
Today, the museum houses more than 222 million pages of Holocaust-related documentation, which over the years has been made available to researchers and the public at its Jerusalem campus and online.
'Holocaust is a puzzle'
According to the cooperation agreement, which JNS reviewed, the Argentinian General Archive will provide access for Yad Vashem representatives to the research tools and archival materials, as well as allow full-text copying of related documents. Yad Vashem may place digital copies of the reproduced documents in its own archive and can also open them up to the public for personal, educational or research purposes.
"It is our unwavering mission at Yad Vashem to gather all possible information relating to the Holocaust," Dayan said after signing the agreement. "The archival documentation we collect is the basis for our multidisciplinary activities and enhances Yad Vashem's mission to connect the pieces of the puzzle of the Holocaust in order to transmit its messages for all humanity."
Vandals damaged trees planted in honor of the victims of the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald twice in the last week, prompting state premier Bodo Ramelow on Monday to pledge a “decisive response.”How did cartoonists see the voyage of the Exodus?
Seven trees planted near the camp memorial in the German state of Thuringia were felled or badly damaged last week while another two were destroyed over the weekend, according to the charity that planted them.
The trees were part of the project “1,000 beeches” by the Lebenshilfewerk organization which has since 1999 planted saplings along the “death march” route from the former camp.
Buchenwald means beech forest in German.
Thuringia premier Ramelow said he was interrupting his summer holiday in response, telling the daily Tageszeitung he would attend a memorial march for deported Jewish youth in the city of Weimar on Sunday.
“The only thing that will help is a decisive response. Two new trees for every destroyed one. Redoubled focus on every cowardly act,” he said.
“Those who commit such cowardly attacks share a mentality with the murderers in the concentration camps,” Ramelow of the far-left Linke party said of the vandals.
Seventy-five years ago this week, the incredible voyage of the refugee ship Exodus captured the hearts and minds of the international community.Hollywood and Israel, a Love Story: How the Jewish State Met the Silver Screen
The lively and provocative political cartoonists for the Hebrew-language press in Palestine chronicled the journey with the unique mix of humor, sarcasm and poignancy that is the hallmark of their profession.
Originally used to carry American troops in the Normandy Beach landings in World War II, the ship was purchased by agents of the Haganah, the Jewish underground in Palestine, and repaired in the Baltimore harbor after the war.
In July 1947, the Exodus, manned by a crew that included numerous American volunteers, took aboard more than 4,500 Holocaust survivors at a rendezvous point on the coast of France. The British navy, implementing its government’s strict policy of preventing most Jewish immigration to Palestine, trailed the ship as it crossed the Mediterranean.
When the Exodus approached the coast of Palestine on July 18, a British destroyer rammed the ship and truncheon-wielding British soldiers charged aboard. They brutally beat many of the passengers and crew, including American crewmate Bill Bernstein, who died of his injuries. More than 20,000 New Yorkers filled Madison Square Garden several weeks later for a memorial ceremony in Bernstein’s honor.
International controversy over the Exodus intensified when the British shipped them back to France in three ships that were outfitted as floating prisons. But when the ships reached Port de Bouc, all but a handful of the passengers refused to disembark, and the French authorities declined to force them to do so. The refugees remained there for more than three weeks, focusing embarrassing attention on Great Britain’s harsh policy toward Jewish immigrants.
Israel plays a larger-than-life role on America’s silver screen. From big-budget epics such as Paul Newman’s 1960 hit “Exodus” to Adam Sandler’s raunchy “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” in 2008, Hollywood films about the Jewish state can evoke a cluster of competing reactions.When a Jewish group fought antisemitism with radio shows and comic books
A new book takes in the panorama — “Hollywood and Israel: A History,” by professors Tony Shaw and Giora Goodman.
“There have been a few books dealing with the subject of the representation of Israel in Hollywood films, mainly ‘Exodus,’” Goodman said in a joint Zoom interview between the authors and The Times of Israel. “But none of them are about the relationship as a whole, both off-screen as well as on-screen, and over a whole century.
“It’s not just film production, but also philanthropy, diplomacy and celebrity advocacy, the whole kind of relationship that can be built between the global entertainment capital and a state, Israel.”
The book is replete with cinematic moments depicting Israel.
They range from the heartfelt kiss between Newman and his American Presbyterian lover, nurse Kitty Fremont (Eva Marie Saint), atop Mount Hermon in “Exodus,” to the heart-stopping sight of zombies swarming Jerusalem in “World War Z,” a Brad Pitt dramatization of the apocalyptic bestseller by Max Brooks, son of beloved Jewish director Mel.
There are also plenty of tidbits backed up by archival research. Did you know that former prime minister Ehud Olmert is credited with suggesting the title “Pretty Woman” to sabra producer Arnon Milchan back when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem? Or that the 1990 Julia Roberts blockbuster then became Yasser Arafat’s favorite film? Or that lifelong Israel aficionado Frank Sinatra reportedly smuggled funds to the Haganah? (At least, that was the claim by Teddy Kollek, an early Israeli liaison to Hollywood who also became mayor of Jerusalem.)
The book has a near-Hollywood origin story: A Los Angeles-based colleague connected the geographically separated authors. Shaw is a British academic at the University of Hertfordshire, while Goodman is based in the Galilee as the Department of Multidisciplinary Studies chair at Kinneret College.
Half a century before the Internet was invented, an American Jewish organization was asking how new media might be harnessed in the fight against antisemitism. Their answer, launched in 1937 as the Nazis rose to power in Germany, was a 15-year effort to spread the message of tolerance through comic books, radio, advertising, newsstands and eventually television spots.Israel's Maccabiah Games Are Connecting Thousands of Jews Worldwide
The organization was the American Jewish Committee, and its pioneering effort to combat prejudice through mass media is the subject of an exhibit, “Confronting Hate 1937-1952,” which opens July 29 at the New-York Historical Society. The exhibit represents a deep dive into AJC’s holdings by Charlotte Bonelli, AJC’s archives director, and displays the wide variety of materials — radio scripts, cartoons, film clips, posters and magazine and newspaper articles — generated largely under the direction of Richard Rothschild, the advertising executive recruited by AJC to run the campaign.
The materials’ relentlessly upbeat messages about brotherhood and Americanness might strike modern audiences as naive, but at the time the stakes couldn’t have been higher nor the rhetoric more sincere: Hitler was on the march, American isolationists were a political force to be reckoned with, and demagogues such as Father Charles Coughlin and Gerald L. K. Smith were using the airwaves to broadcast popular versions of America-first antisemitism.
Today the AJC has a director for combating antisemitism and maintains a social media presence as well as a podcast, but the emphasis has shifted from actually producing mass media (radio spots featuring their CEO, David Harris, were last aired in 2015), to training policy-makers, media execs and law enforcement about how to recognize, report and root out antisemitism.
I spoke Thursday with Bonelli and Debra Schmidt Bach, curator of decorative arts and special exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society. Our conversation touched on the range of materials created by AJC’s campaign and in what ways, if any, they changed hearts and minds.
The 21st Maccabiah games, the "Jewish Olympics," which opened on July 12, brought more than 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries to compete in 42 sporting events all around Israel.1,850-year-old bronze Roman coin discovered on Israeli beach
When the athletes aren't competing in their sports, they can choose from a variety of options for experiencing the Jewish homeland.
Professor Yaniv Poria of Ben-Gurion University notes: "The Maccabiah is not just a sports competition; it is an event that is part of the heritage of the Jewish people. When we watch the Maccabiah competitions, we do not do so in the expectation of seeing world records."
"When we watch the incoming delegations, it is an event of a Jewish nature. Even the athletes who come here are not only interested in competing but in getting to know other Jewish athletes, and getting to know the country and its inhabitants."
A bronze Roman coin dating back 1,877 years with the symbol of the Cancer zodiac sign and a Moon goddess was discovered at Carmel Beach in Haifa by archaeologists from the Antiquities Authority.Tiny Temples
The coin was discovered during a survey of the area designed to find antiques and save them from degradation.
This isn't the oldest Roman-era coin discovered. In fact, coins from the earlier Bar Kokhba revolt were found in Jerusalem two years ago. However, this coin was found in the water, is in remarkably good condition and its engravings shed considerable light on its origins and what it is meant to depict.
Israel in the Roman era
The coins used as money by the Romans were minted from gold, silver, bronze, copper and orichalcum, although historians are unclear as to what exactly is orichalcum metal.
Over time, especially in the closing days of the Roman Republic and throughout the Roman Empire, these coins also contained a number of icons and writings.
This coin in particular is no exception, with the writing telling us exactly when and where the coin was minted: in year eight of the reign of Antoninus Pius, and where it was minted, Alexandria in Egypt.
Antoninus Pius was Roman emperor from 138 CE to 161 CE, so this would have been minted in 145 CE, 75 years after the destruction of the Second Temple.
For millennia, those eager to picture the First or Second Temple in Jerusalem had to rely on their imagination. While there was no shortage of rituals lamenting the destruction of the sacred site or prayers for its restoration, visual depictions were something else again.
By the early Middle Ages, images of the Temple’s implements and of its physical layout, inspired by scriptural and related references, graced a number of manuscripts, among them Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. But households that owned a copy of any of these handwritten texts were far and few between.
With the advent in the 19th century, if not earlier, of modern technologies of publication, circulation, and travel, the prospect of visualizing the ancient Temple as an actual, knowable, physical construct situated in an actual, knowable landscape became more and more attainable. From drawings to photographs, images of the so-called biblical lands—the built and natural environments as well as their seemingly timeless inhabitants—increasingly accompanied new editions of the Bible.
They also appeared in freestanding compilations such as Felix Bonfils’ Souvenirs d’Orient of 1878, which boasted of its in situ photographs of the ancient Near East and its “cortege of splendors.” Readers could “esteem themselves happy” simply by gazing upon these “prestigious pictures,” noted the volume’s foreword approvingly, adding that the effect of “illusion is complete so that one believes himself to be actually in the presence of the subject.”
Magic lantern slides, also known as stereopticon slides, furthered that illusion. The device used to project them, which was called a stereoscope, provided a “window through which to walk … and see objects and places in natural size and at a natural distance.” To bring home the veracity of the biblical narrative, Sunday-school teachers and religiously minded parents could choose from among hundreds of images, bundled together and advertised via promotional brochures, of biblical sites, ancient Temple ruins, and “costume studies” of locals in their native dress.
Meanwhile, those who had the economic means and physical stamina to undertake a lengthy and often demanding voyage to the Near East could rely on a growing genre of illustrated travel literature to whet their appetite for adventure and direct their steps. Baedeker’s 1876 Palestine and Syria: Handbook for Travellers was among the earliest of such guidebooks, whose lengthy, detailed description of the route one might take from, say, Jaffa to Jerusalem, came in handy, as did its helpful hints on matters ranging from how much to pack (very little); what to look for when securing a horse, mule, or donkey (make sure they were “not addicted to lying down and rolling”); and how to come by the local currency (“be very cautious” when dealing with “money-changers, generally Jews”). Its maps, photographs, and other visual devices were also among its most desirable features for they could be trusted, it was said, where “information sought from natives” could not.
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