I'm very sorry to say that Petra Marquardt-Bigman, a long time columnist for this site, has passed away.
Petra was a fearless scholar and a passionate writer. She had written for publications on the Left and the Right, from The Guardian to The Jerusalem Post, from Haaretz to Tablet. She wrote articles for The Forward that challenged that site's liberal audience.
Her Times of Israel bio probably captured her own self image best: "Petra Marquardt-Bigman is a politically homeless lapsed leftist who can’t get used to living in a time when the Nazi slogan “The Jews are our misfortune” is considered quite acceptable in its 21st century version “The Jewish state is our misfortune.” She therefore writes mostly about antisemitism, anti-Israel activism and BDS, i.e. Bigoted Double Standards. She grew up in Germany and has a Ph.D. in contemporary history."
I don't have her entire biography so I cannot write as much about her life as I would like. She wasn't Jewish but married an Israeli, and she was a proud Israeli citizen. Her husband David fought for Jerusalem in the Six Day War but he was injured, and those injuries led to his death.
As a native German, Petra understood antisemitism and was an expert on the topic. Her articles are smart, well-argued, filled with references and effective. It was truly an honor to host her writings here.
Petra loved Israel and she loved the Jewish people.
Mrs. Elder and I visited Petra a couple of times at her beautiful Bat Yam apartment with a stunning view of the Mediterranean. She was a gracious host and one of my fondest memories of Israel is sitting on her balcony, drinking tea and shmoozing while looking at the beach and the sea in the moonlight.
I learned she had cancer in October when I noticed that she hadn't tweeted in a while and contacted her. Even though she was obviously in pain, she remained gracious and appreciative of the good in her life. She wrote to me, "I have to say that with all I’ve ever had to say about he horrors of Israel’s medical system and the hospitals, the oncology department in Tel Hashomer is amazing. What’s also amazing when you spend a lot of time in a place like Tel Hashomer is what a huge contribution American donors make. Absolutely awesome."
Petra was a wonderful author and a treasured friend. Israel has lost a peerless advocate.
I will miss her terribly.
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A Jan. 7 letter in the Guardian, signed by eight experienced lawyers, misrepresents what the IHRA definition says about Israel and anti-Semitism. They claim that "the majority" of the IHRA definition's "illustrative examples" of potentially anti-Semitic speech "do not refer to Jews as such, but to Israel." This is simply not true. Of the 11 "illustrative examples" of potentially anti-Semitic speech listed in the IHRA definition, 9 explicitly mention Jews or the Jewish people (7 mention Israel, of which 5 mention both Jews and Israel).
The examples that mention both Jews and Israel include "Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust"; "Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel"; or "Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis." Do the signatories of this letter really intend to claim that these examples suppress legitimate, non-anti-Semitic criticism of the State of Israel?
They further claim that the examples in the definition "have been widely used to suppress or avoid criticism of the state of Israel." Widely used? Treating the suggestion that criticism of Israel is widely suppressed, either in our universities or elsewhere, is a laughable fantasy. Anti-Israel events still take place at British universities on a regular basis. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic incidents at British universities are at record levels.
The Jewish groups’ reasoning is a concern that the IHRA definition would be used to “suppress legitimate free speech, criticism of Israeli government actions, and advocacy for Palestinian rights.” They cite as “a harmful overreach” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s declaration that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism” and that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel and Israelis is a form of antisemitism that the State Department will make sure not to support.
The groups also claimed that this use of the IHRA definition is “primarily aimed at shielding the present Israeli government and its occupation from all criticism.”
An examination of the above definition and of the examples provided by IHRA – which are too many to present here, but are accessible online – finds that it in no way calls to limit criticism of Israel’s government or any others.
Unless, that is, these organizations mean to say comparing Israelis to Nazis is legitimate criticism of government policies – comparisons which are a way of denying the abject horrors of the Holocaust; or, in their zeal to advocate for Palestinian self-determination, they’ve decided that Jews are uniquely unworthy of the same rights.
As journalists, we share in these organizations’ vigilance about free speech and believe open debate is important.
Yet, the full IHRA text states that it is not a legally binding document, which means that it is not codifying limits to free expression.
The US Constitution has broad protections for free speech, perhaps the broadest in the world. Hate speech is not illegal in the US, for example. But even in America, one cannot discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, age, or citizenship status in hiring practices.
BDS is, by definition, discriminating against Israelis due to their national origin, and antisemitism is discrimination based on religion. For Pompeo to ensure funds do not go to BDS-supporting groups is a reflection of existing protected categories in US law.
No one is taking away these Jewish groups’ or their Palestinian allies’ right to criticize Israel as sharply or as harshly as they wish. What governments around the world have sought to do is to combat antisemitic speech, discrimination and other behaviors by identifying them.
The Academy of Sciences confirmed the decision in a letter addressed to Robert Singer, Senior Advisor to the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement and Chairman of the Center for Jewish Impact, and Noah Gal Gendler, Israel’s Ambassador to Albania. In the letter, the Academy said it “reconfirms its attitude on the historical crimes committed against Jews during the Shoah (Holocaust)” and stated that “the inhumane acts they suffered during World War II, due to racism are not phenomena belonging to history, but it appears in a form of a danger reviving collective crimes and racism, ethnic, religious and cultural hatred.”
The Academy said that as an institution that has historically promoted the study of the Holocaust and its lessons, adopting the IHRA working definition is “a completely natural step and in coherence with its own past, as well as its legal and civil mission.” The Academy of Science will issue its own statement on the adoption of the IHRA working definition on January 26.
The Academy’s decision follows October’s landmark unanimous vote by the Albanian parliament to adopt the IHRA working definition, making Albania – well-known for its interfaith coexistence – the first Muslim-majority country to do so.
Israel on Thursday marked the milestone of having inoculated 2 million people with the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, as the country pushed forward with the national vaccination drive amid record daily infections.
The person declared as the two-millionth Israeli to get the first dose was a kindergarten teacher from the central city of Ramle. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, both of whom have received the second dose, were on hand at the Maccabi Healthcare Services clinic in the city.
“It’s already become routine… It’s something we’re happy to grow accustomed to, but mostly we want to finish this,” Netanyahu said. “We’ll continue — to the next million.”
The prime minister said the government was working on rolling out the “green passports,” which will grant those vaccinated or who have recovered from COVID-19 access to certain gatherings and events that are currently banned.
Netanyahu urged Israelis to adhere to government-mandated virus restrictions and said no decision had yet been made on extending the third nationwide lockdown, which health officials have signaled will last beyond the original January 21 end date.
Israel kicked off its vaccine drive last month and on Sunday began administering second doses. It is currently first in the world in the number of people vaccinated per capita, according to the Oxford University-based Our World In Data.
According to television reports Thursday, Israel could begin vaccinating all citizens in their 40s next week, after opening up the vaccine drive this week to all Israelis over 50.
Coinciding with the launch of the vaccination campaign has been a surge in coronavirus cases, with over 9,000 daily new infections diagnosed in recent days.
By the way, the image is from a 1915 newspaper drawing of a new synagogue in Wyoming.
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Jerusalem, January 14 - Proprietors of a neighborhood establishment specializing in pastries, breads, and various confections has to date not voiced opinions on behalf of the enterprise regarding the ongoing political turmoil in the US, thus defying a recent trend that has seen business after business jump onto the political stability concern bandwagon.
Political observers noted with surprise today that the Mahane Yehuda franchise of the English Cake chain has placed no signs or placards in its windows denouncing or expressing worry over the developments in Washington over the last week, nor has its social media presence devoted even a single tweet or Facebook post to the violence in and around the US capitol building, the president's apparent encouragement of that violence, mutual right-left recriminations over treatment of the violence versus the various social justice confrontations over the last several years, the mass purging of conservative voices from said social media, or other burning issues of tremendous political or societal import.
"It's just business as usual," noted a shocked Haaretz journalist. "The folks running this place don't seem to feel the visceral, dare I say universal, or at least it should be universal, drive to filter everything through political biases and interpret every development in a way that confirms those biases. I confess I don't know how they do it without fear of being totally crushed on Twitter, or at least left behind when everyone *I* know can tell what political basket they should put their eggs in."
Others noted that the establishment's previous political behavior aligns with its current silence on Trump. "This isn't anything new for this branch of English Cake," observed Israel Democracy Institute fellow Dunning Kruger. "They remained mum during the first Trump impeachment brouhaha as well. And I can find in their social media history not a single mention of Black Lives Matter, the Proud Boys, the wall with Mexico, the Muslim ban, or any other pivotal issue of our time. Not even the Iran nuclear deal. One wonders how a business can even function if it focuses only on production, quality control, marketing, management, and accounting, and totally ignores its relationship with the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle."
Perusal of the franchise's Instagram account bore out that claim; it also revealed a troubling lack of diversity among the few staff members whose photos feature there, none of whom appear to be transqueer Muslim immigrant women of color.
The real story here is that this is all part of a broader agenda. The notion that Israel exists as one state, encompassing Gaza and the West Bank, is increasingly being used by anti-Israel activists in the West in an effort to promote it as a solution. Their goal is to force Israelis and Palestinians into a single country that both sides have already rejected.
Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, author of City on a Hilltop, recently noted that “B'Tselem needs to be honest about the fact that its endgame here is a one-state solution between the river and the sea, and the erasure of the Jewish character of the State of Israel.”
When the Left-wing writer Peter Beinart argued last year in favour of a “one-state solution”, he didn’t seem to have consulted with Palestinians. In July 2020 Beinart, together with other prominent progressives, debated the “viability of a binational state of ‘Israel-Palestine’ as an alternate path forward.”
No Palestinians took part in this all-Jewish panel. In an irony of the “apartheid” discussion, there is often an apartheid on left-wing panels discussing the matter: Palestinians are systematically excluded from expressing their needs by the Israel-bashing radical left.
The evidence shows that Palestinians don’t want to vote in Israeli elections, no matter how many times activists claim that Israel excludes them from voting. They want to vote for their own representatives. Only two percent of Palestinians in East Jerusalem make their voices heard in Jerusalem municipal elections. And there is no evidence that people in Gaza want to governed by Israel and vote for members of the Knesset.
The fact is that despite B’Tselem’s claim, one government does not rule everything between the river and the sea and Israelis and Palestinians don’t want to live in one state. They may have trouble divorcing from each other – and Israel’s military rule in the West Bank may be imperfect – but Israelis and Palestinians will link arms to resist an attempt to impose a single state upon them.
In essence, the Left’s support for one state is a throwback to the colonial era of the British mandate, which ruled the entire area. The discussions about it are paternalistic, rarely including Hebrew-speaking Israelis or Arabic-speaking Palestinians. Almost no one from Gaza to Ramallah, from Haifa to Ashdod, actually wants to be forced to live together after years of working to be separate. Especially by Western liberals.
Since you guys all had trouble separating fact from fiction in @btselem's propaganda, I, as an Israeli Arab myself, decided to help you out and show you the Israeli "apartheid" that exists here on the ground. https://t.co/375AV6Zg4V
Previously, B’Tselem for the most part limited its criticism to Israeli policies that apply to Palestinians living beyond the pre-1967 borders (i.e. the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the eastern part of Jerusalem). Now, the organization appears to have ventured into new territory: claiming that Zionism — namely, the right of Jewish people to self-determination — has produced an apartheid regime, even within what is regarded as Israel proper: Israel is not a democracy that has a temporary occupation attached to it; it is one regime from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, and we must look at the full picture and see it for what it is: apartheid.
Yet, facts are stubborn things, and in Israel, unlike the past situation in South Africa, national law guarantees equal rights for all.
And while the situation in the West Bank is more complex, Israel has on multiple occasions offered the Palestinians generous peace deals to end the prevailing status quo. Indeed, every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin over a quarter century ago has publicly accepted in principle the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, only to be rebuffed by Ramallah.
Whereas the ultimate fate of the West Bank is a matter of robust debate even amongst Israelis, what is certain is that the media has spread an outright falsehood by suggesting that Israel is an apartheid state. Arab-Israeli citizens have the same freedom of movement and speech as their Jewish counterparts; receive an education and health care; are able to vote; and can work in whatever professions they choose. They also serve throughout the government, in the Knesset, and on the Supreme Court.
But the news coverage of B’Tselem and its latest report paints a distorted picture. As a result, opponents of the Jewish state can more readily discharge a loaded word that is not only totally inaccurate, but also used as ammunition by those who want to see Israel eradicated.
And the media is seemingly all-too-eager to jump on the bandwagon.
In 2010, Jackson Diehl -- the deputy editorial page editor for The Washington
Post -- suggested
How Obama sabotaged Middle East peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The conventional wisdom at
the time was that Netanyahu was responsible for the impasse.
Diehl disagreed:
For 15 years and more, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas conducted peace
talks with Israel in the absence of a freeze on Jewish settlement
construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Now, it appears as likely
as not that his newborn negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu -- and their goal of agreement on a Palestinian state within a
year -- will die because of Abbas's refusal to continue without such a
freeze.
...So why does Abbas stubbornly persist in his
self-defeating position? In an interview with Israeli television Sunday
night, he offered a remarkably candid explanation: "When Obama came to power, he is the one who announced that settlement
activity must be stopped," he said.
"If America says it and Europe says it and the whole world says it, you
want me not to say it?"
The statement confirmed something that many Mideast watchers
have suspected for a long time: that
the settlement impasse originated not with Netanyahu or Abbas, but with
Obama
-- who by insisting on an Israeli freeze has created a near-insuperable
obstacle to the peace process he is trying to promote. [emphasis added]
Whether Obama deliberately pressed for the freezing of settlements in the hope
of pressuring Israel into a concession or blundered into creating a deadlock
-- either way, Obama's interference changed the Palestinian story, turning a
freeze of settlements into a new demand.
Now we see something similar happening with the coronavirus.
Nov. 21, 2020: PA meets with WHO, UNICEF, UNRWA “to ensure
that Palestine is provided with adequate Coronavirus vaccines” (Israel
not invited)
Dec. 12, 2020: PA orders “four
million doses of the Russian vaccine… expected in Palestine by the end of
this year” (Israel's help not requested)
Jan. 9, 2021: PA announces: “Four vaccine producer companies [will deliver for]
70% of the Palestinian people… the WHO will provide for 20%” (Israel's
help not needed)
Jan. 9, 2021: PA announces: “Two
million doses were ordered [from AstraZeneca]… we received an official
response from the company… [Also] the Russian company Sputnik, and a
vaccine was ordered… We are not just waiting… we are working…” (Israel's
help not needed)
But with the media helpfully getting the story wrong and ganging up on
Israel, the PA just couldn't resist:
Jan. 10, 2021: PA Foreign Ministry demands that Israel
“supply the Palestinian people with Coronavirus vaccines… [Israel is]
racially discriminating against the Palestinian people, and negating its
right to health [services]… an apartheid against the Palestinian people
in the field of health”
You can almost hear Abbas now, "If American media says it and European
media says it and the whole world says it, you want me not to say it?"
Of course, the Palestinian Authority is already accusing Israel of
apartheid, so this report won't have any effect on
Palestinian propaganda.
Instead, the timing of the report and the massive distribution over social
media may indicate a campaign to influence more than a Congressperson or
two.
This could be one component of an orchestrated campaign to influence the
incoming Biden administration. The lingering accusation of Israel
withholding the vaccine could be part of this too.
We have seen many times before that UNRWA school teach students to honor terror and terrorists. UNRWA usually responds that it uses the curriculum and textbooks from its host country and has no choice in that matter, but it tries to modify the lessons in ways that are more consistent with UN and huan rights principles.
This is a lie.
IMPACT-SE, the NGO that reviews textbooks in the Arab world, has found UNRWA-created school materials for use by students during times of emergencies, and they were distributed for students learning from home during the pandemic. The materials are based on the Palestinian Authority textbooks but UNRWA chooses which examples to use and which language to use - the UNRWA logo is on these materials.
For example, these Arabic language materials uses the example of the phrase, "With sword and pen we will free the motherland."
This sixth grade text uses examples that glorify death and violence:
Exercise 2 —determine what is the verb and what is the subject in the following sentences.
[Top row, right to left] Sentence—Verb—Tense—Subject
. . .
The Palestinian died as a martyr to defend his motherland.
Underline nouns preceded by the definite article and the preposition “as” or “in”
3. We shall defend the motherland with blood.
This 7th grade study cards use as an example the sentence "The scent of musk emanates from the martyr."
In this 8th grade language example, we see “The mujahideen
[raised] the banner of jihad”; “Make sure you stand by your compatriots”; and “The Palestinian
will never leave his land, no matter the price.”
UNRWA seems to have created these examples itself, since IMPACT-SE could not find any corresponding textbook lessons.
In another example UNRWA materials compare Israeli treatment of Palestinians to the Spanish Inquisition:
Seventh-grade UNRWA educational materials claim that the “Zionist Occupation” is using the same
methods used by the Spanish Inquisition in the Middle Ages to interrogate “Palestinian prisoners.”
Furthermore, there is no mention that victims of the Spanish Inquisition included many Jews;
whereas only Muslims are mentioned. The passage is taught in a section about the downfall of
Islamic rule in Spain, where expulsion of Muslims by the Spanish rulers is compared to “Zionist
Occupation policies”; drawing this comparison is a lesson assignment. Students are given an artist’s
illustration of Muslims leaving Spain in 1492, and are asked to compare it to a modern photo that
shows Arabs leaving Palestine in 1948; the image does not appear in the original PA textbook
(Social Studies, Grade 7, Vol. 2, 2019, p. 29).
A grade 9 social studies text says, "[the Occupation] has turned vast tracts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into dumping sites for toxic waste and has sought to pollute the Palestinian environment with radioactive and chemical materials, as well as bomb production projects."
A grade 7 social studies text falsely says “the Zionists” deliberately set the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire in 1969.
And, of course, UNRWA erases Israel in maps and refers to Israeli cities as "Palestinian."
UNRWA is not following its own stated standards and is teaching hate, glorification of martyrdom, and jihad against Israel that will not end until Israel is destroyed.
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The airstrikes that was presumed to be Israel's largest raid in Syria probably since 1973 hit multiple positions, all seemingly accurately and with no civilians killed.
The most detailed account of the targets I could find comes from Deir Ezzor 24, and there were a large number of places targeted:
Warplanes, believed to be Israeli, targeted a number of Assad forces and Iranian militias' positions in Deir Ezzor last night, according to Deir Ezzor 24 network correspondent.
Our correspondent said that the raids targeted positions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Militia (IRGC) in al-Thalath area of al-Bukamal badiyah eastern Deir Ezzor, positions of the IRGC and the 47th Regiment militias in Bir al-Hammar in al-Bukamal badiyah, and IRGC positions in al-Seiba area.
The raids also targeted positions of the Zainabiyon militia on Hamdan airport road and al-Hajjanah Street in al-Bukamal city, positions of the Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi militia about 3 km from al-Bukamal border gate, and a position of Hezbollah militia near Aysha hospital in al-Bukamal.
In al-Mayadeen city, the raids targeted positions of the IRGC militia in al-Mazari'e area on the Deir Ezzor-al-Mayadeen international highway, and positions of Fatimiyeon militia near al-Makif and the vicinity of al-Rahba castle.
In Deir Ezzor city and its surrounding, the raids targeted weapons depots of Fatimiyeon militia, military positions in Tal al-Hajif (the Radio station building), a position near the Faculty of Education in al-Omal neighborhood of Deir Ezzor city, a headquarters of the military security branch in Ghazi Aiyash neighborhood, posts near the military hospital, the water corporation, the perimeter of the automated bakery in Port Said Street, and the Tharda Mountains, and the regiment in the military airport and on the international highway.
SOHR adds an interesting detail: The city of Deir Ezzor is under Russian control.
But Russia has been tangling with Iran over control of the area, so it could be that the Russians were happy to see Israel destroy Iranian positions.
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This morning I received a robo-call from the Rehovot city government to tell me that, as a senior
citizen, if I had trouble getting an appointment for my Coronavirus vaccination, they would help me, and here is how to contact them. I remembered that some months ago I got a call from a human social worker employed by the city, who wanted to know how I was, how we were getting our food (this was during our first full lockdown), did we have local family to help us out, and so on.
I’ve had my differences with the city from time to time, but I am really impressed by this. They are using our tax money (Israelis pay local taxes based on the size of their homes and other factors) to provide services to the citizens! I realized how little I’ve come to expect from government, so this seemed like a big deal to me. But it’s still remarkable that they have programs in place to help those of us who are no longer “productive citizens” in an economic sense.
And then there is the vaccination program itself. The State of Israel paid a premium price for vaccines, and set up a system to distribute them. The logistics are complicated because the Pfizer vaccine, the first to arrive here, must be kept at -70 degrees C (-94 F) and then used within several hours of being warmed. As of Tuesday, 1,700,000 Israelis had received their first vaccination, including my wife and me.
We went to the designated location, where the four HMOs that all Israelis belong to had set up stations to give vaccinations; waited only a few minutes in an open area, and received our shots (for those who speak British, “jabs”). Information was immediately entered into the nationwide computer networks of the HMOs, and our appointments for the second dose set. This was much more efficient than anything I have ever experienced in any bureaucratic setting either here or in the US, even in the IDF.
Of course Bibi is taking credit for the whole thing, as our next expensive, unnecessary election approaches. But in truth he does deserve credit for making the deals with the pharmaceutical corporations that got us large quantities of vaccine early, even while the HMOs put together the system which is expected to vaccinate the entire population by the end of March.
So this morning I have a feeling that this country cares about me, and about the rest of its citizens. The institutions like the national and local governments and the HMOs are doing their jobs, at least in this connection. They government has not done so well in managing the lockdowns, especially the last, partial one, which seems to have hurt small businesses badly while doing little to slow the spread of the virus. There are plenty of other things to criticize, but still, I am proud of my country.
But the response of the world media to Israel’s relative success in fighting the epidemic has been more hostile than anything I recall since the last time Israel was forced to defend herself against deadly rocket attacks from Gaza. “What about the Palestinians,” they screamed. Why aren’t we vaccinating them, too? “It’s because Israel is an apartheid state!”
The accusation is everywhere, in mainstream and social media, from the human rights organizations, and even from Jewish groups like J Street.
And it’s nonsense. First, Arab and Jewish Israelis, as well as Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are treated precisely the same. Second, the PA and Hamas are responsible under international law for vaccinating their citizens. The PA has said they have ordered vaccines from several manufacturers and are awaiting their arrival. Israel has promised to give surplus vaccine to the PA after our campaign is over. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reports that Israel already gave the Palestinian Authority some 100 doses of the vaccine for “hardship cases” (probably the big shots in the PA). And Elder of Ziyon has debunked some of the accusations against Israel made by “human rights” NGOs here and here.
One of Israel’s greatest national concerns is the question of how it can become a better state, one that better performs the basic function of a state, to protect its citizens against man-made and natural dangers, and to provide economic and cultural opportunities for them. This is the purpose of our health care system, the IDF, and our Knesset, judicial system, central bank, and so forth. Although there is a certain amount of corruption it is incidental to the functioning of the overall state.
The vaccination project has been a positive force in our lives, illustrating that we need not always be passive and accept the blows that fall on us. And it shows that our big institutions (the HMOs are independent organizations, but closely controlled by the Health Ministry) can work smoothly when they have to.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are entirely different. Although they have government ministries, a health-care system, and many other services, they do not exist to protect their people and enable them to fulfill their economic and cultural potential. They have two functions alone: to enrich those Palestinians who are “connected,” and to fight the war against Israel with which they are obsessed. Corruption is essential, not incidental. Funds that don’t go into the pockets of the rulers go to prepare for war or to pay the soldiers. Palestinians know this and hate their rulers, but there is little they can do because the dictatorships under which they live don’t hesitate to use force against them. And in many cases, they are also slaves to their obsessive hatred of Israel.
Palestinian governments continue to encourage, pay for, and perpetrate terrorism against Israel, while “ordinary Palestinians” throw rocks at cars containing Jews, a pastime that has caused several deaths and countless serious injuries. A few weeks ago, an “ordinary Palestinian” viciously beat an innocent woman to death. Right now the concern in Ramallah is not how to vaccinate millions of Palestinians, but rather how to ensure that terrorists will continue to get paid despite Israeli restrictions on Palestinian banks.
Israel struggles to be better. Palestinians struggle to be worse. And yet, which side do the media, the Jewish Left, and the human rights industry take?
***
Sheldon Adelson died on Tuesday. He was one of Israel’s greatest supporters. He loved this country, and contributed massive amounts of his own money to make it better and to help improve its relationship with the diaspora, including hundreds of millions of dollars to Birthright, which has probably done more to counteract the hate campaign against Israel in the universities than all other PR initiatives put together. He also gave large sums to AIPAC, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Yad Vashem, and the Israeli-American Council. He and his Israeli-born wife, Miri, were the major donors to a new medical school at Ariel University. He donated several Magen David Adom ambulances and mobile ICU vehicles, including some that were armored to protect them against terrorist attacks. He started the free newspaper Israel Hayom (Israel Today), which is today the paper with the largest circulation in the country, shattering the almost total monopoly on news media in Israel held by the Left. His influence on Donald Trump was partly responsible for Trump’s pro-Israel policies.
Miri Adelson will certainly continue his philanthropy, but the Jewish people and the State of Israel have lost a friend that won’t easily be replaced. BDE.
Montefiore, Rothschild, and Adelson's names are written in the golden book of the rise of Zionism in the new era. And I had a privilege of knowing Adelson. And so did you: Each and every one of the readers of Israel Hayom, which he founded 13 years ago with his life partner, Dr. Miriam Adelson, the paper's publisher.
I first met him in 2008. A month ago, at his home in Las Vegas, we had what turned out to be our last discussion. In both instances he was sharp, wise, precise, but mostly concerned about our future. Even when his health started to betray him, it was important to him to stay updated and know what was happening in Israel and to the Jewish people who were so dear to his heart. Our first conversation focused on the country, and so did the last. Everything else was everything else – add-ons that served the goal.
People liked to affiliate my dear boss with various and sundry politicians, but his real, deep, emotional connection was to Zionism. He admired every Jew who contributed to the holy mission. I was always amazed at how modest the man was. He could wonder at a kid who arrived in Israel as part of the Taglit-Birthright program and wanted to tell him a story; be moved by a conversation with a Holocaust survivor at Yad Vashem, one of the institutions to which he donated. A rabbi, a farmer, a doctor, or a bus driver – he would treat them all exactly the same way, listen to them the same way, pay attention to the little details. And it always amazed me, every time. Simplicity and honesty, qualities that are given to the truly great.
A huge donor who was an expert at giving in secret
Let's not make any mistakes, he also knew how to be tough. His philanthropic activity, some of which I saw from up close, was no less important to him than his business activity. Sometimes I felt as if the genius businessman in him was destined to serve the great donor he was. At various opportunities, when he was in various moods, I looked at him and saw he was focused only on excellence and helping others. Only recently, his private plane flew Jonathan Pollard to Israel. A few other such flights were never reported. Because aside from the billions he gave away, he was also an expert at donating in secret.
December, 2015, Las Vegas, at one of the drug rehabilitation centers managed by Dr. Miriam Adelson. It was the eve of a holiday. The Adelsons were wearing their best clothes and arrived for a meal with the center's patients, about 100 men and women, all of whom were in recovery from drug addiction. These were poor people who needed help. Mr. Adelson sat at the head of the table, talking to them, shaking their hands, taking pictures with each of them, taking an interest, joking, hugging.
I was there, and that same evening, some very high-ranking politicians came to see him. The US had just gone into an election year. One of Mr. Adelson's staff members went up to him and reminded him that a few of his grandchildren were waiting outside, and he told her, smiling, "You don't see that I'm with my friends right now?" That might be the strongest memory I have of him, and it includes so much of the man, as he truly was.
Aside from his global businesses, in the last few decades Sheldon used his abilities to influence public life. It would be hard to count the many and varied philanthropic initiatives to which Sheldon contributed his wealth, most of which deepen the ties between the Jewish people to their land and legacy.
Sheldon fostered links between Diaspora Jewry and the state of Israel by giving to Yad Vashem, Taglit-Birthright, Garin Tzabar - Israeli Lone Soldier IDF Program, and medical and academic projects. The Innovation Center at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and the Adelson School of Medicine at Ariel University, where we met last Hanukkah, were an investment in Israeli research, medicine, and development. The importance of founding such an institution at this time cannot be overstated. Generations of doctors and other medical workers will thank him for the initiatives, and we will all benefit from the fruits of the investment and the belief that beat in Adelson when he was determined to launch an excellent new faculty of medicine that opened its doors to all Israelis and everyone who wants to learn.
In places where there were no men, Sheldon "strove to be a man," to invest his wealth and time, to be there, to help and offer support.
More than anything, Sheldon believed in the strategic alliance between Israel and the US, and saw deepening the ties between the two countries as the surest investment in the future of the Jewish people and the state of Israel.
I extend my condolences to Miriam, the love of his life, and his partner on the path of contributing to building up the nation and the land, as well as to the entire family.
It is difficult to describe what Sheldon did for the Jewish people and for Israel. Sheldon was one of the biggest donors in the history of the Jewish people. He gave to Zionism, to the settlements, and to the state of Israel. He made enormous financial contributions to many institutions – to medical and scientific research, to higher education, to Ariel University, to Taglit-Birthright, and to his immense projects in every field. With his wife, Miri, he gave generously to many enterprises that save lives and brought Israel renown throughout the world. Sheldon was a huge Jewish patriot. He worked to strengthen Israel, bolster its standing in the United States, and strengthen ties between the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora.
Sheldon grew up poor, in a Boston suburb, and become one of the biggest entrepreneurs and philanthropists in the world. He did so through his keen intelligence, his honest thinking, his powerful personality, and his courage. Sheldon could face down anything and did what he believed. And what he believed in, more than anything else, was the promise of the Jewish people and their state.
Sheldon truly loved America – America, which gave him every opportunity he could dream of. He wanted everyone in the world to have those opportunities and that freedom.
I have to say that I've met many wonderful people in my life. But this giant, a personality like Sheldon, comes along once in a generation. We will forever remember Sheldon and his enormous contribution to the Jewish people and the state of Israel. His influence will remain with us for generations to come.
Galilee
Gold is the kind of book you can’t put down. I started reading the
book on a Friday night after supper, read late into the night, picked up where
I’d left off the next morning, and had read the entire book—cover to cover—by
11 AM, just in time to sit down for Sabbath lunch. Not bad for this first effort—a
novel that is part historical fiction, part romance—from author Susie Aziz Pam.
The story outlined in Galilee Gold takes place in the 18th
century and is based on the life of Daher el-Omar, a powerful figure of the
time. El-Omar was a self-proclaimed Bedouin king who encouraged Jewish
settlement in the Galilee. In Pam’s skillful hands, el-Omar’s tolerance for the
Jews leads to romance when el Omar falls hard for the niece of a Syrian Jewish
family under his protection.
The Jewish heroine of the book, Tamar,
is of course, beautiful, with a fiery nature and golden hair. It’s no wonder that
el-Omar is smitten, though I admit I was discomfited by the concept of a
Bedouin-Jewish romance—especially since this is fiction: it never actually happened.
That being the case, why imagine a
romance between a Jewish woman and a Bedouin king? Because it makes for darned
good reading, even if I didn’t like the concept in theory. And make no mistake:
I devoured this book and hope that Galilee
Gold is only the first of many books to come from the pen of Susie Aziz
Pam.
I spoke to Susie Pam to learn more:
Varda
Epstein: Can you tell us a bit about your upbringing, your family, and how and
when you came to make Aliyah?
Susie Aziz Pam
Susie Pam: My family were kind of
nomads. Both my parents were Persian Jews, from the Mesh'adi community.
Mesh'adi Jews were known for keeping the mitzvoth inside their homes, while
practicing Islam on the outside—but that is the subject of my next book.
My father's family lived in the Bukharan
Quarter in Jerusalem, where their house stands to this day. My mother's family
lived in London. After seeking their fortune in London, New York, South Africa,
and New York again, my parents settled in Kew Gardens, Queens. We are a very
Zionistic family and all of my father's family remained in Israel. So a few
years after the Six Day War, in the wave of pro-Israel sentiment, my parents
moved to Jerusalem, giving me just enough time to finish high school in New
York.
1925 photo of the ancestral Aziz home in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem
Varda
Epstein: Can you talk about how you came to write this story? How did you come
to hear about Daher el-Omar? Why did this story beckon to you?
Susie Pam: We
first met Daher el-Omar when we visited the Yehiam
Fortress. The little I found out about el-Omar then, made him stand out
like a Disney character: he traded with pirates, he fought off the Ottomans, and
he crowned himself the King of the Galilee. But after I began to read up on
him, I discovered an amazing fact—el-Omar invited the Jewish communities from
Turkey and Syria to settle in the Holy Land. "Return and inherit the land
of your forefathers!"
Yehiam Fortress
Inside Yehiam Fortress
Varda
Epstein: Who was el-Omar? What was he like?
Susie Pam: Daher el-Omar was
the son of the local tax-collector in the Galilee. His vision of Moslems,
Christians, and Jews living together and prospering in the eighteenth century,
made him a very tolerant and pluralistic leader.
Varda
Epstein: Is there any evidence that el-Omar had a romance with a Jewish woman
or took a Jewish wife?
Susie Pam: Not to my knowledge. He had
many wives and many sons. I only deal with two of his wives in my novel. At the
very end of his life, when he was in his 80's, he had a young wife from Russia,
who was blond and blue eyed. Legend has it, that the Ottomans attacked Acco (Acre) and
he went back to save this wife, and he was killed. But I do not cover that part
of his life in my book.
Susie with her two daughters, this past summer. The author also has two sons.
Varda
Epstein: How long did it take you to write Galilee Gold, your first novel?
Susie Pam: Well, when I first started
I had brown hair and now it’s gray! It took me a good many years—mainly because
I wrote most of the chapters in my writing group in Jerusalem, and we only met
once a week! Also, when I started writing, there was not a lot of available information
about that period—now there is a lot more.
The whole Pam family (see what I did there?)
Varda
Epstein: Can you tell us about some of the research involved in writing this
work of historical fiction?
Susie Pam: Let's just say that over
the last few years, I sent a lot of $5 donations to Wikipedia. My husband is a tour
guide and he had a few books in which el-Omar is mentioned. I wrote about
herbalism during that period, so I had to read up on plants and their uses, and
which were available in the Middle East. My daughter studied herbalism, so I
was also able to ask her questions. When I reached a point where I had a lot of
questions, we went back up to the Galilee and I found a tour guide whose
specialty is Daher el-Omar.
We arranged to meet Sharif Sharif, a
heritage and conservation expert of Nazareth. He introduced us to Ziad Daher
Zaydany—an architect and artist who drew a portrait of el-Omar and is one of
his many descendants. Of course, I imagined him a little more handsome and
dashing in his younger days than he appears in the portrait.
Daher el-Omar portrait painted by Ziad Zaydany in 1990
Varda
Epstein: Without giving away too much in the way of spoilers, your fictional
Jewish heroine Tamar, is depicted as el-Omar’s captive. Do you think it likely
that if the story had been true, the Jewish community would have made an effort
to ransom and reclaim her? How important is the concept of ransoming a captive
in Jewish law?
Susie Pam: Traditionally, ransoming a
captive is a very important concept, even today—and I believe the Jews of
Aleppo would have made an effort to raise the funds needed to rescue Tamar, had
it been feasible.
Varda
Epstein: What’s next up for Susie Pam?
Susie Pam: I have another three books
in the works—at different stages of completion. Two are historical fiction, and
one is a story about an American girl who volunteers on a kibbutz—a traditional
kibbutz from the old days—and decides to stay.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This cartoon is in response to B'Tselem's new initiative to call Israel an "apartheid state" complete with a brand new website with animations.
I don't know B'Tselem's full budget, its USA fundraising arm gets around $450,000 a year.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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Thursday, January 14, 2021
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