220506
6th
May, 2022
Shabbat
Shalom dear friends.
Remembrance
Day
was deeply emotional as we remembered the lives lost to defend our beautiful
little country then in an exceptionally prestigious and meaningful Yom
Ha'atzma'ut - Independence Day
ceremony, this year's beacon lighters were of the people and for the people
leading to a decision to have only silent fireworks at the end, so that those
with PTSD would not be terrified, we went into a day of family outings, all the
wonderful fun that I described in my last letter……..and then
Last
evening two young men, whose minds have been twisted by the heinous incitement
of their society took axes, hatchets, machetes, I don't know how to describe
them, went to a religious town, yes guys within the green line – not that it
makes any difference – and went on an orgy of bloodthirsty slaughter, killing 3
men, injuring more, leaving 16 children without fathers and an entire town in
mourning. Why did they choose Elad? Probably because this is a Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox)
town, few of the citizens had guns to resist, to defend themselves, to
retaliate.
I
am sure you can imagine the sadness of Israelis, but perhaps the response of
the Palestinian and Hamas leaders will help you understand. Yahya Sinwar, the
leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, expressed delight, yes I said delight, at the
success of the attack and encouraged young Palestinians "and Israeli
Arabs" to continue the "good work" whereas Mahmoud Abbas, leader
of the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack. Hamas is on the rise among young
Palestinians, even within Israel although to a much lower extent. Jordan, which
has control of the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa Compound, together with the WAQF and
Fatah, are deeply concerned and have now banned Hamas flags on the Temple Mount
in an attempt to lower tensions. Khaled Abu Toameh, conceivably the best honest
reporter, informing us of events within the Israeli Arab community explains https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-705979
Subsequent
Israeli Governments
have given in to the demands of the WAQF concerning Jewish and Christian prayer
on the Temple Mount, given in and in principle disallowed either faith from
praying on their holy site in order to calm the incitement, but it didn't work.
We are unable to control the level of incitement within the Mosques and the
determined inculcation of the young and disenfranchised; to inseminate
disinformation into already angry young people doesn't take more than
oppression and a Goerring style proliferation of lies. When I say oppression I
am not suggesting Israeli oppression, you have to understand the leadership of
both the PA and Gaza whose very power lies in keeping their population both
poor and unhappy while accumulating vast fortunes from the aid funding of our
countries, the UN and EU!
As
is the way here in Israel I have to change the emotional direction of this
missive, accepting the ramifications of all of the above. Indeed, through
Impact-se and its professional leadership, Marcus Sheff and Arik Agassi,
something quite exceptional happened as a result of their meeting with the EU. Of course, as Chair I was aware of the
impending meeting but nobody was prepared for the result! The EU, aware of the
incitement in the PA/Hamas/UNWRA school curriculum is considering defunding.
" The motions are based on a report by IMPACT-se presented to a joint Foreign Affairs, Budget,
Budgetary Control and Education and Culture Committee hearing of the
parliament, as well as to the Commission in an April 20th testimony, by the invitation of the Parliament, and in
a series of meetings with IMPACT-se’s leadership prior to vote."
PA textbook resolution vote: 357 in favor, 259 against, 24 abstentions
The full text of the resolution condemning the
PA is available here (par. 170). The
world is slowly slowly understanding that terrorism begins in schools.
This year the change in the manner of leadership was astonishing. The
Speaker of the Knesset, who traditionally leads the Independence Day
Celebrations on Mount Herzl, brought with him a humility that has been missing
for the last 12 years, giving a short speech of welcome. The ceremony itself,
the beacon lighters were chosen for their incredible, selfless contribution to
Israeli society and the world at large, the songs were Israeli, the dancers,
soldiers, presenters and the audience all braved the unusually cold, windy
weather with a smile…..in fact why don't you just watch and enjoy – with
simultaneous English translation from i24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mza32QsYIqQ
See how many faces you recognise! All the beacon lighters were deserving and I
was especially thrilled to see my friend, Kalman Samuels, the incredibly humble
founder of Shalva, speaking of his son Yossi and the real force behind Shalva,
his wife Malki. You will see Avi Samuels using finger language to tell Yossi
about his father's speech.
The next morning, bright and early a very different ceremony took
place in the President's House, the ceremony commending "Hayalim Mitstainim"
Outstanding soldiers. Each and every one, from every walk of Israeli life,
brought a tear of pride to our eyes. Each and every one received a word of
gratitude and encouragement from President Herzog.
As the traffic jams near every park, forest
and lake became longer and longer nobody got angry, they all recognised that
families were off for a day of birthday parties, celebrating Israel's 74th
birthday. We were supposed to go to the annual "parliament" barbecue
at the Schreiber families garden, but unfortunately our hostess was unwell so
rather than be alone we invited a very few close friends to partake of whatever
fare could be found in the Raviv freezer The multiple salads took a few minutes
to prepare, which left us with the meat. Despite being 100% Israeli (actually
his birth certificate says that he is and was Palestinian) Zvi, unlike both his
sons, is not a great fan of barbecues or "mangal". Our wonderful
upstairs neighbour Benny came down to check the feasibility of using our
barbecue for the first time in 5 years – after a thorough overhaul by yours
truly – and pronounced it safe and ready so I happily placed the chicken pieces
and the home-made burgers on the grill so that our aroma filled smoke joined that
of most of our neighbours. All was well until the gas balloon ended! A hurried
return to the kitchen ensure lunch but I admit I was disappointed.
Halfway through the meal we heard the sound of aeroplane engines.
Was this the promised fly past? We rushed from the table and stood expectantly
on the veranda, eyes to the sky……but somehow nothing happened! The only
compensation was that we got to laugh with our neighbours who did the same! I
hope next year's fly past will compensate! Our meal ended with the very best
chocolate mousse ever (sorry Jill)! Ruth Dodziuk-Justitz showed her Suisse
origins and we all enjoyed every mouthful!
As Zvi finished clearing up, (we have a deal, I prepare and he
clears up) we made a good cuppa, he made his "special" omelette, and turned
on the evening news. All sense of celebration, of fun, of joy disappeared as we
watched in horror the desperately sad results of a terror attack. More than 26
Islamic countries, More than 24% of the world's population identify as Moslem,
yet this tiny piece of ancient Jewish land, our heritage, offends by its very
existence. This beautiful 74 year old lady is a blot on their vast landscape
Does it depress me, yes of course, but we had to get up this morning and show
our enemies that they cannot break us, we are here and will not be moved.
I am reminded of the Dementors in the Harry Potter stories. Dementors
feed on human happiness and generate feelings of depression and despair in all
those in close proximity, "soul-sucking fiends"……..I sense that JK
Rowling knew exactly what she described.
It never fails to amaze me how little even supporters of
Israel know about us. I love the conversations where people ask intelligent
questions and I had just such a conversation when I was in the UK a short time
ago. I visited dear friends Adrian and Barbara, together with my friend Jill,
and as we sat in their lounge they began to ask questions that were so
important to all of you if you stand a chance of answering the lies. Here is a quiz for you, with different
questions to theirs but worth seeing what you do or don't know anyway. http://www.freepubquiz.co.uk/israel-quiz.html
Today is Friday, almost Shabbat, and time to gather ourselves,
prepare the Shabbat meal, to light the candles with a prayer that the light of
the candles will spread warmth and peace. Tonight Leor and Shiri, with their
four girls, Amit, Gili, Ori and Yuval are coming to us for Shabbat Dinner and
Rachel, Yosef, Talia and Ayala are in Leeds to have Shabbat with Rachel's
father Philip to celebrate his 80th birthday. Hopefully Gideon will
be with them too. A modern family indeed, spread all over the world held
together by tradition
Adon Olam – Lord of the Universe- is the prayer that takes me back
to my childhood. It is the final prayer of the Shabbat service and pictures of
my father, grandfather and all around me folding their prayer shawls as they
sang to the chosen melody of the week. I love this version, led by IDF Cantor
Shai Abramson sung by the IDF coir relaxing….I just love it and it restores my
mood with its beauty. Without translation, just enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3tLlG07X-Q
When an Israeli prays for good news all around say "Hallevai"
Ehud Manor was the greatest poet/lyricist of Israel and his words ring true
today. Boaz Sharabi wrote the melody and here he sings Halleva'I - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwEatU285N8
The last song was written by a young man called Robert Zimmerman
in the '60's, at a time when we thought we could change our world His words
have proven to be too prophetic of our times today. Blowin' in the Wind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWwgrjjIMXA
I wish you Shabbat Shalom, a weekend of prayer for this tortured
world. Who knows, perhaps by educating our children to accept those different
to them, whether by colour, creed, speech, language or nationality…only by
teaching our children can we learn to be tolerant human beings raising tolerant
human beings.
With love, as always, from Jerusalem
Sheila
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