23rd February 2024
Shabbat Shalom dear friends. A peaceful, kind weekend to one and
all irrespective of how you pray, to whom you pray and in which direction. I wish
you well.
Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of the Moslem faith. It is celebrated
on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and entails a month of daytime
fasting and after sunset, holding family feasts. It is a month of fasting,
praying and celebration of Mohammed’s revelation. It should be a month of contemplation
and prayer, but it has changed its face in the Middle East, no that’s not true,
it has changed its face in this tiny part of the world. It has become and
excuse for violence, terror, killing, maiming and death. A religious festival
became an explosion of terrifying anger that has spread its ugly wings to too
many corners of our world, destroying lives.
Yesterday, ordinary people sat complaining and moaning about the usual
morning traffic jam bringing ordinary working folk into southern Jerusalem. It
happens every morning, just like traffic jams everywhere in the world, and this
one is exacerbated by the need for a border control, because the town of Maaleh
Adumim, just a few kilometres from French Hill, on the way to the Dead Sea, is
surrounded by Arab villages, of which most of the residents work in Jerusalem.
Traffic Jams are annoying, but we can’t do anything about it, we don’t have
cars on high wheels like Dick Dasardly! However, yesterday a traffic jam became a
death trap with nowhere to escape the three terrorists who intentionally caused
an accident, jumped out of their hire car and ran shooting wildly at drivers and
passengers, determined to kill everyone. A young man who was released from
miluim just days ago still had his personal weapon, got out of his car and
together with a policeman who was on his way to work, successfully shot the perpetrators,
but not before one young man died, 8 were injured and many were traumatised.
Can you imagine hiring a car, driving from Hebron with the sole intention of
killing as many Israelis as possible?
Itamar Ben Gvir used the opportunity for a rant encouraging
ordinary citizens to carry guns. His childish, racist rants are now all too
familiar. Here in Israel, in order to achieve a gun licence, one must pass
psychological tests, learn to shoot at an official range, and renew your
licence on a regular basis. You cannot shoot someone just because you are suspicious,
otherwise you will be arrested as someone we know who shot at a burglar in his
house. Our gun rules are very strict and woe betide the soldier who doesn’t
keep his personal weapon beside him at all times, even if he is at home.
Yehuda and Shomron, the Biblical Judea and Samaria,
was occupied by Jordan, from 1948 until 1967 and the 6 Day War. Yes, it was
Jordanian for just 19 years! The Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Samaria.
In fact, in 1947, the Biblical terminology
was used by the United Nations Partition
Plan for Palestine with the statement: "the boundary of the hill
country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River at the Wadi Malih
south-east of Beisan and runs due west to meet the Beisan-Jericho road and then follows the western side of that road in a
north-westerly direction to the junction of the boundaries of the Sub-Districts
of Beisan, Nablus, and Jenin”. No mention of “to the Sea”! From about 1977, it has accumulated various
eponyms – West Bank, Occupied Territories, Occupied Palestinian Land, East
Jerusalem (even though it isn’t in the East), basically it is land that was fought
over and occupied by many ancient peoples but nobody ever doubted that it was
Biblical, recognised in the Old Testament, the Tenach. More than 3,000 years
from the time of that famous poet, King David and well before. So folks, from
now on, no West Bank, no occupied land, when talking to journalists or even to
each other, it is Judea and Samaria or we can revert to our origins and call it
Yehuda v’ Shomron.
Udi Levy - who was head of economic warfare in the Mossad, Israel's
famous spy agency, until 2016 - says he told Mr Netanyahu many times that
Israel had the means to crush Hamas, which controls Gaza, "by using only
financial tools". We could have
stopped Hamas using just financial warfare, their investments of $422
million in 2018.Levy says he never got a response to his
proposal from Mr Netanyahu. I have the full list of Hamas’s multi-million
dollar investment portfolio. If you want to see it just let me know.
I want you to meet Hamid Abu Arar, father of 9. Hamid grew up in Gaza but lived in the village
of Aroer in the Negev. He and his wife Fatima were on their way to work on
October 7th when Hamas attacked. Fatima, who was pregnant, was
driving and was killed instantly, Hamid was injured but grabbed their baby and
found somewhere to hide for hours on end. While he hid, he called the emergency
services to no avail. He overheard the terrorists talking of their plans so
when he finally heard Hebrew being spoken and understood that the IDF was
there, he took his clothes off, held his 7 month old baby, to show that he had
no weapons, and told the soldiers of the overheard Hamas attack, saving many
lives. Interior Minister Moshe Arbel chose to reward Hamid for his bravery and
presented him with permanent resident status in a ceremony. Arbel declared that
the true Children of Abraham must fight evil.
A farce was avoided in one of the most exquisite buildings in London. A
Ramallah based, supposed Palestinian Human Rights Group, Al Haq launched a case
urging the suspension of UK arms sales to Israel. The legal challenge against
the UK Department for Business and Trade was launched in December and summarily
dismissed by the Court
The Jews are today’s litmus test, the canary in the coal mine of Western society. If you
are an observer of changes in society you will note that in many places, places
near you, the object of hatred is swerving, nay veering from Israel to the
Jews. When hatred is projected on to the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben
and is at the corner of Parliament, it may have been a step too far. The House
of Commons held speech after speech condemning the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic
rallies particularly after the Sottish National Party called for sanctions
against Israel. I hate to think what will happen next but I worry for you.
That’s it! Gloom and doom don’t fit my current
mood or the Hebrew month of Adar. I just got back
from one of the most positive events in a long time. Let me introduce you to
Shauli Yosipon, a wonderful man who lives in the village of Motza with his wife
Rachel and four daughters. Shauli became a mosaic artist later in life and has created
mosaics for many local sites. This morning was Shauli’s birthday, a good day
for a delightful event. Let me go back 4 months and the outbreak of war, the national
trauma of October 7th and the need to be together. Shauli had
already planned a mosaic to mark the 90th anniversary of the
founding of the “Yishuv” literally meaning settlement, just 8 miles from
Jerusalem where pilgrims walking to the Temple would stop to rest on their way
to honour the “foot festivals” of Pesach, Shevuot and Succot. I say 8 miles
because the chosen site of the large mosaic is where the original pilgrim’s
milestone once stood. Going even further back, as I have explained, Motza and our
neighborhood of Arza, are on the ancient road to Jerusalem, the so-called 7 Sisters,
or Sheva Achiot, and it was here that the first modern settlement outside Jerusalem was built.
Motza is also the site of an ancient Neolithic settlement many thousands of
years old. The Babylonian and Jerusalem
Talmuds, and Rashi discuss the meaning of the name and Motza’s
residents were exempt from taxation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motza
OK, back to Shauli and his mosaic! This
morning was the ceremony to reveal the finished mosaic! What a glorious humble
ceremony. Shauli’s mother was there as the initiator of the idea, and the
amazing lady who placed the very first stone in the mosaic. We sat in the
spring sunshine, and Shauli’s work brought a much needed smile. Shauli thanked Mohammed,
Ibraham and Akram for their help in bringing the project to fruition, and of
course Shalom Goldstein, the local council head, for his unwavering support. As always, at any ceremony today, we blessed
the soldiers who protect us, wished the wounded a speedy return to health and
consoled the families of those who were lost. Thank you Shauli, you made my day.
Interestingly, when Zvi used to take
dignitaries to the 6th floor of the Municipality he would always
describe multicultural Jerusalem as a human mosaic.
Lucy Aharish breaks barriers! She grew up in the only Moslem family in a Jewish town,
she’s a woman from the periphery, married to a Jew and is one of the most
successful journalists in Israel. Lucy has no fear of speaking out about October
7th, the rapes, the broken bones, the savagery of burning babies, of
killing mothers in front of children and children in front of mothers, and the
silence of the Women’s Groups all over the world about it all. Here she talks
about being and Israeli Moslem married to a Jewish actor/soldier in an
interview with Bari Weiss. Fascination and enlightening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LIcd7wHlCE
This has been a week with many positive
happenings. On Sunday a group of girlfriends came for brunch and a catch-up. It
really was delightful. On Monday we went to see a movie with the Dagans, on
Tuesday I went to my “Mind and Movement” session which always lifts my spirits,
on Thursday, that’s yesterday, more girlfriends came for lunch, but not just
for lunch, first we went for my favourite walk over the reservoir. Since some
came from Raanana and Herzliya the glorious sunshine, the open vista with the
softly undulating hills of the Jerusalem forests, the Beit Zayit dam and the
rain filled reservoir and vineyards. Life was made even better since everyone brought
something to eat so I didn’t need to cook! Zvi, yet again proved that he is not
a misogynist by joining us in our “Picnic on the veranda”. The only thing that is
missing in our nature trail is a picnic table. This afternoon our incredible
friend Dr Kimball Taylor (aka Kim) is making the long journey from a small town
in Alberta, Canada, to take his place at the WZO meetings in Jerusalem. I love
it when Kim comes to stay, he lights up our lives with his joy at returning “home”.
I’m off to my Rachel when I finish talking to
you. I definitely need to finish off my week with hugs from the huggiest family
in the world, to say nothing of the cup of tea and freshly made bread roll with
her famous egg salad that will await me. Zvi has gone to his parliament in the
Botanical Garden then he will go to the airport to bring Kim home. Tonight’s
Shabbat dinner will not be big but it will be delightful as Amiad returns from
Miami and he, Noga, Ella and Yonatan are coming to join Zvi, Kim and I for
dinner.
We all need music to lighten our load and this
week is no different.
The people of the towns and villages of the
South (and North) have been refugees in their own country. What they miss most
of all is the companionship of small societies, their friends, to help them
heal. Be’eri, lost so many and so much
really needed to get back together somehow and Koolulam came up with the how and where and Idan Reichel with the song.
It says it all “Everything that was here will change tomorrow” Listen to the
words, the hope in their song and their eyes.
https://youtu.be/hptZdP_hulY?si=0MGcjIB_YCZHqKTs
Arik Einstein is an Israeli legend. Lyricist, playwright,
singer, comic actor, serious actor and wonderful representative of Israel. Here
he sings of how we, you and I, can change the world https://youtu.be/UUgCUgDUBmA?si=9ctiOY8reaty0kZG
Idan Amedi is a true Israeli hero although he
would be angry if he knew that I said that. He could have just carried on with
his music and acting careers, but instead, on October 7th he donned
his IDF uniform and headed for Gaza. Idan was very seriously injured in the
explosion that killed 7 of his fellows, but he was determined to display a rare
strength in his humility and his recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.
He goes each day to the rehabilitation centre of Sheba hospital, determined to fight
back. Of course you know him as Sagi Tzur, the elite fighter commander in Fauda,
a role very close his real life. Here he sings the theme song of Fauda. https://youtu.be/WqmtMDlo7Y0?si=6noD3nkkilm8V-6p
So, another weekend, another Shabbat, 140 days
that the hostages left in Gaza are missing from their family Shabbat table. We
must never give up, we have to bring them home.
I wish you a peaceful weekend, a true Shabbat
Shalom. I send you love from the most beautiful city in the world, Jerusalem.
Sheila
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