31st
July 2026
Shabbat
Shalom to you one and all. I wish you a peaceful weekend
The
"settlements"
have been in the news a great deal this week, even more than usual. One would
think that Israel is the only country in the world with disputed borders, yet
once again the media has chosen to focus on one tiny corner of the globe while
paying far less attention to countless other territorial disputes and
occupations.
If,
like me,
you have occasionally found yourself confused about what is "ours",
"theirs" and somewhere in between, a little explanation may help.
Under the Oslo II Accord of 1995, the West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and
C. Area A, which includes the major Palestinian cities such as Ramallah,
Nablus, Jenin and Bethlehem, is under full Palestinian Authority civil and
security control. Area B consists mainly of smaller Palestinian towns and
villages, with Palestinian civil administration but shared Israeli-Palestinian
security responsibility. Area C, which remains under full Israeli civil and
security control, includes the Israeli communities often referred to as
"settlements", together with large areas of open countryside,
agricultural land, nature reserves and strategic road networks.
Part
of the confusion
is geographical. When people hear terms such as "West Bank",
"occupied territories" or "settlements", they often imagine
vast tracts of land with clear and obvious borders. In reality, the entire area
is remarkably small, only about 130 kilometres from north to south and around
65 kilometres at its widest point. The landscape is a complex patchwork of
Israeli communities, Palestinian cities, villages, farms, roads and hillsides,
often lying only minutes apart.
Too
often, the politics
are reported without explaining the geography. Readers and viewers are
presented with conclusions before they are given context. Whatever one's
political views, understanding the map is essential before attempting to
understand the dispute itself.
Having
said that,
there is no place for extremism in a country fighting for its survival. The
actions of a small minority of violent settlers are not acts of patriotism;
they are acts of lawlessness. At a time when Israel faces enemies on multiple
fronts, IDF soldiers are being pulled away from vital missions to deal with
incidents that should have been prevented. The responsibility does not rest
solely with the perpetrators. When Ministers excuse violence, remain silent in
the face of it or treat criminals as political allies, they become part of the
problem. A government that cannot enforce the law equally weakens both the
state and the society it is meant to protect.
Perhaps
one of the qualities
that distinguish Israel from its neighbours, indeed from most of this region,
is our determined respect for other religions and faiths. As I have told you
many times, Jerusalem, our capital city, houses places of worship of all the widely
diverse religious groups, irrespective of the form of prayer. We not only
respect but recognise, by law, each and every one, but, and here’s the rub, we
expect that respect to be returned.
On
Friday 24th of July Guatemala became the 3rd country to
recognise the City of David National Park, as a Jewish Heritage, joining the
USA and Argentina. The Park is the historical site of King David’s Jerusalem. Whatever
the modern political arguments, the archaeological evidence beneath the surface
remains unchanged. The existence of a contemporary community does not erase the
history that came before it. Recognising the City of David as part of the
Jewish heritage of Jerusalem is not a denial of anyone else's presence; it is
an acknowledgement of historical fact.
Have
you ever heard of Operation Agatha? Most people have heard of the bombing of
Jerusalem's King David Hotel by the Irgun, led by Menachem Begin, on 22nd July
1946. Far fewer know what came before it. Three weeks earlier, British Mandate
forces arrested around 2,700 members of the Jewish Agency and Haganah, raiding
offices and seizing vast quantities of documents in an attempt to cripple the
leadership of the Yishuv. Believing some of these papers had been transferred
to the King David Hotel, the HQ of the Mandate administration, the Irgun
planted explosives in the building. Warning calls were made urging evacuation,
although historians still debate how those warnings were handled. The explosion
killed 91 people — Britons, Arabs and Jews alike — and remains one of the most
controversial events of the Mandate period.
Escaping
the heat yesterday,
we took our favourite short walk through Motza Illit and stopped for coffee
after meeting a delightful couple, Ilana and Adam. As we chatted, Adam
mentioned that he had come to Israel from Poland in 1956 as part of the Gomułka
Aliyah, one of some 50,000 Polish Jews who arrived during that period. I found
myself fascinated. Just when I think I know the story of Israel's many waves of
Aliyah -immigration, someone appears
with a piece of history I had never heard before. That is one of the joys of
life here; every conversation has the potential to teach you something new.
I
didn’t know Nancy Hartevelt Kobrin although she knew my newsletters. Nancy is a
writer, an historian, a psychoanalyst and an expert on Soviet Jewry and she
contacted me to learn more about Zvi’s involvement in the student
demonstrations that began the world struggle to free Soviet Jewry in 1969.
There’s a Hebrew saying “Success has many fathers whereas failure is an orphan”
and the Aliya from the FSU has been the most successful ever through science,
culture and work ethic.
Based
on his incredible work toward the freedom of Soviet Jewry, his work throughout the
years for the good of Israel and the world Jewish community and for creating Young
Leadership throughout the Keren Hayesod world many years ago, Zvi will be receiving
a special Pioneers Award on Sunday. I’m so proud of him. Perhaps I am most
proud of the fact that those young leaders have gone on to take major roles in
their communities and the world and are still his (our) close friends today.
“Apartheid
Israel” is an oxymoron. Last night I was
watching the news and after Lucy Aharish hosted a serious discussion programme
(Lucy is Israeli Moslem) I watched the major news broadcast with the political
and diplomatic expert Suleiman Maswadeh; the Northern correspondent Ali
Mugrabi; equally the political correspondent is Haredi and the military and war
correspondents are secular. In fact all the channels follow the same pattern. Our
medical services couldn’t survive without our Arab doctors, nurses and dentists
to say nothing of the numbers of university graduates and of course Members of
Knesset. I could go on but I think that’s enough.
So
you already know
that we went for a lovely walk through the village, a village in every way. On
our way down the path next to Sheva Achiot one sees the view over to Ein Kerem
and the five Golden Onion Domes of the Cathedral of All Russian Saints and Gornensky
Convent, above the Church of the Visitation. When we reach the top we can see
the Calatrava Bridge at the entrance to town. In the village itself we have kindergartens,
a small library in a pretty reading garden, lanes called for the fruits that
used to grow here and the homes of people whose parents and grandparents were
born here; two community centres, and as one comes into the estate, playgrounds,
an area for fetes and musical events, and, in the gorgeous big house, an
auditorium and coffee shop.
I
love Boy George!
Always have always will. He is not just a singer, an excellent one by the way,
he is a bright human being who thinks out of the box, a trend setter not a
trend follower. If you haven’t heard his latest release, you should!! Raised a
Catholic he has openly supported Israel when his fellow musicians fear doing so.
As a Gay man he mocks the stupidity of supporting Palestine. Here are the lyrics
We
Will Dance Again.
You say genocide / I say war / When you’re attacked / That’s what the army is
for / “Does it get ugly? / You bet it does / When I know you want to kill /
Every last one of us. You never mention October 7
Young
girls raped against trees / Murdered brutally / For the crime of dancing / You
condemn the Jews /With selective memory / Musicians holding flags / Mouthing
like sheep / Propaganda fueled by the internet / Feels so weak.
But
trust me, we will dance again / We will dance again / We will dance again / And
there will be no war / But if you’re ever confused / I stand with the Jews / I
don’t feel brave / I just need to behave like a human.” https://youtu.be/B8OVEI0FfWU?si=wF2XPt1I_0r5vSio
Tu
B'Av
is the Jewish holiday of love, joy, and matchmaking that falls on the 15th day
of the Hebrew month of Av. This year that was the 29th of July. Traditionally,
unmarried young women in ancient Jerusalem wore borrowed white dresses so rich
and poor looked alike, and danced in the fields to find partners. Of course,
today that is probably non-woke today! Known as Chag HaAhava, or the
Festival of Love, it is widely celebrated in Israel with romantic dinners,
concerts, parties, and giving flowers and of course proposals of marriage. Here
Yonina, husband and wife, sing of their love for one another. https://youtu.be/iaGQAy3rCI0?si=gR5Abb3-lm-YmAIT
“Together
throughout, we’ve been through it all and we’ll get through this too” the words
of Katan Aleinu. Liraz Russo, known as Static and Eden Ben Zaken are
famous Israeli stars yet when necessary, they donned their uniforms. This is
Israel. https://youtu.be/M8Nz-wBEf7o?si=4Rj-NnVqdiO9XEBx
It's
time to extend our dining table since we will be 15 for Shabbat dinner and I
want to get the table set. Everyone laughs because I like to get the table
perfectly set well in advance and then I feel that the rest is easy. I can decide
what I’m giving everyone with their particular culinary foibles, prepare, cook
and get the bowls ready, lined up like soldiers to receive the salads or
vegetables. Maybe, if it’s not too hot, I’ll go for a stroll around the veranda,
checking out the fruit trees, in awe at the unbelievable hibiscus smothered in
peachy/orange flowers and then standing, just standing very still so that the
tiny sunbirds can dart from flower to flower then take a drink of sugary water from
the special feeder, stopping to see Jerusalem on the horizon.
This
week’s Torah reading talks of gratitude, of the lack of gratitude of the
Children of Israel’s first generation out of slavery. Moses reminds them of the
things they should be grateful for and perhaps that’s a lesson we should learn.
We are often so busy complaining that we forget how lucky we are. Just a
thought!!
Shabbat
Shalom lovely people. Shabbat Shalom to you all, wherever you are in this crazy
world.
Sheila
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