“For bereaved families, time stops when you get the terrible news.… It cuts your life in two: what was before, and what will never be again. When you hear the siren today, we will turn into one family, and the citizens of Israel will be united in our remembrance.”—Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, at a ceremony to usher in Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day, in Israel.
“The Tikkun [mending] that is Israel is fragmentary. This fact need not be stressed, for it is reported almost daily in newspapers. The power of the State is small, as is the State itself. It can offer a home to captive Jews but cannot force captors to set them free. Limited abroad, it is limited at home as well. It cannot prevent strife. It cannot even guarantee its Jewish citizens a culture or a strong Jewish identity. Galut Judaism may have ended; but there is no end to Galut itself, inside as well as outside the State of Israel.…
For all the talk of a comprehensive peace, implacable enemies remain; and while enemies elsewhere seek to destroy a regime, or at most conquer a state, these enemies seek destruction of a state—and renewed exile for its Jewish inhabitants.
What then is the Tikkun? It is Israel itself. It is a state founded, maintained, defended by a people who—so it was once thought—had lost the arts of statecraft and self-defense forever. It is the replanting and reforestation of a land that—so it once seemed—was unredeemable swamps and desert. It is a people gathered from all four corners of the earth on a territory with—so the experts once said—not room enough left to swing a cat. It is a living language that—so even friends once feared—was dead beyond revival. It is a City rebuilt that—so once the consensus of mankind had it—was destined to remain holy ruins. And it is in and through all this, on behalf of the accidental remnant, after unprecedented death, a unique celebration of life.
It is true—so fragmentary and precarious is the great Tikkun—that many want no share of it, deny it, distort it, slander it. But slanders and denials have no power over those who are astonished—ever again astonished—by the fact that in this of all ages the Jewish people have returned—have been returned?—to Jerusalem. Their strength, when failing, is renewed by the faith that despite all, because of all, the ‘impulse from below’ will call forth an ‘impulse from above.’”—Emil Fackenheim, To Mend The World, Schocken Books, (New York, 1982), pp. 312-313.
RIGHT TO REMEMBER
Editorial
Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2012
The period that begins with last week’s Holocaust Remembrance Day and continues through today’s Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars is dominated by the themes of sacrifice, death and loss. By the time we get around to the joyous celebration of Jewish sovereignty on Independence Day on Thursday, we will have traversed a turbulent emotional gauntlet of tears and mourning. The sadness that permeates this week leading up to Independence Day is tempered by an accompanying conviction that our collective suffering and sacrifices were not [made in vain].
We are partially consoled by the knowledge that painful sacrifice in the countless wars and battles fought in the past 64 years against those seeking a violent end to the Zionist project has helped ensure political self-determination for Jews for the first time in nearly two millennia. Through memorial services for the fallen, we mourn the deceased while acknowledging their contribution.
Unfortunately…it has become fashionable to criticize the way we memorialize our deceased. Just this week, Prof. Avner Ben-Amos of Tel Aviv University told Haaretz why he thinks the way we memorialize fallen soldiers “flattens history.”
“Since 1967, Israel’s wars have basically been meant to protect territories we captured,” claimed Ben-Amos. “That is, these are wars that actually have no justification.… You could say these deaths were superfluous, but in the ceremonies the soldiers are depicted as passive victims.” Meanwhile, in the same Haaretz article, culture scholar Dalia Gavriely-Nuri lamented the fact that “even if the music [used in memorial ceremonies] is updated, the songs still preserve a military value system and present the IDF as our biggest cultural given.”
For Ben-Amos, Gavriely-Nuri and other like-minded critics of our society, Israel’s purported “militarism” is to be blamed for the ongoing bloody conflict, not Arab aggression and hatred. They [would] have us believe that if only we stop honoring our deceased as heroes or as innocent victims and begin acknowledging our own complicity in the incessant warfare that has plagued the Jewish state from its very inception, we will take a significant step toward ending the conflict. Put in social science terminology, our “construction of collective memory”—via memorial services and the accompanying songs and symbols that “preserve a military value system”—perpetuates the war with our neighbors.
But Ben-Amos, Gavriely-Nuri and other self-styled “radical social scientists” and “new historians” have mixed up cause and effect. Of course we preserve a military value system and encourage our youths to serve in the IDF. But we do this not because Israeli society is inherently jingoistic, rather because we have no other choice. As long as our many enemies continue to try to destroy us, Israel is forced to maintain a policy of universal conscription. But the stream of mainstream Zionism articulated by David Ben-Gurion, Berl Katznelson and Yitzhak Tabenkin is not a militaristic movement.… The pre-state Labor Zionist movement only reluctantly took arms in the face of Palestinian violence.…
Of course the Yom Kippur War—and every other war Israel ever fought—could have been prevented. If only the Palestinians had accepted the 1947 partition plan; if only Gamel Abdel Nasser had not amassed troops on our southern border in 1967 and called for Israel’s destruction; if only Syria and Egypt under Anwar Sadat had not launched a surprise attack on Israel in 1973; if only the PLO had not used Lebanon as a base to fire Katyusha rockets and launch terror attacks in the 1970s and early 1980s.
But there was very little—if anything—that Israel could have done to prevent the many wars it has waged in the past 64 years—besides disappearing. Israel would like nothing more than to live in peace with its neighbors. In the mean time, we mourn our losses and remain ever vigilant.
THE CLUB NO ONE WANTS TO BELONG TO
Pnina Weiss
Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2012
Growing up, I was always part of one club or another.… More than the activities of the club itself, it was the friendships I made and the camaraderie of the group which kept me active. But then, almost 10 years ago, I entered a club I never, ever wanted to be a part of, or imagined I would ever join. It was the club of the Bereaved Brothers and Sisters.
From the moment we got the dreaded knock on the door, informing my family that my younger brother Ari, a sergeant in the Palchan brigade’s anti-terror unit, had been killed in battle, I suddenly found that I “belonged” to a whole new crowd, one from which I can never escape. Our members are spread far and wide, and they come from every sector of society: rich and poor, Sephardi and Ashkenazi, immigrant and Sabra. Generally, they go unnoticed, blending into the general populace. But other members of the club can spot them.
They are the ones standing off to the side, shedding a tear at a friend’s wedding, hoping no one will notice them as they think of their sibling who will never marry or bring children into the world. They are the ones choking up while lighting Shabbat candles, recalling the good times when the entire family sat around the Shabbat table. They are the ones who stop in their tracks and stare at the yahrtzeit [memorial] candles while shopping at the supermarket.
I made aliya with my family when I was just 14. I had never been to Israel before and certainly did not take well to the adjustment.… I resented my new country, and dreaded the task of acclimating to my new life in Israel. Even after I finished my National Service, I applied to college in the USA, thinking that perhaps my life would be better if I just went back to the “old country.” But, for whatever reason, I decided to stay in Israel, and I grew to love this country.… Eventually, I understood that this wasn’t just the proverbial, generic “Land of the Jews”; this had now become my land.…
And then Ari, my beloved brother, fell.…
Many people have questioned why I choose to remain here, after something so terrible and tragic has happened.… [Because] as sad as it may be, this is part of life in Israel. This is part of the sacrifice we make to live free in our own country, and sacrifice has been the way of the Jews since the beginning of our history.… Although I still get teary-eyed when I see chayalim (soldiers)…and still find it difficult to make that switch from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day), I cannot imagine my home being anywhere else but here.
I just hope and pray that the dreaded club I joined 10 years ago will soon be closed to new members.
(Pnina Weiss is the sister of Staff-Sgt. Ari Weiss, who fell in battle in September 2002.)
Weekly Quotes
“My brothers and sisters, members of bereaved families,…today the People of Israel…stand as one beside you. Today we remember the fallen of Israel’s wars, all of our dear ones. Each one had a family. Every name has a life’s story of its own; an entire world has been cut short.”—Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in a Remembrance Day message to bereaved families of fallen Israeli soldiers. Looking ahead to Independence Day on Thursday, Netanyahu stressed that it is due to Israel’s courageous soldiers that the state arose, and flourishes: “Thanks to them, the State of Israel will continue to develop and prosper, and thanks to them the members of the younger generation will also be able to live their lives in security and tranquility.” (Jerusalem Post, April 24.)
“The years pass, but the pain remains.”—Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, at the Mount Herzl gravesite of his brother Yonatan prior to Yom Hazikaron. “Yoni” Netanyahu, former commander of the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit, was killed in the 1976 Entebbe raid. (Jerusalem Post, April 23.)
“The IDF is a defensive shield composed of thousands of male and female soldiers and commanders in both regular and reserve service.… Shoulder to shoulder, they carry out every mission. As we are gathered here today, they are out in the field…defending us.”—Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, at a ceremony at the Western Wall in honor of Yom Hazikaron, “promising to fulfill the last eternal will of the fallen—to defend our home in Israel.” (IDF Website, April 24.)
“A total of 126 new names have been added [in the past year] to the list of Israel’s fallen soldiers and terrorism victims who will be honored at this week’s Remembrance Day events. Israel now has 10,524 bereaved families who have lost 22,993 loved ones.” (Ynet News, April 22.)
“How is it that the Holocaust’s No. 1 denier, [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, is still a president? He who threatens to use nuclear weapons—to use nuclear weapon—to destroy the Jewish state. Have we not learned? We must. We must know that when evil has power, it is almost too late. Mr. President, we are here in this place of memory. Israel cannot not remember. And because it remembers, it must be strong, just to defend its own survival and its own destiny.”—Elie Wiesel, introducing US President Barack Obama at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and questioning—as “again” unfolds in Iran—whether world leaders have “learned anything” from the failure to stop the Holocaust. (Pajamas Media, April 23.)
“I am realistic enough to not be so optimistic about talks with Iran. The Iranians have a history of deceiving the world, sometime through steps like this.”—Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, prior to meeting with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey in Washington, warning world powers to not allow nuclear talks with Iran to drag on, as “it is clear that the Iranians are focused on reaching nuclear capability.” (Jerusalem Post, April 19.)
“Such reports are from the sphere of science fiction and do not correspond with the truth.”—Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, after meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, dismissing as a “James Bond story” recent reports that Israel purchased airbases in Azerbaijan to facilitate a potential attack on neighboring Iran’s nuclear facilities. (Jerusalem Post, April 23.)
“This is a dangerous precedent that clouds the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.”—Israel’s Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz, describing as a “great concern” the decision by Egypt’s state-run gas company to terminate the supply deal signed with Israel in June 2005. (Wall Street Journal, April 22.)
“Israel has gas reserves that will make the country totally energy independent, not only from Egypt, but from any other source, and which will turn Israel into one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas. So we are quite confident on that score.”—Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, striking a reassuring tone despite Egypt’s cancellation of gas shipments to Israel. (Jerusalem Post, April 23.)
“We will break the legs of anyone who dares to come near our borders. That’s why our troops should always be ready.”—Chairman of Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Hussein Tantawi, after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman suggested the Jewish state take action to neutralize the growing threat emanating from Sinai. (Jerusalem Post, April 23.)
“Dear Sir, we are turning to you…in order to save the life of our dear friend Muhamad Abu El Rachman Ayesh Abu Shahala.… Muhamad is a former Palestinian Authority officer married to 2 wives and father of 7.… [He] has been [detained] for the past 2 months at the Palestinian security headquarters in Ramallah, and suffers of heart disease and diabetes and needs medicine. He has been brutally tortured both physically and mentally…after ‘confessing’ to have sold a house to Jews.… The absurd is that as much as we know, without a legal trial, it has been decided to execute him for his ‘felony’.… We ask for your immediate assistance in order to save Muhamad’s life. Sincerely, his close friends.”—Excerpt from a letter sent to Andrew Standley, head of the European Union delegation to Israel, urging the EU to intervene on behalf Muhamad Abu El Rachman Ayesh Abu Shahala, sentenced to death for allegedly selling property to Jews. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, April 20.)
“Three weeks ago, AMCHA Initiative co-founders Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and Leila Beckwith posed a simple but very significant question to top University of California administrators and faculty. They asked whether UCLA Professor David Delgado Shorter’s promotion of the academic and cultural boycott of Israel on his official UCLA class website was protected by the University of California rules of academic freedom.… After consulting with top UCLA administrators, [Dr. Andrew Leuchter, head of the UCLA Academic Senate, responded] in an email… ‘that posting of such materials was a serious error in judgment.’ Professor Shorter…was then counseled by his department chair not to repeat the mistake. Dr. Leuchter’s statement is an implicit acknowledgement by UC faculty and administration, for the first time, that promoting the boycott of Israel is a political action and therefore subject to state laws and university policies that prohibit the use of public resources for political activities.… UC President Mark Yudof also spoke out publicly about this issue for the first time…stating: ‘professors are there to educate—not to rouse the troops for their cause.…’” (AMCHA Initiative Website, April 20.)
“There were 752,000 tourist entries during the first quarter of 2012, an all-time high.”—Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, announcing that a record number of tourists visited Israel in the first quarter of this year. The Bureau also confirmed that Israel’s population recently surpassed 7.8 million, a growth of 1.8% or an additional 137,000 new citizens; 75.3 percent of the total population, or 5,931,000 people, is Jewish. (Globes, April 16 & Jerusalem Post, April 24.)
Short Takes
SUSPECTED CYBER ATTACK HITS IRAN OIL INDUSTRY—(Dubai) According to Iranian sources, the Islamic Republic’s oil industry has been targeted by a suspected cyber attack. Preliminary reports claim the computer virus, likely to be compared to the Stuxnet worm which affected Iranian nuclear facilities in 2009-10, was detected inside the control systems of Kharg Island, the country’s largest crude oil export facility, and also hit the Internet and communications systems of Iran’s Oil Ministry and national oil company. Hamdullah Mohammadnejad, the head of civil defense at Iran’s oil ministry, has allegedly set up a crisis unit to figure out how to neutralize the threat. (Reuters, April 23.)
MUFTI’S J’LEM VISIT ANGERS EGYPT’S ISLAMISTS—(Cairo) One of Egypt’s highest religious authorities, grand mufti Ali Gomaa, has visited Jerusalem for the first time, angering Islamist groups opposed to any step that might be viewed as legitimizing Israel. To reassure detractors, Gomaa described his pilgrimage to the al-Aqsa mosque as an “unofficial visit” that was not undertaken “under the banner of normalization” nor implied “any recognition of the Zionist entity.” Nevertheless, Salafi MP Mamdouh Ismail called the trip a “poisoned dagger that stabbed the [Palestinian] case,” and, Osama Yassin, a senior Muslim Brotherhood official, said Gomaa must be held to account, as what “he did cannot be justified and cannot be endorsed.” Chairman of the “liberal” Wafd Party’s parliamentary bloc, Mahmoud al-Sakka, also weighed in, saying, “if [Gomaa] was sincere in his visit, he would have returned with Jerusalem in his right hand.” Coptic Christian MP Margaret Azer said the visit would have no impact on Egyptian Christians’ decision to avoid visiting Jerusalem “until after its liberation.” Parliament Speaker Saad al-Katatny has since demanded Gomaa’s “repentance to God,” “an apology to the Arab and Islamic peoples” and his resignation. (Reuters, April 18 & 20 & Independent Media Review and Analysis, April 19 & 22.)
LAWSUIT AGAINST ASSAD FILED AT ICC—(Jerusalem) Lawyers representing Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon have filed a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court against Syrian President Bashar Assad. The lawsuit accuses Assad and his accomplices of committing “murders, war crimes, genocides and crimes against humanity,” with evidence including videos, filmed confessions, photos, witness statements and written documents. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, April 20.)
BARGHOUTI ADMITTED COORDINATING WEST BANK TERROR ATTACKS—(Jerusalem) According to Israeli interrogation documents obtained by Haaretz, Palestinian Marwan Barghouti, regarded as a leader of the First and Second Intifadas, admitted in 2002 to coordinating terrorist attacks in the West Bank. The founder of Tanzim, the armed wing of Fatah, Barghouti also claimed that attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel were carried out with the tacit approval of Yasser Arafat, then chairman of the Palestinian Authority. Barghouti is currently serving five consecutive life sentences. [see ‘On Topics’ below for the full Haaretz report—Ed.] (JTA, April 20.)
NEW NAMES ON WIESENTHAL CENTER’S NAZI LIST HAVE CANADIAN LINKS—(Toronto) The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s latest list of the world’s 10 most-wanted Nazi war criminals contains three new names, all with Canadian connections. Topping the list of suspected former Nazis who are still alive and have evaded prosecution is Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary, who allegedly escaped to Canada after organizing the deportation to Auschwitz of approximately 15,700 Jews in 1944. He was stripped of his Canadian citizenship in 1997 and left the country; he reportedly lives in Hungary. At the no. 4 spot this year is Vladimir Katriuk, said to have commanded a Ukrainian army unit that committed mass murder of Jews in Belarus. Katriuk, now 91, also escaped to Canada after World War II and was stripped of his Canadian citizenship in 1999. In 2007, his citizenship was reinstated, a decision upheld by a court in 2010. However, the Wiesenthal Center says “new research” has revealed Katriuk’s “active role in…mass murder” and “provides a firm basis to overturn the decision not to strip Katriuk of his Canadian citizenship.” In the no. 10 position is Helmut Oberlander, believed to have served with an Einsatzkommando unit in Ukraine and Crimea that murdered more than 23,000 people, mostly Jews. Oberlander fled after the war to Canada and was stripped of his citizenship in 2001. In 2004, his citizenship was restored but it was revoked a second time in 2007, a decision that was overturned by a court two years later. The case is still pending. Canada was again assigned this year a failing grade for its prosecution of suspected Nazi war criminals [see ‘On Topics’ below for an article on Canada’s historic and ongoing failure to prosecute Nazi war criminals—Ed.] (JTA, April 20.)
