At the outset I must confirm that I am an Orthodox Jew who firmly believes in the Torah and the practices of my religion. This does not mean that I am in any way qualified to give the Jewish point of view on this issue as I’m sure that most rabbis who read this article will find glaring errors in my approach if reference is had to a strict reading of our laws. Accordingly, this is a personal point of view and represents only what I perceive to be the situation and the way forward.
In today’s Parshah (Genesis 47:28-50:26) Joseph, the son of Jacob with the full backing of Pharoah and accompanied by all of Pharoah’s household servants, the Egyptian elders of the house and the elders of Egypt went forth to bury Jacob in the cave in the field of Machpelah. And the mourning of the Egyptians for Jacob was so intense that the Canaanites who witnessed it styled the place Abel Mizraim (Egypt mourns).
To my mind this is hardly surprising as Abraham, the son of Terah, is the patriarch of Judaism and Islam; the father of Ishmael and Isaac.
Regardless, the descendants of these brothers/half-brothers have taken it upon themselves to wage an on-and-off war against each other down the centuries and in respect of which conflicts it appears neither side is ever wrong.
This relationship together with the Jewish role of being a “light unto nations” ie an example, is why I have tried to bring Muslims and Jews together and why I have slammed Islamaphobia wherever I have encountered it.
To begin with I’d like to make a few observations.
I do believe that Israel’s response has been disproportionate but that she had a right to retaliate is without question. Firing rockets intentionally at civilians is wholly unacceptable as is the scale of civilian casualties that have been inflicted on the Palestinians. Before I get to the military theory please understand that I believe that Jews do not fire at school buildings even if there are mortars coming from there. Avoiding a target is just as relevant as extinguishing it in most cases.
In terms of the media created perception that Israel is a giant and the Palestinians are a tiny minority group, I think it best to put that into perspective. Muslims constitute about 1 500 000 000 or just on 25% of the world’s population, while Jews number 13 000 000 or just on 0,002%. Israel cannot be seen on most maps while just in the region alone there are 22 Arab countries covering an enormous amount of territory. In terms of wealth, Saudi Arabia alone exceeds the combined Jewish wealth on the planet. Incredibly the media somehow manage to paint Israel as Goliath and still wonder in light of those logistics why Jews feel persecuted.
By way of background we need to understand that Jews have been the victims of pogroms, inquisitions and a holocaust since time immemorial. As a result there is understandably a deep sense of mistrust and insecurity concerning the conduct of humanity. It would be extraordinary if it were otherwise.
The state of Israel was founded and located where it is for primarily — but certainly not limited to — the following reasons. Firstly as a result of continuing anti-Semitism which translated into events like the pogroms in Russia and the holocaust in Germany which left the inescapable impression that only through a country of their own would Jews ever be able to feel secure. Leaving it to the goodwill of the international community had resulted in some very devastating examples of what placing their faith in humanity could realise.
Secondly Israel is biblically the home of the Jews and in religious terms the reason why an alternative location was considered unsuitable.
The Palestinians on the other hand are made up of predominantly Sunni Muslims with a significant Christian minority and the odd smattering of other religions thrown in. Self serving arguments that their being distinct from other Arab communities is a recent phenomena are not only unhelpful but quite frankly irrelevant. There are about 11-million people on the planet who consider themselves to be Palestinians and desirous of nationhood.
Many Palestinians were displaced during the two major exoduses of 1948 and 1967 and while there are two views, namely that they were ordered by other Arabs to leave prior to the war against Israel as opposed to being forced out at gunpoint, what remains is the fact that there are millions of people caught up in the middle of a political and physical battlefield wherein the vast majority of them have very little or no say.
In terms of the Gaza Strip, Hamas was democratically elected as the Palestinian leadership primarily because of corruption and neglect on the part of Fatah. While their actions with regard to the presidency may have been unlawful the fact remains that to Gazans they represent the current leadership. In the West Bank Mahmoud Abbas is the president and currently the generally internationally recognised leader of the Palestinian Authority. Regardless of the internal dispute, Israel must step up to the plate and offer to negotiate with both, even though Hamas does not recognise the right of Israel to exist.
“Hamas, as its charter and political literature make clear, does not want an end to Israeli occupation. It wants the end of Israel. That is because Hamas is part of a pan-Islamist movement with global messianic ambitions. Creating a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank is not its aim. A branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas dreams of world dominion for its version of Islam rather than a mini-state in 5 000 square kilometres of barren land in a geopolitical backyard.
“Although officially created in 1987, Hamas’s roots go back to the 1930s when Haj Amin al-Hussaini, the Grand Mufti of Palestine under the British Mandate, allied himself with Hitler and dreamt of reviving the Islamic Caliphate with himself as Caliph.
That Hamas cares little about Palestine as a would-be nation state is clear from its name and charter. Hamas is the Arab acronym for “Islamic Resistance Movement”, making it clear that the movement regards Palestine not as a nation in its own right but as a small part of the ummah, the community of believers. Hamas is the only significant party in Palestine whose name does not include the words Palestine or Palestinian.” (Amir Taheri)
By agreeing to negotiate with Hamas and Fatah the agendas of all stakeholders in the region will become apparent. The role of Islamists in using the Palestinians to further their aims, the ineptitude of Fatah as well as the intransigence of the Israelis. Nobody is blameless. What is clear is that building settlements must stop and that the Palestinians need to promote a leadership that wants a Palestinian state. Hamas is not that leadership — they want to be part of a larger Islamic entity.
What is happening in Gaza is not the illness merely another symptom of the ongoing war of attrition. What needs to happen now is that the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves have to show that they are tired of being manipulated and take their future into their own hands.
Currently there are basically two schools of thought in respect of a long term solution ; the “two-state solution” and the “single-state solution”. The former envisages the two nations living side by side within boundaries which are yet to be finalised while the latter is a single home for both. For my part I would prefer the two-state solution with the Palestinians being afforded the West Bank, Gaza and such other territory as may be agreed as to make it a viable state. That said, the Palestinian government must then have full control of its territory without any external interference from Israel.
I am fully aware of the reluctance of some Islamic countries to recognise Israel just as I am aware of Israel’s fear of what might happen if it lets its guard down. Yet both the Israelis and Palestinian people need a long-term solution and by passing it on to the next generation all they are doing is exacerbating the problem.
Currently demographically a two state solution is feasible — twenty years from now it might not be.
It is not in the interest of Isreal to continue to allow a final agreement to drag it passed the point where demographically a two-state solution is no longer feasible while the Palestinians are in danger of allowing themselves to be used for goals which have nothing to do with their realising their place in the sun as a people.
Both must insist that negotiations for the permanent solution begin immediately and that those that don’t recognise it be excluded.
Now that the UN has called a ceasefire it must be respected immediately by both sides. While I am fully aware of the courage that it takes for leaders on both sides to try and call for a compromise — some have even been assassinated — that is what it is going to take to bring this issue to a head. Israel’s real long term security lies in reaching a compromise with her neighbours and not by having a bodyguard — no matter how tough that country might be.
Of course people in Israel will be shaking their heads and telling me it can’t be done. Just as South African whites told us that if apartheid ended that would be the end of them. South African whites were hopelessly in the minority in South Africa, surrounded on all sides by hostile neighbours and being sanctioned by the world community.
Jews in Israel are the majority, they have reached a compromise with Egypt and Jordan and if this issue is resolved at the same table as Lebanon and Syria then they will be a long way down the road towards a lasting peace.
Of course there will still be those Muslims who for religious reasons do not believe that Israel should exist just as there are Jews who believe that Israel must be the home for the Jews. I am one of those Jews. I also recognise the fact that the Palestinians need a viable country in the area that they consider their home. This means that like South Africa a deal has to be reached.
It’s not impossible, walking to Mars is impossible, what it takes is everyone going home a little unhappy by giving up something and a compromise is reached. What we cannot do is allow those who don’t want to give up anything and the destroyers to dictate the way forward.
Twenty years ago South Africa under black rule, USSR collapsed, peace in Northern Ireland, perhaps capitalism itself being bailed out by governments rather than letting free market principles dictate — impossible! In 1980, if someone had dared to suggest any of that they would have been declared insane.
There are two sets of people within a geographical area who both need to find an overall solution to their problems. Not every problem each one has but the problem between them. If they achieve that single goal then an enormous amount of pressure will be released from both. Of course there will be problems but nothing along the lines we have witnessed over the past 60 years. It’s time for all the posturing, militancy and threats to be set aside and the outsiders ignored.
Like South Africa, they will have to deal with each problem as it arises but they won’t live with the day-to-day regret that comes with ongoing hatred and attrition. Of course that won’t dissipate overnight but it will reduce dramatically almost immediately agreement is reached.
The Israelis and Palestinians need to get together and forge their own future and leave those who want to test their weapons and their ideologies to find another place to play. The time has come for them to realise that it would be far nicer to turn on their televisions and watch other people killing each other for a change. After all is said and done they are the ones who have to live there together.
As I said, I’m not the expert and I don’t live in the region. These are just my thoughts.
lyndall beddy on January 14th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Iran is building nuclear weapons and might use them to wipe Israel off the map.
During the holocaust the world stood silently by as 6 million Jews went to their deaths.( I apologize profusely for mentioning it and will probably receive some “victimhood” comments in response, but what the heck.)
However, this time the Israelis/Jews will not be so easily massacred. They have the military capability to fight for their survival. And they will use it.
Many people, for a multiplicity of different reasons, hate Israel, Jews and Zionists. To some extent, I can understand how they feel although this does not mean that I condone it.
It is extremely sad that non-Hamas combatants are dying in Gaza. It is truly tragic. However, Israel, rightly or wrongly, is fighting for survival and until Gazan neighbours recognize its existence, there will inevitably be more appalling death and destruction.
Lyndall,
Those who refer to the term of wiping Israel off the face of the earth, are definitely not referring to anything other than a massive military type campaign. The current Iranian president threatened this, once or twice.
I fail to see how Palestinian numbers in the West Bank or Gaza have anything to do with political parties and power in Israel.
I also don’t know what genocide you are referring to in Zim.
Blacklisted Dictator
They don’t read the Hamas Charter. These people have made it absolutely clear that Israel will be wiped out if they get control.
The same with Hitler and the Jews. Hitler wrote a book, Mein Kampf, which was published before the war outlining his plan for exterminating the Jews. No-one read it, and the few who did , did not believe it – until the concentration camps were liberated at the end of the war!
Blacklisted Dictator
Hamas is a terrorist organisation – not the ANC in drag! To get that message accoss to the brainwashed needs a sledgehammer!
Six years ago, the renowned Italian journalist, Oriana Fallaci, wrote an article entitled “I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews”.
Everybody who is interested in the current conlict should read it, since she discusses many things that never see the light of day in the South African media…
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=B18BA7C1-0821-44FE-B2FD-DDC6D13D101A
Blacklisted Dictator
Are they non- Hamas combatants? Did they vote for them or not?
The more ignorant the population in a democracy, the more likely their vote will be manipulated.
Which reminds me of the Irish joke that I enjoy:
“In the majority of cases the minority is right”
Try and get your head around the logic of that!
Lyndall Beddy,
Israel must cut diplomatic relations with South Africa. It will be quite cleansing and I can then, at least, walk around Joburg feeling less infected.
I am going to email the new Israeli ambassador with a speech that he can deliver to Aziz Pahad etc.
Lyndall Beddy on January 15th, 2009 at 3:50 am
Please don’t keep bringing up the holocaust! The world is sick to death of hearing about those Jewish deaths…. Holocaust, shmolocaust.
And as for “Mein Kamf” .. does anyone know whether Hitler existed or actually wrote it? Of course, they don’t!
As I am sure you are well aware, President Ahmadinejad of Iran (Hamas’s sponsor) recently held an international conference in Iran disputing many historical facts about the extermination the Jews.
Lyndall Beddy on January 15th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Even chidren in Gaza have been indoctrinated with the Hamas suicide cult. So their innocence has been hijacked/stolen.
Not only has the Palestinain population been manipulated by Hamas, but it has also been terrorised.
Interesting to note that crucifixion is still officially on the books in The Holy Land. It begs the question whether a new messiah will now rock-up. I await the possibility with baited breath.
“Of course, none of these arguments can penetrate the brains of the superannuated Stalinists, vicarious jihadists and attention-seeking actors and pop stars who think it’s cool to go on marches chanting, “We are all Hamas now”. Even if these luvvies might not be aware that on Christmas Eve Hamas legalised crucifixion as a punishment for those who “weaken the spirit of the people”, and have been shooting such political enemies in the head when they find them in hospitals conveniently injured by Israeli bombing raids, they still deserve to be dismissed as useful idiots for a depraved death cult.” Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times (UK), 11 Jan 2009
Blacklisted Dictator
Take a deep breath and calm down. If the world goes crazy, the more people who keep calm the better. Remember “IF” by Kipling.
War will never resolve anything. War has casualties on either side. There are those whose lives are damaged and at the same time there are those whose souls are damaged.
Most people on either side believe that war is winnable. It is not. Each war will beget another war. Atrocities will pile up. The future gets lost.
A solution is needed in the Middle East but the agenda is driven from elsewhere. Within the warring parties,unfortunately, hardliners are the ones who enjoy credibility and support. This is not the way.
South Africa used an open and transparent approach during the negotiations. It stuck it out and it came away with a solution against the flow of events.
I wish for the people of the Middle East what we achieved for ourselves. I hate war and I hate what war does to people whether as victims or as victors.
There is no glory in war. There is no solution through war. Heaps of evil things continue to happen because neither the afflicted people nor their supporters around the world wish to denounce violence, all violence, in favour of negotiations in good faith. A win win solution has to be found.
Re Hamas and crucifixion etc…
http://newsblaze.com/story/20081224160149zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Are more people dying in Gaza from Israeli military attacks, or in Zimbabwe, from cholera brought about by The ANC’s undying support of Mugabe? It is interesting that so called human rights activists appear more concerned about the former than about the latter. Why? Is it that they support The ANC come what may?
I refer you to today’s The Mail and Guardian…
“Israel sent envoys to Egypt for more talks on Cairo’s truce plan and to the United States to sign an agreement on preventing arms smuggling into Gaza, its key demand for ending the offensive that has killed more than 1 100 people in 21 days.”
“The death toll from cholera in Zimbabwe has reached 2 201, the UN said on Friday, warning that prevention measures were not working.”
Lyndall,
You wrote: “Under the Shah the women and men of Iran were the most educated of the Muslim world, and the women were not veiled. All that stopped now.”
I’m not sure that Iran under the Shah had the best education of Muslim countries.
Education in Iraq during the 1970s – where illiteracy among 15-45 age group declined to less than 10% – was probably on par with, if not better than in Iran.
Be that as it may, education has improved dramatically in Iran since 1979, ESPECIALLY for females.
At the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, 90 percent of rural women were illiterate; in towns the figure was over 45 percent. Today over 70% of all women are literate, and full literacy has been achieved for youth.
By 2007, more than half the university students in Iran were women, more than a third of the doctors, 60 percent of civil servants and 80 percent of all teachers in Iran were women.
At one university recently, 70% of physics graduates were female.
Iran achieved a world record demographic change in family size and maternal and child health.
The fertility rate between 1976 and 2000 declined from 8.1 births per woman to 2.4 births in rural areas and 1.8 births in urban areas. All forms of contraception are free in Iran.
http://www.parstimes.com/women/women_universities.html
“Peyvandi adds that, ironically, it was after the 1979 revolution and the Islamization of the country’s educational institutions that girls from traditional or conservative families began to find ways to go to school. … I think the change that took place after the revolution should be considered part of the reason behind the progress we’re seeing now,” he said. “And that was that the traditional families who had not sent their girls to school before — because the teachers were men or the school was not Islamic — these were the girls who took the greatest advantage from the Islamization of schools, or the fact that schools were no longer mixed, as a way of justifying their presence out of the home.”
Oldfox and Blacklisted Dictator
Both interesting sites – and both on opposite sides of the debate. It strikes me that the net is like the Bible – you can always find a verse/site to support your point of view. The Bible says “thou shall not kill” but millions have been killed in the name of Christianity. Ditto with The Quraan and Islam.
You don’t have to look only at the Middle East. Look at Africa and how the Muslims are trying to force Muslim law on the Christians and the animists. Same as the Catholic Church wiped out all different interpretations of Christianity as heretics in the Inquisition.
Lyndall,
The blog topic here is Gaza – Israel, not Africa.
In how many of Africa’s more than 50 countries, is Sharia law being imposed? It does not even apply to all of Nigeria, just some of the Northern states of Nigeria.
You are obsessed by anti-Catholicism and Islamophobia.
One of your gripes against the Catholic Church is the pope’s stance on birth control (a great many Catholics DO practice birth control).
Did you know that in 1921 (i.e. during my father’s lifetime) the Church of England opposed the teaching and advocacy of birth control?
Oldfox
What I obsess about is hypocracy. Jesus was not too keen on hypocrites either.
Many Catholics do practice birth control? Yes, the rich and educated ones of the west – and most of the women are taking the pill for “hormonal problems”? So not to upset “The Pope”?
Yet the poor of the third world in prdominantly Catholic countries (Rwanda, Zimbabwe and much of South America) are denied any choice?
And Nigeria says they are not forcing Islamic Law on Christians? What about the Christians who live in the Northern States? And why won’t they give autonomy to Biafra? And the Catholic Bishop of Nigeria told his people not to use condoms – BECAUSE THEY SPREAD AIDS!
Yes, I repeat, overpopulation is our biggest threat to the future. The world has survived ice ages, and global warmings – but not 7 billion people, many of whose populations are doubling every 15-25 years!
Lyndall,
You should do some moe research before making wild statements!
While the Catholic Church has been obstacle in Rwanda, as in many countries, Family Planning is the No. 1 priority for Rwanda, in the word’s of its president.
http://www.intrahealth.org/assets/uploaded/countries/FP_in_Rwanda.pdf
There is probably not a country in the world where the Catholic Church can override govt.
http://www.intrahealth.org/assets/uploaded/countries/FP_in_Rwanda.pdf
A simplistic “limit family size are all costs” policy does have downsides.
Steven W. Mosher is president of Population Research Institute (www.pop.org) and author of the book Population Control: Real Costs, Illusory Benefits (Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ, 2008). Michael J. Miller interviewed him on the subject of his book.
Here is a part of the interview at http://www.ignatius.com/magazines/cwr/miller_aug-sept08.htm
“Birth rates in Catholic Spain and Italy are down to 1.1 children per couple. We’ve done some back-of-the-envelope calculations, and in Italy every young couple would have to have four children in order to stop the population decline that’s currently underway. No combination of incentives in the world could turn this thing around. So Italians have no choice but to accept large numbers of immigrants, mostly Muslims from Albania, North Africa, and the Middle East. This creates the additional problem of integrating people from very different cultural, religious, and social backgrounds into Italian society.”
Lyndall Beddy on January 18th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Let us assume that over-population, is as you say, the world’s biggest problem.
If you have had a good run for your money, might not now be the time to stop blogging? You could perhaps end with a final well-written comment??
Oldfox
You missed the point did you not?
And in Rwanda they have started to turn against the Catholics after the genocide – seeing them as either ineffectual or complicit. So new Africa Christian churches are growing and Catholisism is declining – thanks be to God!
Lyndall,
Which point of yours?
You stated: Yet the poor of the third world in prdominantly Catholic countries (Rwanda, Zimbabwe and much of South America) are denied any choice?
The poor of the third world DO have a choice, w.r.t. family planning.
Oldfox
Get Lyndall back on topic. Her favorite blogging tactic is to get you off topic onto Catholics, Rwanda, Christians, Archbishop Tutu, Mandela and God knows what when the topic is about Gaza.
Do an internet search for ‘Rabbis support Palestianians’ or ‘Jews for Palestinaian Justice’.
There is a lot of moderate Jewish support for the Palestian cause that needs to be explored.
Don’t let people promoting in US corporate-industrial-military intersts via their puppet, the Israeli government get in the way of the truth.
Traps
It is a real pity you did not see your way open
to let the ‘freedom fighters’ speak for themselves
so that everybody can see what they are about.
In my next post I intended to let the Israelis
speak for themselves instead of everybody
putting pen to paper on a conflict that began
in biblical times.
Now that the madness has ended what does Hamas do,
they are celebrating amidst the ruins of Gaza their
victory over Israel,now that is madness at its peak.
Oldfox
Religious Catholics do NOT have a choice about birth control. In the Catholic Church the word of the Pope is the word of God – and the Pope still outlaws birth control(except the rhythm method). If they belong to other Christian Churches they do have a choice, because the reformist churches believe in individual conscience.
Lyndall,
The word is “devout”, not “religious”. Millions of Catholics are not devout, and don’t blindly follow the pope’s “teachings”.
Millions of Muslims are not devout, and drink wine and other alcoholic drinks especially in countries like Turkey, Algeria etc.
Lyndall
What have the Catholics and birth control got to do with conflict in Gaza, other than try and divert readers attention?
Oldfox
Only the rich, mainly in the west, have the choice of whether or not they can be devout. Not a choice in a rural village where the priest will not allow birth control pills or condoms to be sold in the shops.
Andrew
I am answering Oldfox.
Lyndall,
Without seeing any proof to the contrary, I can only assume that the alleged type of incident you mention, where a Catholic priest can dictate to a village, happens of such a small scale that it has a negligible effect on a country as a whole.
Oldfox
You are so very wrong. We don’t only talk Africa here. Also South America. Also the Pacific Islands. Many, many places.
It even used to be that way in Ireland not that very long ago.
Oldfox
Poor people can’t buy condoms or pills. They need to be able to get them free from the state.
All USA aid comes with strings attached by the Catholic Church, who represent a quarter of the population of the USA.
Oldfox
This week’s M & G:
Ban on US abortion fund lifted.
President Barack Obama this week lifted the ban on US funding for international organisations that offer advice about or offer abortions…(called the) “global gag order” because it banned groups from even discussing abortion…he issued a statement reaffirming his support for abortion rights…”
At last – a release of the Catholic stranglehold on Aid.
I am getting more and more respect for this man!