Earl Shugerman brings every week a serie of stories about Anglo-Saxon immigrants to Israel. This project is aimed to promote a more realistic view of life in Israel.
The Anglo-List – Bringing us together
by Suzanne Suckerman
I came to Israel from Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1989 just after I got married. My husband always wanted to live in Haifa. We were the only Anglo-Saxon couple our age and so socially it took a long time to fit in. It was mainly through my husband’s business that we began to meet the English speaking community and slowly acquire a social network. Immigration from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia was at its peak and the Jewish Agency and other Aliyah organizations were concentrating on that. Support in Haifa, at that time, was scant and we were left to our own devices. Over the years we plodded along, slowly making our way. Our two children were born here and attend school here and it has been through them that we have learned a great deal. The education system, religious, parenting, military service to name but a few are all so different in South Africa.
Haifa was recently chosen to absorb the new, large wave of English speaking immigrants coming to Israel. Over the past 2 years over 1000 English speakers have made Haifa their home and similar numbers will be arriving in the next few years. In the course of a conversation with an ex-colleague, I identified a need for a central source of practical information on life in Israel, specifically for the English speaking immigrant community. After some research I understood that a website was the way to go.
Haifa also attracts foreign students, businessmen, members of the Bahai faith as well as a contingency of foreign workers from the Philippines. In order to meet their specific needs and give support to these groups, I proceeded to set up a new information website called Anglo-list.com. This website is unique, and fulfils an important commercial and social function. We understand the English speaker’s needs, and this site has been designed, and will continue to evolve, to meet those needs. This Aliyah, business, consumer, entertainment and information website gives practical information, advice and tips and covers such issues as the medical and education systems, security issues, social services, entertainment as well as being a directory for government and official offices and Aliyah information.
From a community point of view, we have set up social networks and our membership is growing daily. We plan to hold social events and develop a support group. Readers are contributing their personal Aliyah stories, some humorous and some serious. The community relates strongly to this, they are inspired and comforted from other peoples experiences.
We also now have the strength to request that provision be made for the English speaker from companies and organizations
Potential immigrants are using the site to make crucial decisions about their future. The large Bahai community in and the Philippinos, also have access to the site and we are working on incorporating information for them as well.
On a professional level we have a list of service providers. A condition for advertising on this site is being able to provide service in English. Various organizations are advertising on the site and have contributed information and articles on their specific service – special education, small business development and student bodies to name but a few.
Learning Hebrew, as a spoken language, can be a long and difficult process, we have also addressed this issue and provide a phonetic dictionary of useful terms, phrases and slang.
The Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Yona Yahav, has endorsed the site and we work in close cooperation with Aliyah organizations.
It is our plan to enlarge the site and incorporate the entire country – and our vision to turn this site into the premier English site for English speakers in Israel will become a reality.
Report written by F. Stephen Larrabee and Julian Lindley-French
The election of Barack Obama as the new U.S. president provides an opportunity to overcome many of the divisions that have bedeviled U.S.-European relations in recent years and give the transatlantic partnership new dynamism and vision. In the coming decade, the United States and Europe face a daunting array of challenges. These challenges are so complex and demanding that neither the United States nor Europe can manage them on their own. They require close and sustained collective action.
To manage these challenges successfully, the transatlantic relationship needs a new mindset based on the premise that a multipolar world is emerging—one that will affect foreign policy options and consequently the ability of Americans and Europeans to shape others. To that end, a new transatlantic security partnership must be crafted that reflects both the new global realities and the political realities in Europe and the United States.
Central to such a partnership will be shared interests and values and a mutual commitment to the projection of stability and the anchoring of emerging powers in effective multilateral institutions underpinned by a strong commitment to the international rule of law. Specifically needed is a new architecture founded on a strong U.S. involvement in NATO, NATO-EU relations aimed at promoting and projecting effective civil-military security beyond the Euro-Atlantic area and an EU-U.S. security relationship that assures the protection of the home base.
This report is aimed at furthering that goal. It seeks to define the substance and parameters of a new security partnership between the United States and Europe as well as to outline an Agenda for Action for the new partnership.
“Hiram legend was not used when modern Freemasonry started in 1717.
By 1730 (just a few years later) it was the central part of the Masonic ritual. Today it remains the heart of the ritual. It is supposed to teach us Masonic lessons. But what are they?
Freemasonry (remember the period when the Hiram legend started, 1717-1730) teaches that each person is entitled to dignity and respect, freedom of thought and speech, not even our friends, or ourselves, should curtail this freedom. Hiramic legend could be about the universal struggle for freedom.
If so, what is this freedom?
Freedom of speech includes freedom of those who say things we hate, hurtful things that upset people. Otherwise, it is not real freedom.”
by Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Isidore Isaac Rabi, winner of a Nobel Prize for physics, was once asked why he became a scientist. He replied: “My mother made me a scientist without ever knowing it. Every other child would come back from school and be asked, ‘What did you learn today?’ But my mother used to say, ‘Izzy, did you ask a good question today?’ That made the difference. Asking good questions made me into a scientist.”
Judaism is a religion of questions. The greatest prophets asked questions of God. The Book of Job, the most searching of all explorations of human suffering, is a book of questions asked by man, to which God replies with a string of questions of His own.
The earliest sermons usually began with a question asked of the rabbi by a member of the congregation. Most famously, the Passover Seder begins with four questions asked by the youngest child.
So I can identify with Rabi’s childhood memories. When I left university and went to Israel to study in a rabbinical seminary, I was stunned by the sheer intensity with which the students grappled with texts. Once in a while the teacher’s face would light up at a comment from the class. “Du fregst a gutte kashe,” he would say (you raise a good objection). This was his highest form of praise.
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski tells of how, when he was young, his instructor would relish challenges to his arguments. In his broken English he would say: “You right! You a hundred prozent right! Now I show you where you wrong.”
Religious faith has suffered hugely in the modern world by being cast as naive, blind, unquestioning.
The scientist asks, the believer just believes. Critical inquiry, so the stereotype runs, is what makes the difference between the pursuit of knowledge and the certainties of faith. One who believes in the fundamentals of a creed is derided as a fundamentalist. The word fundamentalist itself comes to mean a simplistic approach to complex issues. Religious belief is often seen as the suspension of critical intelligence.
As Wilson Mizner once put it: “I respect faith. But doubt is what gets you an education.” To me, this is a caricature of faith, not faith itself.
Questions testify to faith – the universe is not impervious to our understanding, life is not chance.
What is the asking of a question if not itself a profound expression of faith in the intelligibility of the universe and the meaningfulness of human life? To ask is to believe that somewhere there is an answer. The fact that throughout history people have devoted their lives to extending the frontiers of knowledge is a moving demonstration of the restlessness of the human spirit and its constant desire to transcend, to climb. Far from faith excluding questions, questions testify to faith – that the world is not random, the universe is not impervious to our understanding, life is not chance.
That, I suspect, is why Judaism encourages questions. On the phrase: “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,” Rashi, the 11th-century biblical commentator, says: “This means, with the power to understand and to discern.”
Critical intelligence is the gift God gave humanity. To use it in the cause of human dignity and insight is one of the great ways of serving God. When faith suppresses questions, it dies. When it accepts superficial answers, it withers.
Faith is not opposed to doubt. What it is opposed to is the shallow certainty that what we understand is all there is.
Reprinted with kindly permission of Aish HaTorah International.
Le renvoi de Jacques Chirac devant la justice pour “détournements de biens publics” et “abus de confiance” dans le cadre de l’affaire des chargés de mission de la Ville de Paris est non seulement superflu, mais aussi et surtout moralement douteux, eu égard au fait que les délits reprochés remontent à plus de vingt ans et que tous les partis politiques ont eu recours à ces pratiques.
La justice devrait faire le procès de la classe politique entière au lieu de s’acharner sur un homme qui a servi la France de manière exemplaire pendant plus de quarante ans.
C’est une constante bien française, la nation décapite le Père, celui qui incarne le mieux ce qu’elle est, en érigeant l’échafaud en place publique; observez la chose, elle est invariablement la même: la tête du monarque, bon, débonnaire, doit être donnée aux chacals qui n’en feront qu’une bouchée : Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Comme le disait le Général De Gaulle: “Les Français sont des veaux”. Jacques Chirac s’en sortira, c’est une question d’honneur pour la France. Souvenons-nous des années Mitterrand, des suicides, des scandales personnels et des dépenses royales, corruption et république bananière à tire-larigot… Oui, il ira devant les juges, il passera quelques nuits blanches, mais il se relèvera, tête haute.
Legendary singer and songwriter Paul McCartney (67) – knighted Sir James Paul by Queen Elizabeth II on March 11, 1997 – unveiled his schedule for his “Good Evening Tour Europe 2009”.
December 2, 2009: Hamburg, Germany – Color Line Arena
December 3, 2009: Berlin, Germany – O2 World
December 9, 2009: Arnhem, Holland – Gelredome
December 10, 2009: Paris, France – Bercy
December 16, 2009: Cologne, Germany – Koln Arena
December 20, 2009: Dublin, Ireland – The O2
December 22, 2009: London, England – The O2 Arena
by Alan Posener Die Welt / Welt am Sonntag / HIRAM7 REVIEW
Something’s going on in Europe, and I don’t like it.
There’s the future German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle’s refusal to even listen to the question of a BBC correspondent, unless it’s put to him in German:
You only have to look at the comments on Youtube and elsewhere to realize what it is that is going on here: the political and chattering classes have abandoned the rules governing their chatter; nationalism, racism and intolerance in general are being allowed back into polite society after spending the past 40 years out in the cold.
Political correctness – that great civilizer – is dead. Multiculturalism is under siege. And the ban on anti-Semitism – which the Catholic Church has already lifted by welcoming back the anti-Semitic Pius Brotherhood into its ranks – will soon be as worthless as the paper on which Sir Karl Popper’s great book on the Open Society was written.
I mention Karl Popper, because in the age of Totalitarianism he confronted a vexing question of democracy head-on: was the open society bound by its own philosophical, legal and political parameters to tolerate the propaganda of its enemies?
Popper said no: there was no reason to tolerate intolerance; no reason to grant freedom to the enemies of freedom; there should be no openness towards the enemies of openness. People who want one man, one vote one time should not – as they were in Gaza – be allowed to contest elections. Democracy is more important than freedom; more important than truth; more important than justice – or any one of the multitude of ideas, concepts, slogans and ideals in whose name one could (and people have tried to) suspend democracy.
It’s always the enemies of tolerance who chafe at this seeming intolerance of democracy. One shouldn’t let oneself be fooled. People say, “If you stop people from saying what Sarrazin said, you are denying 80 percent of the population a voice.”
Well, if 80 percent of the population are racist, which I don’t believe for a moment, but I’m saying if, then fuck them and there’s all the more reason to keep a tight lid on what is said by public figures, isn’t there?
Popper didn’t call his book “The Majority Rules”, he called it “The Open Society”. Even 99 percent of the population don’t have the right to dismantle the open society and replace it with a society in which privileges are awarded or denied according to race, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation or social background.
That’s what Europe has been about this past half-century. Let’s keep it that way.
Today’s emergency United Nations Human Rights Council debate in Geneva on the Goldstone Report predictably saw a line-up of the world’s worst abusers condemn democratic Israel for human rights violations.
In a heated lynch mob atmosphere, Kuwait slammed Israel for “intentional killing, intentional destruction of civilian objects, intentional scorched-earth policy”, saying Israel “embodied the Agatha Christie novel, ‘Escaped with Murder’. Pakistan said the “horrors of Israeli occupation continue to haunt the international community’s conscience.” The Arab League said, “We must condemn Israel and force Israel to accept international legitimacy.” Ahmadinejad’s Iran said “the atrocities committed against Palestinians during the aggressions on Gaza should be taken seriously” and followed up by the international community “to put an end to absolute impunity and defiance of the law.”
What the world’s assembled representatives did not expect, however, was the speech that followed (see video and text below), organized by UN Watch. The speaker is a man who repeatedly put his life on the line to defend the democratic world from the murderous Saddam Hussein, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. The moment he began his first sentence, the room simply fell silent. Judge Goldstone, author of the biased report that prompted today’s one-sided condemnation, had refused to hear Colonel Kemp’s testimony during his “fact-finding” hearings.
But UN Watch made sure today that this hero’s voice would be heard – at the United Nations, and around the world.
***
UN Human Rights Council, 12th Special Session Debate on Goldstone Report – Geneva, October 16, 2009
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Did More to Safeguard Civilians Than Any Army in History of Warfare
Colonel Richard Kemp served in the British Army from 1977 – 2006.
Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.
Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population.
Hamas, like Hizballah, are expert at driving the media agenda. Both will always have people ready to give interviews condemning Israeli forces for war crimes. They are adept at staging and distorting incidents.
The IDF faces a challenge that we British do not have to face to the same extent. It is the automatic, Pavlovian presumption by many in the international media, and international human rights groups, that the IDF are in the wrong, that they are abusing human rights.
The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over 100,000 phone calls. Many missions that could have taken out Hamas military capability were aborted to prevent civilian casualties. During the conflict, the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid virtually into your enemy’s hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.
Despite all of this, of course innocent civilians were killed. War is chaos and full of mistakes. There have been mistakes by the British, American and other forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, many of which can be put down to human error. But mistakes are not war crimes.
More than anything, the civilian casualties were a consequence of Hamas’ way of fighting. Hamas deliberately tried to sacrifice their own civilians.
Der britisch-deutsche Journalist Alan Posener kommentiert wöchentlich das Zeitgeschehen in Politik, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Kultur für HIRAM7 REVIEW.
Von Alan Posener Die Welt / Welt am Sonntag / HIRAM7 REVIEW
Aber darum soll es hier nicht gehen, sondern um einen Telefonanruf.
Eine junge Frau ruft bei ihrer Frauenärztin an. Sie braucht einen Termin. Die Sprechstundenhilfe, nach einigem Hin und Her, im leicht genervten Ton: „Also, ich kann Ihnen frühestens am 2. Dezember einen Termin anbieten.“ Also in SECHS WOCHEN. Die junge Frau sagt zu, die Sprechstundenhilfe klickt ein bisschen in ihrem Computer herum, und plötzlich ertönt Warteschleifenmusik. Die junge Frau wartet. Dann ist eine völlig umgewandelte Sprechstundenhilfe dran: „Aber Frau P., Sie haben ja gar nicht gesagt, dass Sie Privatpatientin sind! Da hätten wir einen Termin für Sie, am 21.“ „November?“ „Wo denken Sie hin? Oktober!“ Also in EINER WOCHE.
Man hört immer, besonders von SPD-Seite, es gehe darum, „eine Zweiklassenmedizin in Deutschland zu verhindern“. Hallo? Wir haben längst eine Zweiklassenmedizin.
Und es geht nicht nur darum, dass eine Kassenpatientin sechs Wochen, eine Privatpatientin eine Woche auf einen Termin warten muss, obwohl das schlimm genug ist und in manchen Fällen den Unterschied zwischen einer gerade noch rechtzeitig erkannten und einer zu spät erkannten Krankheit bedeuten kann. Die praktizierte Medizin ist auch verschieden für Ober- und Untermenschen.
Ein Beispiel: Meine Frau ist als Beamtin privat versichert; ich bin als Angestellter freiwillig in der gesetzlichen (ich weiß… selber schuld… lange Geschichte.). Zufällig hatten wir in der letzten Zeit kurz hintereinander die gleichen Beschwerden entwickelt (das Phänomen nennt man bei langjährigen Ehepaaren oder Hundehaltern Anähnelung), und darum empfahl mir meine Frau auch ihren Orthopäden, der tatsächlich auch exakt die gleiche Diagnose stellte. Freilich war die Therapie völlig verschieden, was die verschriebenen Medikamente, Schmerz- und Hilfsmittel betrifft. Und zwar schlicht und einfach derart, dass ich weniger oder nichts bekam.
Vielleicht gibt es Ärzte, die keinen Unterschied zwischen Kassen- und Privatpatienten machen; aber man darf annehmen, dass das die Ausnahmen sind. Die Dummen.
Noch einmal: wir haben längst eine Zweiklassenmedizin. Man kann sagen: das ist nun einmal so; alles, was über die Basisversorgung hinausgeht, muss eben privat versichert sein, und das können dann eben nur die Besserverdienenden – und dann ist jeder Besserverdienende, der wie ich in der gesetzlichen Versicherung bleibt, eben dumm.
Man kann leugnen, dass das so ist, wie die meisten Parteien, die Ärzteorganisationen und Versicherungen, die behaupten, es gehe ihnen darum, für jeden Patienten eine optimale Versorgung sicherzustellen. Wer ihnen glaubt, ist selber schuld.
Man kann wie in Großbritannien das System verstaatlichen, so dass es alle gleich schlecht haben – mit Ausnahme der ganz Reichen, die sich in Abu Dhabi behandeln lassen, wohin auch die guten Ärzte auswandern.
Oder man kann eine private Gesundheitsfürsorge für alle einführen, mit kostendeckenden Beiträgen einerseits und Versicherungszwang andererseits – und die wirklich Bedürftigen, sagen wir Arbeitslose und Rentner, durch Zuschüsse staatlicherseits instand setzen, ihre Beiträge zu zahlen. Ich befürworte den letzten Vorschlag.
Und deshalb: Weg mit dem Gesundheitsfonds und der Einteilung von Menschen in Patienten erster und zweiter Klasse. Telefongespräche wie das eingangs geschilderte sollten so schnell wie möglich der Vergangenheit angehören.
Die in HIRAM7 REVIEW veröffentlichten Essays und Kommentare geben nicht grundsätzlich den Standpunkt der Redaktion wieder.
Die kleine Alice traut ihren Augen nicht. Da läuft doch tatsächlich ein Kaninchen, das auf seine Uhr schaut. Wo gibt es denn so was? Neugierig geworden, verfolgt Alice das Tier heimlich und landet … im Wunderland.
Hier ist nichts wie es sein soll. Es gibt Pilze und Kekse, die einen auf wundersame Weise wachsen und wieder schrumpfen lassen. Eine Grinsekatze, die alles besser weiß. Eine Raupe, die so gern ein Schmetterling wäre. Und natürlich die böse Herzkönigin, die allen an den Kragen will. Auf ihrer abenteuerlichen Reise durch das Wunderland erlebt Alice die unglaublichsten Geschichten und begegnet zauberhaften Gestalten aus einer Welt der Phantasie.
Das neue Familienmusical aus der Schmidt & Berg-Werkstatt hat im September 2009 seine Uraufführung im Schmidt Theater Hamburg gefeiert und wird ebendort anschließend noch bis Ende Dezember laufen. Christian Berg erzählt die weltberühmte Geschichte von „Alice im Wunderland“ nach der Vorlage von Lewis Carroll auf seine ganz eigene Weise.
Vom 21.11.2009 bis zum 30.12.2009 im Hamburger Schmidt Theater
The New York Times reports that U.S. President Obama and the leaders of UK and France will accuse Iran of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years, according to senior administration officials.
The revelation, which the three leaders will make before the opening of the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh, appears bound to add urgency to the diplomatic confrontation with Iran over its suspected ambitions to build a nuclear weapons capacity. Mr. Obama, along with Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, will demand that Iran allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct an immediate inspection of the facility, which is said to be 100 miles southwest of Tehran.
U.S. officials said that they had been tracking the covert project for years, but that Mr. Obama decided to make public the American findings after Iran discovered, in recent weeks, that Western intelligence agencies had breached the secrecy surrounding the project.
On Monday, Iran wrote a brief, cryptic letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying that it now had a ‘pilot plant’ under construction, whose existence it had never before revealed. In a statement from its headquarters in Vienna yesterday, the atomic agency confirmed that it had been told by Iran that a new pilot fuel enrichment plant is under construction in the country.
Der britisch-deutsche Journalist Alan Posener kommentiert wöchentlich das Zeitgeschehen in Politik, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft und Kultur für HIRAM7 REVIEW.
Von Alan Posener Die Welt / Welt am Sonntag / HIRAM7 REVIEW
Tilman Tarach, dessen Buch über Israel ich jedem wärmstens empfehlen kann hat mich darauf hingewiesen, dass „Steinbergrecherche“ mich als herausragendes Beispiel für die Spezies „Kriegsjude“ anführt:
Zunächst einmal muss man festhalten, dass Herr Steinberg zu jenen Leuten gehört, die man – wie etwa Gudi „die Ziege“ Eussner – unter „Who the fuck is…?“ ablegen muss.
Doch just for the record: Ich bin nicht Jude, schon gar nicht ein „bekennender“ Jude. Wäre Herr Steinberg nicht der strohdoofe Antisemit, der er offenbar ist, wüsste er das auch. Und dass Juden nichts „bekennen“, im Gegensatz zu Christen – einschließlich jener christlichen Häretiker, die man „Muslime” nennt: das müsste sich eigentlich herumgesprochen haben. Aber über Juden schreiben mit Vorliebe Leute, die von Juden und vom Judentum gar keine Ahnung haben: siehe auf der anderen Seite des Neurosenspektrums Clemens „der antideutsche Antisemitenschnüffler“ Heni.
Obwohl ich mich also wegen meiner englisch-schottischen Mutter nicht zum auserwählten Volk zählen darf (wohl hätte zu Zeiten von Kraft durch Freude wegen meines jüdischen Vaters einen Freifahrtschein nach Auschwitz bekommen können, und auch deshalb hätte ich bei Einwanderung in Israel ein Anrecht auf die israelische Staatsbürgerschaft) und mich als getaufter Anglikaner fröhlich zu meinem Atheismus bekenne, habe ich beschlossen, die Bezeichnung „Kriegsjude“ als Auszeichnung zu betrachten. Ich wünschte nur, ich hätte mehr getan, um sie zu verdienen.
An op-ed by Alan Posener Die Welt / Welt am Sonntag / HIRAM7 REVIEW
David Gelernter’s contribution to the Commentary Magazine’s Symposion on Why (American) Jews are Liberals was one of the most amazing pieces of bullshit I have ever read. And my job as a journalist forces me to read a lot of bullshit.
In his criticism of Europe – a kind of mirror-image of the typical French intellectual’s criticism of the USA and just as fact-free – Gelernter makes a number of astounding observations.
Gelernter writes: “The peoples of Western Europe have mostly lacked the religious intensity and genius of the Jews.” I realize that you don’t need to know anything about culture in order to become a computer scientist, but maybe Mr. Gelernter should take time out from studying bits and bytes (and raving) in order to visit a Gothic cathedral or to listen to one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s religious works – the Christmas Oratorio is quite accessible. So much for religious genius. And as for religious intensity, maybe Mr. Gelernter should study the history of the European religious wars, which led us to conclude that keeping religion out of government was a key to peace – a lesson enshrined in the US Constitution.
Gelernter writes: “America has a habit of despising intellectuals” (this is meant as a compliment), “while Europe worships and obeys them”. One would be hard put to find a single example of Europeans “worshipping and obeying” an intellectual. However, there are many instances of hatred for the intellectual – Nazi Germany, where “intellectual” was virtually synonymous with “Jewish”, and the Communist bloc, where “intellectual” was virtually synonymous with “petit-bourgeois class enemy” being two of the more recent examples.
Gelernter writes: “European sex seems to have developed the moral significance of an ATM transaction on a street corner.” I’ve no idea where Gelernter gets his data on European sex. I would like to point out, though, that, like the ATM machine, casual sex is an American import, via Hollywood movies and rock’n'roll. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Woodstock is a village in the State of New York. As it happens, I’m a great fan of Hollywood, rock’n'roll and ATM machines, unlike the cultural conservatives who tell us that these inventions of the decadent Americans are sapping Europe’s moral fibre in order to deliver us into the hands of American capitalism (i.e. Jewry). But I must say I find it rich that Gelernter should simply turn the argument around. Nice joke. But bullshit.
Gelernter says that Europe has “a love affair with death”. A strange comment from someone who lives in a country where infant mortality rates are higher and life expectancy is lower than in Western Europe. (Of course, the bullshitter then turns around and says wimpy Europeans are afraid of death, which is why they want to cut and run in Afghanistan.) As proof for his assertion, Gelernter cites low birth-rates and high immigration levels. To start with the second aspect: until very recently, European conservatives criticized the USA for being a “mongrel culture” due to ist high levels of immigration. Again, Gelernter seems to have imbibed these European ideas and now switches into “Yah, boo, same to you”-mode. Cute, but bullshit. People come to Europe, as they do to America, because it is a damn good place to live. The idea that Europe’s “nations will be gone within a few generations” (Gelernter) can only occur to someone who doesn’t actually bother to do a reality check before sounding off. All studies show that immigrants to Europe are fast adopting European mores. Their birth-rate is declining, too. There is no reason to believe that a Muslim French woman should be less patriotic than a Jewish American.
David Gelernter writes: “Mulling German history in particular, one wonders whether the Germans were ever more than half-Christianized, whether paganism hasn’t always appealed to the lofty German Geist.” As we’ve seen, Gelernter doesn’t really “mull” history at all, or if he does, he only mulls his own preconceptions of history, not bothering with actual facts. The idea that the nation that brought forth Martin Luther – no name but one exemplar of the “lofty German Geist” – was only “half-Christianized” is absurd. But it does serve to obfuscate one fact that none of the contributors to the symposion reflect: the millions of Germans who voted for Hitler and served him till the last, the hundreds of thousands who worked on the “Final Solution” were not “half-Christianized” pagans. They were – often devout – Catholics and Protestants. This is an uncomfortable truth, a truth that the current Pope (a former Hitler Youth member) tries to deny, but a truth nevertheless.
It is for this reason that Jews in Europe and America would do well not to rely too heavily on Christian goodwill. Just because many Christians are more afraid of the Muslims at the moment does not mean that they are natural allies of the Jews. Antijudaism is enscribed into Christian teaching. I imagine that Gelernter, who apparently knows nothing about the history of Europe, hasn’t actually got round to reading the “New” Testament or the teachings of the Church Fathers, or the Acts of the Spanish Inquisition, or the Anti-Semitic rantings of Martin Luther. (But maybe he remembers Father Coughlin?)
I’m no friend of reactionary liberalism. But throwing yourself into the arms of reactionary conservativism isn’t the answer. Thinking for yourself is.
Scotland’s parliament has been recalled for an emergency session today amid mounting international outrage over last week’s release of terrorist Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, convicted for the Lockerbie plane bombing.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will address the meeting to defend his decision to free al-Megrahi on “compassionate” grounds. Al-Megrahi was serving a life sentence for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 people, and received a hero’s welcome on return to his home country Libya.
Several news reports say Britain will release from a Scottish prison Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan secret service agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people. Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill denied the reports that a decision has already been made, but said he is taking into consideration whether al-Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, should be freed on compassionate grounds.
The reports that al-Megrahi would be released aroused ardent debate between family members of the Lockerbie victims. Al-Megrahi is serving a life sentence for the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. Most of the victims were U.S. citizens.
Reuters considers the implications of al-Megrahi’s release for Libya.
The Times of London looks at divisions between U.S. and British relatives of Lockerbie victims over the news that al-Megrahi may be freed, noting that many British family members have long doubted his guilt and are supporting his release.
The BBC has an audio slideshow of the Lockerbie bombing.
Earl Shugerman will bring every week a serie of stories about Anglo-Saxon immigrants to Israel. This project is aimed to promote a more realistic view of life in Israel.
Originally from the UK, Harvey Miller emigrated to Israel in 2008. Here he recounts a recent holiday to Jordan.
Jordan
by Harvey Miller
Only six months ago, I took a heavily measured and calculated step. I determined upon a life changing course – I made Aliyah.
The concept is deeply rooted in Jewish History. For two thousand years, communities living in the Diaspora yearned for a return to their ancestral homeland. This crystallized in 1948 with the Birth of the State of Israel. Following the insidious horrors of the Holocaust, the requirement for a refuge was underscored. In the sixty years since the declaration of Independence, the scattered tribes have been regathered from the four corners of the earth.
Since arriving in Israel, the travel bug has all but consumed me. As a PhD Student in Biblical Studies, the region of the Levant is particularly fascinating. Last week, I journeyed to Israel’s neighbour – Jordan. In the past, the two countries have experienced a fractious relationship. It was only in 1994 that a rapprochement was reached. Subsequently, Jordan opened its borders to Israeli tourists. They have been flocking to the Hashemite Kingdom ever since.
The Arava Crossing is in one respect Israel’s last bastion of bureaucracy. As I discovered, a temporary travel document is normally vital to crossing into Jordan. Unfortunately, I was not savvy on this point. I was under the impression that my British passport would suffice for the short sojourn. I was sorely mistaken. Despite the faux pas, the desk clerks approved my entry. I was told adamantly that future excursions Chutz La aretz (outside Israel) would only bare fruit with the aforementioned pass.
Having negotiated this minefield, I was received by the Jordanians. A photo of the incumbent monarch Abdullah greeted me. The king is highly popular amongst his subjects. There is a resonating warmth about him, which has been imbued amongst Jordanians. Other photos I encountered later displayed him in a more familial role: Embracing his son, or sharing a jovial moment with Queen Noia.
The first literal port of call was Aqaba. It is situated in close proximity to three countries – Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt. Each can be observed from the Red Sea coast. Aqaba is host to several exclusive hotels such as the Intercontinental and Kapinski. However, vis-à-vis Israel, their rates are extremely reasonable. A network of interconnecting streets betray a more traditional city plan. Shop traders push their wares. A series of men’s wear stores advocate contrasting styles and prices. Bargain is the watchword on these streets.
Beyond the environs of the city centre lies some remarkable landscapes. They are quite distinctive from the Holy Land. Sandstorms and the vagaries of time have moulded rock formations. The colours are vibrant: One cannot help but hum the tune to David Leans seminal masterpiece “ Laurence of Arabia “.
Eventually, one can discern the port itself. Large storage containers from the world over are stacked together. The overall effect is akin either to a Rubik’s cube or a multicoloured Lego structure. In some ways it is reminiscent of Haifa.
The South Beach lies at Aqabas extremities. It is here that some of the finest coral reefs in the region can be observed. This is nirvana for scuba divers.
No journey to Jordan is complete without visiting Petra. Two thousand years ago, the Nabateans were faced with the logistical nightmare of building a capital. Rather than quarrying and relocating material, they decided to construct a major metropolis straight at the source. The result is an engineering marvel, even by modern standards.
The fact was not lost on George Lucas when he decided to film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade here.
The Red rose city, half as old as time, is fairly expansive. An entry ticket, valid for three days, can be purchased. After some six hours, I perhaps traversed half of the site. Even then I failed to do justice to its majestic splendour. The coup de grace is the House of Treasures and the photo below demonstrates its unrivalled beauty:
Before returning to Israel, I spent a night in the desert under a canopy of stars. Wadi Rum is pivotal to the legend of Laurence of Arabia. During the First World War, El Laurence led his combined Arabic forces through this area. His eye caught a mountain. Realising that seven constituent forms were palpable, he donned it the “ Seven Pillars of Wisdom “. A well also bearing his epithet, is situated nearby.
On reflection, a holiday in Jordan is a worthy investment. The people are warm and amenable. Food and general trinkets are reasonably priced. I would have no reservations in recommending Jordan to the discerning traveller.
Provocative…Dangerous Games should be read by anyone concerned with making the public dialogue as open and honest as possible. (The Washington Post – Jonathan Yardley)
Oxford University professor Margaret MacMillan issues a call to arms for academic historians to take back history from those who would abuse it. This book, first published last year in Canada, is newly available in the U.S. and Europe from Random House.
She admonishes governments and leaders using history to undermine the past, going so far as to question the significance of apologizing for historical wrongs. Using example after example, MacMillan demonstrates the violence that skewed history can create and mourns a trend of poorly researched historical biographies pouring from the press to fill a demand for new heroes.
Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest – until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength, too – strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.
And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment – let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – June 6, 1944
The Financial Times reports Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces a full-fledged political crisis after Brown’s communities secretary became the latest in a string of high-level cabinet secretaries to resign.
Five years after photos initially surfaced of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib detention center in Iraq, the photos taken at the camp are again at issue after a former U.S. army major general alleged to the British paper the Telegraph that additional, unreleased photos show U.S. soldiers raping inmates.
President Barack Obama has reversed his initial position that he would release all remaining photos, saying that the photos are graphic and would put U.S. and British troops in danger.
Editor of The Paris Review and former staff writer of The New YorkerPhilip Gourevitch, writing in the New York Times, argues that Obama’s decision not to release the photos should be viewed differently from the George W. Bush administration’s initial denials of torture at Abu Ghraib.
British broadcaster BBC quotes one WHO official who says it is “too late” to contain the spread of the virus from country to country and that officials should instead focus on mitigating its effects.
The Washington Post reports signs have emerged that the outbreak could be beginning to take a toll on the global economy: oil prices, the Mexican peso, and airline stocks all plunged.
France’s move to rejoin NATO’s integrated military command structure reflects a shift in Paris’ strategic thinking about its allies and its ability to project unilateral power abroad.
In a strategic paper from the German think tank Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (German Institute for International and Security Affairs), Dr. Ronja Kempin reviews the challenges facing France’s military revolution.
João Bernardo “Nino” Vieira, the president of the small west African country Guinea-Bissau, has been shot dead this morning. The BBC reports Vieira’s assassination apparently came hours after the killing of the country’s army chief, General Batista Tagme Na Waie, in a bomb explosion.
The African Union and the regional bloc Ecowas both condemned the president’s assassination. The BBC says the country’s capital city of Bissau remained calm this morning following the violence, but it remains uncertain what the political fallout from the killings will be.
Guinea-Bissau is a small coastal country that has been racked by poverty, corruption, drug smuggling andpolitical violence since its independence from Portugal in 1974.
The Transatlantic Institute proudly announces the publication of a new book:
“Under a Mushroom Cloud: Europe, Iran and the Bomb” by Emanuele Ottolenghi
Published by Profile Books, London (2009)
Since Iran’s illicit nuclear programme was exposed to a stunned world in 2002, Tehran has defied the international community and continued to pursue its nuclear goals. What drives this seemingly apocalyptic quest? Are Iran’s aims rational or not? Under a Mushroom Cloud analyses this catastrophic and murky situation, and examines Iran’s dual-track approach of accelerating its nuclear activities while weaving itself ever more tightly into the fabric of the European economy. Thriving trade between Europe and Iran, and heavy European involvement in Iran’s energy industry, have weakened Europe’s will to impose robust sanctions – but imposing them is the only practical way of protecting Europe’s strategic interests and ensuring the stability of the region.
Under a Mushroom Cloud offers a clear and compelling answer to this dilemma. Drawing on extensive research, including interviews with senior officials and security and intelligence personnel from many countries involved in the effort to stop Iran developing a nuclear bomb, it provides a comprehensive account of a serious strategic threat to Europe, and offers an original list of practical recommendations for European policymakers who must confront it.
‘Under a Mushroom Cloud considers Europe as the prime mover vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear ambitions. How Europe will use this unaccustomed power is the big question at the heart of this timely book.’ François Heisbourg, Special Adviser, Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, Paris
‘This is an important contribution to the debate about Europe’s approach to Iran. As one would expect, Dr Ottolenghi has written a well-informed, perceptive and sobering book. I hope our European leaders, and those who study this potential flashpoint, will read what he has to say.’ General The Lord Charles Guthrie, Chief of the British Defence Staff (1997-2001), Colonel Commandant of the Life Guards and the Special Air Service
‘How to deal with Iran is one of the most pressing foreign policy issues of the day. Dr Ottolenghi provides a useful guide to the challenge and thoughtful suggestions on how to meet it.’ Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies and Vice-Principal, King’s College London
‘For almost three decades, conventional wisdom has presented Iran as a problem for the United States. In this seminal study, Dr Ottolenghi shows that a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic could be more of a threat to Europe, which, in one of those bitter ironies of history, has helped the Khomeinist regime not only to survive but also to build its arsenal of deadly weapons. A work of impeccable scholarship, this book is also a political wake-up call to European democracies.’ Amir Taheri, syndicated columnist, former Executive Editor of Kayhan, Iran’s largest daily paper
In a Financial Times op-ed, Benn Steil, author of Money, Markets, and Sovereignty, satirizes the tendency of economists to cite John Maynard Keynes in support of dramatic fiscal interventions where cold analysis should give us pause.
“Citing Keynes gives us special licence to talk economics without using any. To paraphrase the lawyers’ dictum, when the facts are on our side, we pound the facts; when theory is on our side, we pound theory; and when neither the facts nor theory are on our side, we pound Keynes – and to great effect.
Keynes, not coincidentally, had nothing to say about the proper components of fiscal stimulus. This allows him to be cited with great effect by both paternal progressives (who favour government spending) and caring conservatives (who favour middle-class tax cuts).”
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown became the first head of government to sign the London Declaration against anti-Semitism, while encouraging other heads of government to add their names to the document.
The London Declaration, adopted on February 19, 2009, called for various practical measures to combat manifestations of anti-Jewish bigotry around the world. The London conference, hosted by the Interparliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism (ICCA), the British Foreign Office and the Department of Communities and Local Government, which brought together more than 120 lawmakers from over 40 countries, devised an effective framework and forged new strategies to confront anti-Semitism on a global scale.
Among its recommendations, the London Declaration calls for the creation of an international task force of Internet experts to develop metrics for online anti-Semitism and policy recommendations for governments to combat it, the establishment of parliamentary inquiries to determine the state of anti-Semitism domestically and to develop policy recommendations, and a commitment to oppose discrimination against Israel in international organizations such as at the U.N.’s Durban II conference.
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