Israel's peculiar position. Written nearly 40 years ago!

Who was Eric Hoffer? He was a longshoreman turned philosopher. He wrote columns for newspapers and some books. He was a non-Jewish American social philosopher. He was born in 1902 and died in 1983, after writing nine books and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His first book, 'The True Believer', published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic.

Here is one of his columns from 1968. This article was written over 40 years ago!!! Some things never change….........



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ISRAEL'S PECULIAR POSITION... by Eric Hoffer
Los Angeles Times 26 May 1968
The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews.
Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it.
Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchman.
Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese and no one says a word about refugees.
But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.
Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single one.
Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.
Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms.
But when Israel is victorious, it must sue for peace.
Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.
Other nations, when they are defeated, survive and recover but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.
Had Nasser triumphed last June [1967], he would have wiped Israel off the map, and no one would have lifted a finger to save the Jews.
No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on.
There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people die in Vietnam or when two Blacks are executed in Rhodesia .
But, when Hitler slaughtered Jews no one demonstrated against him.
The Swedes, who were ready to break off diplomatic relations with America because of what we did in Vietnam , did not let out a peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews.
They sent Hitler choice iron ore, and ball bearings, and serviced his troops in Norway .
The Jews are alone in the world.
If Israel survives, it will be solely because of Jewish efforts. And Jewish resources.
Yet at this moment, Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally.
We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us.
And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer [1967] had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war, to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to America and the West in general.
I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us.
Should Israel perish, the Holocaust will be upon us all.

The privilege of hearing the Shofar

When you hear the shofar this year take a moment to reflect what it was like to live at a time when such a simple Jewish action could not be taken for granted.

And if you think I am talking about way-back-when somewhere "Beyond the Pale" let me remind you that blowing the shofar in our own homeland, the Land of Israel, was for many years forbidden.

Next time you think that Israel should be prepared to "make painful concessions for peace" just remember what it was like when those "partners for peace" were in charge! From 1948 to 1967 the holiest place for Jews did not reverberate to the sound of the shofar at the culmination of Yom Kippur.

Shana Tova Metukah
Gmar Hatima Tova!

Watch this and be glad that there are always Jews who stand up to be counted!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIfLbkx4ZIM&feature=player_embedded

"Echoes of a Shofar" is the premiere episode in the "Eyewitness 1948" short film series produced by Toldot Yisrael and the History Channel.

Under a British law in Palestine passed in 1930, Jews were forbidden to blow the shofar at the Kotel, pray loudly there, or bring Torah scrolls, so as not to offend the Arab population.

Despite this restriction, for the next seventeen years, the shofar was sounded at the Kotel every Yom Kippur. Shofars were smuggled in to the Kotel where brave teenagers defiantly blew them at the conclusion of the fast. Some managed to get away - others were captured and sent to jail for up to six months.

Six of these men are still alive.

A few weeks ago, these six men returned to the scene of their "crime".

Armed with shofars, they recounted their individual stories and blewshofar again at the Kotel.

This is their powerful and inspiring story

Gaza: No answers, only questions.

Blockades; easing blockades. Ships coming; ships not coming. Gotta get the aid in. Gotta keep the supplies coming.

I just wish I could understand one thing. Why is all this outside help needed in the first place? Why are the Palestinians treated like some kind of tragic cause when so little is done for people who are actually starving all over the world through no fault of their own? Millions of them in Asia and Africa, millions also contending with the horrors of AIDS. Refugees from horrendous massacres, true genocides. Largely ignored by the world.

May I remind you that the Palestinians of Gaza lived under Egyptian rule from 1948 (when the State of Israel formally began) to 1967, without sorting themselves out? Why was it the Egyptians never helped them? Why did the Palestinians themselves never organise any kind of social welfare, housing, schools, hospitals, even a proper government with all that foreign aid pouring in year after year?

And why did their Muslim brethren with their billions in oil revenues cry crocodile tears but send no actual aid?

Then came the 6 Day War and nine Arab countries sent troops to destroy tiny little Israel but suffered an amazing defeat. Israel found itself in charge of Gaza and tried to help the “refugees”.

So why did their Muslim brethren continue to cry crocodile tears but send no actual aid? Worse. Why did they incite the citizens of Gaza and tell them to reject help from the Israeli “aggressors”?

And more importantly, why did the Palestinians listen?

What happened to all the money that poured in from Europe and America? What were UNICEF and UNRWA and all those other UNs actually doing there?

Why when the Palestinians elected their own leaders in 1996 and took on responsibility for their own destinies did nothing happen to improve their lot? Why when the Palestinian Authority had full autonomy did the Palestinians not rebuild the state they claim to have had before those awful Israelis got in the way?

Why did the Palestinians then hold new elections and elect Hamas, known terrorists and persecutors of their own people?

If the Palestinians truly had a land taken from them, now that they have it back, why aren’t they restoring it to the wonderful place they claim it was? Gaza has the best beaches in the region. Why aren’t they building hotels, restaurants, places of entertainment? Inviting in the tourists? Working and making money instead of sitting and taking hand-outs?

Why when Israel pulled out in 2005, removing the very people (the Jews) who had actually created 4,000 jobs for the Palestinians in Gaza, did the Palestinians not take over the State of the Art hothouses that were left them as a gift from the Jews - and enjoy their multi-million dollar revenues?

Could somebody please explain to me what the thinking was when the Palestinians destroyed all these hot-houses in two hate-filled nights?

And can someone explain to me why ordinary hard-working people’s pounds, euros and dollars continue to be poured into Gaza, even though the pound, the dollar and the euro continue to plunge and these people need all the help they can get at home?

And why do the Palestinians’ Muslim brethren with their billions in oil revenues continue to cry crocodile tears but send no actual aid?

And why are there still almost no hospitals, no welfare; and schools are places to teach hatred, and for terrorists to hide behind children and send missiles into Israel from?

And if the people of Gaza are truly so destitute – then where is all that aid going? Four tons per person per year.

And who has been sponsoring the suicide bombers and paying for the 11,000 missiles, grads and rockets rained on Israel in the last 10 years?

And how can they afford to build all those elaborate tunnels to smuggle more weapons of destruction in across the border with Egypt? And why can’t they afford food to feed their children – why has the food to be shipped in from benefactors abroad?

Which brings me to my final questions. Gaza has a land border with Egypt; home to fellow Muslims. True friends of the Palestinians, they say.

Why is it that this isn’t an open border where goods can flow freely? Why does no-one question Egypt’s right to seal this border tightly?

Aren’t THEY blockading Gaza? And if so, how is it that they are allowed to?

As I said, no answers, only questions.

Mohammed Al Dura - an addendum

WE SAID IT HERE ... The footage they tried to supress proves that the whole affair was staged.

Anyone who wanted to see, saw that long ago. But those who didn't are still blind to the truth.

The anti-Zionist (how carefully they deny that it is anti-Semitism by another name) lobby goes from strength to strength.

A few lone voices are speaking up but I doubt that they will be heard. So I will leave my blog report as it stands. (see the last story at the foot of the page)

More sensible thoughts about the infamous boycott

Sally Hunt, General Secretary
Paul Mackney, Joint General Secretary
UCU Head Office
UCU Joint Presidents
Heads of Higher & Further Education

Dear Ms. Hunt, Mr. Mackney, and Presidents and Heads:

I am writing to request the names of the 158 members of the British University and College Union who voted to adopt a policy supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, as well as calling for a moratorium on EU funding for Israeli research. I am also requesting that you provide all information you have about each member's university affiliations, grant providers, publishers, journal affiliations, and any related information.

I need this information to start an international boycott of these members. I hope to encourage a cessation of research conducted with them, grants to them, publication of their articles, speaking engagements, etc. I believe a boycott is appropriate and that the Union should provide this information for the following reasons.

1. The action of the 158 members is anti-Semitic and immoral. Israel is a democratic state that respects minorities and has a free press and an independent judiciary. While not perfect, it does its best to protect human rights while defending its citizens. Despite this, the 158 members voted to boycott Israel. They have not chosen to use that tactic against oppressive, racist, sexist, dictatorial regimes such as Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and the like. I can think of no other reason why they would employ the boycott, which was one of the first tools used by Nazi Germany against the Jews, when it comes to the only Jewish-majority country on earth other than because they are Jew-haters. Moreover, even if Israel deserved to be boycotted, which it does not, they have chosen to use the weapon against all of Israeli academia, most of which is Jewish, regardless of their position on Israeli policies and regardless of whether they have any role in Israel's decision-making. Thus, they are holding Jews collectively guilty and imposing collective punishment, just as the Nazis did. This is immoral.

2. The members who voted for boycotting their academic colleagues are violating every tenant of academia, which puts an emphasis on open and free exchange of ideas and information. Consistent with the transparency that characterizes academia, the 158 should have no problem with the Union providing their names and affiliations.

3. The members who took this outrageous step should be quite willing to be held accountable for their action. They should be willing to be judged by the public and to live with any consequences. Obviously, if they believe the boycott is a useful tool to be used against those who are citizens of a country with which they disagree, they should have no problem with people who find their actions disagreeable using it against them. I should point out that, unlike the 158 members who voted for the policy, I only want to boycott those who specifically demonstrated their position, not everyone that may be associated with them. However, if for some reason the Union does not provide the names and related information, I will be forced to advocate a boycott of the entire Union membership. I do not think the 158 members would have an objection to a boycott hurting those who did not vote for the action because they apparently have no problem with associated guilt and collective punishment. Likewise, if you do not provide the names of the 158 so they can be specifically boycotted, I will assume you have no problem with holding all Union membership responsible.

I look forward to receiving this information from you very soon. I am anxious to get started on my boycott of the 158 members. I know that there are many others who share my desire to use the 158 members' endorsed tactic to express their opposition to a boycott of Israeli academics. I hope to get this information out to them as soon as possible.

Thank you very much.


Sincerely,


Alan Edelstein Sacramento, California

Sderot - an ordinary town with extraordinary people

A Man who lost his wife, and 3 children in attack goes south to help

Boaz Shabo, a Magen David Adom volunteer from the Dan Region who lost his wife and three children in a terror attack on their home in Itamar five years ago, has gone to help out in Sderot.
Shabo, who has four other children - two of them married - and one grandchild, asked them if they agreed to his going to the town, which is being bombarded by Kassam rockets from Gaza.
"Go help people, just as we were helped," they said.



Although he was asked to bolster the MDA staff in Ashkelon, Shabo said he prefers to volunteer in the "eye of the storm," in Sderot itself. In the past few days, he has already treated a number of people wounded in rocket attacks.


"After what I went through I can help people, because I understand what they're going through," he said. "I can speak to them eye to eye, not like a psychologist or a social worker who speaks in theory. I'm happy that I've been there for several days and helped people. And I hope I can go back and help as long as I'm needed."


Shabo's wife, Rahel, and three of their children were murdered in 2002 when a terrorist entered their home in Itamar.


"I was on my way home from work," he says, recalling the terrible night. "I spoke to my wife about preparations for Shabbat, and at the checkpoint I heard that a terrorist had locked himself up in a home in Itamar. I had a gut feeling it was my house, and when I got home, I saw I was right."


Shabo's two older children, Atara and Yariv, managed to get out the front door when the terrorist broke open the back one and opened fire. After security forces killed the terrorist, his son Asael, then nine, who had been seriously wounded and later had his leg amputated, was brought out, along with Aviya, then 14, who was also seriously hurt. Then, four bodies were removed - Rahel, his wife, and sons Neriya (15), Zvi (12) and Avishai (five).


After the funerals, Shabo was determined to be both father and mother to his surviving children. He also decided to volunteer with MDA.


"Giving so as not to receive is my therapy and helps me go on," he says.


Shabo also volunteered on an ambulance during a terror attack on Rehov Allenby in Tel Aviv and in the North during the Second Lebanon War.


"I have shown the terrorist that with all the pain and unbearable loss, he did not destroy my entire family," he says, smiling he presents a photo of his new granddaughter on his cellular phone.

Written by JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

Three cheers for genuine sportsmanship!