The Israel Brief – 29 May 2023– Israeli killed in boating accident in Italy. Pres. Herzog off to Azerbaijan. Overhaul update. Roger Waters concert in Frankfurt.
The Israel Brief – 30 May 2023– Terror attack kills father of 3. President Herzog arrives in Azerbaijan. Victim of boat accident a retired Israeli security officer. Yulia is still here!
The Israel Brief – 31 May 2023– Lehava threaten Jerusalem Pride. Mossad statement about Israeli killed in boat accident. Israeli Under20 soccer team thrills! Wounded Veterans from UK in Israel.
The Israel Brief – 01 June 2023– Police on alert for Pride march in Jerusalem. Sbarro victim dies 20 years later. Jordanian Royal wedding. Yulia decides Gaza is not for her!
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
A personal recollection from Israel’s victorious war 56 years ago
By Lennie Lurie
Approaching June 5, the anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War, I’m always reminded of a miracle – a personal miracle – that occurred within the much larger miracle of securing the Jewish homeland.
This June 5, 2023, will be no different.
One is sometimes inclined to deride and even scorn unusual events which bear the title of ‘miracles’. The Bible is full of such miracles which are difficult to explain and are usually accepted with an element of religious faith.
I would like to share with you a real “miracle” which I experienced exactly 56 years ago. I ascribe the circumstances of this amazing event as being miraculous because they exceed the realms of sheer coincidence. The ramifications of this miracle brought me indescribable joy under conditions which nobody could have ever foreseen.
Countdown to War. Known for his colloquial charisma and pan-Arab populism,Gamal Abdul Nasser, the man who forced war in 1967, was a master at riling up the crowd as seen here from a balcony of the National Union building overlooking Republic Square, Cairo.(AP Photo)
In May 1967, Jews the world over followed the events developing in the Middle East most anxiously. The United Nation forces in the Gaza Strip were expelled by the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdul Nasser. The strategic Straits of Tiran, providing shipping access to Israel’s southern port of Eilat, had been blockaded by Egyptian war ships and menacing cannons placed on Tiran Island.
Egypt and Syria had united to form a formidable military threat. It was obvious to me that the Western world was gutless to do anything to diminish this dangerous situation and that a war involving Israel was inevitable.
At that time I was working with my late father in his clothing factory in Cape Town. My younger brother, Bernie, had recently flown to Morocco and his next destination was Madrid, Spain, to commence an extensive tour of Europe.
After my matriculation in 1958, I volunteered to serve in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces); and had completed my training as a paratrooper 15 months later. I recall our jumps were made from the dangerous height of about 300 meters to ensure a speedy descent and a greater concentration of landed forces. No other parachuting military unit in the world jumps from such a relatively low height. Needless to say, we had our share of paratroopers with broken legs. As the Yankees say: “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs!”
Although now some seven years later, I felt strongly back in South Africa that my duty in 1967 was to be with my fellow soldiers in Israel, being convinced that a war was going to break out and I did not want to just read about it!
Red Beret! The writer after successfully landing safely from his 6th and final parachute jump qualified him to be awarded his “wings” and the privilege of wearing the prestigious red beret. “The – thankfully! – unopened reserve parachute is still attached to my waist.”
At that critical time, all able bodied Israeli men were being called into the army and there was a desperate shortage of man-power to work in the agricultural fields of farms and kibbutzim. The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) began calling for young South African volunteers to go to Israel and work in the fields, replacing the mobilized man-power. I made immediate contact with the SAZF but insisted that as a former Israeli soldier, I wanted to join my unit, the 50th Paratrooper Battalion. Permission was promptly granted: I could fly together with the other volunteers to Israel but on landing, instead of being taken to some kibbutz, I could break away and try to get into army uniform.
Representing SA Volunteers in Jerusalem. The writer wearing his IDF uniform addressing an International Youth Conference ceremony in Jerusalem, May 1959, representing the South African volunteers who served in the IDF.
My parents realized that nothing would deter me from rejoining my army unit and I left with their blessings… and prayers! My last undertaking before leaving home was to write a brief letter to Bernie, explaining to him that I believed that war in Israel was just a matter of time and that I had to be there with my fellow Israeli soldiers. I ended it with the hope that our paths might meet again under happier circumstances.
Fruitful Experience. Young volunteers from abroad picking fruit in a kibbutz orchid in 1967.
Our plane landed in Israel on Sunday afternoon, 4 June 1967. The Six Day War broke out the following morning. The war ended on the Saturday which found me at some kibbutz outpost in the very north of Israel overlooking the Golan Heights, which the IDF had just conquered. I won’t describe all my desperate endeavors to locate my unit, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. Eventually I arrived at Kibbutz Yizre’el, in the north, near the town of Afula, where I knew a number of South African kibbutz members.
A Field Day. Volunteers from abroad being driven early in the morning by a tractor to the fields on a kibbutz in 1967.
I began to work in the agricultural fields together with other volunteers who were arriving daily from overseas. Almost every night I would be woken up to help new volunteers get off the buses and trucks with their baggage. One evening, after helping a new volunteer from Australia to get off the truck, he stared at me somewhat strangely and asked:
“Are you South Africa?”
Replying in the affirmative, I hardly considered his question unusual as there were many South African members on Kibbutz Yizre’el. However, I was quite taken aback when he enquired if my name was Lennie! Again answering in the affirmative, he could have flawed me when he next said:
“Your brother Bernie is in Israel!”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Bernie was in Israel!
How did this stranger even know who I was? In a state of near shock, I asked him to explain to me the background to his astounding revelation.
“I was amongst a group of Australian volunteers,” he began. “We departed from Sydney and flew to Rome to make a connection to Israel. On the flight to Israel, I began to talk to a young guy seated next to me. He told me that his name was Bernie and that he was from South Africa. He then started speaking about his brother, Lennie, who he said had left for Israel before the war started and that he had planned to join his army unit. This fellow had no idea where his brother was and was most concerned about him. He had broken off his European trip in order to find his brother and when we landed in Israel, this Bernie said to me: “If you see a man with a chin beard, ask him if he is a South African. If he says ‘yes!’, then ask him if his name is Lennie. If he says ‘yes!’ again, tell him that his brother Bernie is in Israel”.”
Dig This! Expecting the worst, high school boys digging trenches in a Tel Aviv street on the eve of the 1967 Six Day War.
I firmly believe that despite the enormity of war the Almighty was watching over us and wanted to unite my brother and me.
Now that I knew Bernie was in Israel:
“How would I find him?”
I decided my best bet was to call Telfed – the office of the South African Zionist Federation in Tel Aviv. Afterall, they look after the interests of South Africans living in Israel and keep track of the movements of visiting South Africans, who in those days, usually made a point of visiting the Telfed office for a coffee, chat and to catch up on news. It was the No 1 meeting place for South Africans, particularly in 1967.
“Maybe Bernie would have contacted the ‘Fed’ at some time after his arrival.” I thought.
So, very early the next morning I phoned the Fed. One of the secretaries, Myra, whom I knew from my army days, answered the call. I had barely stated my name when she interrupted me to say: “Your brother, Bernie, is standing next to me. Do you want to speak to him?”
Bernie had hardly asked, “Len, is that you?” when I found the strength to utter only two words to him:
“Don’t move?”
Some three hours later we reunited in the Fed offices. People could only stare in bewilderment as we embraced each other in uninhibited rapture, tears of joy streaming down our cheeks. I returned with ‘bro’ Berns’ to Kibbutz Yizre’el where we worked for a few weeks. We then left the kibbutz and hitchhiked together to the Golan Heights and then south to Eilat, sharing with Israelis the wonders of a victorious Israel with a united Jerusalem.
Home Away from Home. The Telfed office in Tel Aviv where the Lurie brothers were reunited. A meeting place for Southern African volunteers during the Six Day War, seen here are the staff of Telfed with the legendary Simie Weinstein (standing centre).
I defy you to convince me that our reunion was not a miraculous event!
I felt the Almighty had rewarded us – two brothers – for our volunteering efforts to aid Israel in its hour of need. He brought us together and replaced anxiety and concern with fraternal elation and happiness.
The Lurie Brothers. After spending months in Israel during and following the 1967 Six Day War, the writer (right) with his brother Bernie (left) are seen here back in Cape Town, South Africa. Three years later, Lennie emigrated to Israel.
The Six Day War 56 years ago, united Israel’s eternal capital Jerusalem; it also united two brothers from South Africa in Israel.
I made Aliyah in February 1970 and Israel has been my home ever since, raising five children and being blessed with five grandchildren.
About the writer:
A B.Sc. graduate in Economics and Geology from the University of Cape Town (UCT), Lennie may be the only volunteer from abroad who was granted permission to leave his group on kibbutz during the 1967 Six Day War to rejoin his paratroop brigade that he had served with years before following his matriculation in Cape Town. In Israel, Lennie has worked as an Export Manager for some of the country’s major food manufacturers and chemical companies as well as an independent consultant in Export Marketing guiding many small Israeli businesses to sell their products and services in the world-wide market. As a result of a work accident in 1995, Lennie made a career change and became an independent English teacher working mainly with hi-tech companies and associated with universities and colleges in the north of Israel.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
During the past half year, three new documentary films devoted to the Holocaust in the Baltics, and especially in Lithuania, have been screened in numerous venues all over the world, except in Lithuania and Latvia, which are the subjects of these films.
One, titled How the Holocaust Began, was produced by the BBC and focuses on the use of new forensic archeological technology to discover unknown mass graves of Holocaust victims in western Lithuania, where indeed the systematic mass murder of European Jewry began following the Nazi invasion of Lithuania, on June 22, 1941.
Truth behind ‘Ordinary People’. A chilling reminder that the Nazis did not act alone is James Bulgin’s BBC 2 documentary ‘How the Holocaust Began’ containing horrifying footage, showing how ordinary people – the civilian population – facilitated the Nazis in murdering Jews sometimes carrying out themselves, the mass killings of men, women and children.
A second film, J’Accuse, focuses on the mass murder of the Jews of northwest Lithuania and the highly-significant role played by Lithuanian Nazi collaborators, and especially national hero Jonas Noreika, who, during the Holocaust, was the liaison between the Nazis and the Lithuanians, and was responsible for the annihilation of many thousands of Jews. After World War II, he was a leader of the local opposition to the Soviets.
The heroes of this movie, created independently by former BBC journalist Michael Kretzmer, are Noreika’s granddaughter, Silvia Foti, and American Litvak Grant Gochin, dozens of whose relatives were murdered in that part of Lithuania and who has unsuccessfully tried to sue the Lithuanian government numerous times to cancel the honors awarded to Noreika.
Silvia Foti’s biography of her grandfather, which began as an attempt to glorify him, ultimately exposed his role in Holocaust crimes, shocking Lithuanian society.
The third film, which is called Baltic Truths, deals with the Holocaust in Latvia and Lithuania, and emphasizes the failure of both Baltic republics to admit the highly-significant role played by local Nazi collaborators in the mass murder of their Jewish communities.
Digs up the Dirt on Latvia. Eugene Levin’s ‘Baltic Truth’ reveals how national memorials to murderers lie only feet away from the graves of their victims. “The glorification of so-called war ‘heroes’ with Jewish blood on their hands is in full swing across the Baltic States.”
Produced by Eugene Levin, a Soviet-Jewish emigrant from Latvia living in Boston, whose grandfather was the sole survivor of the Latvian shtetl of Akniste, it tells a similar story about his country of birth, as well as about Lithuania.
So far, these films, especially J’Accuse, have won many awards at film festivals all over the world, but have not been widely shown in the countries to whom the messages of the films are directed. Nor has there been any official government response to the harsh accusations. Instead, these countries have launched charm offensives, which are directed at potential Israeli tourists.
LITHUANIA,LATVIA FIGHT HOLOCAUST HISTORY WITH CHARM OFFENSIVE AGAINST ISRAELIS
Thus two weeks ago, a lengthy article was published in the Dyokan weekend magazine of the staunchly-right wing Israeli weekly Makor Rishon by senior correspondent Ariel Shnebel, about his visit to Lithuania and Latvia at the expense of the Lithuanian and Latvian governments.
He was invited to promote the two countries as wonderful destinations for Orthodox tourists (who are the overwhelming majority of the readers of Makor Rishon), due to the numerous sites connected to the lives of leading renowned Orthodox rabbis, such as the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski and Rav Kook, as well as sites of famous yeshivas, such as Slobodka, Panevitch and Telz.
But what about the elephant in the room? Shnebel mentioned to his host, Vilna Deputy Mayor Tomas Gablinas, that Israelis think that the Lithuanians occasionally collaborated too closely with the Nazis, as if this was just an opinion of some and not an established fact.
Gablinas totally ignored it and proceeded, according to Shnebel, to tell his guest about the contemporary efforts of the government to combat antisemitism and their success in changing the name of a street previously named for a Lithuanian political leader who supported Hitler. Ever the polite guest, Shnebel dropped the subject and missed an opportunity to deliver an important message.
More recently, this past Friday, The Jerusalem Post devoted two pages of its Magazine to an interview with Latvian deputy chairman of the Riga City Council, Linda Ozola, who had come to Israel to attend the 17th International Conference on Innovation Crisis Management hosted by the Tel Aviv Municipality.
From the interview, we learned important facts about Latvia, all of which were patently false. First of all, the number of Latvian Jews murdered in the Holocaust was not 25,000, but 67,000, out of the 70,000 who lived in Latvia under the Nazis occupation, among the highest percentages of victims.
And that does not include the more than 30,000 Jews deported to Riga from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, only 4% of whom survived, and the thousands of Jews murdered in Minsk by the notorious Latvian Arajs Kommando murder squad.
Murder on the Beach. Members of the Latvian SD Police assemble a group of Jewish women for execution on a beach near Liepāja in December 15, 1941.
According to the article, Latvia did not fight during World War II, a mistake that Ozola claimed would not be repeated in the future. That was not the reality, however, as there were two divisions of Latvian Waffen-SS created in 1943, which fought alongside the Nazis for a victory of the Third Reich, among whose men were former Latvian police who had actively participated in the mass murders of Latvian Jews.
A few months ago, in fact, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks claimed that those Latvians “are the pride of the Latvian people and the state,” and books praising the Legionnaires are on sale in Riga International Airport. Unfortunately, Ozola was not challenged on any of these facts, or on her assertion that there is no antisemitism in Latvia, or about the rampant Holocaust distortion in Latvia.
Defense Minister Defends Indefensible. At a military cemetery, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks referred to his countrymen that had served in the Latvian Waffen-SS fighting alongside the Nazis – some of whom had actively participated in the mass murders of Latvian Jews – as “the pride of the Latvian people and the state.”
Hopefully, the film J’Accuse, which was screened in Israel this past Holocaust Remembrance Day, as well as the other two films, will be shown here again and given wide publicity, to help educate the Israeli public, regarding the truth about what happened in the Holocaust in Lithuania and Latvia.
About the writer:
The writer, Dr. Efraim Zuroffa Holocaust historian, is the chief Nazi-hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of its Israel office. His most recent book (with Rūta Vanagaite) is Our People: Discovering Lithuania’s Hidden Holocaust, published by Rowman & Littlefield.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
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The Jewish festivity of Shavuot brought back memories of a kibbutz in Israel’s South and its South African connection
A Golda Moment. Actress Anne Bancroft (r) is shown around Revivim by former Prime Minister, Golda Meir (l).
By David E. Kaplan
Google ‘Kibbutz Revivim’ and you will find that it was established in 1943 by a youth movement group from Rishon LeZion on land given to them by the JNF. Nowhere will you find – without research – that is was established on land owned and donated by a South African family from Parow, outside Cape Town, South Africa.
Yulia, the rare monk seal captures the hearts of Israelis
By Rolene Marks
Seal of Approval. Yulia, the monk seal was loved and protected during her Mediterranean beach vacation in Israel.
‘She Came, She Saw,’ and above all ‘She Conquered’ the minds and hearts of Israelis. Following a 5-day war with Gaza and the ongoing national protests against the government’s judicial overhaul, Israelis needed some ‘Time Out’. They found it with a rare six-foot seal who they named ‘Yulia” and made her into an unlikely celebrity!
Arab writers opining on Middle East issues, address the surprising stir caused by a black actor playing the role of Cleopatra in a Netflix documentary, why Arabs are following with interest the less predictable election in Turkey and why the West needs to address problems in the Middle East with more urgency.
LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche
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While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
The Jewish festivity of Shavuot brought back memories of a kibbutz in Israel’s South and its South African connection
By David E. Kaplan
“Where you spending Shavuot?” I asked my physiotherapist as I lay flat in his clinic in Ra’anana while he worked on my recalcitrant right knee. Known as the Jewish “feast of weeks” – although celebrated over one day – Shavuot commemorates the revelation of the Torah on Mt. Sinai to the Jewish people and celebrated with families eating dairy food.
“I’ll be spending it with my family, my parents, where I was born and grew up – on the kibbutz.”
“Which kibbutz?” I ask.
“Revivim. It’s in the south. You ever heard of it?”
If Shavuot is a festivity of revelation, there was more revelation to follow.
Not only had I heard of it, I knew all about it having written years earlier about its South African connection that so few know, in particularly its connection to the small town of Parow, outside of Cape Town, where I grew up until the age of four.
Family Ties. With the old British Mandate police station at Kibbutz Revivim in the background – that in June 1948 a Palmach Brigade took at heavy cost from the Egyptians – pose the descendants of the Cape Town/Parow Berold family with the late Freda Pincus (née Berold) seated in the centre. Freda’s parents from Parow, South Africa, donated the land for Revivim.
The story begins in the 1930s when Jewish aspirations and nationalism were aroused by Zionist leaders touring Jewish communities around the world inspiring the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in biblical Palestine. They were followed by emissaries of the JNF (Jewish National Fund) encouraging Jews to invest in the future Jewish state by purchasing land in Palestine. One of the communities they focused on was South Africa and history records their efforts were well spent. One such inspired family was Barney and Fanny Berold from Parow, a developing town outside Cape Town. Barney was a successful industrialist who owned and ran Plywoods – Parow’s first factory. My late father, worked at Plywoods who used much of his salary of £12 a month (later raised to £15) to support a fledgling ‘Cape Gate Works’ of which he was a cofounding partner – Parow’s second factory – to survive. Cape Gate was started in 1929 during the Great Depression, and according to my Dad, that in the early months apart from his salary at Plywoods, “our only income came from selling petrol from a manually operated pump.”
“NOTHING THERE”
A few years before the passing of Freda Pinkus in Jaffa, Israel, the then 94-year-old daughter of Barney and Fanny Berold, revealed to me in an interview her parent’s love for the Jewish homeland, “not yet Israel.” At a time when few visited Palestine, could even afford to travel there, “My parents visited Palestine twice in the 1930s, first in 1932 and then 1936 when they met the Zionist activist Avraham G r a n o v s k y. Later he changed his name to Granot and would be a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Knesset and chairman of the JNF. However, back in 1936, the JNF were negotiating with an Arab to buy his land in the Negev when this South African group with my parents arrived and Granovsky asked if anyone was interested in buying it.” The British Mandate Authority allowed Jews to purchase land, but not to establish settlements. “The land was totally out of the way, a desolate landscape some 36 kilometres south of Beer Sheva. There was nothing there except a British Mandate police station. During World War II, a large British army base was established, which served as a stopover from Suez to the centre of the country. Anyway, as far as I know, my father was the only one interested and he bought 825 dunams. Of course it did not sound financially attractive, but my father was a Zionist. He was not investing for profit but in the future of the Jewish People.”
Champion of the Desert. To offer encouragement, Chairman of the Provisional Government of Israel, David Ben Gurion (right) visits Revivim in 1943.
A few months later, “he passed away in Paris and my Mom returned to Parow. In 1939 our family received transfer of the property.” This might have been the end of the story until Freda’s brother George Berold, while stationed in Egypt during WWII “took leave to visit Palestine. He went to see Granovsky hoping to see the land and report back to the family in South Africa. Granovsky dissuaded himsaying that there was a war on and there were no roads to reach this area. Probably the only way to reach the area was on camel, which I imagine would not have been too appealing to my brother with only a few days leave! Anyway, Granovsky then asked George if the family would consider donating the land to the JNF for the purpose of establishing a kibbutz.” It was quite a daring idea as it would be the southernmost kibbutz at the time with no access to piped water. It would demand of its members immense grit, determination and vision. It would also require the acquiescence of the Berold family of Cape Town. George said he would discuss with the family who all agreed. “This was the land that the JNF gave for the establishment in 1943 of Kibbutz Revivim.”
However, it was not so simple.
Pulsating Progress. Bringing water to the area meant survival. Revivim reservoir in 1946 with the old fort in the background.
DESTINY IN THE DESERT
While the small group received the Berold parcel of land to fulfill their dream of settling the Negev, they had to be careful as permanent settlements were illegal. To circumvent British Mandate regulations, Revivim was established as an “Agricultural Research Station” and formally named ‘Mitzpe Revivim’ or ‘Revivim Lookout’. Settlers pretended that the antenna they used for radio contact was essential in “testing climate conditions”, and were so convincing that the British bought the story. The radio was hidden in a first-aid kit!
A Golda Moment. Actress Anne Bancroft (right) is shown around Kibbutz Revivim by Golda Meir (left), whom she is to portray in the Broadway production “Golda” – a play by William Gibson based on Mrs. Meir’s “My Life”.
The first settlement began with only three men and as the research station slowly grew, eventually women were allowed to join. One of these brave women was Golda Meir’s daughter. The stars were not only a fascinating desert night sighting. They sometimes appeared to on the ground as it did when Hollywood star, Anne Bancroft was shown around Revivim by Israel’s former premier, Golda Meir.
However, in the 1940s, Revivim was isolated and fraught with danger.
Determined in the Desert. Six years after settling on the land, young Revivim residents at the time of Israel’s independence in 1948.
Battling the elements was tough but soon they would have to confront a new enemy – their fellow man! A portent of what was to come occurred in December 1947 when a Kibbutz Revivim car was ambushed and three members of the kibbutz were killed. Then in 1948, Revivim became the center of Israel’s defense of the Negev during the War of Independence. An airstrip was built to fly in supplies and the caves which were once home to the pioneers became the field hospital and main base. Kibbutz members valiantly withstood heavy Egyptian attacks and 34 soldiers, including one woman, fell in the ensuing fighting, all recorded in a museum there today.
Battling with the Basics. View of Revivim with underground ancient Nabataean caves, pitched tents and fortified building on top of the hill.
Riveting Revivim
After the war, Revivim emerged as a pioneering center for desert agriculture. It played a huge part in the massive success Israel has had in making the desert bloom and the story of its development as revealed in its Mitzpe Revivim Museum popular to tourists, presents a colorful insight of a hard-fought journey won. It mirrors the journey of modern Israel. My physiotherapist regaled me the stories of his youth on Revivim:
“What a wonderful place to grow up. I knew nothing of life outside the kibbutz. The kibbutz was our world. We didn’t watch TV; I had many friends and we played and explored and built things and developed a feeling of camaraderie. Everyone on the kibbutz ate together in the chadar ochel (communal dining room) and where we celebrated together the chagim (festivities). I am proud to say, the kibbutz today is still mostly a collective, adhering to its founding principles. I always look forward to returning. I’m not only visiting my parents but revisiting the values of what I still hold dear.”
Sabras planting Sabras. Planting cacti on TuBishvat on Revivim some years back, are the children of former South African Wendy Cohen- Solal (née Israel from Parow)
PRESENCE OF PAROW
Google Kibbutz Revivim and you will find that it was established in 1943 by a youth movement group from Rishon LeZion that included new immigrants from Austria, Germany and Italy on land given to them by the JNF. You have to deep search to extract from whom the JNF acquired it, that is, the Berold family from Parow.
Even many who live there are unaware of the South African connection to their home. One such was Joyce Friedman (née Kanowitz) from the USA who was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1943 and when she was 18, immigrated to Israel and moved to Revivim where she became a member. She wrote to me some years ago following the publication of my first article on Revivim:
“When the 1967 war broke out, many groups of volunteers arrived, amongst them South Africans and it was my job to be their madricha [leader]. They did well for themselves and I was proud of them.
After living in Israel for 12 years, l met my husband who is an American, and we got married at Revivim. After two years, we moved to the USA in 1974.
Recently, my nephew in Israel sent me a copy of your article regarding Kibbutz Revivim and the financial link between it and the South African Jewry. It made for very interesting reading as this was the first time l had ever heard about it. Even while being on the kibbutz, no one had ever told me about the funding. Funnily enough my cottage faced the old fort, so l was constantly reminded of the kibbutz’s history.”
Revivim Relic. While today a relic of the past, it was once the kibbutz’s lifeblood bringing in supplies when it was cut off from the rest of the country.
Revivim has another connection to Parow in Wendy Cohen-Solal. born in Parow to Ivan and Raiza Israel and who settled on the kibbutz. In subsequent visits to Revivim during the 1950s, Fanny Berold kept up the connection with the kibbutz her family made possible, by donating money towards a rose garden and a library. During the 1967 Six Day War and the aftermath,” said her daughter Freda, “there were many Southern African volunteers on Revivim; I’m sure some of them, their forebears, could have come from Parow.” Today the kibbutz is held in high regard for its pioneering use of saline and brackish water. One of its members, Yoel de Malach, received the prestigious Israel Prize for his efforts in this field. Despite being a desert kibbutz, Revivim’s dairy farm once won the prize for the largest quantity of milk produced by any farm in Israel. No less surprising it also has a “fish farm” – in the desert!
On the occasion of Revivim’s 75th anniversary some years ago – the Pincus and Berold families were honoured for their family’s enriching history embedded to the kibbutz no less embedded than the Negev’s desert rock. While many Jews donated money to buy land in Israel, “As far as I know,” said Freda, “Revivim is the only case of actual privately-owned Jewish land being donated for this purpose.”
By George! While stationed in Egypt during WWII, George Berold visited Palestine hoping to see the land his parents had bought years before in the Negev and which he was encouraged to impress upon his family back in South Africa to donate for a strategically important kibbutz for an emerging Jewish state.
From Cape Town’s ‘Northern Suburb’ to Israel’s southern desert, South Africans have been fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah that in “A dry and thirsty land, where there is no water” they shall make the desert bloom.
While Revivim became the heart of the Negev it was the heart of South Africa’s Berold family that made it all happen.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
The Israel Brief – 22 May 2023– MK Gafni says he would gives clothes to Noa Kirel. USA condemns Ben Gvir going up Temple Mount. Poland takes issue with Noa Kirel. Netanyahu claps back at Abbas.
The Israel Brief – 23 May 2023– CNN Amanpour apologises to Rabbi Dee. IDF demolish terrorists home. Bibi invited to UAE for COP28. Fires close to Dead Sea.
The Israel Brief – 24 May 2023– State budget passed. WZC voting concludes with liberal resolutions passing. Roger Waters vile concert in Berlin. Shin Bet arrest 1 for planned attack.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
Three Arab writers opining on Middle East issues, address the stir caused by a Black actor playing the role of Cleopatra; why Arabs are following with interest the election in Turkey and why the West needs to address problems in the Middle East directly and with more urgency.
(*Translation from Arabic by Asaf Zilberfarb)
A BLACK CLEOPATRA?
By Meshary Al-Dhaidi
Asharq Al-Awsat, London, April 29
Do filmmakers have the right to alter historical accounts to align with their own ideological and political leanings? Recently, a stir was created after Netflix announced they would be producing a documentary about the illustrious Egyptian Queen Cleopatra with images depicting the monarch with Black African features. Netflix announced the release of a series of documentaries supported by male and female activists from the American Black Movement.
“Queen Cleopatra,” as portrayed by British actor Adele James in the Netflix “docudrama” set to release on May 10, 2023.
This trend, which is both cultural and artistic, attempts to counter racism and rewrite history in favor of Blacks. Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, recently commented on the film, emphasizing that its portrayal of the iconic queen as a Black African woman is a falsification of history. He believes that this is particularly egregious since the movie is classified as a documentary, rather than a drama.
Waziri further highlighted that all statues depicting Cleopatra reflect her Hellenistic Greek features, such as light skin, a drawn nose, and thin lips. Dr. Nasser Makkawi, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University, claims that the depiction of Cleopatra in this film contradicts the most basic historical facts and the accounts of historians, such as Plutarch and Cassius Dio. They recorded Roman history in Egypt during Queen Cleopatra’s reign, and confirmed that she was fair-skinned and of pure Macedonian descent.
Cleopatra, as portrayed in the 1963 Hollywood movie by Elizabeth Taylor.20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
It would have been possible to accept this absurd and fictitious portrayal of Cleopatra, provided that viewers understand it as such. Otherwise, it is an ideological falsehood. Do others have the right to present films with white characters, such as Brad Pitt playing the role of Nelson Mandela or Muhammad Ali? How would Black leaders react to such a decision?
– Meshary Al-Dhaidi
TURKISH ELECTIONS: WHY SO MUCH ARAB ATTENTION?
By Ali Hamada
An-Nahar, Lebanon, May 12
The latest issue of the prestigious British magazine The Economist conveys a clear message on its cover: “The most important elections in 2023,” which refers to the upcoming elections in Turkey. The magazine is firmly opposed to the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Islamic Justice and Development party he leads. The editorial in the issue is dedicated to this position and calls for the overthrow of Erdogan, who is classified as an Islamic autocrat allied with other autocrats, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faces a huge election test against a united opposition led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
In the coming years, these elections will have repercussions not only for the region, but also for Europe and Asia. This position has been echoed by most European and American media outlets, some of which have gone as far as publicly slandering the Turkish president.
In the Arab world, the concern is palpable, as Turkey, the nation closest to them, approaches its election day. Turkey’s size and Erdogan’s two-decade rule under the Justice and Development party have made this election more consequential than any before it. Should the president and his party fall, the election will be a watershed moment for the region, potentially changing the course of one of the Middle East’s major powers.
The reverberations of such an event will be felt in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt and beyond. As the polls opened in Turkey, the region was poised to witness a shift in power with the potential fall of President Erdogan. Analyses suggest that this could drastically alter Turkish foreign policy, particularly in its “vital sphere,” which includes Arab states.
Erdogan’s “neo-Ottoman project” has sought to expand Turkey’s influence in the region, and his potential fall could lead to a reshuffling of alliances. While some Arab countries may celebrate Erdogan’s fall, others may have to reevaluate their bet on the existing alliance.
Whatever the outcome, the region is set to experience major changes. The Turkish elections are garnering significant attention from the Arab political and media worlds, as they are the first elections President Erdogan has run without being guaranteed a victory beforehand.
Several scenarios may arise based on the outcome of the elections. If Erdogan wins the presidency but loses the parliamentary majority, his power will remain wide-reaching, albeit more difficult to wield than before. If he loses both the presidency and the parliament, his rule will be met with daily disruption from a parliament attempting to undo the constitution he put in place in 2017.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled Turkey for more than 20 years. For the first time, he isn’t the favorite to win an election.
If Erdogan’s party wins the parliament but he loses the presidency, it will be a major setback, as his authority has been a major factor in the success of the Justice and Development party. It is likely that the elections will result in a delicate balance, with Erdogan in the presidency and a dispersed parliament between his party and the six-party alliance. This could result in minor shifts in Turkish foreign policy, with a decrease in Erdogan’s influence over any future coalition government.
– Ali Hamada
THE WEST CAN’T SIMPLY WAIT ITS PROBLEMS OUT
By Abdullah Juma Al-Haj
Al-Ittihad, UAE, May 3
In recent years, the political landscape in the Middle East has become increasingly complex and intertwined. Leaders of the major powers involved in the region have learned that tenacity often yields positive results. Consequently, the outlook and objectives of world leaders must be focused on achieving a balance between the interests of the people of the region and those of the great powers.
Optimism may appear difficult for those familiar with the region’s issues and problems, yet even the biggest pessimists will agree that conflicts can be reduced in intensity, even if they cannot be fully resolved in a short time.
Over the past 60 years, Western policies toward the region have been inconsistent. These policies have been tried, leading to a greater continuity of disagreement or division within the countries involved, and while they have achieved some successes, they have also been marked by waves of disappointment among the Arabs.
It is remarkable that Westerners have persistently sought to bring peace to the region, and all are proud of the efforts made, yet subsequent politicians have not built upon the foundations of their predecessors’ policies. For example, the current administration in the US is facing more delicate and intricate issues, due to the new Russian and Chinese approaches toward the region and beyond.
Therefore, US politicians and diplomats must explore Russia and China’s intentions toward the region’s problems and act accordingly.
Skill required in the stiff competition for the future of the Middle East.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the escalating trade and economic war with China have caused deep divisions among Western countries – the US and EU – and both Russia and China. To prevent the world from slipping into a dangerous slide that could lead to its destruction and the annihilation of humanity, Western diplomacy must seek to engage in a new constructive dialogue with these two countries regarding the pressing issues of today.
A dialogue that provides a platform to address the issues in the Arab region and its regional surroundings must be pursued to promote peace, whether it be concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran’s nuclear program, the Syrian peace process, or the relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and its neighbors.
After the Gulf wars, Western politicians have been unable to come to a consensus on the nature of their military and strategic relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, and Jordan. This has led to strained relations between the parties that should be allies. To ensure a more harmonious relationship, Western countries must strive to reach a broader agreement with these friendly nations.
The agenda of Western countries in the region is packed with pressing matters, and they require innovative thinking to tackle them, as well as ample financial aid. In some foreign policies, time can bring solutions, but in others, this is unfeasible and requires urgent and direct action.
When it comes to the problems of the Arab region, the latter approach is more effective, and if Westerners want to realize their interests prudently, they must address them promptly and directly.
– Abdullah Juma Al-Haj
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
Yulia, the rare monk seal captures the hearts of Israelis
By Rolene Marks
For several days, the most gorgeous blonde visited Israel’s beaches. With a sunny countenance, evident by her pretty smile she serenely lounged at the water’s edge, much to the absolute delight of curious onlookers.
A Mediterranean monk seal called Yulia, became Israel’s most watched – and loved celebrity. Named by a little boy who was the first to see her, Yulia enthralled Israelis and made global headlines when she visited Jaffa beach, close to Tel Aviv and for nearly a week frolicked in the Mediterranean Sea while spending a lot of time resting and sunbathing in full view of a delighted public.
Basking on the Beach. A rare, endangered seal named Yulia basks on Tel Aviv beach turning heads and causing a media buzz.
Monk seals are one of the most endangered species in the world and it is believed that there are less than 700 of them in existence. Even more reason Israeli nature lovers were thrilled to see her!
Yulia could not have arrived at a better time. For months, Israeli society has been bitterly divided over proposed judicial overhauls and just days before Yulia’s arrival, was engaged in Operation Shield and Arrow to ongoing rocket attacks from terror entity, Islamic Jihad, in Gaza. Yulia brought much needed joy and unity.
Yulia was listless and shaking when she first arrived on Israeli shores, and conservationists and experts were worried that she may be ill. Marine biologists from the Delphis Association, an Israeli nonprofit for marine mammals, very carefully monitored her. Monk seals shed their coats, which is a process that takes a lot of energy; which could explain why she was so listless and was reported going for swims and back to her resting position on the beach.
Seal of Approval. Yulia the monk seal was loved and protected during her beach vacation in Israel. (Photo by Dr. Aviad Scheinin/Delphis)
Turkish researchers at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, received images of Yulia, and recognized her as a monk seal called Tugra (we prefer Yulia!) that they were familiar with, who was known for swimming great distances and napping for extraordinarily long stretches of time. She is reportedly over 20-years-old and is well travelled having being spotted close to Greece and Turkey. The Delphis Association and the IUCN have partnered for a joint project working to protect endangered monk seals.
Her arrival was just as exciting for marine biologists as it was for the throngs of people who came to greet her.
“On the one hand, I’m on such a high, I haven’t slept in days,” said Mia Elasar, founder of the Delphis Association, who has been researching monk seals for 30 years. “As a child I heard that there were once far more seals here; and now, to see one in real life, it’s a legend that has come alive.”
She was not the only one losing sleep over Yulia’s sudden appearance. “This is a very rare event that a monk seal stays for such a long time on the shore,” said Aviad Scheinin, a marine biologist from University of Haifa. “I’m researching marine mammals for 20 years; this is the first time that I’m actually seeing such a thing, and I can hardly sleep at night because of that,” he said.
Yulia the monk seal insisting to stay after being spotted at yet another beach over the weekend
Nature and Parks Authority inspectors spared no time in ensuring Yulia received the VIP care befitting a lady of her status; and secured a safe perimeter around her to keep the enthusiastic public away from getting too close to her and scaring her.
Volunteers kept a watchful eye 24/7 to ensure that she could rest undisturbed and Delphis carefully monitored her condition, which they sent to vets. They were joined by Israelis around the country who followed her in the various media. Yulia even made headlines around the world. From Ireland to China, the United States to the United Kingdom, everyone was on Yulia watch.
“Of course I know she’s not smiling, but her lips are formed in a way that makes her look like she is. She’s so utterly calm — even while a million people are watching her,” said Aya Zaken, a resident of Jaffa.
Zaken said that seeing Yulia for the first time was a “much more moving experience” than she had expected, Zaken said — partly because of the seal’s size but also because of the effect she had on onlookers.
“When faced with her, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm, like a deep meditation,” Zaken said. “The feeling that this is so much bigger than me or my troubles.” I felt that too, Aya. She crept into my heart as well – as she did for so many of us.
On Friday, Yulia reportedly dove back into the Mediterranean, leaving many feeling that her Israel excursion had finally ended.
She popped up a little later a few kilometres down south at Palmachim beach. She beat a hasty retreat into the water to avoid over-enthusiastic beach-goers. Who could blame her?!
As quietly as she arrived, she left, off on her next adventure. Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority reported that on midnight of Saturday night, she swam off and has not been seen since.
Yulia the monk seal captivated a nation. We fell in love with her. She brought with her some much-needed joy and a reminder of the importance of doing everything that we can to ensure endangered species are respected and given the space that they need to flourish. We hope she comes back to visit us soon – and brings some of her friends too! – and she did!!
*Yulia was spotted several days later back on the Israeli coast and is reported to still be here!
“If Yulia was a Pixar movie – this is what she would look like”.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscapeReliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond
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On Jerusalem Day Israel celebrates the unity of the city but how unified is it?
By David E. Kaplan
Contrasting Visions. Does the national flag and Western Wall mean different things to different people?
With much on Jerusalem Day to celebrate there is much as well to warrant concern. While we now have a capital of the Jewish People that is geographically united, how united are its people? An incident with visiting family from the USA, prompted some largely unanswered questions.
ARAB TERROR LEADERS SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PROFESSION
Reflections from Israel amidst another round of hostilities
By Jonathan Feldstein
Surgical Strike. Israeli technology surgically removes terrorist tumor leaving rest of the building unharmed.
Does not matter anymore what floor terrorist leaders live on, that is where they may die and not of old age! Israel’s precision surgical-like targeting of terror leaders in their apartments leaving the rest of the building intact, may be changing the rules of the game in counterterrorism.
Off the Wall. Harvard students incite on their “wall” erected on campus during 2022 Israel Apartheid Week.
In an era of social media, “algorithms” and “worldwide connectivity” are the ‘weapons’ of easy access. Through contrived visuals and prose, they are proving no less lethal than guns and Jews worldwide are in the crosshairs.
Recollections and reflections of a South African immigrant under fire
By Joel Klotnick
Red Alert. Siren warning of incoming rocket, kids dash for the bomb shelter at a playground in Tel Aviv.
Sitting with friends at a café, the writer looked up to see a rocket plume high in the sky and then another followed seconds later by a “BOOM”. The scrip thereafter is predicably the same – find cover, call your loved ones and return to the ‘proverbial’ table. “Anyone for more tea?”
LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche
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While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
On Jerusalem Day Israel celebrates the unity of the city but how unified is it?
By David E. Kaplan
“It’s ironic,” says my wife’s nephew visiting from Philadelphia, “that on Jerusalem Day where do you think in Jerusalem our group was most afraid to walk!”
Not in the Old City but in Mea She’arim; meaning; the supposed threat not from Arabs but from fellow Jews!
Dressing Down. At the entrance, ultra-Orthodox men stand under a sign advising of the strict dress code. (Nati Shohat/Flash 90)
Keith and his wife Caroline Joffe were part of a large delegation from the US – Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia – which falls under the umbrella organization Jewish Federation of North America – and while the organizers “did not cancel our trip despite the war with Gaza, chose not to cancel our visit to the Gazan border to view the situation following ‘Operation Shield and Arrow’ even though the situation remained tense, but they did cancel our ‘Challah Baking’ tour through Mea She’arim,” said Keith.
God Forbid. The do’s and don’ts in Mea She’arim, a district founded in the late nineteenth century and since then nothing has changed there.
Advertised as “not to be missed”, my American family chose the Challah Bake tour in Jerusalem’s ultra-orthodox neighbourhood instead of the alternate option of the famed Light and Sound Show, and were then told at the last moment:
“that it was unsafe to go because the last group to visit were attacked by the residents; spat on and subjected to verbal abuse and there was a strong likelihood of a repetition. We were aghast”
Jerusalem Day. The writer’s wife’s family from USA with their Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia group celebrating Jerusalem Day at the Western Wall.
Some in the group were still keen to visit as they felt that as Jews visiting Jerusalem, no visit was complete without a visit to Mea She’arim. Their persistence was met with:
“The atmosphere was not right to visit at this point in time.”
The atmosphere was not right on Jerusalem Day? A day that celebrates and commemorates the “reunification” of East Jerusalem with West Jerusalem following the victorious Six-Day War of 1967,
I was reminded of people I know, people from my youth movement in South Africa, Habonim, who fought in that war and in Jerusalem.
View of History. Standing between models of past warriors, the writer’s wife Hilary (c) with her niece Dee (l) and nephew Keith (r) from the US on the ramparts of the Old City, Jerusalem.
One such is Ian Rogow of Tel Aviv; who in 1967 was a 31-year- old, married with young kids, fighting fiercely on the outskirts of Jerusalem. He recounts the battle in this letter to his family in Cape Town, recorded in a ‘book of letters’ by the late Muriel Chesler:
“On Monday, 5th June, my company was moved after dark to the front where kibbutz Ramat Rachel, east of Jerusalem, forks the border with Jerusalem. That night we took a terrible hammering, and the shells of heavy 120mm mortars and long-distance artillery beat down on us like hail storms.
It was a long night and the machine gun and rifle fire found only brief moments of respite during the dark hours.
I shall carry with me to the end of my days, the memory of the long, drawn-out, sibilant whistle that so ominously precedes the explosion of a mortar shell. At first, you’re frightened as hell, and you strain to push your whole body into your steel helmet like a snail retreating into its protective shell as you dig into mother-earth tighter, and wish your trench was deeper, and you think of God and pray. But you have to fight back, and soon you condition yourself against hitting the dirt with every bone-chilling shriek of an incoming shell.
Back in Battle. Writing to his parents from the Jerusalem battlefield in June 1967, that he hoped that would be the last war, Ian Rogow (left) found himself on the bank of the Suez Canal during the 1973 Yom Kippur War where he is greeted here by the “Father of Modern Jerusalem”, Mayor Teddy Kollek.
By the time dawn broke, Ramat Rachel was safe and by nightfall, we were in Bethlehem; white flags flying from the rooftops and the Royal Jordanian army not in sight. The next day we were in Hebron, and here too, the white flags fluttered prominently from every roof-top.”
The remaining danger, Ian writes were:
“unseen snipers. We lost many a life to the bullet of a rifle fitted with a telescopic sight and triggered by a well concealed finger.”
Ian concludes this long letter of further wartime encounters through Gush Etzion with:
“Let our political successes match our military victory as some small compensation for the heavy price we paid – so as not to let down those who gave their lives for the gain we have made by the sword.”
In the heat of battle, prescient prose if ever there was from a war-weary soldier with a young family. Rogow’s message is valid today in 2023 no less than it was in June 1967 as an ever-increasing number of Israelis anguish that the gains won by yesterday’s brave soldiers are not being squandered by today’s foolish politicians. It should be prescribed reading for anyone entering politics to read Barbara Tuchman’s ‘March of Folly’, that reveals through examples of history down the millennia from Troy to Vietnam that governments pursue policies contrary to their best interest. They do so foolishly, knowingly, repeatedly and incomprehensibly they take in the proverbial ‘Trojan Horse’. Attired in alluring political verbiage to appear to “strengthen democracy”, Netanyahu’s “judicial reform” may well prove Israel’s ‘Trojan Horse’.
It does not have to be. What is more important – the coalition or the country?
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
