Tapping into famed Israeli poet and musician, Nancy Pelosi’s recitation of lyrics struck the right note
By David E. Kaplan
They say Israeli food in New York has never been hotter!
This is tantalizingly reflected in the ever increasing number of restaurants owned or run by Israelis with such alluring names from ‘Operation Falafel’ conjuring up the image of a culinary Middle East offensive on the palette to the mouthful ‘Balaboosta’, a term of endearment in Yiddish, which means “perfect homemaker” suggesting someone who loves to bring family together by cooking. However, the smorgasbord of delicious delights from Israel does not end at its cuisine, for Israeli culture has an endearing irresistible resonance that permeates American life and even its politics. This was spectacularly illustrated this week by none other than the United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who in an emotional response to a controversial Supreme Court ruling rolling back reproductive rights in the United States by half a century, recited a poem by the celebrated Israeli lyrist and poet, Ehud Manor (1941-2005).
“My country changed her face”. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reacts to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
At a pivotal disturbing moment in America’s history where the leading country in the world is shown to be as “never-so-divided since the Civil War”, one would think there was no shortage of fine words to recite from an American poet that would capture a frustrated people’s torment. None quite cut it for the Speaker because America’s leading Democrat in the House – while directing the cataclysmic cause for America’s backward somersault into the past on former president Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate for a decision that gives American women in 2022 “less freedom than their mothers”, Pelosi found solace in the words of an Israeli.
From Capitol Hill to Israel’s Capital. As part of a Congressional delegation to the country, Nancy Pelosi at the Knesset in February 16, 2022 where she reiterated her country’s “iron clad” support for Israel’s security. (photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
With this divided America facing an uncertain future over the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade, a downhearted and dispirited looking Pelosi walked to the podium at the press conference at the Capital and recited Ehud Manor’s poem:
“I Have No Other Land” (“Ein Li Eretz Aheret” in Hebrew)
The words that were heard by American ears – her intended audience – were heard too in Israel whose citizens are however more familiar with the words in Hebrew.
She recited:
“I have no other country
though my land is burning
Only a word in Hebrew
penetrates my veins and my soul –
with an aching body and with a hungry heart.
Here is my home
I will not be silent,
for my country has changed her face”
For Pelosi, her country has indeed “changed her face” as Americans have been heard saying, “We have awoken to a new America”, and not an America they feel comfortable with.
Poignant Postage. A 2009 Israeli stamp commemorating Ehud Manor. (Photo: public domain)
Emotionally distraught throughout the recitation of Manor’s poem, Pelosi felt compelled to repeat which might have been for her the most compelling line “my country has changed her face” and were in not for who she was – and where she was – one sensed she could have gone on repeating that line over and over again like a stuck gramophone needle so shocked and shaken was she.
Her fighting spirit to ‘march on’ returns when she concluded with Manor’s final line:
“I shall not give up on her. I will remind her and sing into her ears until she opens her eyes”.
The poem having ended, Pelosi laments:
“Clearly, we hope the Supreme Court will open its eyes”
With a conservative 6-3 majority of the judges this is unlikely to happen and with multiple states, including Texas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee where abortion will now be illegal under all circumstances – including in cases of rape and incest, there is little wonder that a protest movement is mobilising with its voice heard loud and clear as well as in Israel.
On Tuesday evening, 28 June, over a 100 people gathered in Habima Square in Tel Aviv to protest the US Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade. Filling the square were loud chants of carefully crafted wording such as:
“Pro-life that’s a lie,
you don’t care if women die”
A young 8th grader with family and friends in Texas – one of the states where abortion will be banned without exception, even in instances of rape or incest – was Rut, holding a sign that said, “Women just want to have fundamental human rights”. Devastated, she told The Jerusalem Post that she decided to attend the protest for more than one reason.
“I’m really young, and I already have friends who have gone through incredibly hard things. I think it’s incredibly important that we have rights over our own bodies. I spent three years in the US. I go there every summer. It’s extremely important to me to be here today.”
Sign of the Times. Rachel and Michael, two protestors holding signs during a pro-choice protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 28, 2022 (Photo Simcha Pasko/i24NEWS)
Not everyone at the protest was born in the US or even had a personal connection to the country like Rut. While many expressed feelings of solidarity with the women in the US who have had their access to reproductive healthcare revoked, others shared fears that their own rights would be taken next, that the ‘infection’ that has inflicted the US could spread like an all-to-familiar pandemic.
“Is this another Covid coming our way?” was the prevailing sense of fear.
This fear was emphatically conveyed to The Jerusalem Post by a protestor who requested to remain anonymous. Having no connection whatsoever to any family or friends in the US, she said that the overturning of Roe v. Wade indicated:
“worse things to come for women everywhere, not just in the US.” She went on, “…. It doesn’t make a difference where in the world it’s happening – a woman is a woman is a woman. It can happen to all of us.”
Redirecting ‘Aim’. A woman holding a sign reading “Pro-life would be regulating, not this,” with a picture of a gun and a uterus at a pro-choice protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 28, 2022. (photo Simcha Pasko/i24NEWS)
This was not the first time that Pelosi had responded to worldwide events through poetry or even the first time she has cited this particular Israeli poem by Ehud Manor – “I Have No Other Country”.
Awarded in 1998 the Israel Prize, the country’s highest cultural honor for his contributions to Israeli music, Manor remains an icon in Israel. Why his songs remain ever so popular, his widow Ofra Fuchs, whom Pelosi has met on her visits to Israel, explains:
“the perfect language, which sounds contemporary to this day. That is why young singers keep performing his songs, and that means that Ehud is still alive. He had the ability to create perfect harmony between the words and the music.”
Lasting Legacy. Considered to have been Israel’s most prolific lyricist of all time, having written or translated over 1,000 songs Ehud Manor with his wife Ofra Fuchs.
May the day soon dawn when Nancy Pelosi might find cause to recite another of Manor’s poems In the Year to Come (BASHANAH HABA’AH), where the refrain reads:
“Just you wait and you’ll see How much good there will be In the year, that’s to come, that’s to come.”
Clearly, major battles will have to proceed before!
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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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).
In April 1994, while South Africans were jubilantly voting in the country’s first democratic elections, in Rwanda, a mere three and a half hours’ flight away, hundreds of thousands of Tutsi, as well as Hutu who opposed the genocide, were being slaughtered .
1994. Two countries in Africa. Two very different paths!
Not that South Africa’s transition to democracy has been easy. As xenophobic violence has shown, South Africans too have the potential for horrific violence against an “other”.
In 2006, during one of my visits to Rwanda, a personal experience profoundly impacted my thinking on the creation of a future Centre. At a visit toNtarama Church Genocide Memorial site where more than 5000 Tutsi were murdered, a young survivor, Cocous, was visibly upset. That morning we had also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, the last resting place of over 250 000 Tutsi, including his parents. Sitting with Cocous, who bears a large machete scar on his head, I shared my own family’s history. I told him about the murder of my grandmother Leah Turner and my two aunts, Cela and Helen. My father Moses and his brother Henryk were rescued by Oskar Schindler, but the rest of the family were murdered in the Holocaust. He touched my face in disbelief saying:
“and still after that, genocide happened in my country?”
We spoke about the words ‘Never again’ placed on every memorial to the murdered Tutsi around Rwanda. They sounded hollower than ever.
Never again, yet again?
That encounter persuaded me that any museum in South Africa dedicated to the Holocaust and genocide had to include the story of Rwanda.
Personal Horrors. Sylvestre Sendacyeye, survivor from Rwanda, next to the Memorial for the Tutsi who were murdered in the genocide. (Photograph: Catherine Boyd)
This conversation took place while we were reflecting on the importance of memorialising the Holocaust and genocides in the 20th century and how to make such immense human catastrophes feel resonant, relevant and ‘personal’ to South Africans in the twenty-first century. Around the world museums are emerging more and more as institutions dedicated to facilitating human rights awareness and education, dialogue, and debate; we hoped that the Centre would encourage South Africans to grapple with our own history (and how that continues to inform our present), within the context of broader histories.
With or without our intervention, the Holocaust is present in South African public life. In 2007, the Department of Education included the study of ‘Nazi Germany and the Holocaust’ in the South African national social sciences and history curriculum for Grade 9 and 11 (15 and 17 years old). By first learning about the Holocaust and then about Apartheid, they hoped students would have a better understanding of human rights, peace and democracy. All good in theory, but to make this really work requires a huge amount of education before the first lesson is even presented. Much of the essential preparation is provided by three independent Centres, all under a national association, the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation. The first Centre was opened in Cape Town (1999) and a second one was established in Durban (2008). The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre was officially opened in March 2019 but operated from temporary offices since 2008.
Illuminating Darkness. The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre sheds light on the holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda.(Photo JHGC, Johannesburg)
In order to offer visitors a deeper understanding of recent genocides, the core exhibition, developed over many years, covers more generally genocides in the 20th century, starting in 1904 with the Herero and Nama genocide in Namibia and the Genocide of Christian Armenians beginning in 1915. It also looks at the development of the word genocide and explores the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its aftermath. Finally, the exhibition connects to current human rights abuses in South Africa, particularly xenophobia and racism.
The iconic building is replete with symbolism. Its South African architect, Lewis Levin reflected:
“How can the language of architecture be recruited to describe and symbolize the terrible events that took place in Kigali and Auschwitz?”
Asking Holocaust and Rwandan survivors what symbols they would like to see represented in the building, Levin recalls:
“The first images that emerged from our discussions were those of trains, railway lines and the vast transportation network of Europe that was employed and diverted to haul people to their deaths. Trains and railways, once a symbol of industrial progress, in the eyes of 20th century modernists, were transformed by the Nazis and their collaborators into a vast killing machine. In Africa, the railways that represented the great dream of the colonialists, not only brought along empire, but also oppression and human misery”.
The building’s façade is lined with railway lines embedded in concrete and rock. The railway, a symbol of modernity and progress, as well as oppression and suffering, is a strong reminder of genocide, a man-made catastrophe.
“The next images that haunted the survivors,” Levin continued, “were the forests and landscapes of death. The Nazis murdered Jews and others within the panoramas of the European landscapes, often in lyrical forest settings. In Rwanda, the genocide took place in a spectacular landscape of lush green vegetation and terraced hills”. Indigenous yellowwood trees wrap the building from all sides. As you enter the foyer, the railway lines disappear into voids, memorialising the loss and scars of genocide.
Story of a Survivor. Doris Lurie, survivor from Vienna, Austria, with her son Peter next to her portrait and story. (Photo: Catherine Boyd)
LOOKING IN AND LOOKING OUT
The permanent exhibition area has wide, high windows, unlike many other museums that present this history in darkness. The design invites the visitor to remember that genocide does not happen only in the dark but in broad daylight while neighbours are watching. It challenges them to explore their role as bystanders today and encourages them to move to action. The exhibition journey ends in a Garden of Reflection with a soundscape, Remember/Zachor/Ibuka, by renowned South African composer Philip Miller, with music, songs and testimony of survivors of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda.
The JHGC’s core exhibition and education programmes feature stories, photographs and artefacts of Johannesburg survivors that would not be found in any other museum in the world and are uniquely South African. The Centre collected many photographs, documents and objects from survivors of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. Genocide survivor Xavier Ngabo, for example, donated objects found with the remains of his mother Beatrice. In response to hearing his testimony, students sponsored his return to Rwanda to find the remains of his parents and bury them.
Processing Evil. Most important are South Africa’s students, who will be tomorrow’s leaders, to visit the Holocaust Centre.(Photo Catherine Boyd)
The JHGC recorded hours of testimonies from Holocaust and Rwandan survivors. For many of the Rwandan survivors, when filmed, it was the first time they told their story – 20 years after the genocide. Holocaust and genocide survivors are also among the Centre’s volunteers and share their testimonies with students at schools, colleges and universities.
One recent student is 21-year-old Mikateko Mnene, in her final year at the University of Johannesburg; studying a Bachelors in Education degree, who describes her visit to the JHGC in April 2022 as “eye-opening” in that the experience “made us more aware that stereotypes, even though seemingly insignificant, can turn into mass persecution and murder. This is exactly what happened to the Jews.”
“Never Again”. Studying to be a teacher, Holocaust Centre visitor Mikateko Mnene believes we need to educate“the world can become a better place.”
Struck firstly by how “such atrocious cruelties could ever happen, but they did and they can again if we do not make a stand and watch each other’s backs,” Mikateko draws the lesson of her visit to what is happening closer to home when she says:
“This experience also made us more aware of the current issues we are facing in South Africa and how the xenophobic stereotypes we are seeing now should not be taken lightly.”
She says that as a teacher in training:
“I paid great attention to how the Holocaust affected children and teachers, and how the education sector was infiltrated to support and promote antisemitism. I realised the power and influence of teachers and the education sector. Loving children so much, it was so painful to read about the children in the ghettos and camps and how some of them were used for medical experiments through which some died. I am inspired by the few teachers who tried to continue teaching the children. I asked myself as a teacher, what would I have done? I strongly believe that if we could all do our bit to stand for what is right and just in our different career sectors, the world can become a better place.”
Auschwitz survivor and writer, Primo Levi’s words greet visitors as they enter the JHGC:
“It happened therefore it can happen again; this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere”.
When visitors leave the Centre these words feel ever more painfully relevant.
About the Writer:
Tali Natesis the founder and director of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre. She is a historian who lectures internationally on Holocaust education, genocide prevention, reconciliation and human rights. She has published many articles and contributed chapters to different books, among them God, Faith & Identity from the Ashes: Reflections of Children and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors (2015) and Remembering The Holocaust in Educational Settings (2018)
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).
I was driving in Jerusalem last month and saw a colourful flag flying. The horizontal bars of yellow, blue, and red had a coat of arms in the middle, but I was not familiar with which country it represented. What I did know is that there was a visiting head of state in town, and flying that country’s flag was a way to show honour and respect.
A few days later, I read that Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso was visiting, and had announced the opening of an official innovation office in Jerusalem, and he undertook to maintain a more balanced approach toward Israel at the United Nations. Both are welcome announcements, particularly given that in the past, Ecuador had been part of a group of countries that frequently voted against Israel at the UN. President Lasso’s visit marked the first time an Ecuadorian President came to Israel since the countries established diplomatic relations in 1949.
Sister States. Hailing new era in Israel-Ecuador ties, Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog hosts dinner for Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso who says countries are “sister state”. (photo Twitter/ Isaac Herzog May 2022)
Celebratory statements and tweets came from both Israeli and Ecuadorian leaders. When I read that the new office will be located in the trade office Colombia that opened in Jerusalem last year, I realized that something big and good was afoot between Israel and Latin America, and the Hispanic community in general.
A week later I read about Israel’s embassy in Mexico opening the Israel-Mexico tech acceleration program, designed to connect innovative enterprises in Israel and Mexico for high-level high-tech collaboration. The Israeli and Mexican announcement is part of the countries celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations in July.
High Gear. Amid the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Mexico, the Israeli Embassy of Mexico inaugurates Israel-Mexico tech acceleration program. (photo credit: EMBASSY OF ISRAEL IN MEXICO)
As the 15th-largest economy in the world, this program will connect Mexican and Israeli entrepreneurs working on solutions to respective local challenges and needs including health, communication, and the very important issue of water management.
This comes in the wake of two other central American countries, Guatemala and Honduras, being among those to move their embassies to Jerusalem, and is an important way to increase cooperation and build regional ties.
Given these news items and my growing relationships among the latin community, it’s clear I made a mistake studying French in high school. In these cases however, entrepreneurship is a common language, which will overcome linguistic barriers and build warm, ongoing, and mutually beneficial relationships.
When I think about recent developments, I am pleased but not surprised. The truth is that they all are part of a trend in Many countries understand that close relations with Israel bring many benefits and blessings to the table. Individually, with strong roots in Christianity, latin communities all over the world look at Israel as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Biblical principles such as blessing Israel, praying for the peace of Jerusalem, being watchmen on the wall, and more are not mere words but God’s playbook.
On High Ground. A woman enters the new Honduran Embassy in Jerusalem, June 23,2021, the fourth country to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to the Israeli capital following the US, Kosovo and Guatemala. | Photo: EPA / Atef Safadi
This was why Guatemala and Honduras quickly followed the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move their embassies there. As these diplomatic pillars strengthen, it’s no surprise that last year six Central American countries took part in establishing the Central American Forum for Israel. Doing so, Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua signed a declaration of support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
Close Ties. Guatemalan activists wave Israeli flags near the “Plaza of Israel” in the country’s capital, 2015 reflecting the friendship ties between Israel and Guatemala that go back to 1947 when the UN voted for the resolution that led to the establishment of the modern State of Israel.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Part of this initiative highlighted their commitment to educate future generations about the Holocaust and fight antisemitism. Together, they adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, declaring:
“We stand against antisemitism and hatred of all kinds. We support the IHRA as countries and institutions around the world do to simplify law enforcement and deal with the consequences of antisemitism in a correct and just way.”
All this activity is especially noteworthy not just in the strengthening of diplomatic and trade relations with Israel, but as a way to take the war on terror to another front. Iran has long sought to increase its reach to and presence in Latin America, and indeed has established itself in places like Cuba, Venezuela, and others. These are not as threatening as Iran’s presence in Argentina where it was responsible for two major terror attacks on the Israeli embassy (March 17, 1992, killing 29 and injuring more than 250) and on the Jewish community center (July 18, 1994, killing 85 and injuring more than 300).
Iran’s terrorist reach is not limited to major bombings. On January 18, 2015, Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment. “Coincidentally”, days earlier, he had filed a report implicating former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other officials of covering up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 Jewish community center bombing. More recently, a Venezuelan cargo plane with “car parts” and previously owned by Iran, arrived in Argentina, rousing suspicion. It had had a far larger than necessary crew, including several Iranians!
The growing relations between Israel and a number of Latin American countries is important and embodies the Biblical model of Israel being a blessing to the families of the world. But more than on a national basis, religious support for Israel among latinos worldwide is a cornerstone of support within their nations. This of course includes Latin America, but also throughout the US. While Christian support for Israel is wide and growing in general, it feels much wider on a per capita basis among Hispanics.
New Directions. ‘Thirsty’ for Israeli innovation, Colombia in 2015 signed with Israel an agreement on cooperation in industrial R&D. The agreement enabled companies from both countries to receive government funding for joint projects in industrial projects focused on adapting products to the Colombian market. (Photo by Shutterstock.com)
There are many ways in which this is expressed, but one of the most unique, dynamic, and impressive was when I visited Nashville this year and had the privilege of attending services and speaking at Casa de Dios. I am accustomed to an Israeli flag flying in a church parking lot of a number of ministries. However, Casa de Dios raises the bar: before each of their services every Sunday, they sing Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah. I was moved beyond words.
The Spanish Connection. The Ralli Museums located in a 40,000 square meter park in Caesarea, Israel exhibiting mainly Latin American and Spanish paintings and sculptures reflects strong historic bonds with the eye to the future.
Something big is happening among latinos relating to Israel. Exploring this, I hosted two back-to-back conversations discussing a range of reasons why that’s happening and the significance of how Hispanics are awakening to their deep Jewish roots as well. I pray it will continue and be a mutual blessing to us all. If nothing else, I am hoping that Central American pineapples will begin to flood the Israeli market, bringing down the price and bringing up the quality.
As we are seeing, this is a relationship that bears fruit!
About the writer:
Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Jornal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.
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 celebrated writer’s Zionist pitch – Jews need to vote not only with their hands but their feet
By David E. Kaplan
The ‘Write’ Track. Late writer A.B. Yehoshua (left) with David E. Kaplan during an exclusive interview in 2010 in Haifa.
Not only through his writings but his bold outspokenness bordering on prickly rebukes on issues pertaining to the existential meaning of being Jewish and Israeli made A.B. Yehoshua – who passed away earlier this month – a gigantic intellectual presence and ‘thorn’ within the Jewish world. In this revealing interview, the author spoke candidly about his writing, his international reputation, his politics and controversies.
Voting with the “big Boys” at the UN puts Eswatini firmly on the map
By Rolene Marks
A New Dawn. The sun rises on the picturesque African kingdom of Eswatini voting at the UNHRC in favour with Israel.
Interesting how something small can have the same impact as something big. This is what happened this month at the transparently biased UN Human Rights Council when the tiny landlocked kingdom of Eswatini – formerly Swaziland – broke ranks with it much larger dominating neighbour South Africa that geographically envelopes it on three fronts, to vote instead in favour of Israel along with the leading democracies of the world! The writer breaks it down.
Field of Dreams. Responding to the call, Allan Wolman (left) with fellow volunteers in the kibbutz orchids.
The year 1967 was a momentous period in Israel’s history; it was a also momentous period in the personal lives of many who from abroad. placed their lives on hold to volunteer for Israel in its time of need. One such volunteer was Allan Wolman from Tel Aviv, who in in 1967 was a young man in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is his story.
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).
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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).
Voting with the “big Boys” at the UN puts Eswatini firmly on the map
By Rolene Marks
The very mention of the United Nations is guaranteed to raise the blood pressure of most people – especially mention of the Human Rights Council. In this chamber of the absurd, some of the world’s worst human rights violators, including Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea have all held court and sat on the presiding council and some of the most ridiculous resolutions have been passed against Israel. The Jewish state has; and continues to be the focus of an obscene amount of attention – at great expense to other conflicts and human rights abuses around the world.
Last week, in this circus of the ridiculous, the UNHRC’s “Commission of Inquiry” – an investigation that was set up following last year’s 11 day flare up between Israel and Hamas, the internationally recognized terror entity that controls the Gaza strip, presented their findings. Naturally the verdict was that Israel was and is responsible for the ongoing conflict with her neighbours.
The Commission of Inquiry managed to gives as little reference to the incitement of hate and acts of terror perpetrated by Hamas and other Iranian sponsored terror entities in the Gaza strip as possible.
Problematic Pillay. Heading the transparently flawed “Commission of Inquiry” into last year’s 11-day flare up between Israel and Hamas is UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, a strong supporter of BDS that calls for the end of the State of Israel.
The Commission of Inquiry was headed by Navi Pillay, a known anti-Israel agitator who has in the past endorsed the BDS movement which calls for the end of the State of Israel, applauded Iran for signing the 2001 anti-Israel UN declaration and has been proven to have personal ties with members of the PFLP, which is on the international terror list. It is no wonder Israel refused to cooperate with such an inquiry.
Why bother going through the façade? The Commission of Inquiry was endorsed by North Korea though – and the Palestinian representative who called for the USA to be kicked off the UNHRC. It would be comical if it wasn’t so serious because some people still believe in the veracity of such an organization.
Obsessive Anti-Israel Bias. Israel envoy to the United Nations Gilad Erdan rips up a Human Rights Council report at the podium, October 29, 2021 criticizing it for its disproportionate condemnation of Israel saying it belongs in “the dustbin of antisemitism”. (Screen grab)
But something extraordinary happened. The United States led 22 countries, followed the next day by Australia, in a statement condemning the UNHRC for amongst other things, their “disproportionate focus on Israel” and this commission which is counterproductive to the cause of peace.
The diverse group of countries led by the USA and spanning the continents included Israel, Austria, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Hungary, Eswatini, Brazil, Cameroon, Micronesia, Canada, United Kingdom, Togo, Colombia, Guatemala, Croatia, Liberia, Marshall Island, Nauru, North Macedonia and Palau denounced the Commission of Inquiry.
They were joined the next day by Australia who slammed the UNHRC’s “disproportionate focus on Israel and the Commission of Inquiry that does not serve the cause of peace”. There was an encouraging presence of African countries who also grow weary of having to take sides when they could benefit from what Israel has to offer and play a concrete role as African Union members towards brokering a resolution to the conflict – a role which sadly South Africa who also harbours an unproductive obsession with the Jewish state, has forfeited.
What was particularly heartening to see was the amount of African states breaking with stalemates of the past to come out and take a stand for Israel. Israel, recognizing the similarities between our history and challenges to those of African countries has focused attention on growing bilateral ties on the continent. This is evident in the recent granting of observer status at the African Union (AU) and the steady growth of bilateral ties.
There is huge significance to the African states voting in Israel’s favour at the UN. It means the decades long African bloc stalemate has now been broken.
One country in particular stands out. Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) often garners very few headlines but last week the tiny, Southern African state, by voting in favour of Israel along with the leading democracies of the world made a bold statement – we are here, and we came to play. Make no mistake, each country’s vote, no matter the size or perceived level of importance, carries the same weight.
A New Dawn. The landlocked kingdom of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland in Southern Africa voted in favour of Israel along with the leading democracies of the world in condemning the UNHRC for amongst other things, their “disproportionate focus on Israel”.
The message Eswatini sent was clear. We stand with Israel. We recognize the benefits that having ties to a country like Israel, that leads in so many areas can have for our country. We won’t be bullied by neighbouring South Africa to vote against Israel. South Africa’s major foreign policy focus for 2022 is getting Israel’s observer status at the AU revoked – a disappointing choice for a country plagued by so many challenges that the Jewish state can help with.
Eswatini, by breaking with tradition sent a strong, resounding message. Size doesn’t matter – rather it is the imperative of taking moral and principled stands at an institution that is fast losing its cachet. Eswatini has shown the country can stand alongside the world’s leading democracies – and hold its own. Eswatini has shown that when it comes to what is best for its citizens – will not be coerced. Eswatini has shown leadership by example.
The Southern African state has not only firmly established itself on the world stage but it has proven it is the little country that could – and did.
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 writer’s message – Jews need to vote not only with their hands but their feet
By David E. Kaplan
The passing last week of A.B. Yehoshua – described in The New York Times as “a kind of Israeli Faulkner” – brough back memories of my exclusive interview of him in 2010 as editor for Hilton Israel Magazine. That year, the movie of his critically claimed A Woman in Jerusalem was receiving rave reviews and widely expected to be in the running for an Oscar nomination in the Foreign Film category.
On the ‘Write’ Track. Writer A.B. Yehoshua (left) with David E. Kaplan during exclusive interview for Hilton Israel Magazine in 2010 in Haifa.
Sitting down in the lounge of a hotel on the Carmel in Haifa, the writer’s hometown, I quickly discovered how scintillating and physically animated A.B. – or Aleph Bet as he was commonly called -was in conversation. The more intense he wanted to make a point, the more he enlisted his entire body to join in the discussion!
Having received many prestigious awards for literature both in Israel and abroad, I asked whether he had any aspirations of one day standing on the coveted podium in Oslo? After all, The Village Voice – in praising A.B.’s writing -wrote that:
“Nobel Prizes have been given for less.”
His response:
“I am most proud in the meantime to have made the much shorter journey to Jerusalem to receive the Israel Prize. Let me explain. While for the sciences the Nobel Prize is a true measure of the laureate’s contribution to his or her discipline, this generally has not proved the case with literature. If you look back over the past 110 years or so since the Nobel Prizes were awarded, some fifty percent of the recipients for literature were mediocre writers who have either been forgotten or made little impact beyond the parameters of their national readership. Even more astounding, some of the greatest writers of the 20th century – Virginia Wolfe, Robert Musil, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka and Leo Tolstoy to name a few – were passed over.
Think of it, Tolstoy, possibly the greatest writer of the 20th century did not receive the Nobel! I am compelled to ask: What are the criteria when minor writers were so honored and the great literary luminaries passed over?”
His face broadening into a wide smile, he concludes:
“One would be among no less illustrious company if one did not receive the Nobel than if one did!”
It was said by one critic of your book ‘The Liberated Bride’ that you explore human relationships – husband and wife, parent and child – exposing thoughts that people are often too embarrassed to admit. That you have the ability to reach into people’s minds. Your response?
“Relationships are journeys that by their very nature are coloured with clashes and tension. However, it’s not all tempestuous – there is also the beauty of love and friendship. I differ from many writers, who present relationships focusing mainly on the storms, leaving little room for the sunshine to shine through. I, on the other hand, while exploring the interpersonal conflicts, never lose sight of the underlying inter-personal love and friendship that exists between my characters and that is what frequently finally triumphs.”
Totally Animated. A.B. Yehoshua activates much of his body in expressing himself.
To what extent does your fictional writing reflect the realities of life?
“I’m a far cry from say the 19th century French novelist and playwright Balzac [Honoré de Balzak 1799-1850 one of the founders of realism in European literature] a wonderful observer of reality who depicted life in his society so precisely in his writing. I on the other hand, while I explore and express reality, I mesh my narrative with allegory, symbolisms and fantasy. As a young writer, I was influenced by Kafka, the abstract writings of Agnon [the Israel writer S.A. Agnon, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966], Camus, Sartre and Faulkner. Of course, over time and with accumulated experience, ‘the reality’ permeated more into my writings.
While the themes of my book are imbedded into the modern Israeli landscape, its history and its people, my writings are not autobiographical. Many writers like to tell their own story in their writings – this is not the case with me. That is not to say, that life’s experiences have not shaped my writing.”
Riveting Retrospective. In 2012, A.B. Yehoshua won France’s Medicis literature prize – “awarded to a writer whose fame has not yet matched their talent” – for a translated version of his novel “The Retrospective”. (photo Bertrand GUAY )
On this point, did your experiences as a paratrooper in the Israeli army in the mid-1950s impact on your work?
“Sure. While my first-hand experience of jumping out a plane gave me the insight to write about a German paratrooper in my book Mr. Mani, it was my military service in the period culminating in the Sinai Campaign of 1956 that gave me credibility when I campaigned later for peace. When I argue for making the necessary comprises to achieve peace, I’m doing so from someone who has experienced war. It is much easier to take a public stand or write on contentious and critically existential issues when you have taken personal risk on the very issues you are espousing on.”
In the mid-1960s you served as Directorof WUJS (World Union of Jewish Students) stationed at its world headquarters in Paris? How important was this experience?
“Very important. My wife was studying for her doctorate in psychology at the Sorbonne while I was organizing seminars, workshops and conferences for young delegatesand participants from Jewish communities from all over world. At the epicenter of global Jewish student life, this experience presented me a window of opportunity to understand Jewish life in the Diaspora.
It was during this period that I began to analyze the phenomena of the Diaspora. Since those early days I have been trying to understand the nature of antisemitism which I set out in an essay in 2008, called, “An Attempt to identify the Root Cause of Antisemitism”.
Jean Paul Sartre who too would have been in Paris at the time you were there, also wrote a piece on antisemitism where he came to the conclusion that antisemitism is an enigma that defies rational comprehension. What conclusion did you arrive at?
“I approached the subject from the prism of Jewish identity. And here lies the problem. Jewish identity is unclear, even to Jews. You ask today “Who or what is a Jew?” and you will not hear a definitive answer. What’s more, it’s no clearer today than it was over a thousand years ago. Is Judaism a religion, a nation, a race or people or an amalgam in different proportions of all these elements? Jews do not speak the same language; are scattered around the world and differ in appearance and culture from one place to another. A Jew from Yemen is totally different from a Jew in Russia, as is a New Yorker from a Jew from Kazakhstan or Addis Ababa. Because it is so difficult to determine the nucleus or core component of Jewish identity, antisemites are free to project their own demons and frustrations onto the persona of the Jew and create an identity sustainable for their own designs. Incidentally, the converse is no less true. Positive perception too may be projected onto the persona of the Jew with different results.”
Fingers doing the Talking. Caricature of A.B. at work.
Nevertheless, you don’t see religion as the core element in your analysis?
“The mistake I believe is that people were trying to understand antisemitism mainly through the question of religion; this approach is a cul-de-sac. The antipathy towards Jews has emanated from other religions as it has from secular national ideologies like Nazism. The fact that it precedes Christianity, led me to analyze the subject not through religion but the notion of identity. My conclusion is the abstract nature of the Jewish persona invites others to impose their failings and insecurities upon the Jew’s unclear identity leading to cataclysmic consequences. Ambiguity works against us.”
Of your nine novels, Mr. Mani published in 1990 and adapted for television in a five-part series, has probably received the most critical acclaim. Why is that?
“I see this book as my finest achievement.”
How is it different from your other novels?
“First of all because of its composition – the structure is original. The book is arranged in the form of five “conversations,” with the speech of only one of the two speakers present on each page. The reader has to imagine what the other would say and therefore is drawn into the narrative, not as a passive observer but as an active participant. Throughout the book, the reader is compelled to remain cerebrally alert.
The dialogue opens in 1982, going back to 1848 tracing dark domestic dramas occurring against the backdrop of historical events. It mirrors pivotal moments in Zionist history with the history of the Mani family where decisions, both national and familial, were made leading to dramatic consequences. Although Mr. Mani is never one of the speakers, the conversations always concerned a Mr. Mani – the father, the grandfather, the great- grandfather and so on going back generationally.
The speakers include a contemporary Israeli woman, a Nazi soldier stationed in Crete during WW II, a British Jewish soldier in Palestine before the Balfour Declaration, a Jewish doctor in Galicia and a Jewish merchant in Athens.
Threaded throughout this work is one of my fundamental concerns and which brought on the controversy when I addressed Jewish audiences in the USA saying that for all the successes of the Jewish people, we have been a failure.”
Powerful & Poignant. A.B. Yehoshua’s tour-de-force, ‘MR. MANI – six generations of the Sephardi Mani family are chronicled in this profound and passionate Mediterranean epic.
What do you mean by failure?
“The Jewish people have journeyed through history blind. The red lights were time and time again flashing, warning Jews, and yet, we ignored these beacons walking into one life-threatening calamity after another. For me the Shoah – the Holocaust – is totally unacceptable in another fundamental way. We lost six million, a third of our people, wiped out for what? For nothing, this is why I say ‘failure’ – not for religion, not for ideology, not for territory – for nothing. How could we as a people, have allowed this to happen because, as always, the signs were there.
The thread in ‘Mr. Mani’ is that the State of Israel could have been established in the 1920s. My ancestors came to Palestine in the middle of the 19th century. If they could come, why not thousands of others – en mass? Can you imagine if a half a million Jews had come – the difference it would have made? The Holocaust if not averted at least Jews would have a place of refuge. Sure there were the Zionist Conferences but we needed greater commitment – Jews to vote not only with their hands but with their feet.”
Explain the controversy that ‘erupted’ with American Jewry was when you addressed a symposium in Washington saying Judaism over the last 100 years has failed and that the future of Jewish people rests on Israeli identity and not on religion?
“Yes, they never really understood me in way that those Jews who have come to live in Israel would. As I told them, my identity is Israeli and territory and language – not religion – is what creates my identity. This upset them countering that the Jewish religion, culture, texts and literature have been with us for 3000 years, why should I narrow it down to ‘Israeliness’? My argument is that one’s identity is crafted by one’s environment and the land he lives in. A Jewish Israeli is not the same thing as a Jewish Frenchman; every Jew has an identity linked to the territory he lives in. We, who sit in Israel and daily make the fateful and relevant decisions for the continued existence of the Jews, are the ones ensuring Jewish continuity.
Anyway, if they were angry in the beginning – no more – now they are inviting me to repeat it.”
You are a strong and vocal supporter of the peace movement and attended the 2003 signing of the Geneva Accord. Does your involvement here and thinking on these issues manifest itself in your writing?
“My involvement in the Peace Movement is separate and I freely air my political views in essays and interviews. In most my fictional writing, I try to present the humanity of the Arab character, particularly the Israeli Arab through their encounters with Jews in Israel. In this way I try to foster understanding as well as encourage the pursuit of peace.”
Self-Exploration. A.B. Yehoshua, who died this month at the age of 85, was accustomed to rattling the cage like when he claimed that Diaspora Jews are only “partial” Jews, while Israeli Jews are “total” Jews.
While A.B. Yehoshua’s work’s (much of it published in translation in 28 countries and been adapted for film, television, theatre and opera ) reveal so much about the human condition, this published quote revealed much about this late celebrated writer as a Jew living in Israel:
“Diaspora Jews change nationalities like jackets. Once they were Polish and Russian; now they are British and American. One day they could choose to be Chinese or Singaporean..
For me, Avraham Yehoshua, there is no alternative… I cannot keep my identity outside Israel. Being Israeli is my skin, not my jacket.”
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).
Overseas volunteers in 1967 ‘certain’ where they needed to be
Following Lay of the Land’s article ‘SIX DAYS IN JUNE’ by its editor celebrating 55 years since the Six Day War of 1967 that secured the future of the State of Israel, a lively conversation began with calls and emails of seniors who recalled the days of their spirited youth when they suddenly put their young lives on hold and volunteered for Israel in its hour of need.
It was a momentous moment in Israel’s history; it was a momentous moment in the personal lives of many who volunteered from abroad. One such is Allan Wolman today from Israel but in 1967 was a young man in Johannesburg, South Africa.
This is his story.
(Editor David E. Kaplan)
RECOLLECTIONS OF A 1967 VOLUNTEER
By Allan Wolman
“On the 5th June 1967,the Six Day War broke out between Israel and her Arab neighbours. Tensions between Israel and Egypt began building up about 4 – 5 weeks prior to the outbreak of war and as these hostilities increased, it seemed that war was inevitable. I had heard that South African volunteers might be accepted to go to Israel and immediately signed up. The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) occupied a building in downtown Johannesburg and was a hive of activity in those weeks leading up to the war. It was an exciting time with daily visits to the centre to see when we would be sent to Israel. After a selection process and obtaining army and police clearance and a host of other necessary documents, we were ready to leave.
Seeing is Believing. Only a year after the new Knesset building in Jerusalem was dedicated on August 30, 1966 (background) and only days after Jerusalem was reunited and restored to Jewish sovereignty after 2000 years, volunteer Allan Wolman explores Israel’s reunited capital.
When war did break out on the 5thJune, I felt a sense of disappointment as one group had already departed for Israel, and I was not part of it. With ears glued to the radio constantly, as well as almost camping at the Zionist Fed, the days ticked by until I received the call to be ready to leave that evening!
The excitement was overwhelming. I called my parents and next my Dad arranged $300 – money that he could ill afford at the time – and rushed around to pack and get ready to leave.
Relic of War. Allan Wolman leaning back on a burnt out Jordanian Jeep on a tour of the West Bank shortly after fighting ceased
All the volunteers for that evening – the second flight out of South Africa – congregated at the office of the Zionist Fed and bussed together to the airport. Parents and friends made their own way to the airport which was bedlam with thousands of people coming to wish our group well. Our SAA plane was a Boeing 707 that took about 250 passengers – all full of volunteers! The excitement at the departure hall was so memorable with proud Dad, tearful Mom and all my ‘envious’ friends who clubbed together and gave me $100 – a fortune in those days!
As SAA in those days was prohibited from overflying African countries, to get to Israel we were forced to fly round West Africa with stops at Luanda, Lisbon and Rome where we were allowed off the aircraft and walked around Rome airport in wonderment – this was for most of the group their first trip out of South Africa. After Rome, we flew on to Athens where an EL AL aircraft was waiting to take us to Tel Aviv with a fighter jet meeting us en-route to escort us in as the war was not yet over.
My first impression disembarking at then Lod Airport was a bunch of bearded rowdy looking soldiers looking fearsome. After the necessary arrival requirements, our group was bussed to a senior citizen’s home in Herzliya – by that time it was already dark, enhanced by the enforced blackout. I remember those first few hours so vividly – the residents of the home were clapping and cheering us. After an almost 24-hour flight and the excitement of landing in Israel, some of our group walked down to experience a swim in the Mediterranean and then – even with the war and the “blackout”– hitch that evening a ride into Tel Aviv.
Sometime before midnight, we arrived at Dizengoff Street – the only place we had heard of – when the cease-fire came into effect and the lights were turned on and the euphoria was simply indescribable. After six days of anxiety, the nation breathed a sigh of relief.
Having a Field Day. Fellow volunteers of the writer (including Raymond Lowenberg and Peter Edel) join a group of army Nachalniks working on kibbutz Kvutzat Schiller’s cotton plantation.
The following morning all the volunteers were assigned to where they were needed, mostly on various Kibbutzim to assist with agricultural work as most of the men were still in the army. Arriving on kibbutz Kvutzat Schiller (Gan Shlomo) was like landing on another planet. Following orientation, I was billeted in a room with three other young guys from England, two of which have remained lifelong friends. There were also a few South African chaps in our group, Alan Heitner and one or two others. After some weeks, Peter Edel and Raymond (“Rafi”) Lowenberg joined ‘our’ Kibbutz. Peter, Raymond and I eventually shared a room for some months which were some of the most memorable times spent in Israel. Raymond remained in Israel, married, but was tragically killed on the first day of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. I have hardly ever missed a memorial day in honour of Raymond – a brilliant guy, had his matric before he had a driver’s license and a degree at age nineteen.
Dig This. Sitting on a destroyed Jordanian military earth-mover, are (left-right) volunteers Allan Wolman, Peter Edel and Raymond Lowenberg.
Such incredibly vivid memories of those times in Israel, touring around with those wonderful friends and discovering the country on our own was an adventure in itself. One time we decided to visit the Suez Canal (not too long after the war ended) and witnessed the endless lines of destroyed Egyptian army trucks and tanks. We hiked through Gaza, and Gaza City was a dingy backward town with no building higher than two stories. Also hiked to El Arish, again a pretty backward little town. We never made it to the Canal but pretty close as it was a military security zone. Hiking back to Israel proper, Peter, Raymond, Alan and I were given a ride by an Arab Taxi who en-route back, decided to turn off the road into an Arab refugee camp, which was a pretty hostile areas for Jews to venture in. Anxious and afraid of what lay ahead for us, we discussed in broken Afrikaans to knock the driver unconscious and take over his car to avoid the danger we feared lay ahead. Such bravado, came to nought as the taxi stopped outside a house where his wife and children came out to collect fruit and vegetables he was delivering to his family. We felt ashamed for suspecting the worst.
What struck me was the coming together of everyone in support of each other. There was such unity. This was so visibly evident when traveling around the country and seeing at every town or settlement, refreshment tables set out by the women of the area preparing sandwiches and refreshments for the soldiers who were either leaving or joining their units as the army remained on full alert.
My time in Israel in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War was one of the most profound and memorable experiences of my life. Firstly, this was my very first trip overseas and in a country celebrating (with much relief) one of the most astounding military victories in modern warfare, the mood was one of exuberance and happiness after the anxiety leading up to the war. Most of the time was spent working various jobs on the Kibbutz from working in the chicken sheds shovelling chicken ‘sh..t’, to working in the various orchards and apple packing plant and weeding the cotton fields. You knew you had ‘made it’ – I am talking here serious ‘upward mobility’ – when you were trusted to drive a tractor. This was a status symbol; a far cry from the chicken coup!
Evenings were amazing, a living metaphor of the sixties. We sat around our rooms drinking coffee and socializing with the girls; Raymond would be playing his guitar and we would listen mesmerised to the music and lyrics of the latest Beetles classic – “Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band”.
For sure, we were anything but ‘lonely’; we all felt part of something great happening, so much bigger than ourselves.
Field of Dreams. Having “lots of fun, laughter and discussing girls” says Allan Wolman (left) followed by Peter Edel and Raymond Lowenberg while picking apples in the orchids.
But all good things must come to an end and one morning I came to the realization that if I didn’t get off the Kibbutz, I would remain there for the rest of my life, so I packed and said my goodbyes and left to spend a few weeks with my cousin Cyril Swiel in Tel Aviv which proved a real learning experience seeing the other side of life in Israel. I met up with some friends from South Africa and decided to travel through Europe and “see the world”.
But “seeing the world” was unlike “being in Israel” in 1967
The impact of this experience sowed the seed for eventually, decades later, settling in Israel.
About the writer:
Allan Wolman in 1967 joined 1200 young South Africans to volunteer to work on agricultural settlements in Israel during the Six Day War. After spending a year in Israel, he returned to South Africa where he met and married Jocelyn Lipschitz and would run one of the oldest travel agencies in Johannesburg – Rosebank Travel. He would also literally ‘run’ three times in the “Comrades”, one of the most grueling marathons in the world as well as participate in the “Argus” (Cape Town’s famed international annual cycling race) an impressive eight times. Allan and Jocelyn immigrated to Israel three years ago.
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).
Arab writers opining on Middle East issues, focus from Egypt being on the right trajectory to the danger of Syria fragmenting into autonomous regions and a hoping for a return of US warm relations with the Gulf
(1)
LOOKING FORWARD TO A BRIGHT FUTURE
By Karam Gabr
Akhbar el-Yom, Egypt, June 2
In May 2015, a group of 159 pro-Muslim Brotherhood clerics from across the Arab and Muslim world published the “Al-Kinana Call”, in which they accused the Egyptian government of being “criminal and murderous” and declared religious war on the Egyptian people. The signatories issued religious verdicts permitting the killing of innocent Egyptian civilians in the name of their goal of restoring Mohammed Morsi back to the presidency. This criminal gang was no different from the thugs of ISIS, the Houthis, and al-Qaida. They came from countries such as Pakistan, Libya, and Afghanistan – all of which have been ravaged by religious wars. These thugs wanted the fate of Egyptian women to be just like the fate of women found in their own failed societies. They were consumed by jealousy and bitterness after witnessing the bustling streets of Cairo come back to life, unlike their own destroyed capitals that have been wrecked by their wars.
Moving On. Seen here in 2020, President Sisi’s government wants Egyptians to stop regarding Tahrir Square as a place of revolution.( Khaled Desouki · AFP · Getty)
Thankfully, the Egyptian army stood guard and protected our country against these attacks. Its men didn’t fragment or crumble. Indeed, had it not been for the steadfastness of our great army, these mercenaries would have occupied Egypt’s palaces and mosques, plundered its bounties, and subjugated its women. But Egypt defied them and shattered their dreams of forming a caliphate. This month, June, marks the nine-year anniversary of the demonstrations that brought down Morsi’s regime. It was a day in which Egypt entered a new age; one in which a dark black cloud was lifted from upon us. Bleak memories still haunt all of us: the use of force against protestors, our squares being occupied by thugs, the violence and bloodshed in our streets. Yet we, the Egyptian people, prevailed.
We chose to look to the future. We managed to keep those evil forces away from our country and move forward as one.
– Karam Gabr
(2)
SYRIA’S PROPOSED SAFE ZONE
By Riad Naasan Agha
Al-Itihad, UAE, June 1
The announcement of the establishment of a safe zone in Syria – to which several million displaced Syrians will return – raises concerns and mixed feelings among Syrians.
They urgently need a safe territory to return to, after years of movement in search of safety. If such a safe zone is provided to them within their homeland, many of them will return to Syria without hesitation. However, there is genuine concern that this safe area will turn into a small statelet that motivates others to establish autonomous regions – thereby leading to further geographical, sectarian and ethnic division in Syria.
Future Uncertain. A Syrian refugee camp in north-west Iraq. Will these thousands of refugees ever return to Syria and if so to where in Syria and under what security arrangements?
The truth is that people have few hopes for a political resolution to the Syrian crisis following 11 years of suffering. Millions of Syrian refugees are likely to remain scattered around the world, living in tents and makeshift dwellings. A generation of hundreds of thousands of Syrian children and adolescents has grown up without schooling. Most of them have no future. While the fears of the refugees who are expected to return are centered around the safety mechanisms that would be implemented in order to protect them and provide them with basic necessities, international consensus has still not been reached. The United States and the European Union must be the ultimate guarantors for this. It’s also worth remembering that this safe zone is only a local and temporary solution, designed primarily for Syrian refugees located in Turkey. Our fathers and grandfathers lived through an era in which Syria was divided under the French Mandate. Their silver lining was the fact that they were all united as one against a foreign enemy – an occupier – from whom they sought independence. They worked to build a unified country where all segments of society can peacefully coexist. However, the current situation differs dramatically. The future of Syria seems more dangerous than its present. Syrian society is deeply divided and fractured. Sadly, no one knows what the future will bring for this war-torn country.
– Riad Naasan Agha
(3)
THE POSSIBILITY OF A RETURN TO WARMTH IN US-GULG RELATIONS
By Rami Caliph Al-Ali
Okaz, Saudi Arabia, June 10
There has been increasing talk in the American capital about the necessity of returning warmth to US-Gulf relations, especially with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Perhaps the loudest and clearest voice came from a paper presented to the Council on Foreign Relations, prepared by Steven Cook, a researcher specializing in international relations, and Martin Indyk, a former diplomat who worked in the Middle East. As of the writing of these lines, this paper has not been published but was referred to by Fareed Zakaria in an article published in The Washington Post. Regardless of the details of the Cook-Indyk paper, there is consensus among observers of Middle East politics that the policy pursued by the Biden Administration toward the Gulf has undermined American interests. The Gulf, with Saudi Arabia at its heart, is the key to the Middle East. If you try to marginalize it, you will practically marginalize your role and presence in the region, and this is what happened with the United States. As for Riyadh, we realize that relations with Washington were and still are strategic when they are based on clear foundations, which are those agreed upon by the founding King Abdulaziz Al-Saud with President Franklin Roosevelt. The relations were based on security, defense, and economic cooperation with full respect for the kingdom’s sovereignty and its location in the heart of the Islamic world, and noninterference in its internal affairs. But if Washington wants to turn against these foundations and play a paternalistic role vis-à-vis the kingdom, then it must expect that Riyadh will search for other allies. Therefore, it is a welcome change that Washington is reconsidering its stance. This will require a frank and honest dialogue between Washington and Riyadh, which will focus on two things.
Great Expectations. Seen here visiting Riyadh when he was vice-president in 2011, there is much hope of restoring US warm relations when as President, Biden visits his Middle East allies amid strains.
The first aspect is respecting the sovereignty of Gulf states and avoiding arrogant and patronizing discourse toward its leaders. The second aspect, which is no less important, is finding a common vision surrounding the region’s most burning issues, starting with the Iranian nuclear file and the need to involve the countries of the region in the talks with Iran.
–Rami Caliph Al-Ali
*(translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
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).
