Unveiling the contours and contrasts of an ever-changing Middle East landscape Reliable reportage and insightful commentary on the Middle East by seasoned journalists from the region and beyond
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What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africaand millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.
Articles
(1)
REWRITING HISTORY
Whitewashing a nefarious past, Lithuania is the master.
By Grant Gochin
Devious in Denial. Denying participation in the Holocaust, Lithuanian policeman rounding up Jews in July 1941.
What’s happening under the Netanyahu coalition has former South- Africans in Israel worried.
By Larry Butchins
Shades of Shame. Visual imagery of South Africa’s past that the writer never wants to revisit elsewhere.
As a former South African who grew up and then worked as a journalist during the apartheid regime until immigrating to Israel, the writer feels it is his “moral duty to raise a red flag and wave it vigorously.” While fervently defending Israel against the apartheid libel for many years, that task is becoming increasingly more difficult with each new day in 2023.
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).
Three Arab writers opining on Middle East issues address:
whether time is now ripe for the pursuit of a meaningful peace between Israelis and Palestinians
an upcoming Islamic conference in Mecca to discuss issues of moderation, extremism, tolerance and coexistence
The inescapable “Trump factor” on American politics and beyond
(*Translation from the Arabic by Asaf Zilberfarb)
ISN’T IT TIME FOR REAL PEACE
By Rami Al-Khalifa Al-Ali
Okaz, Saudi Arabia, August 10
The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the world’s longest-running and most tragic military standoffs, having brought great pain, death, and destruction to the region. Since the Nakba, various political actors have taken power in Israel without fully recognizing that there are other people in the land of Palestine who are entitled to their own peoplehood and homeland. Israel’s logic has been to implement changes on the ground that legitimize its superiority, yet this strategy has failed to create lasting peace and stability for the Jewish state. Military superiority may temporarily bring truces, but it cannot guarantee true peace. For decades, Israeli governments have been asking how they can garner the greatest gains under an imposed reality where Israel enjoys clear superiority over the Palestinians, who can only depend on the support of their Arab brethren and their own strength to withstand the situation. Perhaps it is time for Israel to reframe the question:
How can we live together on this land with the Palestinian people? How can we become an integral and genuine part of the region and its people?
Since the Madrid Conference [in 1991], we have missed out on numerous avenues to establish peace, yet today the prospects seem brighter. This is particularly true for Israel, where many citizens now recognize the looming threats arising from changes to the country’s political system. Numerous regional leaders have the potential, willingness, and capability to construct pathways toward peace. Here, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deserves particular attention. He carries an expansive project that extends beyond the kingdom, encompassing the realism of economics, politics, and society. His Highness is determined to bring security and stability to the entire Middle East. Already, he has changed the face of the region in a brief period, beginning with the AlUla GCC Summit and the most recent Arab League Summit. These efforts led to successful negotiations with Iran, bridge building across the East and West, and the recent development of an international vision to broker a cease-fire in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Pursuing Peace. Some 15,000 Palestinians and Israelis came together this 2023 to ‘try to break the chain of revenge and hatred’ on the day Israel honours its soldiers. (Photo: Adam Sella/Al Jazeera)
Real peace requires consensus from both sides. If the Palestinians have strong leadership that desires peace, and if the Arab leadership is motivated and has an influential personality like Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then this is a great opportunity that may not present itself again. This message is not only directed at Tel Aviv but also Washington: The US has the means and power to contribute meaningfully to the pursuit of a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Rami Al-Khalifa Al-Ali
MECCA CONFERENCE ON RELIGIOUS MODERATION
By Meshary Al-Dhaidi
Asharq Al-Awsat, London, August 11
With the generous blessing of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs is scheduled to host an Islamic conference in Mecca titled “Communication with the Departments of Religious Affairs, Ifta and Sheikhdoms in the World”. The conference, which will be held on August 13-14, will be attended by 150 scholars, as well as 85 muftis, sheikhs, thinkers, and academics who will discuss issues of moderation, extremism, tolerance, and coexistence between peoples.
This is, of course, a commendable quest and a noble effort. But who exactly is representing Islam in its current state? Who is the beacon to all Muslims around the world who rely on its guidance? Muslims are present all over the world, from Muslim-majority nations to the remotest corners of the Christian West. They have become citizens of those countries as well as influential political figures, from Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, and Sayeeda Warsi, former co-chair of Britain’s Conservative Party, to parliamentarians, city mayors, and community leaders. Some have even risen to the position of heads of security agencies. For many years, the call for a moderate culture that embraces the value of tolerance and coexistence has been a matter of imperative urgency, not only in Muslim countries but also far beyond their borders. This is because developing such a discourse and fostering its spread is no longer a concern exclusive to the Islamic faith but a global issue that affects everyone. The consequences of Islamic extremism are felt by all inhabitants of the planet, just like any other kind of extremism. Reaching the goal of forming a thriving Islamic society requires both great courage and political support, as well as persistent effort. The experts in Islamic law must determine if there is an agreed-upon understanding of what Islamic law is. Is it a primordial and undeniable truth? Or is it based on human understanding, such as reason and norm-making?
Conference on Religious Moderation. Around 150 eminent Islamic scholars, muftis, religious leaders, thinkers, heads of Islamic centers and association and academics from universities from 85 countries around the world participated in the conference.
Ultimately, it is up to the experts to make this determination. As the world grapples with the complexities of modern citizenship, legal responsibility, and belonging, the idea of the “nation” holds an ambiguous role. It is both an emotional vessel that binds a people to a larger civilizational framework and a concept that can have both fleeting and destructive implications. Throughout history, countless scholars have sought to understand and explain these issues. It is our sincere hope that those attending this conference, seeking goodwill for the citizens of the world, may have luck in their discussions and endeavors.
Meshary Al-Dhaidi
TRUMP AT THE CENTER OF THE UP-COMING PRESDENTIAL ELECTION
By Abdel-Moneim Said
Al-Ahram, Egypt, August 9
The start of the 21st century was marked by a tragic event when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York, as well as targets in Washington, including the Pentagon. In response, former US President George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” in Afghanistan and Iraq, although these attempts at creating an “American century” ultimately failed.
When Barack Obama entered office, he pursued an opposite approach of reducing the US’s involvement in global conflict. This ultimately set the stage for the election of Donald Trump, a vocal proponent of white nationalism. While he eventually lost the election to Joe Biden, his continued presence in American politics has caused a stir. He rejected the election’s results and incited violence from his supporters, leading to a storming of the Capitol in January 2021. The upcoming United States presidential election is certain to be electrifying, with the prosecution of former President Trump at its center. Trump has denied the 37 charges leveled against him, leading to a schism in the Republican Party between those who stand by the former president and those who don’t.
Enduring Donald. Despite appearances like this at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Donal Trump remains an enduring presence on the world stage. (Photo.Timothy A. Clary/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Another area where the division has become evident is between the Democratic Party’s moderates, headed by President Biden, and the more radical left, headed by “the Squad”. Trump is facing numerous legal battles, including those pertaining to sexual assault, his alleged destabilization of the government, and the possession of confidential presidential documents following his departure from the White House. These sensational trials will prove to be a crucible for the US Constitution itself, as well as for global politics.
– Abdel-Moneim Said
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).
Whitewashing a nefarious past, Lithuania is the master.
By Grant Gochin
A feature of Putin’s war against Ukraine is the relentless and pervasive rewriting of Russian history, and elevation of Russian murderers into national heroes. Russia has even rewritten their school textbooks to teach their youth a fabricated history. If the West is to defend Ukraine from Russia, we must ensure Russia’s behavior is not replicated in NATO countries. NATO cannot be seen to be defending conduct we find abhorrent.
In a strange and ironic twist of fate, Russia is now seeming to be copying Lithuania’s disgusting Holocaust mis-education. Lithuania has rewritten history, elevated Holocaust perpetrators into their national heroes, and are teaching schoolchildren lies. Sounds familiar? While Russia is only trying to miseducate their own youth, Lithuania is trying to export their historical frauds into western education.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a friend as “a person who has a strong liking for and trust in another”. This definition does not apply to the relationship between Lithuania and Russia. They are not “friends”. They do not like each other and there is no trust. Russia’s conduct is generally repugnant, there is no basis for anybody to trust Russia. After all, a proven compulsive liar will lie about anything, always. Russia lies so much, so often, that everything they communicate must be assumed to be false unless proven otherwise. Lithuania is walking a fine line when they disparage dastardly acts by their enemy. They joyously identify missteps by Russia and demand the West intervene. Lithuania continually tells the West what NATO “MUST” do. Lithuania does not have the humanity, integrity, credibility or power to tell anybody what they “must” do.
Russian Bear, Lithuanian Fox. A Lithuanian appeal for support against potential Russian aggression.
The West should take cognizance of Lithuania’s concerns, they are sometimes valid. However the finger pointing “MUST” demands are an absurdity, especially given that the Lithuanian Government showed the US Congress their middle finger when Congress asked Lithuania to stop using Congressional documents for Holocaust revisionism.
Many of the issues Lithuania identifies about Russia – are practices widely originated and replicated by Lithuania itself. Historical fraud, the honoring of murderers, inverting facts, and so many more. It seems the difference between Lithuania and Russia is negligible (the nut does not fall far from the tree).
Russia’s honoring of Stalin is repugnant. It is a repudiation of humanity, an assault on decency; it is utterly dishonest, and an insult to Stalin’s victims, and to victims everywhere. Honoring genocidal murderers is an anathema to civilization. Elevating genocidal murderers to national hero status enables future genocides. Putin is abominable, just as is every entity who considers mass murderers as their national heroes is repulsive.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “hypocrite” as “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings”. Lithuania does exactly the same as Russia, but objects only when their own enemy mimics their own behaviors. It is the equivalent of a tiny temper tantrum that Russia can and does ignore. Lithuania does not have the power to do so. NATO cannot allow this repugnant behavior within our own member governments. It is contrary to NATO’s standard operating procedure.
Just as Russia rehabilitates Stalin and rewrites history, Lithuania has rehabilitated many Holocaust perpetrators and rewritten their history. The most widely known case is Jonas Noreika. Noreika was a Lithuanian Holocaust perpetrator who was responsible for the murder of approximately 14,500 Jews.
Lithuanian Bishop Emeritus of Panevėžys, Jonas Kauneckas, hung a grotesque monument to evil on a Heritage Listed, State building. There were mass joyous celebrations by Lithuanians. The monument hung on this State building until American officials refused to attend the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, unless the Lithuania government removed this abomination. Lithuania capitulated and removed the monument for “cleaning”. They did not remove it out of any sense of decency or humanity or integrity.
The difference for Lithuania between the two monuments is that Stalin murdered Lithuanians, while Lithuanian murderers “only” murdered Jews. A distinction which cannot be missed or forgotten.
The Lithuanian Government maintains a legal standard which says that Jonas Noreika was never placed on trial during his lifetime, so he “must” have a Constitutional presumption of “complete innocence”, no matter what facts are apparent. However, neither Stalin nor Hitler were prosecuted nor convicted during their lifetime, so does Lithuania consider them the same as they do Noreika? No! Lithuanian legal standards apply by ethnicity – Lithuanian murderers of Jews are good, Russian murderers of Lithuanians are bad. There are three reasons:
To Lithuanians, Jews are not really human, and are not deserving of truth or justice.
Antisemitism
Truth is not generally a component of Lithuanian society.
Just as Putin re-writes history for his propaganda war, so does Lithuania. Lithuania looks in the mirror and sees Russia in their reflection but do not see the irony in their two-faced, hypocritical outrage. The dictionary definition of hypocrite fits Lithuania exactly. So do the words deceiver, immoral, unethical, degenerate, dishonest, heinous, brutal and many more.
Stalin was responsible for the murder of millions. The only reason Noreika murdered fewer than Stalin is that there were fewer Jews for him to murder, and he didn’t have the same geographical reach.
As Stalin said – “a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic”. For Lithuania, the slaughter of Jews by Lithuanians is of no consequence, but the murder of Lithuanians by Russians is an unforgivable offense. The term for this continual philosophy by Lithuania is “morally reprehensible”, or, as Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it: “Evil”.
Devious in their Denial. Lithuanians still deny their participation in the Holocaust. Seen here in July 1941, a Lithuanian policeman with Jewish prisoners. (Credit: Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia Commons.)
The dictionary definition of friendship “a person who has a strong liking for and trust in another” means this definition cannot be applied to the past, present, or future relationship between Lithuania and Jews. The relationship is simply transactional. Lithuania has shown its true face too many times to be accorded credibility again. Perhaps, in a few generations from now, Jews might re-visit this issue.
NATO and the EU should ask themselves which values they are defending when offering Lithuania protection from its own mirror image.
With thanks to Dr. Melody Ziff
About the writer:
Grant Arthur Gochin currently serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Togo. He is the Emeritus Special Envoy for Diaspora Affairs for the African Union, which represents the fifty-five African nations, and Emeritus Vice Dean of the Los Angeles Consular Corps, the second largest Consular Corps in the world. Gochin is actively involved in Jewish affairs, focusing on historical justice. He has spent the past twenty five years documenting and restoring signs of Jewish life in Lithuania. He has served as the Chair of the Maceva Project in Lithuania, which mapped / inventoried / documented / restored over fifty abandoned and neglected Jewish cemeteries. Gochin is the author of “Malice, Murder and Manipulation”, published in 2013. His book documents his family history of oppression in Lithuania. He is presently working on a project to expose the current Holocaust revisionism within the Lithuanian government. Professionally, Gochin is a Certified Financial Planner and practices as a Wealth Advisor in California, where he lives with his family. Personal site: https://www.grantgochin.com/
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).
What’s happening under the Netanyahu coalition has former South- Africans in Israel worried.
By Larry Butchins
We are under dire threat. Whether many people are ready to accept and believe or not, we are on the brink of becoming what all our detractors and enemies have claimed for decades – an apartheid state. With laws that call for discrimination against Arab Israelis – yes, when funds are held back from Arab communities, that is discrimination; when law makers on the right talk about “giving job preference” to Jews over Arabs, that is racism; when women are told to “cover up” and sit at the back of the bus, that is prejudice – whether we like it or not, and it doesn’t matter if that is “official policy” or not , it is this government which is enabling that type of thuggish, racist, discriminatory behavior. Empowering those who do believe it, to act it out.
I believe that as a former South African, who grew up and then lived under the apartheid regime all my life until making Aliyah, it is my moral duty to raise a red flag and wave it vigorously, to warn what could happen here. It is my moral duty to caution that while I have fervently defended Israel against those who condemn it as an apartheid state, we are rapidly heading in that direction, to hell in a handbasket, and I am horrified by that possibility.
Shades of Shame. Visual imagery of South Africa past that the writer never wanted to revisit elsewhere.
Allow me to hark back to the days of apartheid in South Africa, as a reminder of what life under doctrinaire and dogmatic rule, was really like back then.
One of my earliest memories of apartheid was when I was probably around 10-years-old. Late one night, my parents insisted I accompany my father to take our black maid Mavis to the central train station in Durban. I had to sit in front of the car and Mavis had to sit in the back seat. When on the drive home, I asked my father why I had to go with him, he replied that he had to have proof (me, his white little boy) that he and Mavis were not contravening the Immorality Act. Had he been stopped by the police, driving alone with a black woman, they both would have been arrested on charges under that “immoral” act. He would have copped a large fine (because he was white), and she would have been thrown in jail (because she was black), processed in the system, and not seen the light of day for weeks, possibly even months. I couldn’t quite internalize the message at that age, but it followed me the rest of my life in SA, always looking over my shoulder to check that the dreaded security service, BOSS (Bureau of State Security) wasn’t following me or checking everything I had written, said or done.
Disturbing Developments. At a change of command ceremony on Wednesday night, outgoing Binyamin Regional Brigade commander Eliav Elbaz, said in reference to increasing settler violence that “It should be said in a loud clear voice, that actions of this type are not ethical, not Jewish, and do not contribute to security.” (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
I will quote from a chapter of my book, “Train in the Distance” in which the protagonist, Adam Marks, a reporter on a weekly newspaper in the 1970s – the height of apartheid – laments about his so-called “privileged freedom”.
“Do you think I’m free?
“When I write and publish the word ‘Amandla (Freedom in Zulu)’ under my name in the columns of a widely circulated newspaper, do you believe that I will not be condemned for that? Do you not understand that I am putting my freedom – and the welfare of my family – at risk? I cannot express my opinions freely, I cannot associate with whom I please: if I wish to invite Black friends to my home for dinner, I will be watched and under suspicion. If I meet Black friends for a day at the beach…well, that’s not going to happen, because we can’t even go to the same beach! I cannot even meet them for a picnic in a public park – unless my Black friends are seen to be my servants – haulers of wood and drawers of water for my benefit.
“Do you not understand that I cannot read, or view or listen to what I want? If I wish to read ‘The Communist Manifesto’, or ‘Lolita’, or ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’, or hundreds of other banned books, magazines; or see certain films; listen to music by certain musicians – can you believe Maria Callas singing Lucia di Lammermoor fell under the censors obliterating red pencil? Fats Domino, The Beatles, Rodriguez…how many more?
“Radical new ideas, by writers, artists, musicians and committed, passionate people, are influencing and shaping dynamic new thinking throughout the world…and here we sit, under the yolk of an evil system with evil intent, all because of our ‘privilege’.
“I am not free; my ideas are not free; my life is not free – despite all my privileges, I am still a white victim of apartheid. YOU are white victims of apartheid; and I don’t know when or if it is ever going to end…”
Separate entrances in post offices and banks, stairwells in train stations, trains reserved for different races; busses – those which allowed blacks on board in the first place, insisting they sat at the back – the last three rows reserved for blacks; Christian National Education – indoctrination of school children about the “right” of the white man to conquer the land and confine others to “homelands” or “locations”; the imposition of the morals and religious authority over what we could read, or view, or listen to, or even discuss…
Back of the Bus. Some of the hundreds of Israelis demonstrating against the segregation of men and women on buses in certain neighborhoods of Jerusalem, where the women must sit in the back. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90)
I could write volumes on the apartheid regime, its beginnings, middle and end… and how White South Africans enjoyed a multitude of benefits, lifestyle choices and preferential treatment. About how the Afrikaner-led government set itself up as the highest authority in the land – except for the Supreme Court and a group of courageous justices. Despite virulent government opposition, criticism and the possibility of arrest, banning orders, 90- or 180-days imprisonment, they were a light of sanity in a very dark nation.
Under the General Law Amendment Act, the Special Branch was allowed to arrest anyone they suspected of being engaged or involved in any act against the State and to hold them incommunicado for 90 days (and later 180 days) at a time. The Special Branch could interrogate and extract information, and the public was not entitled to any information including even the identity or whereabouts of people being detained. Detainees could literally and effectively “disappear”. If no charges were to be laid, the Special Branch had to release the individual or individuals after 90 (or 180) days. At the time, Prime Minister John Vorster boasted that this was repeatable “until this side of eternity.” A perfect example of the absolute need for an authority higher than the government.[1]
Am I suggesting that bleak Kafkaesque scenario could happen here in Israel? Not exactly, but there are certain resonant and frightening parallels. I do believe that former South Africans, those who came to this beautiful land of ours to flee discrimination and mind control, who came here to a democratic homeland; who came to work for and build a beacon of freedom and enlightenment – albeit somewhat flawed – should now stand up and cry out:
“We are NOT an apartheid country – and NEVER WILL BE: IT CANNOT HAPPEN.”
Larry Butchins – I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and started my journalistic career as a cub reporter on Durban’s morning newspaper, The Natal Mercury, covering fires, accidents, shipping and beach news. I then moved to the Sunday Tribune’s Johannesburg branch office, covering everything from visiting celebrities to political scandals and student anti-apartheid riots. At a protest at Wits University, I was arrested along with student protesters and spent the weekend in a cell in Johannesburg’s notorious John Vorster Square.
Eventually lured into Public Relations, I opened my own PR firm in Durban. On moving to Israel with my family in 1987, I branched from classical PR into Marketing Communication, running a small English-language agency promoting Israeli products abroad, working with Israeli hi-tech enterprises. Five years ago, I self-published my novel Train in the Distance based on my actual experiences as a journalist working under (and often against) apartheid’s rules and regulations.
In addition to professional writing, I write articles and stories, travel blogs – The Offbeat Traveller – and children’s books, two of which have been published in the US and South Africa. I am now entering my third career as a screenwriter and producer for an international TV series based on my novel.
My wife, Marlyn, and I live in Tzur Yitzhak , north of Kfar Saba; have three grown children and four grandchildren who all live in Mitzpe Ramon.
Contact Details:
Email: larrybtrain@gmail.com
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
Also available on YouTube@The Israel Brief – Simply click on the red subscribe button to receive alerts when a new report is posted.
What’s happening in Israel today? See from every Monday – Thursday LOTL’s The Israel Brief broadcasts and on our Facebook page and YouTube by seasoned TV & radio broadcaster, Rolene Marks familiar to Chai FM listeners in South Africaand millions of American listeners to the News/Talk/Sports radio station WINA, broadcasting out of Virginia, USA.
Mayors of ‘The Big Apple’ and ‘The Big Orange’ enjoy a fruit’ful meeting in Tel Aviv
Heartwarming. “New York City is the Tel Aviv of America, and Tel Aviv is the New York of Israel,”said Mayor NYC Eric Adams.
Visiting Israel, New York City Mayor Eric Adams met on August 23 with the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ron Huldai at his office, where they discussed deepening collaboration between the two cities, especially in the hi-tech sector. “Thank you to my friend and colleague, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, for hosting us. I’m proud that this trip deepens the long-standing friendship between our two cities. The exchange of knowledge and solutions for our cities with common challenges is critical.” In reply, Huldai said: “New York and Tel Aviv are cities with pulsating hearts, which have led to collaborations on various issues over the years. Our partnership reflects our shared values in democracy, pluralism, diversity and equality.”
Articles
(1)
IS THERE EVEN JUST ONE?
Where is the one in Netanyahu’s coalition who is going to finally stand up and say – “enough”?
By David E. Kaplan
Riding on the back of Bibi. From being leader to being led
After eight months in power, this government has little to show for itself besides showing contempt for protestors. Who in Netanyahu’s governing coalition will not only be a ‘shining light’ but a ‘guiding light’, and speak up and try stop Israel’s ‘March of Folly”?
“JEWISH JOURNALISTS, BEWARE THE BALTIC CHARM OFFENSIVE”
Enticing invitations often result in whitewashing local complicity in Holocaust crimes
By Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Proud of the Past. Latvians in annual Riga march honour troops who fought alongside Nazis.
In a recent travel article in “The Jerusalem Post” on Lativia’s capital Riga, while there is mention of the Holocaust, there is no mention of the highly significant role played by Latvians in the implementation of the Final Solution. With the two travel writers from Israel being invited as guests to visit, is it a case – to paraphrase – “Beware of Latvians bearing gifts.”
Israelis respond to mobs burning Christian churches and homes in Pakistan after blasphemy allegations
By Jonathan Feldstein
Ablaze with Hate. People gather at a church vandalised by protesters in Jaranwala, Pakistan.
Following a devastating attack on Christians in Pakistan, Christian friends in this Islamic republic turned to the writer in Israel “for prayers and support.” This was a brave thing to do. Having been violently attacked for blasphemy, to then reach out to a religious Jew in Israel, “could triggermore violence, even lynching.” Nevertheless, a campaign in Israel has been launched to help.
LOTL Cofounders David E. Kaplan (Editor), Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche
To unsubscribe, please reply to layotland@gmail.com
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 – 21 August 2023– Terror Attacks. Local federations go on strike. Iron Dome intercepts drones. Windsurfing champions.
The Israel Brief – 22 August 2023– Israeli security forces arrest terror suspects. High Court will not delay hearings. Gaza riots. NYC mayor in Israel.
The Israel Brief – 23 August 2023– Murders rock Druze community. Simcha Rothman appeals for restraining order. IDF demolish home of Hebron terrorists. Golda and Gal!
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).
Where is the one in Netanyahu’s coalition who is going to finally stand up and say – “enough”?
By David E. Kaplan
“And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share No one dared Disturb the sound of silence”
Simon and Garfunkel (Sounds of Silence)
After 32 weeks of ‘sound’ counseling from the streets of Israel – not to bring down a government but to save it from self-inflicted folly – lamenting lines in the iconic lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel sadly resonate.
Is ANYONE in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing coalition even listening? Are we going to be in the same situation six months from now?
Is there even one; never mind the biblical 10 from 50 righteous men that Abraham negotiated down with G-d to save the city of Sodom from annihilation?
Millennia later, it is not a desert city but the flourishing nation state of the Jewish people that is at peril and even more difficult than it was for Abraham, we cannot find even one in the governing coalition who will stand up for what is just and sensible and say to his prime minister “Maspik”- (Hebrew: “enough”).
In Whose Hands? Guiding Israel’s destiny are unabashed racist May Golan (left) with fellow arch-supporter of the judicial overhaul and far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
After eight months in power, this government has little to show for itself besides showing contempt for the protestors. Take for instance the Likud Minister for the Advancement of Women’s Status May Golan who in response to being faced by protestors at a restaurant at Ben Gurion Airport, wrote on the X media platform (formally twitter):
“To what other depths of decay will those anarchists sink?”
Anarchists?
After all these months of protestors trying to protect and preserve Israeli democracy, this government minister labels them – “anarchists”.
Is the Likud minister so unaware that an “anarchist” by definition seeks to destroy state institutions not protect them as Israeli protesters are struggling to do. It is coalition members who are behaving like “anarchists”, hellbent on weakening – if not ultimately destroying either by design or indifference – Israeli democracy. They are doing so – despite their protestations – by undermining the efficacy and integrity of the Supreme Court, the hallmark of Israeli democracy. Without a second tier of government – Israel has no Upper House or Senate – nor a constitution, what check do Israelis have on the excessive exercise of government power besides the Supreme Court? Can this government think beyond its appetites and partisan dispositions? We should be strengthening not weakening the Supreme Court. Until such time of major constitutional changes, what Israel needs and what its economy needs is a robust independent Supreme Court.
It protects the country from the dangerous mindset of the likes of Likud minister Golan.
It says much for the understanding Golan has for democracy when she characterises the protesting milieu in Israel as:
“depths of decay”.
Golan tweeted further:
“I have one message for all the anarchists: Move on. This reform will continue to advance even more vigorously …….”
There you have it from the minister and captured in the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel: “hearing without listening”. No hint of outreach, compromise or future talk; the path forward is “to advance” the judicial overhaul, “even more vigorously…”
Intoxicated like her peers with power, Golan displays only contempt for those who oppose the controversial and unpopular judicial overhaul.
Creators of Chaos. Prime mover of the judicial overhaul that is rocking the country, Israeli justice minister Yariv Levin (right) listens to May Golan during a session of Israeli parliament last month. (Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images)
Is it any wonder from this MK, who has made a political name for herself by denouncing African refugees in Israel, calling them, as reported in The Guardian (April 20), “Muslim infiltrators”, criminals and rapists. She said many have Aids, suggesting they were spreading HIV by working as waiters, and demanded they be expelled from the country. “If I am racist for wanting to defend my country and for wanting to protect my basic rights and security, then I’m a proud racist,” she said at a political rally in 2013 as a member of the far-right Jewish Power party, a descendent of the Kach party that was outlawed under Israeli anti-terrorism laws.
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party is flush with members who think just like self-proclaimed racist May Golan. Its embedded in the rank and file.
Forty-nine-year-old Yitzhak Zarka, from the settlement of Ma’ale Efrayim, who said he has been active in the Likud party for 40 years, made headlines last month when he called anti-judicial reform protestors “AshkeNAZIM” who should “burn in hell.” In case he was not fully understood, he added, “Not for nothing did six million die. I’m proud. If only six million more would burn.” In case this man and his behaviour can be dismissed as an aberration, Zarka has been photographed cozying up with many top Likud ministers and MK’s. While there is a move to expel Zarka and others for the embarrassment caused, it is being met with opposition by some in the Likud, with one member saying:
“I do not remember any other party that expelled any of its members for excessive anger.”
Kiss of Death. Seen here at the Knesset cuddling Benjamin Netanyahu is Itzik Zarka who at last month’s protest near Beit She’an in northern Israel,while holding a sign reading “the people demand judicial reform”, said“Ashkenazim, whores, may you burn in hell” and“Leftists are traitors, you are the cancer of the country.” (Photo: Zarka’s Facebook page)
This is not the verbiage of “excessive anger”, but of a disturbing mindset that should not be anywhere near the levers of power. With this level of UNREASONABLE behaviour amongst members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, is it any surprise that the first bit of legislation they pushed through as part of the overhaul of Israel’s judicial system was the passing last month of the controversial “reasonableness” bill which strips the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable! “It was passed in the most heavy-handed way possible – without a comprehensive discussion of the law’s consequences for the economy or for Israel’s security and foreign relations, and with complete disregard for their recommendations and warnings issued by experts in Israel and abroad,” write two former Governors of the Bank of Israel, Jacob Frenkel and Karnit Flug in their chilling article ‘Stop the legislation, save the economy’. (The Jerusalem Post August 22). They so astutely observe that following the passage of the ‘Reasonableness Bill’ along narrow partisan lines that what had until its passing “been a negative scenario that might come to pass, has become a negative scenario that is now being realized. Indeed, the market reacted immediately with a sharp devaluation of the shekel, alongside a decline in stock market indices.”
Sounds of Silence to Sound Advice. Ex-Bank of Israel chiefs Karnit Flug (left) and Jacob Frenkel warn judicial overhaul is causing a severe blow to Israel’s economy that may, if not stopped, prove irreversible. (Yonatan Sindel and Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)
Is this the “reasonable” behaviour we expect from our ‘elected’ office bearers?
The former Bank of Israel governors continue that:
“As of today, investment in hi-tech, the growth engine of Israel’s economy in recent years, continues to fall. This sector is seeing a decline even as the hi-tech industry globally is showing signs of recovery. Moreover, over the past six months, almost NO new hi-tech companies have registered in Israel. Instead, they are registering abroad, which means Israe will lose out on a large share of their future economic activity and the tax revenue they generate. In parallel, there has been a sharp decline in employment and number of jobs available in the hi-tech sector.”
Following the debilitating impact of three years of Covid on the economy, the self-inflicted mess of this government’s policies might cause irreparable damage to the point that it “could become potentially irreversible,” warns former BOI governors Frankel and Flug.
We shudder to think what is “unreasonably” next from Netanyahu and his reckless band in the Knesset that are ruining instead of running the country.
Which begs the question:
Where is the one that will break rank, speak up and stop the madness?
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).
Israelis respond to mobs burning Christian churches and homes in Pakistan after blasphemy allegations
By Jonathan Feldstein
Perhaps you have heard the news. Fires torching hundreds of properties. Entire households burned to the ground. Every personal belonging lost. Thousands of lives destroyed. The devastation has been unprecedented, and it will take years to rebuild that which can be rebuilt. But the personal tragedies and lives lost may never heal.
If you’re in the West, you may have heard about the tremendous loss in Maui, Hawaii. Wildfires have left a trail of death and destruction. As horrible as that is, it is not what I am writing about today.
Christians look at burnt furniture and other things outside their homes vandalized by an angry Muslim mob in Jaranwala in the Faisalabad district, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
While Maui was burning in what was an act of God, Christian communities in Pakistan have been burning, torched to the ground, not as an act of God but as an act of evil. Trumped up charges of “blasphemy” by Moslems in Pakistan against two Christian men was the spark that set off a widespread rampage of attacks by Moslems against their Christian neighbors that have lasted nearly a week as of this writing.
In Pakistan, charges of blasphemy can carry a death penalty. Blasphemy can be as simple as “embarrassing” Islam. Sometimes, mobs of people take this Pakistani Islamic justice into their own hands. So much for the religion of peace.
For days, an out-of-control pogrom has been carried out against Christians, with law enforcement turning a blind eye as if there’s any legitimate excuse for that. Dozens of churches have been ransacked, looted, and burned to the ground. Hundreds of Christian homes were also attacked, looted, and burned. Personal belongings that were too big to loot were simply dragged to the street and burned. Countless bibles have been burnt, desecrated, destroyed.
A boy comforts a woman weeping after her home was vandalised by a Muslim mob. (KM Chaudary/AP Photo)
All this, displaced thousands of lives, entire extended families forced to flee their homes, their communities, seeking shelter anywhere they could, even makeshift tents in open areas. Not that this would make them safer from the attacks of their Moslem neighbors. It just made them more vulnerable, marked, open to assault. Just less to burn. They fled with the clothes on their backs, and now have nothing left, and no homes to return to.
Pakistan Muslim Mob Attacks Christian Churches, Property Over Blasphemy Charges
Even if they could return, how will they ever move back, even if their homes are rebuilt? How will they ever feel safe among the Moslem neighbors whose hate was ignited against them and their faith? But they are stuck in Pakistan, with nowhere to go, as second-class citizens, tolerated but not really accepted. The targets of evil hatred whenever there’s an excuse. There’s no recourse.
A few years ago, I posted a video on YouTube of a Christian man in Pakistan being lynched and burned to death. Apparently that – the posting not the lynching and burning – violated their “community standards” against violence. Earlier this year, because of that, YouTube blocked me. When I “appealed”, I got an immediate automated response that my appeal was rejected. I laughed at first, realizing that YouTube houses no shortage of gratuitous violence, but when it comes to posting real crimes to highlight the evil amid which Christians have to exist there, that’s too much for their sensitive community standards. I hesitate to post videos I have seen of the most recent violence, but they are real and horrific.
Unlike Maui, Pakistani Christians have no insurance. No state of federal money to rebuild. Police are not comforting, much less protecting the victims in Pakistan. Pakistani Christians exist in the crosshairs of a society that’s simply unsafe. They are tolerated, sometimes, but not protected. Second class? How about seventh class.
A Christian man emerges from a vandalised home in Jaranwala. (KM Chaudary/AP Photo)
In the past week, many of my Pakistani Christian friends have turned to me, in Israel, for prayers and support. They are heartbroken, devastated, and scared. Yet as much as they fear for themselves and their families, they are trying to help those most in need, as good Christians should for one another. However, for them, simply reaching out to me, an Orthodox Jew in Israel, could trigger more violence, even lynching. As much as they may be “tolerated” in Pakistan, Israel and the Jews are the enemy.
They also know I’ll help, because I care, and because I did a year ago when they were struck by floods of Biblical proportions and Christians suffered because of their status far more than average Moslem Pakistanis. Seventh class.
Christians remove burned furniture and other items from their vandalised homes. [KM Chaudary/AP Photo]
I undertook this effort then on behalf of the Genesis 123 Foundation which exists to build bridges between Jews and Christians and Christians with Israel in ways that are new, unique, and meaningful. This includes looking out for persecuted Christians, specifically in the Middle East. A year ago, after unprecedented flooding across Pakistan, we stepped up to raise funds to support our Pakistani Christian friends who suffered even more of the devastation than the Moslem population. Unprecedented. An organization of Jews and Christians, run by an Orthodox Israeli Jew, reaching out to protect Christians in Pakistan. It was a blessing to do so, and it was our responsibility, to be a blessing to the families of the world.
Church on the outskirts of Faisalabad was burned. [Ghazanfar Majid/AFP]
As entire families in Pakistan have been devastated, we launched a campaign again, urgently, to provide any funding, as generously as possible, so we can help with the rebuilding. Our partners and friends are reliable and have the highest integrity. One is asking for a meagre $20,000. The truth is even $120,000 is not enough. But that’s our goal. We want the impact to be felt as widely as possible because there are and will be needs far beyond the physical and tangible losses.
I pray that Jews and Christians, and anyone of good conscience, will step up and join the efforts. Maui is horrible. My heart is pained for all the loss. But as much as that’s true, there’s no aid for Pakistani Christians. Not until now.
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).
Enticing invitations often result in whitewashing local complicity in Holocaust crimes
By Dr. Efraim Zuroff
An ostensibly innocuous article with a very upbeat title (“Riga: A Baltic gem with more than a dash of Jewish history”), which took up almost an entire page of the August 13th issue of The Jerusalem Post, aroused my attention, and raised a serious question about journalistic ethics. Written by David Zev Harris and Mark Gordon, the hosts of the Travel Edition of The Jerusalem Post Podcast, the article was a very positive portrayal of contemporary Latvia, and especially its capital Riga, as an interesting and pleasant tourist destination.
Alongside their article was a sidebar with an interview with Linda Ozola, the Deputy Chairman of the Riga City Council, under the heading “A proud people with nothing to hide.” The “nothing” in this case, is of course the Holocaust. “It is absolutely okay to talk about [the Holocaust],”she says.
“We’ve never wanted to tear out any pages of our history. We have to accept the history as it is. And we have to learn from history. We really regretfully admit that during the Second World War we lost so many Jewish people who were part of our society, who were co-creators of what Latvia was at that time.”
How interesting! Of course, these proud people have nothing to hide, because they simply created a false narrative of the Shoah in Latvia, which omitted the massive participation of Latvians in the mass murder of Jews, and not only local Jews, but also 96% of the 30,000 Jews deported to Riga from Germany, Austria and the Protektorat (today the Czech Republic), and many thousands of Jews in Belarus. So if the Latvians had no role in the mass murders, it’s no problem for the locals to speak about the Holocaust. How convenient.
Misguided Museum. While Riga’s Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991 reminds the world of the crimes committed by foreign powers against the state and the people of Latvia, it fails to remind of the many Latvian killers of Jews during the Holocaust, preferring to highlight the few local Righteous Among the Nations.
In fact, while the text of Harris and Gordon’s article does mention the Holocaust several times, there is no mention whatsoever of the highly significant role played by Latvians in the implementation of the Final Solution, not only in Latvia, but also in Belarus. (Half of the notorious Latvian murder squad, the Arajs Kommando was sent to Minsk to help liquidate the local ghetto.)
Exposing Latvian Heroes as Killers. Dr. Efraim Zuroff (center with scarf) at a protest in Riga against the march honoring the veterans of the Latvian SS on March 15, 2015.
Interestingly, Harris and Gordon visited the local Holocaust museum established by Rabbi Barkan, which does not dwell (at least when I visited it several years ago) on Latvian participation in Holocaust crimes, but did not see fit to go to the local Museum of the Occupation. That site is a model of Holocaust distortion, which promotes the canard of equivalence between Nazi and Communist crimes, and overlooks the very numerous Latvian killers, while focusing on the few local Righteous Among the Nations.
Honouring Nazis. The march in Latvia is currently the only public event in Europe and beyond honoring people who fought under the banner of SS, Nazi Germany’s elite security force. Seen here on March 16, 2019, are veterans of the Latvian Legion that was commanded by the German Nazi Waffen-SS during WWII, and their sympathizers as they walk carrying flags and posters to the Monument of Freedom in Riga. (Ilmars ZNOTINS / AFP)
In Latvia, the real heroes are not the Righteous, but those who served in the Latvian Legion, which was part of the Waffen-S.S., which fought against the Red Army for a victory of the Third Reich, the most murderous regime in human history. Every March 16, a march is held in the center of Riga to honor Legion’s veterans, among them many who served in the Latvian Sicherheitsdienst, which played a major role in the annihilation of Latvian Jewry. The locals justify their adulation for these misguided “patriots” by claiming that they paved the way for Latvian independence, but the Nazis had no intention to ever grant Latvia its independence.
Proud of their Past. Latvians participate in the annual march to honor troops who fought alongside Nazis on March 16, 2019 in Riga. Notice the swastikas on the upper left shoulders of these men taking part to honor members of the Latvian Legion SS units in Riga. (Courtesy: JFDA e.V. / Grischa Stanjek)
Ultimately, I found the explanation for the seriously distorted narrative of the Holocaust in the article. The authors were the guests of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, Radisson Blu Ridzene, and the local airline AirBaltic. And that’s what happens when journalists get free junkets to interesting destinations. The question is, given the lies promoted by the host government, can a journalist with principles, accept what ultimately becomes a bribe?
A unit of Latvian Auxiliary Police, the Arajs Kommando led by SS commander and Nazi collaborator Viktors Arājs, was a notorious killing unit during the Holocaust. The Kommando is estimated to have killed around 26,000 of Latvia’s Jews. In the final phases of the war, the unit was disbanded, and its personnel transferred to the Latvian Legion that holds annual memorial marches in Riga.
About the writer:
Dr. Efraim Zuroff. Director, Simon Wiesenthal Center – Israel office and Eastern European Affairs. Coordinator, SWC Nazi war crimes research worldwide 1 Mendele Street Jerusalem, Israel 92147 Tel: 972.2.563.1273/4/5 Fax: 972.2.563.1276 www.swcjerusalem.org <http://www.swcjerusalem.org>
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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Lay of the Land joins the call for Israel’s governing coalition members to HALT attacks on country’s security forces
By David E. Kaplan, Rolene Marks and Yair Chelouche
Badges of Honour. Emblems of major service branches of Israel’s security forces.
“Call off the assault on our esteemed military!“ Whatever grievance this government has with its army reservists the issues need to be addressed by debating with the peoplerather than defaming the army.
The Orwellian Universe that is X –and the lesson I learnt from Jamie Foxx
By Rolene Marks
Deep Regret. Famed film star Jamie Foxx apologised for an Instagram post seen by some as antisemitic.
After receiving a backlash for a seemingly antisemitic post, actor Jamie Foxx took to social media again to apologise and clarify his comments. Was his original posting that caused such a furor really antisemitic? Multiple watchdogs of antisemitism thought it was. The writer breaks it down.
West out in the Cold. A change of regime in Niger could be a blow to the West mostly to France and the USA.
With reports following Niger’s military coup of the new regime’s call for assistance from the Russian state-funded private military Wagner Group and to include Iran in “negotiations”, should sound warning bells of Russia and Iran exploiting Niger chaos to seek inroads into Africa and beyond.
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).
