28 October 2024 – Operation Days of Repentance and more on The Israel Brief.
29 October 2024 – Israel outlaws UNRWA and more on The Israel Brief.
30 October 2024 – More outcry over the banning of UNRWA and Roro has a rant on The Israel Brief.
31 October 2024 – Hamas rejects the latest ceasefire agreement and more on The Israel Brief.
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).
My October 8th epiphany and impacting on Israel’s Future
By Jonathan Feldstein
A year ago, I had no idea how bad things were, or were going to be immediately after the Hamas massacre. I had no idea my son was in one of the communities along the Gaza border, fighting terrorists who were still trying to kill Israelis. Later he described that as being more frightening than fighting in Gaza itself.
A year ago, I continued with a previously scheduled meeting with friends from a major ministry in Jerusalem. I invited them to my home as if business as usual, even though we knew it was not. We were going to discuss collaborating on projects to bless Israel anyway. Our lives had changed, Israel had changed, though we had no idea how much so.
Maybe it was providential. As a result of our meeting, the Israel Emergency Campaign was born. We established the pillars of where our efforts would go:
civilian security
soldiers’ social welfare, evacuating civilians in danger
supporting at-risk youth in the Gaza border.
The last of these was, and remains, one of the most important, and hardest. These children witnessed horrors nobody should ever have to see, much less in their young lives, and certainly for those coming from broken homes whose parents could not help them the way they deserved and needed.
It was the hardest to advocate for because it was the least tangible, hardest to quantify, measure, or see (and feel) immediate results. Because of that, it is one of the most important, because it requires a long-term investment, the results of which may not be fully realized for a decade.
We committed to raise funds and invest in these children’s future, empowering them, strengthening them. Partnering with the largest social service agency in the Gaza border working among this at-risk population, we committed to provide therapies and skills needed to overcome everything that they were going through. At the time, all the families had to be evacuated for months, so initial services were provided in hotels and cities to which they had been relocated.
It was hard to “sell” this, and still is, because there were, and still are, many more urgent needs: things that are visible, tangible, and immediately compelling. There are things the immediacy of which that are hard to say no to. The Israel Emergency Campaign has done so much to respond to all these needs – and we still are doing that.
A year ago, we realized that if we didn’t step up for these at-risk, broken children, perhaps nobody might. We needed to invest for their future, because their future is a key to the foundation of a strong future for all of Israel. It means that they will be able to overcome their challenges, not be defined by them, and become productive members of society rather than perpetual victims. They will be able to become loving parents themselves, giving their children more than they got. That is priceless.
Our partners understand that together, we can change the term “at-risk youth” to “children of promise.”
Vast resources are needed for programs including counseling and all kinds of therapies, as well as resilience training for adults to be able to provide for the children, even while in the midst of trauma themselves. No parent, even the best parent, comes equipped with skills to cope with these levels of trauma themselves, and protect their kids at the same time, keeping them safe, especially with rockets flying and terrorists roaming the streets.
There are also needs to fund the new resilience center, something that is more urgent than ever, to keep the children safe physically, while nurtured emotionally and spiritually. During the war, the new building took a direct hit by a Hamas rocket. Thank God nobody was hurt. To keep all the children safe, under this specially designed roof that can resist a direct hit from a rocket, we need to provide all the furnishings. These include appliances in which the children’s one hot meal of the day is lovingly cooked, furniture, computer stations to do homework, counseling rooms, and even bomb shelters.
The beautiful thing about this endeavor is that it is a collective where everyone and anyone can play an invaluable part. Every church, every synagogue, every individual can commit to something small, and together we can do something massive. It’s literally making the biggest impact with the greatest integrity. Together, we will invest in the future for those children whose parents can’t help them, or who are orphans, one that will give them the foundation to build a bright future for themselves, and one day, for their own children.
Seeing the dividends of this investment is a generation away. It’s not the same as providing thousands of warm winter jackets and hand warmers to reservist soldiers, something that will be needed again as winter arrives. It has not met with the immediate gratification of scores of Israeli families among the tens of thousands who are still evacuated from their communities, and the smiles of happy children, and respite for their parents. It is no less critical, maybe even more so.
Part of my epiphany is the miraculousness of this very project. A year ago, Israel experienced the most severe attack and largest number of people killed on one day, ever, in all of its wars. Israelis are still in the midst of the loss and grief, experiencing trauma, and displaying the consequences of this. This very campaign is an expression of the resilience that Israel is known for. From terrorist attacks and massacres in the 1920s, through the brutal wars in which Israel has lost more than 30,000, Israel has always bounced back – built, grown, and invested for the long term. That is part of the miracle of Israel now, and the imperative to invest in these, the weakest among Israelis unable to do for themselves – our brothers.
From day one, a year ago, we knew this was urgent and critical. It is part of the history of Israel, and its future. Please join us today to make all the tomorrows a blessing.
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).
False comparisons of Hamas’ late killer-leader with moral icons Mandela and King risks tarnishing their reputations and legacies.
By Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe
It was deeply concerning to see many people on social media liken Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, to figures such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. This comparison is not only misguided, but fundamentally wrong. Unlike Mandela and King, who organized their societies through peace, tolerance, and non-violence, Sinwar has used hatred and violence to create chaos, not just against Israelis but even against Arabs in Gaza.
Murder on their Minds. Two years before the October 7, 2023 massacre, Yahya Sinwar mobilizes his supporters at an anti-Israel rally in in Gaza City in 2021(Photo: Shutterstock)
Mandela and King never resorted to violence or hatred, even when faced with intense adversity. Their influence and leadership were rooted in peaceful resistance to end the systemic injustices that marginalized Black people in South Africa and the United States. Despite some calling for violence in the 1990s, neither Mandela nor the ANC ever attacked white civilians as part of their liberation struggle. Instead, they sought justice through international bodies like the United Nations, emphasizing diplomacy over bloodshed. If Sinwar and his allies were genuinely committed to the Palestinian cause, they would have embraced non-violent mechanisms to seek reforms, just as Mandela and King did.
Offensive Comparison. To liken Sinwar, the orchestrator of a massacre of Jews to Nelson Mandela is an insult to both the character and the legacy of one of the most revered personalities of the 20th century.
Sinwar’s legacy, however, is far from heroic. Known as the “Butcher of Khan Younis”, he brutally murdered Palestinian-Arabs whom he accused of collaborating with Israel. His violent reputation instilled more fear among the people he claimed to lead than among his enemies. Late last year, he initiated a bloody war against Israel, knowing full well that it would be the people of Gaza who would bear the brunt of the suffering. Meanwhile, Sinwar and the Hamas leadership would hide safely in tunnels built at the expense of the people of Gaza.
Israel believes that Sinwar, alongside Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, orchestrated the horrific October 7 attacks, where over 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 abducted. Today, approximately 101 hostages are believed to be held in Gaza’s tunnels, prompting Israeli forces to wage a war aimed at securing their release.
It’s important to recognize that this war is between Israel and Hamas, not against the Palestinian people. While Palestinians are tragically suffering the consequences, Israel’s primary objective remains the release of hostages and the protection of its land from future threats.
Sinwar likely underestimated Israel’s response, believing that international scrutiny would prevent retaliation. However, no sovereign nation could witness the slaughter and abduction of its citizens without taking decisive action. Like any other country, Israel has the right to defend itself.
Hamas and Hezbollah perhaps thought they could stretch the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to their limits, but the IDF has remained focused on neutralizing the masterminds of the October 7 attacks while prioritizing the rescue of hostages. Their actions send a clear message:
Future attacks will not be tolerated, and those responsible will be held accountable
Contrary to what some believe, Sinwar was no hero. A true hero is admired for their courage, noble character, and positive achievements. Sinwar’s legacy is stained by the blood of his own people in Khan Younis and the Israelis he despised. A real hero would never drag his people into a war they were unprepared for, knowing full well the devastation it would bring.
Cultivating Killers! Inspiring kids to kill Jews, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza City with a young child in May 2021 (Photo: AFP).
What Palestinians truly need is a leader who can rise above the cycle of hatred and teach their children to cherish life, rather than being brainwashed into believing that martyrdom is a noble end. The real path forward for the Palestinian people lies in rejecting the poisonous ideology that promotes hatred toward Jews and instead embracing a vision of peace and coexistence.
Unfortunately, there are powerful figures behind groups like Hamas and Hezbollah who profit from the ongoing conflict and have no interest in seeing the Israel-Palestine issue resolved. Every step toward progress is undermined by those who prioritize their selfish financial gains over the well-being of millions. Until these vested interests are dismantled, the suffering will continue.
About the writer:
Kenneth Moeng Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher based at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
With time running out, the trial of Nazi death camp guard provides last opportunity for Holocaust survivors to relate their stories in a court of law.
By Dr Efraim Zuroff
The title of Tobias Buck’s Final Verdict is somewhatmisleading. While it does focus on one of the very last trials of a Nazi war criminal in a German court, the trial of Stutthof watchtower guard Bruno Dey was not the last such proceeding conducted recently in Germany. Nor was it one of the most interesting of the “belated trials” in Germany of Holocaust perpetrators. During the eight months Dey served in the Nazi concentration camp, he apparently did not murder any of the inmates, nor did he ever shoot his rifle.
It was precisely Dey’s relative insignificance, however, and the enormous difference between him and the major Nazi criminals, who served in notorious death camps, such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibor, or the important desk mass murderers like Eichmann, that piqued Buck’s curiosity, and attracted him to the case. He was quite certain that Dey would not have been a mass murderer, or a commander of a death camp, but he was not sure that Dey would be able to admit his guilt, and whether he would fully grasp his responsibility.
The gripping narrative of one of the last Nazi criminal trials in Germany – that of Bruno Dey, a 93-year-old former concentration camp guard charged with aiding the murder of more than 5,000 people – and a larger exploration of Germany’s reckoning with the Holocaust, from silence to memory to today’s rising tide of fascism and antisemitism. (Hachette Books, 2024, 327 pages, $32.00)
Another aspect which attracted Buck’s interest was that he viewed the trial as one of the last opportunities for:
– Holocaust survivors to relate their stories in a court of law
– an old man to confront his guilt in front of a judge and
– a German court to show that justice could still be done, even many years after the crimes had been committed.
Buck explained that it was also a last opportunity for him to re-visit Holocaust issues, which as he put it “had held a grip on me since my early teenage years in Germany, when I developed a sudden and deep curiosity about the Nazi period, and specifically the murder of Europe’s Jews.” This interest prompted him to visit Auschwitz and to interview Holocaust survivors, something extremely rare among German youth his age. (Oddly enough, it was only once he began covering the Dey trial, that he began to research his own family, and discover that his grandfather Rupert was a member of the Nazi Party from 1933-1945, and a member of the S.S. from 1933-1935.)
It was Buck’s interest in Holocaust issues, and especially in the failure of the German judiciary to bring so many major Nazi Holocaust perpetrators to justice, that motivated him to write a book not only about the Dey trial, but also to explain the terrible failure of German justice, and explain how and why Germany dramatically changed its prosecution policy vis-à-vis Holocaust perpetrators, the step which led to eight trials of individuals who served in death and concentration camps, who would never have been brought to justice without the change in policy.
According to Buch:
“There was no single cause that can explain the historical failure of the West German judiciary to prosecute Nazi crimes. There were practical, as well as legal reasons, political reluctance, as well as popular resistance. Justice was thwarted by German amnesia, and American realpolitik (U.S. High Commissioner John McCloy pardoned some prisoners, and reduced the sentences of others), and by an unspoken agreement between key German leaders to draw a line under the past and move on.”
The statistics speak for themselves. From 1949, when West Germany assumed responsibility for its judiciary, until 1985, 200,000 Germans were investigated for Nazi crimes, the majority of whom (120,000) were indicted, but less than 7,000 were punished, many with extremely light sentences, some of which were subsequently commuted.
The situation hardly improved after German unification, until an extraordinary change in German prosecution policy vis-à-vis Nazi Holocaust perpetrators was implemented by Thomas Walther and his colleague Kirsten Goetze, a pair of dedicated prosecutors working at the German Central Office for the Clarification of Nazi War Crimes. They, and Anne Meier-Goering, the judge in the Dey trial, are the heroes of Final Verdict.
Despite the restrictions of the Covid pandemic, Judge Anne Meier-Goering pressed on with the trial against 93-year-old German Bruno Dey accused of being an SS guard involved in the mass murder of thousands of prisoners, many of them Jewish in the Stutthof Nazi concentration camp near Gdansk, Poland.(Fabian Bimmer/Pool via AP)
Until 2008, the main obstacle to the prosecution in Germany of Holocaust perpetrators, was the requirement that there was available evidence that the suspect had committed a specific crime against a specific victim, which was almost impossible to prove decades after the crime had been committed. Walther and Goetze suggested that instead of trying to convict suspects of murder, which was nearly impossible to prove, why not charge the suspects with “accessory for murder.” In that case, what the prosecution would have to prove in a case of a death camp guard, was “only” that:
1) the defendant was present in the camp when the Jews were being murdered
2) that during his or her service in the camp, at least a certain number of Jews were killed
3) that the suspect had assisted in the murders due to his or her function in the camp hierarchy
The case chosen to test this strategy was quite famous, that of Ivan Demjanjuk, who had initially been convicted in the United States (of immigration and naturalization violations), and in Israel (of mass murder in the Treblinka death camp), but was ultimately released on the grounds of mistaken identity, and sent back to the United States. There, he was tried again, only this time for service in Sobibor, not Treblinka, and ordered deported. Based on the new policy, Germany was able to obtain his extradition and convict him for the deaths of some 28,000 Jews in Sobibor, a decision which paved the way for the trials of seven men and women who served in Nazi concentration camps, among them Bruno Dey.
Expected to be one of the last Nazi-era trials, as both survivors and perpetrators are now very old, and in some cases their memories are failing, former Nazi guard Bruno Dey hides his face behind a folder during his trial which he was found guilty of mass murder at Stutthof Camp.
The Dey trial posed several technical and judicial problems for Judge Meier-Goering. The corona pandemic erupted during the trial, but Judge Meier-Goering managed to continue despite all the restrictions.
In order to convict Dey, she believed that the prosecution had to prove that the watchtower guard knew what was happening in Stutthof. Time and again, she asked Dey whether he conversed with the inmates to learn about their conditions. But Dey refused to “cooperate” with her, and claimed that he never witnessed an execution, a public whipping, or any other form of punishment. He even claimed that he didn’t know where the gallows were, but the detailed testimonies of the survivors about the gas chambers, the horrible lack of food, and the refusal to provide medical treatment for ill inmates, made Dey’s supposed ignorance about the purpose of the camp much less believable. And indeed, Judge Meier-Goering clearly and extensively mentioned the crimes that Dey witnessed day after day and the fact that he made no effort to be reassigned to a different task. In that respect, Judge Meier-Goering’s verdict established a ruling that could have enabled the prosecution of thousands of Holocaust perpetrators who were never prosecuted in Germany, that there is nothing as a “small cog” in a concentration camp.
The crematoria at Stutthof concentration camp after liberation, 9 May 1945.
Final Verdict is an extremely valuable book, which deserves wide circulation, not only in Germany, but throughout the Western world. I can only hope that it will be translated to as many languages as possible.
About the writer:
Dr. Efraim Zuroff is the former director of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center dedicated to Holocaust research, the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, and confronting antisemitism. As the world’s last Nazi hunter, Dr. Zuroff co-created the project, “Operation Last Chance” that operated across 14 countries in Europe and South America, offering financial rewards for information which could facilitate the prosecution of Nazi Holocaust perpetrators. Dr. Zuroff is also the author of over five hundred scholarly articles, publications, and books about the Holocaust and related subjects.
His works include the following books: (1) Occupation Nazi-Hunter; The Continuing Search for the Perpetrators of the Holocaust; (2)The Response of Orthodox Jewry in the United States to the Holocaust; (3) The Activities of the Vaad Ha- Hatzala Rescue Committee of the Orthodox Rabbis, 1939-1945; (4) Operation Last Chance – One Man’s Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice and (5) Our People; Discovering Lithuania’s Hidden Holocaust, co-written with Ruta Vanagaite.
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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Female aviators participate in Israel’s first open attack on Iran
A photo that reflects the nature of Israeli society and its resilience.
Articles
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A LETTER TO MY JEWISH FRIENDS
World fails to understand October 7 and why Israel had to respond the way it did By Andrew Fox
Valiant Voice. World’s failure to “understand what 7th October meant and why Israel had to respond the way it did,” gets worse for this British war vet writer. Fed with a Hamas narrative of genocide that fits “…their prejudices and biases, they clung to it with both hands.”
Today’s confusing world of ignorance, double standards, falsehoods and hypocrisy By Neville Berman
Truth be Told. A tongue-and-cheek treatment of revisionist history and mindless mindsets, the writer crafts an exposé of false narratives and hypocrisy.
Driven by curiosity to see what was happening turned out to be a literal drive into a day of terror on the road. By Forest Rain Marcia
Roads and Rockets. An urge to ‘hit the road’ to see the north, ended up being nearly hit by rockets. With “…my face down in a ditch, in the dark, shaking and cursing my curiosity,” the writer reflects on Israel’s new abnormal.
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).
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
On October 13th, I had a very interesting day. Too interesting. By the end of the day, I felt like I had been steam-rolled and it took me 24 hours to bring myself back to normal.
Of course, our normal here in Israel, particularly in the north, is not normal at all.
Our day began with a meeting with an important Israeli official in a Haifa coffee shop. The conversation was interrupted by the sound of sirens, screaming that we needed to race to the bomb shelter – only there was no shelter in the coffee shop.
What do we do?
Everyone got up, leaving their food and drinks on the table and ran across the street to the shelter in the nearest building.
Packed in the shelter of an apartment building with people we don’t know, we had to wait 10 minutes before leaving – because while the Iron Dome is excellent, no system works 100% of the time and shrapnel from the missile interceptions can continue to fall from the sky – so we continued our discussion with explosions overhead and a girl crying in the corner from stress.
Deadly Strike. Soon after the writer heard the siren, a Hezbollah drone passed above alluding interception and struck an army base in Binyamina in central Israel killing four soldiers and severely wounding seven others. Seen here after the attack, an Israeli soldier securing the area. (Photo: Amir Levy/Getty Images).
Then we returned to the shop, paid our bill, and continued our day.
Later in the day, we drove toward the northern border.
It is not safe to travel to places under missile bombardment. If you are in a shelter, that along with the Iron Dome is likely to keep you more or less safe (and even that is not 100% certain) but traveling between places, there is no shelter and no assurance that you won’t be hit.
But we wanted to see what was really happening to our country. Haifa is under bombardment and the communities along the way to the north have been bombarded even more than Haifa. Traveling that path is a risk – but bombs can find you anywhere and the thought that any terrorist would succeed in terrorizing me into not going wherever I want in my own country made me so angry that there was no way I was staying home.
The communities bordering Lebanon have been evacuated for the last year. When the IDF entered Lebanon with ground forces, the area became a closed military zone – meaning that only the military or those approved by the military can travel there.
But from Haifa to Nahariya, life goes on. People live in their homes, go to work, shop, and send their kids to school (according to the assessments of the IDF Homefront Command which shuts down the schools when the bombings are too bad).
We decided to drive on the old road rather than the highway. The highway is faster but the old road has buildings along the way, making it possible to find shelter should we get caught outside when the sirens go off.
We popped in to check on our daughter-in-law who was by herself in their home near Nahariya. Our son, her husband, is enlisted and someplace in the north. That means worrying about him while being bombed. She told us that although where they live there supposedly is 30 seconds to get to the shelter when the sirens go off, the explosions often come before the siren.
We had a nice visit and continued further north.
After Nahariya, soldiers stand guard closing the area to unnecessary travel – for the protection of civilians and to make it easier for the army to do what they need to do. The soldiers we talked to were pleasant (as our soldiers usually are) but also anxious (which is not usual at all). They were concerned about Hezbollah UAVs invading and bombing them. It was later in the day when we saw just how justified their concern was…
It was getting dark. Definitely, time to go home. That’s when the sirens went off.
We were on the road, nowhere near any kind of shelter. We did what other drivers did – stopped the car on the side of the road and ran down a small incline as far away from the cars as we could get. There was a ditch that provided some semblance of protection so we laid down and covered our heads, as the Home Front Command instructs us to do. When missiles hit, shrapnel flies up at an angle, so the best bet is to lie flat on the ground and cover your head.
The sound of the siren blaring from the nearest community as well as from my phone was nerve-wracking enough. Then I saw on the app update that the sirens were warning of an incoming UAV followed by the booming explosions of the IDF interceptions.
So there I was face down in a ditch, in the dark, shaking and cursing my curiosity. Len covered me with his body. He wanted me to feel safe and calm down so he made jokes to distract me. I laughed. Then I heard a little girl wailing in terror. She was further down the road with whoever it was that was trying to take her home. None of us were hurt but if I was shaking, how would a small child feel?
Panic Picture. Our nerve-wracking situation in a ditch at the side of the road with the siren blaring warning of incoming missiles.
How long do you wait before moving when it is a UAV attack and not a missile? I could see on my app that alerts were going off further south so obviously the UAV was moving in that direction, away from us. I assumed that it would be shot down closer to Haifa.
We got in the car and continued on the way home.
Outside Nahariya, the sirens went off again. This time missiles. Like all the other drivers on the road, we pulled over and got out to run to the nearest shelter. There was not anything close and there was not time. Some people stopped next to a wall that in truth, offered little to no protection. We were close to the mall so we ran in that direction, hoping to find an entrance. A building outside the mall looked like a bomb shelter but it was closed. It took us a moment to figure out that it was an electricity generator room for the mall (so not a place to enter). We stood in between the wall of that building and the wall of the mall, a relatively good place to be. Women from Nahariya were reluctant to stand where we were because they were wearing flip-flops and there were thorny bushes under our feet. But what’s a few scrapes compared with flying shrapnel? We encouraged them to come in and they waited with us. One had a ten or 12-year-old daughter. She was silent but had tears in her eyes and her face was twisted in fear.
I swallowed my own pounding heart to smile and tell her she was very brave and doing a great job. It is absolutely infuriating to see children being terrorized – and children should not see grown-ups afraid.
There were no more sirens on the way to Haifa. When we arrived, we thought we’d take some time to sit outside on the beautiful promenade overlooking the bay, breathe some fresh air, and relax before going home.
The weather was beautiful and the view stunning, as always.
Evening Eruptions. We took this photo of Haifa Bay before the night sky was colored by missiles from Lebanon being met by interceptors from our military.
And then, from the base at the bottom of the Carmel we heard their loudspeakers:
“Warning! Be prepared for impact! Take shelter!”
What the hell?! First of all, it was shocking that we could hear what was happening from so far away. And my reflexive response was, why do our soldiers have to be prepared for impact?! Hezbollah should be preparing for impact!!
And then they shot an intercept missile, bright like a streak of fire into the night sky. The trajectory was so steep, at first it was not clear what direction it was going in – my body tensed before my mind understood what it was seeing. It looked like it went to Lebanon. The light disappeared and then we heard the sound of the explosion rolling back at us like a wave coming in from the sea.
Looking at my phone to see updates on what happened, I began seeing the lists of wounded roll in. The UAV that didn’t explode on us flew all the way to Benyamina and exploded on people there. A lot of people (later we learned that they were soldiers – 4 were killed, dozens wounded, some critically).
We went home and began to unwind from the too intense day. I understood that my body was washed with adrenaline, and I needed to decompress or suffer from stress poisoning, so I drank a lot of water.
And then the sirens went off.
We raced down the stairs to the shelter and listened to the huge explosions of the missile interceptions over our house.
It was not easy to relax and go to sleep after all that but finally we managed – only to be woken up too early in the morning by sirens.
That was just one day when nothing happened to us.
About the writer:
Forest Rain Marcia is an American-born Israeli who lives in northern Israel. She’s a branding expert and storyteller. Her passion is giving voice to the stories of Israel illuminating its profound events, cherished values, and exemplary role models that transcend borders, casting Israel as an eternal wellspring of inspiration and strength for a global audience.
Forest Rain made Aliyah at the age of thirteen. After her IDF service, she co-developed and co-directed a project to aid victims of terrorism and war. These activities gave her extensive first-hand experience with the emotional and psychological processes of civilians, soldiers, and their families, wounded and/or bereaved and traumatized by terrorism and war (grief, guilt, PTSD, etc). Throughout the years, she has continued to voice the stories, pain, and strength of traumatized Israelis to motivate others to provide support and counter the hate that threatens Jews in Israel, around the world, and Western civilization itself through the understanding that what begins with the Jews never ends with Jews.
While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).
A confusing world of ignorance, double standards, falsehoods and hypocrisy has arrived.
By Neville Berman
Perhaps I am getting old and my understanding of things is becoming confused.
Why can’t I understand that the words, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” are not statements of intent or a threat?
Why can’t I understand that the Palestinians have been living in the land between the river and the sea since time immemorial and that the Jews have no history in this land before 1948?
Why can’t I understand that the right of return for Palestinian refugees and all their descendants is an inalienable right that no other refugees in the world have?
Why can’t I understand that the United Nations and the European Union knows what’s good for Israel and the Jews?
Why can’t I understand that UNWRA is a worthy candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Why can’t I understand that UNIFIL fully implemented UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and stopped Hezbollah from bringing any armaments into the area south of the Litani river?
Why can’t I understand that indefensible borders are the best way to secure the future of Israel?
Why can’t I understand that creating a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a Jew free Judea and Samaria is actually good for Israel?
Why can’t I understand that beheading, raping, mass murder, and taking hostages of babies and grandparents can be celebrated when the victims are Israelis?
Why can’t I understand that the Palestinians are interested in promoting democracy, the rule of law, women’s rights, freedom of religion, gay rights and human rights wherever they live?
Why can’t I understand that Palestinian intellectual property and inventions are the driving force that is bringing progress and prosperity to mankind?
Why can’t I understand that without Palestinian oil production, irreparable damage will be caused to the world’s economy?
Why can’t I understand that the Iranians are building a peaceful nuclear program? After all, Iran signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and Iran would never lie.
Why can’t I understand that if a Palestinian rocket falls near a hospital parking lot in Gaza and kills 50 people, it is actually an Israeli massacre of 500 innocent civilians in the hospital?
Why can’t I understand that Israel is committing genocide against hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in Israel, and tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been crossing into Israel on a daily basis to work?
Why can’t I understand that all over Gaza, babies are dying of starvation because Israel only allows a few hundred tons of food to be delivered daily?
Why can’t I understand that the Lebanese delegate to the UN who voted hundreds of times against Israel, is now the head of the International Court of Justice, and that he has no conflict of interest and is not at all biased against Israel?
Why can’t I understand that the BBC considers the murderous terrorists of Hamas to be militants?
Why can’t I understand that when Hamas and Hezbollah fire thousands of rockets at Israel, it is not considered a war crime?
Why can’t I understand that when Israel defends itself it is committing a war crime?
Why can’t I understand that the more politicians lie, the more likely they are to be elected?
Why can’t I understand that there is no double standard in the world?
About the writer:
AccountantNeville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award. In 1978 he immigrated to the USA to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel. He is married with two children and one granddaughter.
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).
They didn’t understand what October 7 meant and why Israel had to respond the way it did.
By Andrew Fox
Oct 09, 2024
Dear all,
The title of this piece might be misleading, but I’m going with it. This letter isn’t just to the new friends I’ve made this past year, both Jews in the UK and people in Israel. It’s also to my non-Jewish readers who may wonder why I have been quite as vociferous as I have over the last year, on a topic where I don’t really have a dog in the fight.
It starts, as do all acts of remembrance this week, on 7th October last year. I’m a former Army officer; my academic areas of interest were (and are) strategy in the Middle East, and the psychology of disinformation. So, when a war began in the Middle East that raised many strategic questions, whilst soaked in the patterns of disinformation I know intimately from my studies… well, I had something to say.
Of course, I knew of the events of 7th October: I’m a Middle East researcher. On the day itself, the Telegram channels I follow were writhing like a bag of snakes with snuff movie after snuff movie. All so abhorrent; all so shocking; even for a reasonably experienced soldier.
My early strategic analysis was about right. I guessed Israel’s strategic goals and I looked at their tactics, and felt they all looked logical. They fought a contested urban battle against a dug-in defence in pretty much the same way British Army doctrine advises. Isolation; break-in; seize objectives; clearance.
Obviously, the isolation and break-in phases to Gaza City drew the world’s ire. The global public was unprepared for the live-streaming of the effects of modern weaponry in an urban setting. The closest most people have come to it is Call of Duty. They were primed on decades of Palestinian information operations about Israel, and swam in a rising sea of antisemitism. They didn’t understand what 7th October meant and why Israel had to respond the way it did. When Hamas’ ringmasters presented them with a narrative of genocide that fit their prejudices and biases, they clung to it with both hands.
On the Ground in Gaza. Andrew Fox being interviewed on i24NEWS about his experience and observations in Gaza.
Israel’s great mistake was in assuming that the horrors of 7th October would buy them some credit. They wildly overestimated their bank balances of sympathy, and as victims of disinformation fraud, they rapidly became overdrawn.
So, there was I, in my Twitter/X stovepipe, merrily analysing away in broad support of Israel’s strategy. Until April 2024.
I was invited on a trip to Israel by the Military Expert Panel. We were granted decent access by the IDF and they briefed us their plans, which I noted smugly were just about what I’d predicted. Situation: no change.
What changed everything for me was visiting the massacre sites and seeing those hurt by it: victims and hostage family members. I wasn’t prepared for it conceptually or emotionally. It turned those snuff films of months earlier into 3-D.
Before, it was just another set of horrors in a world full of horrors, of which I had seen my fair share firsthand.
After, it was a lurid kaleidoscope of pain, misery, inhuman rape and torture; sadism, dehumanisation, and bloody, mutilating murder of the utmost savagery, carried out with Satanic glee. I walked in human ashes mixed with the remnants of the fires in kibbutzim where innocents were burned alive. I have seen the evidence of rape. I have seen the sites of these obscenities against humanity.
I realised that Israel is not fighting a war of self defence; it is fighting a war of survival. There is no question that those who Israel are now fighting, led by Iran, wish to destroy Israel and annihilate the Jewish race. To me, with a grandfather and grand-uncles who fought in Europe in 1944-45, one sustaining appalling facial injuries, “never again is now” was not just words. Never again was now. And I had a voice. And I was not going to stay silent.
Israel’s war is just, and their conduct is, for the most part, just. And when the latter is not just, they take action against those soldiers who transgress. So, I’m satisfied not only with the cause for the war, but also with the conduct of the war. I’ve seen compelling evidence with my own eyes. I’m happy to let my professional reputation die on that hill, if need be.
There is a major element to my vociferousness this year that I have bypassed, however. Even before April, and my two subsequent visits, I had been consistent with one thing:
I stand with British Jews.
Whilst the events of 7th October appalled me at the time, the events of that evening in the UK, and subsequently, sickened me to my stomach. Including my visit to Israel in April this year, these events in the UK were the most politically radicalising events of my life. The UK has problems with radical Islam, and susceptibility to disinformation, and we need to wake up.
I had no prior connection to Israel, but the celebrations of 7th October in London turned my stomach. I had Jewish friends before 7th October and I saw the pain caused to them by the massacre in Israel and did my best to be supportive. I did not, however, foresee the agony that would come from those, ostensibly their countrymen too, who would nakedly celebrate the worst murder of Jews since the Holocaust on the day it happened. Whilst blindly aware of the general concept of antisemitism, wrongly thinking it mostly a thing of the past, I had my eyes glued open to its modern-day incarnation.
And that modern day incarnation recycles the same old tropes that are centuries old. Jews lie. Jews murder. Jews pay with hoarded shekels. Jews run the media. Jews run the world.
Disgusting.
And so, almost every weekend since, we have seen a turd-berg of antisemitism, shat out by extremists and supported on the backs of useful idiots, floating disgustingly down London’s streets on a sewage river of disinformation.
Our country’s great shame.
I have made it my mission since last October to let Britain’s Jews know that they are loved, wanted, and appreciated in this country: by me, and by countless silent millions who share my view. You are not alone in this fight.
I spoke this week at a synagogue in north London. It was a kind and gracious gesture by the Jewish community to allow me to share their private grief. The applause was humbling. But it was all also deeply, deeply saddening. When I go to church, I don’t need security outside. That’s not right and shouldn’t be normal.
And how appalling that our vibrant British Jewish community feels the need to thank someone just for raising a voice to support their right to exist. What a horrifying age we have created for our once great nation.
I fear for the future.
But I am grateful for my present.
Britain’s Jews and my Israeli friends, just ordinary civilians, have stood by me in turn, on the occasions that the firehose of online antisemitic abuse and disinformation has swung my way. You’ve also given me platforms from which to scream that message of support to anyone that will listen. You have empowered my own voice in the way that I hope my, and many others’ words of support empower you. This letter is as much a thank you to you, as anything else. You know who you are.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Yours in brotherhood,
Andrew
About the writer:
A veteran of three grueling tours of Afghanistan, Major Andrew Fox holds a Batchelor’s degree in Law & Politics, a Master’s in Military History & War Studies, and is currently studying for a PhD in History.
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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After constant questioning in the media “Who is Yahya Sinwar?”, it is now: “Who was Yahya Sinwar?
Could the removal of the body of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar lead to the removal of Hamas’ authority over Gaza? Israelis join many of the long-suffering citizens of Gaza in hoping so. (photo credit: Social Media)
Articles
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ROCKETS DID NOT DETER REICHMAN UNIVERSITY
Barrages of missiles did not stop Israel’s prestigious Reichman University proceeding with its ‘2024 Shabtai Shavit World Summit on Counter-Terrorism’. By David E. Kaplan
The Real Deal. It was a conference on war during war. The ‘soundtrack’ of sirens and cellphone alarms alerting of incoming missiles from multiple directions, provided the ‘direction’ to a conference whose theme was ‘How to counter these and new threats?’
Seeing the reality, one struggles to process the evil inflicted ByRolene Marks
There is no escape. Despite repeated visits as a journalist to Israel’s devastated south, this month’s visit to cover the anniversary of the October 7 massacre, the writer could not escape “…the unmistakable stench of death.”
For Israel it is about survival not reprisal ByJonathan Feldstein
“Never Again”. Although against using Holocaust analogies as it diminishes both the Holocaust and the comparison, the writer however feels he cannot today so avoid with a world pressuring Israel to act in ways contrary to its survival?
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).
