Revisiting Israel’s devastated south, you want to cry while your soul wants to scream.

By Rolene Marks

To truly understand the magnitude of destruction, devastation and loss on 7/10, you must bear witness. Pictures and footage in the media do not do enough justice. I headed down south with my good friends, the Fisher family who have been collecting the generous donations that people are contributing to give to soldiers.

Nahal Oz Army Base

 First stop was Nahal Oz army base, mere metres away from the Gaza border, to deliver loads of stuff that wonderful people have donated and organised by Maeghan Fisher, for the HUGELY appreciative soldiers. After a lesson in effective tank combat, we walked around looking at the massive destruction on the base caused by Hamas terrorists on 7/10. Buildings are pockmarked from bullets and grenades; evidence of looting and wholesale destruction is everywhere. The shattered glass, burnt palm trees and the smells tell the story about that darkest day in Israel’s history. Exactly 5 months before, Hamas murdered, raped, mutilated, kidnapped and burnt over 1200 during in their orgy of terror. As we walked around, a Jordanian aid plane airdropped aid into the Gaza strip. Aid is distributed daily by land, air and sea, despite what you may see in the media. I saw it with my own eyes.

In the cheder ochel (dining room) the coppery smell of blood is pervasive, even though it has painstakingly been removed. It is an assault on the senses.

The most devastating area is the command centre, where soldiers, including the female “Tatzpitaniot” were murdered, raped, burnt and abducted. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. It is a place where evil reigned supreme – and the evidence is everywhere.

I thought about Naama. And Noa. Shiri. Eden. Agam. Roni. All of them. I walked into what was the command room at Nahal Oz and I felt the presence of them saying:

 “Tell our story, don’t let the world forget us“.

Their presence is everywhere – and so are the candles and flowers from heartbroken friends and family. It almost reminded me of the children’s memorial at Yad Vashem – Israel’s National Holocaust Memorial and Museum.

It is impossible not to cry. The soul wants to scream. It was here Hamas shot, raped and burnt our girls. Some were burnt to ash. It was from here the world watched as Naama was dragged, bleeding from her crotch to Gaza. She is still there. It is from here that Noa Marciano was taken hostage, her remains recovered by our soldiers. At least her parents had a body to bury, a place to go. Others were burnt to ash. To ash. It was here where Eden saved her fellow Skyriders – and paid with her life. She fought like a lioness. We will roar in her memory. And the smell. The room reeks of smoke and burnt plastic. Bullet holes are everywhere. My hackles were up. I thought of their last moments here. It was here I saw a female soldier, at this place of devastation, of holiness, tears streaming down her face. We looked at each other. We did not need to say words. We knew what each other felt. March is Women’s History Month. Please speak for Naama, Roni, Agam, Noa, Eden and all of our women. They no longer can. Bear witness and speak.

The Graveyard of Cars

The eye sees cars. The soul feels people. Families were in some of these cars. Young festivalgoers desperately fleeing were in some of these cars. Soldiers, police and rescue personnel who were racing to the scenes of slaughter were in these cars. You can see the level of carnage. Many cars burnt, every car pummeled by bullets, some, including an ambulance, hit by rocket-propelled grenades. Many have stickers indicating ZAKA cleared it of human remains but the truth is not every speck of DNA was cleared, and so this is holy ground. You see the white pickups mounted with machine guns and mangled motorbikes used by the terrorists, who indiscriminately fired on everyone. We know some of the individual stories of occupants. Some have car seats for babies or toddlers. Agony. Then you look inside. A hairbrush here. A toy there. A container. Personal objects. This place will eventually become a museum. People will learn about their owners. People will learn how on a sunny Saturday morning became the darkest day.

Nova Festival Memorial Site

They came to dance. They came to celebrate peace – and hopefully, those on the other side of the border would one day feel the same. They were full of life, a vibrant testimony to joy. The Nova memorial site has changed since I visited in January – but the ground still cries out with the blood of the many victims. The trees whisper. Remember what happened here and make sure the world does not forget. This is holy ground.  Next to the memorial site, trees have been lovingly planted for each life taken. Trees are sacred in Israel and it is a fitting memorial. The reminders of beautiful lives brutally ended or taken hostage in Gaza are everywhere. The heart aches. The soul screams. It is impossible not to see the horrific, depraved carnage in your mind’s eye. Each memorial pole has become a shrine, a personal testament to each beautiful soul. We know many of the individual stories but each one is deeply personal.  

There is a tent where a constant stream of prayers for the souls of the murdered and the freedom of the captives are intoned. Tiny miguniot (shelters) line the roads in the south. A stark reminder that rockets have pummeled this area for decades and that dark Saturday, hundreds ran for the shelters as rockets rained down and Hamas terrorists murdered innocents. I am always struck by how small they are. Big enough to take 10 people – not 20, 30, terrified individuals that could not be protected against the bullets and grenades. ZAKA stickers placed on the outside are a reminder that these shelters became places of death and devastation. Israelis in our sorrow are determined to honour our murdered. We will dance again. We will!

Shova Junction

Light in the darkness. In a place of sorrow, new life starts to grow. Red anemones dot the fields and areas. Citizens are starting to slowly return home and rebuild. While we are a country in deep trauma and pain and at war against a monstrous enemy, we focus on building. Perhaps that is the secret to our success. We are a stubborn people, hoping for peace, looking to the future. It is too soon and we are in too much pain to talk about peace solutions with our neighbours, but the stubborn hope is there, underneath the layers. You can only destroy darkness by shining light. We ended the day in the most hopeful of places. Shova Junction. On 7/10, emergency personnel and the IDF evacuated the wounded to the junction so that helicopters and ambulances could work safely, away from threats of terrorists with RPG’s. The residents of the Shova moshav, organised by the irrepressible Dror and his two brothers, started to bring food and coffee for exhausted first responders. The junction grew and grew and is now a place that is packed with food and everything our soldiers could possibly need, most of it donated by many generous people around the world just wanting an opportunity to say thank you to our warriors. None of them is photographed out of respect for their personal safety. Music plays, hugs and a hot meal and whatever they need is given to them. We owe each one a debt we can never repay but we can take care of them. Under the protective plastic that covers the tables, are letters to soldiers, lovingly written by children in South Africa that they can read. A group of 10 soldiers led by a religious man gathers for evening prayers. A soldier strums a guitar nearby. It is an oasis of joy and peace. I give Dror a hug. He calls me “Shova sister“. We embrace the amazing Racheli who is an embodiment of the spirit and resilience of the area. And hell yes, we can all agree FCK HMS!!! Am Yisrael Chai!

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).

Pogroms were our past; our Gazan neighbours brought them back to the present.

South African photojournalist Ilan Ossendryver ‘focuses’ on Israel’s devastated south.

I have always heard about our Eastern Jewish roots, where my grandparents came from, and the many Pogroms (Pogrom is a Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently”) we Jews faced there, resulting in many Jews being murdered, raped, and burned.  It was history that we were taught.  We thought it would never happen again.

 But it did, and history has repeated itself, this time, in our time, in front of the world, in Israel, a country meant to protect us against such evils.

On 7 October, the Pogrom happened in real time, broadcast live, filmed and boasted about by Hamas perpetrators for the world to see.  It was a textbook Pogrom, as you would read in history books. 

What was, became a present-day nightmare reality. My images capture the absolute hate and devastation that was wreaked across the southern part of Israel in towns and Kibbutzim. The reality Jews woke up to. Evil taking place in their safe, peaceful places of life, their houses, their rooms, their towns.

Israel and her people are in mourning.  But this time, the history of this massacre will always remain a reminder of what we as Jews face, a world that mostly do not like us. This time the reminder is not far away deep in eastern Europe, but here in Israel, two hours away from Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish People.

On October 7, 2023, Kibbutz Reim, located on the border of the Gaza Strip, experienced a large scale, brutal terrorist attack when dozens of Hamas terrorists penetrated the Kibbutz, slaughtering and injuring a large number of civilians, women, children and senior citizens. Near the kibbutz, a mass massacre was carried out at the Nova Music Festival, in which at least 364 people were murdered.

These were homes where families lived collectively on a kibbutz. Kids played on the lawns. Only nature provides now the colour; the black and grey are the residue from the monsters from Gaza.

Scars and ash from a pogrom – not in Eastern Europe of the 1940s but in Southern Israel today.

The burnt remains where once life was vibrant.

The monsters from Gaza who did this came not like Cossacks on horseback but on Toyota white trucks, motor bikes and motorized gliders.

Not only did they murder and mutilate but took away hostages, the posters of two appear on this door.

No floor, no roof remains but worst of all – no people.

Grey skeletal structures is all that is sadly left.

Charred remains of a kibbutz home where once love and laughter reined.

This relic tells of the old and infirmed that were not spared.

Israel’s national flag reminds that Jews will survive and again thrive.

Where once was habitation, now  lies desolation.

Is it any wonder copies in Arabic of Hitler’s  ‘Mein Kampf’ have been found in Gaza when this is what Gazans unleashed upon Israel.

About the writer/photoprapher:

Ilan Ossendryver has been a photojournalist for over 25 years covering international news events such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Gulf War, the war in Lebanon, the Israeli Jordanian peace agreement, and the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin. He photographed at Hosni Mubarak’s palace in Cairo where the late Yitzhak Rabin met Yasser Arafat for the first time. He also documented life under Apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela. He has covered two American presidents, seven Israeli prime ministers, as well as many well-known people from Leonard Bernstein, Pavarotti, FW De Klerk, Michael Jackson and Gorbachev.
Illan’s photographs have appeared in many international newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Forbes, Der Spiegel, South China Morning Post, The Times of London, The Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Yedioth Acharanot, Maariv and The Star of Johannesburg. He is currently the resident photographer of the Johannesburg based Jewish Life Magazine and the South African Jewish Report.

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).

‘Gaza’ is providing the ideal socially acceptable excuse to release innate expressions of antisemitism.

By Sidney V Kaplan

With all the mayhem in the world today, I have the feeling that if Iran would drop the bomb on Israel today and wipe it off the map of the world, it would make the headlines that day and the following day will be business as usual.

I left SA 45 years ago as I didn’t see any future and was always conscious of my Jewish identity although I personally did not experience any antisemitism.

This present war brought about a tsunami in antisemitism but at the same time it forcibly highlighted the potential danger of radical Islamism which the world in the past turned a blind eye. Whether they liked it or not, they were continuously exposed to what the Muslim brotherhood is all about. Hamas is the Palestinian expression of the Muslim Brotherhood, formed as an offshoot of the Egyptian organization operating in Gaza.

I was naïve to think that even the most deluded leftists – the ones that unreservedly support the Palestinians and always criticize Israel’s policies – would process with some semblance of understanding what happened this time after witnessing the nature and scope of the brutality that played out on October 7, 2023. I was sure there’d be a wave of sympathy and solidarity for Israel’s victims.

I was wrong!

Shocking and personally mind-wrenching the very opposite happened. Instead of sympathy over the massacre of Jews, antisemitic attacks have skyrocketed and over the five months since October 7, antisemitism has pivoted beyond the events in the Middle East intensifying in hostility and violence against Jews per se. As one perplexed commentator opined, the “extreme left has undergone an irreparable mutation.” I share his astonishment.

No less disturbing was the response – or lack thereof – in the Arab world. Where were the Arab and Muslim leaders – political and religious – condemning Hamas in its fanatic pursuit to massacre Jews. The reality was the contrary where Hamas is seen as “liberators” and its brutal savagery celebrated. So, any excuses made for the absence of any Gazan dissident who would be immediately silenced under the Hamas dictatorship does not account for the Palestinian Arabs in the diaspora who have the freedom to object but choose not to. This harsh reality is what we – as Jews – are up against.

Is it any wonder that people today are concerned, traumatized, and do not see any light at the end of a very dark tunnel. The sad reality is that Gaza is an excuse to find a socially acceptable way to publicly express Jew hatred under the false pretext of righteous indignation. The Gaza war has ignited an antisemitic reaction across Europe and throughout Britain causing unrest and rage which is continuing unabated.

One needs to revisit the aftermath of the European refugee crisis which caused mass migration to the west in 2015. This had the effect of fueling antisemitism and is a sign pointing to the failure of multiculturalism that is leading to the probable unsustainability of communal Jewish life in Europe, England and elsewhere.

One has only to look at Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, which did not bother to identify true genuine war refugees, implanting an ideology that holds the Jew as the eternal enemy.

Those immigrants who arrived in Europe as refugees were already radicalized and brought their animus towards Jews with them. It then rapidly grew unchecked, rooted in that all too familiarly-fertile European bed of antipathy towards Jews.

ANTISEMITISM IS ON THE MARCH

One has only to look with horror at the astonishing reemergence into public British political life of arch antisemite and notorious Israel basher, George Galloway after winning the election in Rochdale, a town with a 30% Muslim population. This is indeed a dark day for Britain. “This is for Gaza,” he opened his acceptance speech following his win, accusing the opposition Labour Party of “enabling, encouraging and covering” Israeli actions in the war in Gaza.

In subsequent interviews, Galloway refused to say whether he believed that Israel had a right to exist and told one broadcaster that Israel was “killing more children every day than actually were being killed in Auschwitz.”

Fearing the turbulent ‘winds of change’, Mike Freer, the Conservative Justice Minister and MP for Finchley and Golders Green, which is home to a large Jewish population, announced recently he would not seek election again following death threats, abuse, and arson attack. Although Freer is not Jewish, he is a public supporter of Israel a member of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), which made him a prime target.

“The attacks by Muslims Against Crusades, Ali Harbi Ali and the recent arson attack …. have weighed heavily on me…” he wrote in a letter to the chairman of the Conservative Party’s Finchley and Golders Green branch.

There were also other candidates that received death threats all amounting to a terrible indictment of what is happening in England.

A land once renowned for its tolerance, Britain’s city streets today are the unsettling settings for huge anti-Israel demonstrations. They occur nearly every weekend and have been tainted by ugly antisemitic chants and slogans.

In their distorted minds, Hamas leaders see themselves as been successful in this latest round of fighting generating tremendous support from all over the world towards the Palestinian cause.

On his visits to Germany, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who supports terrorists’ organizations including Hamas, urged Turkish immigrants to resist assimilation, which he called a crime against humanity, and to teach their children to speak and read Turkish before German. Turkey has been a NATO member since 1952.

So, what we see is a Europe paying a high price – and will pay even more in the future – for not requiring as a passport for residency, the assimilation or integration of Muslim immigrants into European culture.

Coupled with the failure of multiculturalism, we have also witnessed how over 40 years a whole generation of academicians and teachers has been craftily induced by a long-planned campaign to turn against the Jewish state. It started slowly with contributions to universities to set up departments that would present a specifically anti-Israel narrative and appoint staff in other areas who would share such an agenda until it became the accepted narrative. Billions were invested in setting up an infrastructure of ideological hatred. This has been the case in the US where they carelessly let it happen. As a result, there is so much prejudice across Western societies and an unwillingness to hear alternate points of view.

A notable example would be John Louis Esposito who promotes his agenda through his positions at Georgetown University as professor of religion and of Islamic studies and founding director of the center for Muslims-Christian Understanding (renamed after Prince Alwaleed bon Talal following his $20 million gift in 2005). Esposito has spent more than 40 years, lately on the Saudi payroll, misinforming the public.

A backer of the BDS movement, Esposito has signed a letter calling on “scholars and librarians within Middle East studies to boycott Israeli academic institutions”. The letter pledges “not to collaborate on projects and events involving Israeli academic institutions, not to teach at or to attend conferences and other events at such institutions, and not to publish in academic journals based in Israel.”

On Twitter, Esposito has conjured antisemitic references to the “Jewish Lobby” echoing the age-old canard about Jews controlling foreign governments.

Also in Britain, Kings’ College, one of the UK’s most prestigious colleges, has been offering a course on counter terrorism peddling bias and misinformation about Israel. Anna Stanley, a former civil servant who attended the counter terrorism course as part of her studies, noted that should the course have taken place following Hamas’ October 7 attack, it would have been “contextually justified as ‘merely the oppressed countering the oppressor’.”

In trying to understand why we are in this current predicament, there are two sets of academic literature aimed at helping policy makers grapple with the threat of radical Islam.

The first set of ideas supported by Esposito, treats the religious motive as irrelevant. They are not concerned about political Islam as an ideology but only about individual acts of violence committed in its name.

A second set of scholars acknowledge that factors such as poverty and bad governance are relevant but argue that US policy makers should take seriously the religious ideology that underlies violence.

Where the world has failed is its focus on acts of violence while ignoring the major issue of the ideology that justifies, promotes, celebrates, and encourages violence and the methods used to spread that ideology.

The uptick in global hate against Israel and Jews worldwide is exacerbated by the obsessive nonstop biased reporting on Israel by TV news works generally and by the Qatari state-owned media network Al Jazeera in particular. It came as little surprise that U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during his visit to Doha on October 13, 2023, BEFORE Israel launched its retaliatory assault on Gaza, reportedly asked Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani to “turn down the volume” of Al Jazeera’s Gaza coverage. 

 If anything, the vitriol and unabated hateful reportage has been amplified.

Following the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust, the leading victorious powers collectively pledged that nothing like this should ever be allowed to happen again. And here we are 80 years later, and the savage malignancy of antisemitism is sweeping across the globe, unleashed by Hamas’ murderous assault on Israel on October 7.

About the writer:

Sidney Kaplan is originally from  Cape Town South Africa and a founding member of ‘Manof’, a moshav founded in the Galilee in 1978. Today, he is retired, having been involved in marketing in Cape Town prior before coming to Israel, and in Israel, one of three partners involved in the flower growing industry for export.

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).

Concerns this past International Women’s Day for Israel’s women hostages in Gaza and honouring women soldiers in the IDF.

By Dena Pantanowitz

As a South African on International Women’s Day, I recognised and celebrated the heroic role of women soldiers in the IDF who dedicate themselves to defending their home while promoting and yearning for peace.

The role of women soldiers in the IDF illustrates the superlative strides Israel has made towards gender equality in the armed forces. These brave women serving on the front lines from flying a fighter jet or rescue helicopter to manning a tank, demonstrate unwavering courage and commitment to safeguarding Israel’s security and protecting its citizens. Their dedication and sacrifice exemplify the strength and resilience of women in the face of terrible adversity.

Following some 3,000 terrorists from Gaza bursting through Israel’s border on October 7 to rampage murderously through southern regions, women IDF soldiers were soon in the thick of the action, including an all-female tank unit that fought for hours, killing dozens of attackers along the border and in communities attacked by Hamas.

When this group of young combat women were woken at 6:30 a.m. on October 7, they had no idea they would be making history. Part of a company of all-women tank operators – only made permanent in 2022 following a two-year pilot programme – they were about to experience real action. Thundering along country roads to get to the communities under attack, they soon came under massive assault and responded by running down terrorists, and securing breaches on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Informed that there were attackers in all the trees around, “We started firing bunker busters at the terrorists that were up close, and then mortar shells at those further away,” Michal, an officer in the unit, told Channel 12.

“I could see the hits, I saw [the terrorists] fall down,” she added. These women had to improvise. Another commander, Hila, explained that none of them had been trained on the weapons system installed on the armored Humvee but “Within 10 minutes, we’d all become experts: how to run it, how to fire, how to slam the brakes.”

“We approached the border and saw burned bodies of terrorists in the trees. We were still firing as we went through to make sure we got everyone.”

At the end of the day, female soldiers were also among those killed by Hamas and among those taken hostage alongside their male counterparts.

And then there are the women that were taken off into captivity like the spoils of war. These women endure unimaginable suffering, subjected to captivity, sexual abuse, and exploitation. Their basic human rights are being violated, and their voices silenced under the oppressive regime of Hamas. Our hostages are not part of history, they are our present, and they need our voice!

I have just returned from a mission to Israel and have seen with my own eyes the absolute devastation since 7 October. This was a systematic massacre by Hamas on our people, innocent woman, children, men and the elderly were slaughtered. We cannot sit back and be quiet.

On International Women’s Day, we stood in solidarity with the courageous women soldiers of the IDF and advocated for the release of all hostages, especially the 19 women and children held captive in Gaza. It is incumbent upon the international community to condemn such violations of human and women’s rights and work towards ensuring the safe return of these women to their families and loved ones.

As we celebrated the achievements and contributions of women worldwide, we remembered those who continue to suffer in silence. We must amplify their voices and demand justice and freedom for all women, regardless of their circumstances or background.

As a Jewish woman, I will be a voice for all our woman that cannot use their voices right now; we cannot let their silent cries be unheard.

Let us be their voice not only today but every day.

About the writer 

A “proud Jewish wife and mom” from South Africa, Dena Pantanowitz, participated in February’s community leadership’s solidarity mission to 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).

Never expecting anything from Hamas, I did expect more from the heads of state and of leading humanitarian organizations.

By Harris Zvi Green

March 1, 2024

My dearest friends,

We are now one hundred and forty-seven days into this bloody war. The past five months have been challenging. Having close family members risk their lives in defense of our country, listening to the hair-raising accounts of their experiences and being confronted by a tsunami of antisemitic hatred, has taken its toll.

Experiencing the arrival of a great-grandchild and the wedding of a grandson during this time were especially gratifying, but also uniquely difficult. How does one celebrate when our young men and women are putting their lives at risk to defend us and 134 of our fellow citizens remain in hostage? How does one comfort the bereaved and celebrate special events in the same breath? There are so many conflicts in our everyday lives.

My faith in universal values has become eroded. I believed these values represented principles that transcended cultural, religious and international boundaries. I got it badly wrong. What was once considered good is no longer virtuous. Bad is no longer evil. Truth is no longer absolute. It’s become contextual. Even flexible. There’s no accountability. These so-called “universal values” haven’t stood the test of time. 

The atrocities of October 7 have been rebranded. They’ve been rationalized. When they aren’t plausible, the atrocities are either regarded as unverifiable or simply denied. Given the unimaginable and primitive acts of savagery of October 7, I can understand that.

Whatever way I look at it, murder is murder. Brutal mutilation of dead bodies is savage. It’s not an integral part of a national struggle or the exercising of a right to self-determination. Rape is rape. It’s not resistance. 

I question my identity. Once upon a time, I defined myself as a liberal. Live and let live. I believed democracy, mutual tolerance and respect were liberal values. Again, I got it badly wrong. Today, people who define themselves as liberals tend to display intolerance and even contempt for anything that doesn’t gel with their view of the world. Perhaps liberalism should be defined as the right to call yourself whatever you like rather than being an absolute value in itself. 

It’s like the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea. Does that make North Korea a democracy? Wikipedia describes North Korea as a totalitarian dictatorship. I don’t understand how one can confuse a democratic country with a totalitarian dictatorship. Maybe it’s my poor English.

I never expected anything from Hamas. I do, however, expect much more from heads of state, from the executives of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations, from religious leaders of all faiths and from the presidents of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions.

One hundred and thirty-four hostages remain in captivity. This number includes the bodies of 33 soldiers and civilians. As far as Hamas is concerned, even dead bodies are a legitimate bargaining tool.

The same heads of state, the same humanitarian organizations, the same religious leaders and the same academic institutions continue pressuring Israel to provide even more humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Nobody wants innocent people to starve to death. But what do these hypocrites in positions of power and influence have to say about the illegal abduction of innocent hostages, including octogenarians, women, children and even dead bodies? Very little. What are they doing about it? To be precise: nothing.

Humanitarian values cut both ways. I’m sure true liberals will concur.

Embarrassed by UNRWA’s complicity in the October 7 massacre, UNRWA’s donor countries put their contributions on hold pending further investigation. Asmund Aukrust, a Norwegian politician, immediately retaliated by nominating UNRWA for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The New Arab, a London-based news outlet owned by a Qatari company, is supporting this absurd attempt to sanitize UNRWA. In their promotion piece, they justify this initiative by praising UNRWA for their “crucial humanitarian support in one of today’s most devastating humanitarian contexts.” Yet another attempt to rewrite history and legitimize the continued funding of terror.

Can any self-respecting human being rationalize awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to an organization complicit in the October 7 massacre? It’s an affront to mankind and an insult to human intelligence.

UNRWA’s very existence perpetuates the conflict. The idea of rewarding UNRWA and its incompetent Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, is outrageous.

Last week I referred to the racist statement made by a South African member of parliament who said:

“If the city of Cape Town is handed over to the Zionists, there will be a bloodbath. We will not allow you to make it a Jewish state.”

I received a comment telling me not to confuse anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

Imagine the outcry if an Israeli politician said, “if the city of Jerusalem is handed over to the Jihadis, there will be a bloodbath. We will not allow you to make it an Islamic state”. This politician would be accused of being Islamophobic and ostracized by his colleagues. 

My condolences to those mourning their nearest and dearest. My wishes to the injured for a complete and speedy recovery. May God protect our brave soldiers. May the hostages soon be reunited with their families. May you all be blessed with good health to see smiles on the faces of your loved ones for many years to come.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and better times ahead.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Harris Zvi Green.

About the writer:

Harris Zvi Green was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Aged 77, he made Aliyah 53 years ago. An accountant by profession, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of Israel based hi-tech companies. He is married to Phyllis. They have 3 married children ,13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Harris Zvi Green is a founder member of Truth be Told, an organization engaged in public diplomacy on behalf of Israel.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

South Africans honour their fallen in Israel while lamenting how far South Africa has morally fallen

By David E. Kaplan

It was a strange feeling. 

Some 150 South Africans – roughly half living in Israel the other visiting from South Africa on a Jewish National Fund South Africa -organised solidarity mission. They were joined as well by forty young South Africans on youth movement programmes. The same thought was on everyone’s mournful minds – here we were in the heart of the JNF-KKL Lavi Forest honouring South Africa’s fallen either in acts of war or terror, including the present war in Gaza, and the South African government could not care a damn! 

Correction, they do care – it reserves its concern for the killers of those fallen Jews!

Even though former South Africans had been murdered the day of the massacre on October 7 2023 while others were kidnapped and held captive in Gaza, “It took weeks for them [ANC government] to condemn the single biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” said Michael Kransdorff, Chairman of the JNF and Vice Chairman of the South African Zionist Federation, the two organisations that organized the high-powered Jewish leadership mission to Israel. “Rather than use their influence with Hamas and the Iranian regime to bring home the hostages, and to end the conflict, they have chosen to side with Hamas and the Iranian regime, and attack Israel in its defensive war to protect its home front and return the hostages.”

Can South Africa’s President Ramaphosa answer one question: 

Would the late Mandela have behaved this way?

Although critical of “the occupation”, Mandela fully supported Israel’s right to exist. We know this because during a visit to Israel in 1999, Mandela said: 

“I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognise Israel within secure borders.” 

An advocate of the two-state solution, Mandela would not have countenanced South Africa’s present foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, recently joining in the chant – “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which in effect calls for the elimination of Jews in its biblical homeland, something Hamas attempted on October 7. 

Picking up on this theme, Kransdorff continued:

 “We, as the Jewish community are deeply disappointed with the [South African] government and think that it missed a major opportunity to play a positive role in the world, in the spirit of Mandela. Instead, it chose to support Hamas and side with terror.”

The Shoah cast a shadow over the Lavi Forest memorial ceremony incapsulated in the poignant words of former SAZF chairman, Avrom Krengel when he said:

“…Only when you visit these magnificent kibbutzim and settlements, places that flourished, do you realise that for one day, a ‘Holocaust’ came to Israel. It’s a reminder of the Eastern Front of 1941 of what befell our ancestors in Lithuania and Ukraine when the Nazis went from town to town and murdered every single Jew they could find. And on the 7 October that is what Hamas did.”

 Looking towards the memorial board where nearly 90 South African have fallen – since Avraham Katz fell in July 1 1938 in the defence of kibbutz Hanita on the border with Lebanon, now still under attack in 2024 – Krengel turned back to face the gathering and continued:

“But unlike the mass murder of 1941 that continued every single day for another five years, and saw the death of six million Jews, this time we have a state and we have an army and while we were caught by surprise for one day, we fight back; we fight back in a ferocious manner; we fight back to protect the people of Israel and the Jewish people. That is what the world actually hates about us now.  We don’t go meekly and quietly to our deaths. We protect Jewish life.  We take the fight to our enemies wherever they are, no matter how deep they are in every single tunnel. And that is the privilege of our generation that we have a State of Israel that is committed to the protection of every Jew in the world. We have not had that for 2000 years and we have not been able to protect ourselves until now.” 

With wind whistling through the trees and a hint of rain, I listened to one speaker after another, in particular the families of the fallen and former hostage Aviva Segal, who was born in South Africa and came to Israel with her family at the age of nine. And while she related the horrifying and terrifying details being held as a hostage for 51 days by Hamas while her American-born husband Keith, still remains a hostage in Gaza. I reflected on the words of PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shatayyeh, who this week has resigned by but only a week earlier had said at the Munich Security Conference – and ‘Munich’ of all places – that:

 “One should not continue focusing on October 7”

Really; after the worst massacre of Jews in one day since the Holocaust and which Israel needs to prevent ever happening again and this is the sentiment of the Palestinian leadership that Israel is expected to reach a rapprochement.

Back in November, senior Palestinian Authority official Jibril Rajoub was one of the first Palestinian Authority officials to speak publicly about the October 7 attacks, and he openly justified the mass slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis.

Rajour, at a press conference in Kuwait drew no distinction between Hamas and his own Palestinian Authority when he characterized the massacre of Jews on October 7 attack as part of “the defensive war OUR people are waging.” In fact, his choice of words embraces the massacre!

This is what and who South Africa choses to champion in the courts of law and world opinion.

And while on the question of law, one only has to compare the founding documents of Hamas and South Africa to know they set out on diametrically opposite ideological paths. South Africa’s constitution – considered the birth certificate and soul of the “Rainbow Nation” – marked the way for a new democratic order. Considered one of the most advanced constitutions in the world, it established a constitutional democracy in which a finely crafted Bill of Rights enjoys pride of place.

In contrast, the Hamas charter warns about “transgressors…smitten with vileness” in general but Jews in particular.

Up front as a priority, it thunders:

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will OBLITERATE it, just as it obliterated others before it.”

This is the narrative that South Africa by its support now stakes its reputation on.

While South Africa during the 1930s and 1940s had its fair share of supporters for the Nazis – many of whom emerged as future leaders in a post-WWII Apartheid South Africa – its leaders of today have no problem supporting the spiritual heirs of Nazi Germany. 

I take comfort that the day following the ceremony for the South African fallen, I received an email from esteemed South African author and journalist, Henning van Aswegen, who wrote the following:  

“Realise please that South Africa’s Corrupt Antisemitic ANC government does not speak for the people of South Africa, only for a portion thereof. There is massive support for Israel and its people here and we are cheering on the IDF every day in its righteous response to Hamas’ terrorism.”

With the support and understanding of true friends may the day dawn when no more names of fallen will be added to memorial boards.

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).

“Friends, what Hamas started in Gaza on October 7, will not end in Gaza or in Jerusalem”

By Harris Zvi Green

February 23, 2024

My dearest friends,

Martin Luther King said:

 “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”

The inflammatory antisemitic rhetoric in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict is becoming increasingly dangerous. It’s unthinkable that this spike in antisemitism is occurring in the wake of the October 7 massacre. I would have imagined that the wanton killing and the perverted rapes would have provided an ideal opportunity for fair-minded people to speak out against these universally accepted evils. Sadly, that’s not been the case.

Most of the players on the international stage are doing their utmost to steer clear of any challenge or controversy that might put their leadership abilities to the test. They prefer comfort and convenience.

Today’s so-called leaders are conspicuous by their silence and their apathy. By Martin Luther King’s standards, they are not leaders.

I was deeply moved by the recent YouTube clip put out by South Africa’s Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein, following his diplomatic mission to Israel. Throughout the crisis, his courage has been an inspiration to all of us. The Rabbi has displayed the qualities of a leader during this stressful period of challenge and controversy. I’m sure Martin Luther King would concur.

Let’s return to the recent spike in antisemitic violence. These were inspired in different locations around the world immediately after the October 7 massacre. Demonizing Israel to justify the Hamas atrocities of October 7 was, and remains, a tactical priority. Mass marches in European cities supporting the Hamas cause began immediately after the massacre. The notorious “gas the Jews” demonstration at the Sydney Opera House took place on October 9. 

It never stopped there.

The number of reported antisemitic attacks in the UK in 2023 was more than double those reported in 2022. Following an arson attack on his constituency office, a member of the British House of Commons and a supporter of Israel, announced he would not seek re-election.

Brazil’s President, Lula da Silva, compared Israel’s war against Hamas to Adolf Hitler and the extermination of Jews by the Nazis in World War II. 

A member of South Africa’s Parliament, Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam, ranted: 

“If the city of Cape Town is handed over to the Zionists, there will be a bloodbath. We will not allow you to make it a Jewish state”

Who elects racists like this to represent them in parliament? If this doesn’t constitute hate speech, what does? The number of Jews in South Africa has dropped from 120,000 in 1970 to less than 50,000. This number continues to plummet in the wake of South Africa’s growing hostility towards Israel.

Friends, what Hamas started in Gaza on October 7, will not end in Gaza or in Jerusalem.

Israel has and will always serve as a magnet for world Jewry. In 1947, 4.5% of world Jewry resided in the Land of Israel. Fast forward 77 years. Today 45.3% of world Jewry resides in Israel. It’s estimated that in around 8 years from now, more than half of world Jewry will reside in Israel.

Given what’s going on in the world today, the demographics of the Jewish world will continue to change dramatically. More than 7,000 people immigrated to Israel since October 7. There’s been a significant increase in immigration applications from France, Canada, the US and the UK. Once flourishing communities will dwindle and age. The diaspora’s loss will be Israel’s gain.

The international community is systematically engaged in demonizing Israel. The most ridiculous conspiracy theories are gaining momentum. The victim of the October 7 massacre has become the criminal. The criminal has become the victim.

The UN is doing its utmost to protect the Hamas leadership and what’s left of its terror tunnel network and stockpile of armaments. A ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces will not bring peace to the region. It will, however, guarantee another round of hostilities. More war, more bloodshed. 

Towns and villages along Israel’s southern and northern borders remain deserted. Around 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes. Places of work have been closed for almost five months. Security in these areas must be restored so these people can safely return to their homes and resume their livelihoods.

Of course, the UN should be focusing its efforts on implementing Resolution 1701 adopted in 2006 which requires the disarmament of Hezbollah in South Lebanon. Failure to achieve this will increase the level of tension and make full-scale war inevitable.

The Secretary-General of the UN needs to be reminded that what’s happening in Gaza, isn’t happening in a vacuum. What might happen in Lebanon, could make Gaza look like child’s play.

The plight of the hostages continues to plague us. One hundred and thirty-four hostages have been held in captivity for the past 140 days in the most inhumane conditions. Amongst them is 1 year old Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother, Ariel. At the time of his abduction, Kfir was 9 months old. He is now 14 months old. Who’s taking care of him?

Please spare a thought for Kfir and his fellow hostages.

Unfortunately, neither the UN nor the Red Cross are willing to take responsibility for their welfare. The calls for their immediate and unconditional release are no more than lip service.

My condolences to those mourning their nearest and dearest. My wishes to the injured for a complete and speedy recovery. May God protect our brave soldiers. May the hostages soon be reunited with their families.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and better times ahead.

Am Yisrael Chai.

Harris Zvi Green.

About the writer:

Harris Zvi Green was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Aged 77, he made Aliyah 53 years ago. An accountant by profession, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for a number of Israel based hi-tech companies. He is married to Phyllis. They have 3 married children ,13 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Harris Zvi Green is a founder member of Truth be Told, an organization engaged in public diplomacy on behalf of Israel.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).