Category: Jewish World

50 YEARS SINCE ENTEBBE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION

Recalling the Entebbe rescue brought back memories of the heroism of two South Africans in Israel’s ‘The Great Escape’.

By David E. Kaplan

One of the bravest and most successful rescue operations in human history, many who were around at the time will recall where they were when the story broke. I was a law student in South Africa travelling by car between Durban and Cape Town and was sitting in a Wimpy Bar in Grahamstown when the restaurant’s TV broke to Breaking News to announce the unfolding drama. Little did I know at the time that years later I would be interviewing two South African heroes who participated in the rescue Dr. Jossy Faktor and Ricky Davis. Both had been members of South African Jewish youth movements before immigrating to Israel.

Honouring Heroism. Formally of Pretoria, South Africa, Dr. Jossy Faktor (right) of ‘The Entebbe Raid’ medical team, receives a Lieutenant Colonel rank from Chief of Staff, Ehud Barak (left), duly assisted by Faktor’s wife Barbara and their granddaughter.

The crisis that led to the Entebbe Raid began on the 27th June, when four terrorists seized an Air France plane, flying from Israel to Paris with 248 passengers on board. The hijackers – two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two from Germany’s Baader-Meinhof gang – diverted the aircraft, ‘flight 139’ to Entebbe. There, the hijackers were joined by three more colleagues who then demanded the release of fifty-three of their associates held in jails in Israel and four other countries. The clock was ticking. If the detainees were not released, they would begin killing hostages.

SHADES OF THE SHOAH 

The plot of the unfolding saga drew in a global audience mesmerized by the twists and turns of a modern-day Homeric epic. Abduction and rescue – the stage was set for a cataclysmic clash of wills. On the one side, an anguished Israel, while on the other, German and Palestinian terrorists aided and abetted by one of Africa’s most notorious dictators, President Idi Amin. Stories abounded by this man’s evil proclivities, notable that he had a certain taste for eating his enemies.

It was said that his palace fridge had been a real ‘who’s who’ in Ugandan politics – leftovers to go with the salad. Some 3,400 kilometres away, a nervous Israeli government was agonizing which way to move. No options were risk free.

The terrorists then played a card that simplified the decision.

They separated the passengers – Jews from non-Jews – releasing the latter. Shades of the Shoah colored the unfolding drama and Israel now stood alone.

The Jewish state also knew what it had to do.

It was a proud cast of characters who participated in the mission dubbed by the Israeli military – “Operation Thunderbolt”. Amongst the medical team on board one of the four C-130 Hercules aircraft, was a former South African from Pretoria, Dr. Jossy Faktor. A gynecologist and obstetrician, Jossy at the time was serving in the permanent force of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and would later rise to become its Surgeon General.

Dreaming About Tomorrow.  Planning for life in Israel, Jossy Faktor (sitting far right) in the late 1950s together with the national leadership of South Africa’s Jewish youth movement ‘Habonim’ in Johannesburg. (Credit: Habonim Dror)

When the call came summoning the 36-year-old doctor to report for duty, Jossy and his wife Barbara were clicking champagne glasses celebrating the tenth wedding anniversary of their old Habonim friends, the Kessels in Ra’anana. Little did they all know when Jossy hurriedly stepped out of Terry and Carol’s front door, that he was about to enter the history books.

At roughly the same time, 21-year-old Ricky Davis was with his paratrooper unit at Wingate when the call came through. Only two years earlier, Ricky, a member of Betar in Port Elizabeth, made Aliyah and within three months joined the IDF. “We immediately packed up and assembled at a base near Petach Tikva. Although we were aware of the hijack drama playing out at Entebbe, we had no idea that we would be connected. We went on so many hair-raising missions into Lebanon and Jordan in those days that we assumed it was another of the ‘usual ops.”

Ready To Rescue. Originally from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Ricky Davis at the time of ‘The Entebbe Raid’, whose unit was tasked with neutralizing the Ugandan Russian Migs on the airport tarmac.

Once assembled at the base:

 “Everything became top secret. We began training, still not knowing our destination. Only at the last stage, were we brought into the picture. My unit was to secure the escape by destroying, in advance, anything that could jeopardize our escape.”

“NO GOING BACK”

The next day saw Jossy being briefed by the Surgeon General, the late Dan Michaeli. “I was instructed to quickly put together an aero-medical team.” Although Jossy’s specialization was gynecology, he had been trained in aviation medicine that included ensuring the health of aircrews and aero-medical evacuations. While there had been missions and escapades in the past, nothing would come close to what he was to experience in the next few days. “The success of the operation was secrecy, and because the public at the time was well aware of the hostage crisis, we had to come up with something to deflect attention. Also, we needed to obtain a large supply of blood from Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross), and that necessitated a credible cover story. We did not want anyone – least of all the media – questioning why we suddenly needed so much blood. Because nothing quite like this had ever been attempted, we had no idea of what casualties to expect. Anyway, the word went out that a crisis was developing on the northern border with Lebanon, and we would need medical teams and blood. The story held, and we took off with only those involved in the operation in the know.”

The final briefings were divided according to the different roles to be performed by the various participants. “We were briefed by Dr. Ephraim Sneh, who was the overall commander of the medical teams.”

Jossy describes the flight as long and uneventful.

“We left Friday morning and landed at Sharem el Sheik, stopping for essentially two reasons.  Firstly, for refueling. We had enough to get us to Entebbe, but no more. And as we did not expect the ground staff at Entebbe to accommodate us by refueling our planes, we needed sufficient fuel to take off after the rescue and make it to Nairobi.” The other reason for the stopover was no less intriguing. “When we took off in Israel, the Cabinet had still not decided to go through with the mission. The risks obviously weighed enormously with them and so wanted to keep the option to abort open until the last moment. On the runway at Sharem El Sheik, we received the final green light. Now there was no going back.”

Fake News. Rather than report that Israel recues its hostages, a Ugandan newspaper reports that “Israelis invade Entebbe”.

CHATTING IN THE COCKPIT

The last stretch of the flight to Entebbe “we flew at a very low altitude to avoid radar detection. The turbulence was heavy, but it did not bother me,” says Jossy. “I recall there was very little chatting; everyone was so wrapped up with their own thoughts. I spent much of my time in the cockpit as the captain, Amnon Halivni, was a good friend of mine.”

Jossy traveled with the medical teams in the fourth Hercules. “Our plane was virtually empty ready to accommodate the hostages and expected wounded.”

The other three planes carried ground forces, with the black Mercedes Benz and Land Rovers on board the first aircraft. The word out on the street was that the Mercedes was owned by an Israeli civilian and was apparently sprayed black so it would appear as the Ugandan’s president’s car when approaching the terminal building. However, the intelligence was dated. The two Ugandan sentries on duty that morning were well aware that their President had recently purchased a white Mercedes replacing his black one. They ordered the motorcade to stop. Had they had the opportunity for a closer look they would have also noticed that the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, but by that time, they were both dead.

Planed To Perfection. The Black Mercedes used to fool Uganda soldiers in the Israeli raid on Entebbe parked aboard an Israeli transport plane with commandos from Sayeret Matkal. (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

In fear of prematurely alerting the terrorists inside the terminal, the subterfuge motorcade sped up and the assault teams quickly went into action.

INTO BATTLE

Jossy’s aircraft had been the last to land. Throughout the operation “we stayed on board, preparing for the arrival of our passengers. It took just under forty minutes for the first casualties to arrive. The waiting was the worst. We felt like sitting ducks as the battle ensured. In the end we needed only six stretchers, one of which was used for Yoni Netanyahu, who died on the way to the aircraft.”

Ricky’s unit, tasked with getting away safely, took care of the Russian Migs on the airport tarmac. “The real danger was that they could give chase, easily catch us, and shoot us down. We were not taking any chances and blew them up with anti-tank missiles.” Adds this warrior, “Yes, we stopped for coffee in Nairobi on the return flight home.”

The enormity of what these daring men had pulled off “only sunk in,” says Jossy “when we touched down at Tel Nof Airbase and were met by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Defense Minister Shimon Peres. It was only then, safe on Israeli soil, that people felt free to express their emotions.”

Decisive Duo. Taking enormous risks that paid off, Defense Minister Shimon Peres (right) with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) welcoming the released Entebbe hostages upon their return to Israel on July 4, 1976. (Defense Ministry Archives)

AND THEN THERE WAS THREE…

Another South African would emerge in the aftermath of the Entebbe Raid. His name is Maurice Rogev, a famed forensic pathologist who had settled in Israel in the 1960s after legendary activities across East Africa that fed rumors “not without foundation,” to be in the sometime-service of the Mossad. All this he revealed to me in an exclusive interview in 1997. 

Prowling Pathologist. Searching for bodies, forensic pathologist Maurice Rogev (left) in Kenya during the Mau-Mau uprising where he met Kenyata and later attracted the attention of the Mossad.

Like Faktor, Maurice, too had been a member of the South African Habonim movement. He left Cape Town hurriedly in 1948 after listening attentively on the radio that the National Party had won the election. “I’m outer here,” he told his girlfriend and left the country. He enters the Entebbe story with the exit of one of the fateful passengers of the hi-jacked Air France Flight 139,  Dora Bloch, a dual Israeli-British citizen. Dora, who had taken ill on the plane and was sent to a hospital in Kampala  was hence not rescued with the other hostages during Israel’s Operation Entebbe. She then was reported missing from the hospital, which led to Britain cutting diplomatic ties with Uganda. Her body was discovered in 1979 in a sugar plantation near the capital.

Maurice filled me in on the gaps.

State Sanctioned Murder. Dora Bloch in 1971. In February 2007, declassified British government documents confirmed that she had been murdered by Ugandan authorities on Amin’s orders.

“The day after Idi Amin was overthrown in Uganda, I was contacted by the Mossad. The next day I was on a plane to Nairobi and from there to Kampala where the new president of Uganda was keeping the remains in a bank vault, the safest place he could think of. What happened was that the day Idi Amin fell, a disheveled man presented himself at the gate of the British Embassy asking to speak to the Ambassador. They took him to the guardroom and he said, “I am the man who buried Dora Bloch.” He revealed that after he buried her, he knew he would be killed off by Amin if he did not disappear. So, he raced to his home village near the Kenyan border and stayed there until Amin was overthrown. Examining the body, Maurice identified her remains from her dentures.

“The Butcher”. A smiling President Idi Amin visits the hostages at Entebbe Airport, whereafter, following the successful Israeli rescue said “Israel should be condemned in the strongest possible terms for this aggression,” and took his revenge by murdering of one of its passengers left behind, the elderly Dora Bloch. (Photo: AP)

“I found the initials of her Tel Aviv dentist on her dentures. She was prepared for burial and transported to Israel.” Dora Bloch was given an Israeli state funeral buried in Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuchot Cemetery.

In the immediate aftermath of the rescue mission, the government of Uganda convened a session of the UN Security Council to seek official condemnation of Israel for violating Ugandan sovereignty. The Security Council ultimately declined to pass any resolution on the matter. The words of Israel’s ambassador to the UN at the time, Chaim Herzog:

“We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent people – men, women and children – but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom.”

Does his address to the Security Council resonates no less today as his son Isaac Herzog the 11th president of the State of Israel has presided since October 7, 2023 over the worst atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Shoah?

In 1976, the terrorists at Entebbe – like the Nazis – separated  the Jews from the other passengers and held them as hostages.

For the most part the world was indifferent. 

Ordeal Over. Rescued passengers welcomed at Ben Gurion Airport.

In 2023, a new generation of terrorists took Jewish hostages, and the world was not only indifferent it embraced the terrorists wishing that Jews and the Jewish state would disappear as global antisemitism emerged like a wildfire out of control.

Here is the stark reality from the Israeli perspective:

The terrorists at Entebbe were all killed.

The terrorists on October 7 have for the most part  been killed or are being killed.

And as for Israel?

Am Yisrael Chai.



*Feature picture: Escape from Entebbe. In July 6, 1976, the world learns a word – Entebbe.





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 PESSIMISTIC PRESCIENCE

Willing to take, but not to give – have the ultra-Orthodox in a post October 7 world overplayed their hand?

By Stephen Schulman

Living in Israel in these particularly troubled and turbulent times, and after encountering a certain photograph in the newspaper, my thoughts were inexorably drawn back to the contents of an article that appeared some years ago, long before the October 7th massacre, in the weekend magazine of a Hebrew daily.

The article was penned by an Israeli journalist who had travelled to England and interviewed the chief  Hamas ideologue who was then residing there. He was most cordially received by this punctilious and affable gentleman who then set out to calmly, patiently and methodically explain his genocidal terrorist organization’s long-term master plan for the destruction of Israel. “Look,” he said, “We follow your media very closely and are aware of what is constantly transpiring within your country. We see a house divided. Many sectors exist, each pursuing their own interests, often inimical to the others and competing to attain as much as possible at the expense of the state. You are becoming a weakened country and in order to survive will have to continually make concessions to us. Eventually, when we dominate and control, you Jews will either have to leave and return from whence you came or be pushed into the sea.”

A chilling observation with an ominous ending. Nevertheless, a photograph taken during an anti-conscription protest of the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) sector, brings some hard truths home. The picture shows a Haredi protester holding a commercially printed banner about two meters in length that contains two pictures each with their own captions. The first one is of a crematorium in an extermination camp and the second one is of the identical picture with the caption:

“We will not send our children to the crematoria of the IDF.” (Israel Defense Force)

Anti-conscription demonstrations by the Haredi with their panoply of scurrilous banners and placards, take place regularly, often turning violent with chants of: “We will die rather than serve in the army,” and they, unfortunately, have become so part and parcel of our daily lives that we have grown accustomed to them. Nevertheless, I was shocked to my core for here was a poster so vicious, and so callous that it defiles and desecrates the memory of the martyrs of the Holocaust. For a Jew to equate serving in the Israeli army with burning in the ovens of the Nazi death camps, reveals the unfathomable depths of blind hatred that exist within a sector comprising a present 14% of the population – and that for all extents and purposes has become a state within a state.

A Bridge too Far. Manning the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem, ultra-orthodox men have drawn battle lines that is dividing the nation.(Photo: AP Photo/Leo Correa)

This inner state of the ultra-Orthodox Haredim with its different sectors and sects has evolved, not overnight, nor despite, but with the acquiescence, complicity, and nurturing of the liberal secular democratic state which within it exists. Since the Israeli electoral system is one of proportionate representation, it allows groups and/or sectors to form their own political parties to represent and pursue their own interests. Consequently, there have been many small parties that have carried weight far beyond their size as the major ones needed their support to cobble together a coalition in order to attain a parliamentary majority and effect legislation. The ultra-Orthodox bloc has long been a decisive factor in many successive governments in swinging the balance towards a coalition majority. Throughout the years, in return for its support, prime ministers have acquiesced to their lists of demands that have swelled exponentially and they have been given – disproportionately to their representation in the Knesset – various key ministries and posts controlling and dispensing large budgets. Consequently, their demands have grown interminably and their appetite has grown insatiably as they tenaciously hang onto and voraciously suckle on the swollen pap of the public purse. This accrual of political power, public funds, social and welfare benefits plus being sheltered from shouldering the economic and military burden has enabled the ultra-Orthodox parties to develop their own state within that of the liberal secular democratic one.

Creating Chaos. Despite the outrage to the general population and the causing of a constitutional crisis, PM Netanyahu conspires with the leaders of the Haredi parties to pass a draft exemption law. (Photos: Yair Sagi, Reuven Castro, Amit Shaavi, AFP, Alex Kolomoisky, Yoav Dudkevich, AP)

This de facto autonomous state, theocratic and authoritarian in nature, is ruled and strictly controlled, together with a fixed hierarchy, by councils of elderly learned rabbis. The Shas party representing the Jewry from Arab countries (Sephardim) has at its spiritual head a former chief rabbi, scion of a distinguished rabbinic family, whose pronouncements reflect an insularity, narrow mindedness, intolerance, arrogance and contempt for the liberal secular democratic state, with the Council of Sephardi Torah Sages sharing similar views. The pious leader of the Shas bloc in the Knesset is Aryeh Deri – a distinguished felon and former convict who in 2002 had sat in prison for two years after being convicted for breach of trust, moral turpitude, corruption and bribery while serving in a government post. But, as the saying goes: “Practice makes perfect” and on 20 November 2018, Israeli police ended a criminal investigation into Deri with a recommendation to state prosecutors that he be indicted for “committing fraud, breach of trust, obstructing court proceedings, money laundering, and tax offense.” Later, the state attorney decided to drop all charges except for the tax offense. The Ashkenazi bloc (Jews from European countries) is also ruled by a Council of Torah Sages consisting of elderly rabbis – who share roughly the same sentiments towards the secular state, seeing it solely as a means towards their common goal with Shas of having their communities devote themselves entirely to Torah studies to the exclusion of all else.

These leaders control the lives of those that live within this state, and depend upon it for employment, housing, social welfare and financial benefits. It has its own educational system with a fixed syllabus that perpetuates the status quo, denying its graduates the skills to be employable in the outer state and rendering them dependent on their own one. Their leaders also decide the voting in municipal and general elections. It regulates the public and private discourse, dress code, behaviour, morals and public taste, defining what is acceptable and forbidden. Those who deviate from these strict societal norms are punished and those who choose to leave this state are regarded as pariahs to be shunned.

Blocking Roads to Blocking Country’s Future. Ultra-Orthodox protesters, some of them wearing Holocaust-inspired yellow stars at a Haredi demonstration against military service at the Ben Shemen Interchange in central Israel, June 11, 2026 are blocking a way . (Photo: Israel Police)

Ironically, this state of the ultra-Orthodox cannot exist on its own and is an integral part of the outer liberal democratic one on which it entirely depends to build its homes, supply and maintain the vital infrastructures of water, electricity and multiple municipal and government services. The secular democratic liberal state maintains public health services, hospitals, public transport and the police. The ultra-Orthodox population, like the rest of Israel’s citizens, enjoy all the benefits of a modern welfare state. In essence, due to their large families, high level of unemployment and correspondingly high levels of poverty, they are privileged and enjoy subsidies in public transport, children’s day care, municipal rates and many other perks. While their population comprises 14% of the population, their contribution in taxes is a negligible 4% and many of their families enjoy negative taxation. All this translates into a tax burden on the rest of the population.

Tragically and deplorably, the ultra-Orthodox regard themselves as apart, superior and distinct – willing to take but not to give – and this attitude manifests itself in their abject refusal to do military service. Their elderly rabbis are learned in the ways of the Torah and Talmud but willfully blind to the realities of living in a hostile Middle East. Haunted by the spectre of hordes of their faithful defecting to the corrupting sin pits of an IDF Sodom and Gomorrah that will lead them to perdition, they expressly forbid them to don a uniform.

Raw Nerve. Referring to the Israeli state that financially supports their lifestyle as the “ENEMY STATE” has touched a raw nerve following October 7 and the ensuing wars.

Today, the State of Israel is in crisis. Almost three years of continuous existential conflict defending the country against our enemies has taken a tremendous toll on our non-ultra-Orthodox citizens. In defending the country, more than 1,150 Israeli soldiers, police personnel, and security officials have died with many thousands being wounded and permanently scarred, both physically and mentally. The circle of bereavement has widened immeasurably as too many families have had to mourn the loss of their beloved ones. Young women have been widowed, children growing up fatherless and parents denied the joy of standing together under the wedding canopy. Countless citizens’ lives have been turned upside down as army reservists have spent hundreds of days on the battlefields. Family lives have been disrupted, jobs lost and businesses closed down. Young people having just finished three years of army service, see their goal of uninterrupted tertiary studies vanish down the tubes as they once more are called up for long periods The Israel Defense Forces is facing a critical manpower shortage and urgently needs at least 12,000 more recruits to ease the load on those serving.

Where to get them?

A simple solution: the ultra-Orthodox population presently has 80,000 young men eligible for the draft, but an insoluble problem: they refuse to serve. “But,” you naively ask:

“These young men are citizens and the law obliges them to serve. In fact, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that stressed this obligation and they all got call up notifications. So why don’t they come?”

The guide for the perplexed lies within the country’s political climate. The thirty-seventh government of Israel was formed on 29 December 2022, with Netanyahu at its head. Netanyahu, a seasoned wheeler dealer, for his own personal reasons, went out of his way to form a coalition government and to meet the demands of the different factions, creating a lumbering and costly dinosaur of 38 ministers and deputy ministers. The ultra-Orthodox bloc, seasoned political extortionists aware of their power, with 17 out of a total 120 Knesset seats extracted a dream agreement: key ministries, huge budgets, sitting firmly on the gravy train and success in their quest for the cherished holy grail: Bibi’s commitment to legislation giving permanent blanket exemption for all military aged members of their community.

Pouncing on the Police. Haredi protesters stormed the home of the head of Israel’s Military Police in the south of the country in protest against the arrest of draft evaders.

Now, a few months before the coming elections, the State of Israel stands at the crossroads and must determine a path that decides the future character and possible fate of the country. The Knesset will be dissolved and enter its pre-election recess on July 17th and Bibi has not delivered the goods. The promised legislation has not been passed and to make matters worse – anathema to their leaders who told them all to destroy their call up notices – a few token Haredi draft evaders have actually been arrested and jailed. The ultra-Orthodox camp has reacted with fury: protesters blocking main junctions and a motorcade led by their Knesset representatives deliberately setting out, just before afternoon rush hour, causing paralysis and gridlock on main highways throughout the country. The protesters are not immune to violence, thuggery and vandalism; amongst others, invading the home of a Supreme Court judge, causing extensive damage and threatening his family. At a rally attended by the Shas faithful, one of the venerable rabbis present on the stage placed a curse on the head of the army chief of staff. True to form and highly adept at political weaseling, the Haredi lawmakers, with the backing of Netanyahu, hell bent on his political survival regardless of the cost to the country, are trying their utmost to rush through a bill that would enshrine Torah study as one of the country’s Basic Laws i.e. granting yeshiva students equal status and giving them equal benefits to soldiers serving on the front lines.

If the bill passes, it bodes ill for the country’s future. The ultra- Orthodox with their high average birthrate of 6.7 children per family, by 2050 will comprise 24% of the Israeli population and 40% of young men of military draft age. In practice, this quarter of the population will be contributing a miniscule 7% of the nation’s taxes placing a huge burden on the rest of the citizens. Moreover, as the ultra-Orthodox always turn out en masse to vote en bloc for their designated representatives, it is highly likely that they will be the largest political party in the Knesset with unprecedented powers. As it has been demonstrated, this can only lead to increasing allocations of public funds being swallowed by this sector notorious for its opacity and lack of financial accountability.

Assault on Judiciary. Israeli police officers use force to disperse an ultra-Orthodox Israeli demonstrating against the arrest of fellow activists who took part in a protest outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, outside the Abu Kabir detention facility in Tel Aviv, June 10, 2026. (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

In 2050, a young secular person recently graduating from high school will receive call up papers. He/she will have to serve for more than three years due to a chronic manpower shortage while 40% of his peers eligible for service will be safely studying in the yeshivot where their stipends are much larger and their conditions are immeasurably better. Upon eventually finishing service and entering the work market, he/she will be heavily taxed with a corresponding drop in the standard of living in order to support the dominant ultra – Orthodox sector. They will then weigh whether or not there is a future for them in the country and if they should remain.

Is my scenario overly bleak? Possibly, but I am far from being alone in my pessimism. In 2023 and 2024, a shocking 90,00 citizens – mainly young middle-class families in the higher education bracket: doctors, hi-tech workers and professionals, drawing their own conclusions, left the country – the equivalent of a medium sized town such as Ra’anana emptying out.  If the present state of affairs continues, Israel in too short a time, lacking the economic locomotive of an educated and skilled middle class and with a large section of the population doing menial work and mired in poverty, will have the economy of a 3rd world country. The Israel Defense Forces suffering a lack of means and a huge manpower deficit will be considerably weakened and the enemies surrounding us will have long taken note. Our beloved country, for whom so many of its citizens have paid the ultimate price, could economically and militarily implode.

I once more see that photograph in front of me, recall the words of that despicable genocidal ideologue and I worry for my children and grandchildren. Tragically, many of my friends echo the same sentiments. We see our country in a parlous position: divided, riven by internecine hatred fomented by politicians in their overarching lust for political survival, unconcernedly jettisoning all concern for the good of the state. Let us pray that the 27th October will usher in a sea change.



*Feature picture: Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men protesting on Oct. 30, 2025 the military draft, shutting down Jerusalem, halting public transport and closing major roads. (Photo: AP Photo/Leo Correa) (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg).



About the writer:

Stephen Schulman is a graduate of the South African Jewish socialist youth movement Habonim, who immigrated to Israel in 1969 and retired in 2012 after over 40 years of English teaching. He was for many years a senior examiner for the English matriculation and co-authored two English textbooks for the upper grades in high school. Now happily retired, he spends his time between his family, his hobbies and reading to try to catch up on his ignorance.








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

THE HOUSE THAT ZIONISM BUILT

The Nation that roars like lions is powered by Zionism

By Rolene Marks

“And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem and be a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and doing for them great and awesome things for your land, before your people whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?” Samuel 7:23

Maligned, demonized, misunderstood, bastardised and used as a pejorative, the word Zionism has become another “ism”. Simply put, Zionism is the Jewish right to self-determination in our ancient homeland, Israel and the right of the modern state to exist. You don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist and as antizionism, the latest iteration of the ancient hatred of antisemitism soars, I want to take a moment to celebrate the country that we have built. A nation is built by people and Israel’s people are nothing less than extraordinary. These past two years have been a lesson in heroism.

This is the house that Zionism built. The ordinary people who have become the heroes of story.

Holding-Off Hamas. South African born Cpt. Daniel Perez, 22, (left) a platoon commander in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion and his tank crew fought for hours against the Hamas invasion of the Nahal Oz IDF outpost until Daniel was killed alongside Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and Staff Sgt. Itay Chen. Daniel’s weapon (right) was found in a booby-trapped compound in the northern Gaza Strip. (Photo: IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

I watched former hostage, Matan Angrest, pale faced and frail, stand before the grieving family of his late commander, Cpt. Daniel Perez (z”l), and deliver a eulogy, stating his intention to walk beside them for the rest of his life. Angrest spoke of his willingness to go back into Gaza and retrieve the remains of Itay Chen (z”l), his fellow soldier from “Team Perez”. Chen’s remains were returned for burial in November 2025.  I watched this slight young man, barely 48 hours out of captivity, having difficulty standing but a superhuman strength to honour his captain. I was captivated by the integrity and sheer inner strength of this young man.  

I have watched the coverage of the funerals of soldiers and hostages laid to rest and the hundreds and sometimes thousands who line the routes and filled the cemeteries for someone they did not know personally, but knew and loved with their soul. I have also been to these funerals – and the pain of burying our finest sons and daughters cut down in their prime while defending our safety is a sorrow that cuts to the very core. Soldiers in Israel are the sum of us and when we refer to them as our sons and daughters, we mean it in the purest form.

I think of the almost superhero strength of hostage families who moved heaven and earth in every corner of the globe, to make sure that the world heard about and never forgot that their loved one in captivity was more than a picture on a poster – they were a universe. Some families got their loved ones back alive and can accompany them on their road to healing and recovery – but many, far too many, received their beloved to lay to rest. They are bound in the holy place reserved for the martyrs of our history.

Heroic Homecoming. First morning of freedom after returning from two years in Hamas captivity (seen here stepping out from the helicopter holding the Israeli flag), Matan Angrest said, “‘If it were up to me, I’d return to IDF service.”’ (Photo: IDF)

The women of this country are remarkable. They are every kind of wonder woman you could image. They are the ones who serve on the frontline and the ones who hold down the home front, who volunteer in every imaginable way. They are the wives, girlfriends, partners of soldiers, offering strength and support while our warriors defend and protect. The weight of responsibility that they carry on their shoulders is enormous and yet they are the unbreakable spine of our country. I think of women like Tali Hadad, a kindergarten teacher from Ofakim who rescued her wounded son and other victims amidst intense gunfire on 7 October or Rachel Goldberg-Polin, who in her fight to free her son, Hersh, from captivity inspired the world with her strength and humanity. Hersh was murdered along with 5 other hostages and the world, in turn, hold Rachel in her grief with love. These are just two examples of the many, many heroines.

A Mother’s Might. Anderson Cooper and Rachel Goldberg-Polin (CNN’s 60 Minutes) in her murdered son Hersh’s room, which she has kept as he left it. To Anderson’s statement that “you did more than anybody could possibly do,”  Rachel replied “… And sometimes, 100% is not enough.” 

Our women defending us in the skies flew missions to Iran as pilots and navigators to strike at the heart of the despotic regime that has persecuted their own women and girls. There is something magnificently poetic about that.

It takes herculean strength and courage for victims of sexual violence to speak about it – let alone publicly. On 7 October, Hamas committed the crime against humanity of sexual violence against women, girls and men. Most of the victims were murdered, their testimonies silenced forever. Summoning their extraordinary strength following captivity, at least 11 hostages, male and female have spoken publicly about the horrific sexual abuse they routinely endured in captivity. They are a living testament to the horrors that happened and an answer to deniers.

Prior to 7 October, many feared that should war break out, our young generation would be too engrossed in their devices to respond. Boy, did we get it wrong! They have more than risen to the challenge – I would go as far to say they are our finest generation. On 7 October, they did not wait for the call – as Hamas committed a trail of atrocity in their wake, our young warriors came home to defend our country. Those that were here did not wait – they grabbed what weapons they had, many paying the ultimate price.

Many of them rest in eternal peace in graveyards across the country, testament to lives gone far, far too soon.

The former hostages that held on to their faith in the depths of hell. The stories of what they endured are devastating – but they all held on to their faith, taking pride in their identity as Jews, all the while knowing that is why they were targeted. Their faith was their rebellion against torture and constant attempts to convert them to Islam. In the pits of the terror tunnels like their ancestors who held on to faith in the death camps during the Holocaust – and those that found secret ways to continue observance in Inquisition Spain or Soviet Russia. They welcomed in Shabbat, tried to observe the laws of Kashrut, said the Shema and all they could to sustain their faith. Their steadfast faith has inspired the same in so many around the world as antisemitism spreads in a deadly blaze of hate.  

The house that Zionism built was created by pioneers, stoic in the face of extreme challenges. Pioneers on many fronts like former hostage Gadi Moses. The octogenarian has vowed to rebuild his beloved kibbutz Nir Oz that was decimated on 7 October or Brig. Gen. Daniel Gold, the brains behind the Iron Dome or the countless others in the fields of science, medicine, agriculture, AI, culture and entertainment and many, many other fields.

Resilience and Renewal. “I sung Hatikvah as a hostage in Gaza to keep my hopes of being free alive,” said Gadi Moses (age 80) a farmer and peace activist kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 and returned after 482 days in Gaza captivity, vowing to rebuild his community. (Photo: Ori Ben Hakoon)

The house that Zionism built has tikkun olam (repairing the world) as a pillar of its foundation. Herzl’s vision for the Jewish state was one that helped communities in Africa and around the world. Today, wherever disaster strikes or where help is needed, Israel answers the call – even in those places where we have no diplomatic relations or official recognition.

We are a nation of dreamers – for peace, to blaze a trail in the unknown – but we are also a nation of warriors. A nation that almost stands as a global anomaly because we know the price of not having our home and are proud of who we are and the values that we defend. Yes, there are divisions and internal disputes that threaten to rock the stability of our home – and we cannot allow hubris and disunity to find a permanent place. Our robust, democratic nature must be protected at all costs.

The House of Zionism is built on a solid foundation of strength, heroism, sacrifice, courage, love and an unshakeable millennia old love and connection. The house of Zionism has weathered storm after storm and despite the constant attacks and lies, will remain strong.

We are Aner Shapira and Hannah Szenesh, Eli Sharabi and Ahsan Daxa, we are Rachel Goldberg Polin and Ibrahim Kharuba. We are Yuval Raphael and Golda Meir. Shimon Peres and Artem Dolgopyat. We are King David and Devorah. We are Ben Gurion and Judah Maccabee. We are the sum of all of us throughout our noble history and have built this home, brick by brick.

For over two years, Israelis have lived with compounded trauma – but walking hand in hand with that, is this fierce resolve to live and to win. We are stubborn like that. On 7 October, we were hit as hard as we could be – and kicked repeatedly. Since then, we have fought back. We have fought on multiple fronts as Iran sought to surround us in a ring of fire. The pressure has been immense – but so has our stoic fortitude. Our ability to feel joy and treasure life has learnt to walk hand in hand with our grief. Both are ever present.

Israeli Grit. Israel Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar speaking on April 21, 2026 at the memorial ceremony for the force’s fallen soldiers at Pilots’ Hill, said “We took off on October 7 and won’t land until we complete the mission.”

Every slur, every accusation even though they hurt has also woken something up in us. It has galvanized us a fierce resolve to protect and defend our home. We do not need to be loved or pitied – but we do need to live.

We are the house that Zionism built. We are the bricks and mortar, the very foundation. There are times when the house comes under attack – but the foundations remain strong, rooted and defiant. We have been through a baptism of fire and are surviving the inferno. We bear the bruises – but also the triumphs. We are writing our own story, determining our own future, with resolute determination.

We are the house that Zionism built.



*Feature photo: Nation Roars. Statue of a roaring lion – “The Roar of the Lion”.





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

THE RIGHT OF JEWS TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL

Indigenous and Sovereignty are in most cases mutually exclusive.

By Neville Berman

On February 18, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar addressed the UN Security Council on Israel’s right to the biblical land of Israel. He stated that the Jewish people are the indigenous people of the land of Israel. He then asked a question of how is it possible that Jewish presence on its ancestral land is seen as a violation of international law? The delegates were left in stunned silence as the logic of Jewish claims to the land of Israel were clearly articulated. This article is about whether Jews are in fact indigenous to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and whether they have the right to sovereignty over the land. It is based on the narrative as described in the Torah.   

The Torah is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus. Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is the basis of monotheism and western civilization.

According to the Torah, Abram who later became Abraham was born in Mesopotamia in 1,813 BCE. He is described as an Ivri. He married Sarah, who remained childless during a woman’s normal child bearing years. With his wife’s approval Abraham fathered a child with his wife’s maidservant, named Hagar. She was not Jewish and the child was named Ishmael. When Abraham was 70 years old, he received the Covenant from G-d. Five years after this epic event, Abraham moved to Canaan, where in accordance with an important part of the Covenant, he circumcised himself as well as his firstborn son Ishmael, who was then 13 years old. At the age of 90, Sarah miraculously gave birth to her only son called Isaac. G-d promised Abraham that both his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, would be the progenitors of great nations.

Contact Concluded. A 18 century graphic by William Hogarth depicting Abraham buying a field from Ephron the Hittite which included the cave of Machpelah in Hebron to be used  as a family tomb.

Using the dates above, we can conclude that monotheism began when Abraham received the Covenant 3,769 years ago. This is the number of years between when Abraham received the Covenant and the current year of 2026.  After his marriage to Sarah, they became the first monotheistic Hebrew couple. Sarah had a son with Abraham named Isaac. Isaac married Rebecca, and they had a son named Jacob. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are considered the three Patriarchs of what would become Judaism. Sarah is considered the first of the four Jewish Matriarchs. After Sarah’s death, Abraham purchased a tomb in Hebron known as the cave of Machpelah, for her burial. The cave was purchased from Ephron the Hittite at an exorbitant price.  In the book of Genesis, Abraham confessed that he is:

 a stranger and a resident among you.

Heavenly Hebron. The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is the world’s most ancient Jewish site and the second holiest place for the Jewish people, after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The cave and the adjoining field were purchased by Abraham some 3700 years ago and it is where he, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are all buried in the same Cave of Machpelah. These are considered the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people.

The purchase of the site is highly significant. The cave became the burial site of all three Patriarchs and three of the four Matriarchs of the people that became known as Hebrews, then Israelites and finally Jews. The fact that Abraham had to purchase the burial site, indicates that people previously lived there, and were the owners of the property. They were Hittites, who were pagans. Indigenous people do not need to buy land from someone who lived there before they arrived.  

Stamp of Sovereignty. “I hold up a jug handle from the Kingdom of Judea, 2700 years ago. It has a stamp of the Jewish king on it,” says Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in an explosive address on the 19th February 2026 before the UN Security Council session on the Middle East.  He strongly argued that “No other nation, in any other place in the world, has a stronger right than our historical and documented right to the land of the Bible”.

Part of the narrative of Judaism is their exodus from Egypt. For hundreds of years Jews lived in bondage in Egypt. After suffering 10 plagues including the last plague of the deaths of all first-born Egyptian males, Pharaoh finally relented, and allowed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After the Red Sea miraculously parted to allow the Israelites to escape the advancing Egyptian army, the Israelites journeyed to Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from G-d. Moses then led the Israelites towards the land that G-d had promised to the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Before entering the land Moses sent out 12 spies, one from each tribe of Israel, to spy out the land. After 40 days they returned.

All twelve spies reported that the area was harsh and occupied. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, reported that with the help of G-d, they would be able to conquer the land. After all the miracles that Moses and the Israelites had personally witnessed, it seems surprising that they were hesitant to enter the land that G-d had promised to the seeds of the Patriarchs. Probably, due to this hesitancy, Moses and the Israelites were then required to wander in the desert for 40 years. Only when the next generation was considered worthy of entering Canaan, were the Israelites allowed to enter Canaan. Moses never entered Canaan and he died in 1,273 BCE.

Tumbling to Trumpets. Well-fortified Jericho is the first city that Joshua’s Israelite forces encounter and according to the Bible, falls in a miraculous manner following the march around the walls with the Ark of the Covenant once a day for six days, and on the seventh day and seventh lap they blow ram’s horn trumpets and shout really loud causing the walls to crumble.

Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River into Canaan, and was instructed by G-d to wipe out the Canaanites. The first city Joshua attacked was Jericho. Remnants of pottery found in Jericho have been carbon dated to be over 5,000 years old. From this, it can be concluded that people were living in Jericho for over a thousand years before Joshua conquered the land. The vast majority of the Canaanites were wiped out by Joshua. The Israelites would eventually become known as Jews and Canaan was renamed Judea. It is important to note that indigenous people do not need to conquer land that others inhabit.

To cut a long story short, the Romans conquered Judea, and renamed the area Palaestina. Over the course of time, it became known as Palestine, and finally in 1948, the Jews renamed it the Land of Israel. This name is based on the fact that Jacob was also referred to by the name Israel.

If Indigenous people are defined as the original inhabitants of a region, then from the events mentioned above, it appears that Jews are not indigenous to the land of Israel. The question now arises whether Jews have the right to sovereignty over the land.  

The Right of Jews to sovereignty over the land of Israel, is primarily based on G-d’s promise of the land to the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This promise is repeated several times in the Torah. This right was never promised to the seed of Ishmael, or anyone else. The claim of sovereignty is supported by over 3,000 years of Jews living in the land, as well as the building of the First Temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians and the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans. Both Temples were built by Jews on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem that is the present site of the Mosque in Jerusalem. The United Nations approval of Resolution 181 in 1947, known as the Partition Plan of Palestine, merely confirmed the right of Jews to sovereignty over a sliver of the biblical land of Israel.  The victories in the War of Independence in 1948, and the Six Day War in June 1967, further extended the right of Jewish sovereignty over the land. This is the same right claimed by America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries that gained sovereignty by subjugating the land by conquest.  

History Unearthed. Excavation of King David’s palace in Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew Bible, the name “City of David” was applied to Jerusalem after its conquest by King David in 1000 BCE.

Sovereignty involves granting citizenship to the people living in the area. Israel cannot remain a Jewish and democratic state with a majority of Palestinian citizens. To avoid this scenario, Israel should not extend sovereignty to areas with large Palestinian populations in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza. What it can do, is to place the large Jewish settlement blocks in the West Bank under Israeli sovereignty. These large settlements are all situated in the biblical land of Israel.      

The saga of the return of diaspora Jews to their ancestral homeland is a testament to the fulfilment of G-d’s promise of the land to the seeds of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Jews have survived exile after exile, and thousands of years of blood libels, persecution and demonization.  They have never abandoned their belief in one G-d and their devotion to Jerusalem. They have miraculously returned to their ancestral land, and have resuscitated Hebrew as a spoken language. They have made the desert bloom. They have established what has been metaphorically described as the villa in the jungle. It is not utopia, and has many serious problems and faults that still need to be resolved in the fullness of time.

Archeological digs in Jerusalem, and many other sites, have confirmed that Jews have lived in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years. From the above, it appears that there is a compelling case for Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel based on three claims. The first is the promise by G-d of the land to the seed of the Jewish Patriarchs, the second is over 3.000 years of Jews living in the land, and the third is conquest, both ancient and modern. No other sovereign country can claim all three of the above. I will end with the following message from G-d from the book of Genesis:

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse.


Unearthing Jewish Life in Ancient Times. The Excavation of King David’s Palace






About the writer:

Accountant Neville 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).

WE ARE ALL JEWS HERE

The heroism of Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds

By Andrew Fox

This month, the United States is set to posthumously award America’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor to US Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, a man who displayed one of the most difficult kinds of heroism: not with a rifle but with moral clarity. According to his family and reports confirmed by a White House official, President Trump told Edmonds’ son that the Medal of Honor has been approved and will be presented on a date still to be announced.

If you only remember one line from Master Sergeant Edmonds’ story, remember this: “We are all Jews here.”

Medal of Honor recipient, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds

In late 1944, Edmonds was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and taken to Stalag IX-A, a German prisoner-of-war camp. There, he became the senior American non-commissioned officer responsible for approximately 1,200–1,300 American POWs.

On 27 January 1945, the camp commandant ordered Edmonds to identify the Jewish-American prisoners for separate assembly. Edmonds understood what “separate” meant in Nazi Europe. Instead of handing Jews over one by one, he ordered all the American POWs to stand on parade together, Jews and non-Jews, then told the German officer: “We are all Jews here.”

The German officer raised a pistol and threatened to kill Edmonds on the spot. Edmonds refused to comply, invoking their rights as POWs under the Geneva Conventions and warning the officer about war crimes accountability. The officer backed down. The camp did not attempt segregation again. Edmonds’ refusal is credited with saving around 200–300 Jewish-American soldiers.

That is what “above and beyond” looks like when courage is guided by conscience. Like many others of his generation, Edmonds returned home and did not turn his story into a personal brand. He scarcely spoke of it at all. Only decades later did his son, Christopher, piece together what had happened, helped by testimonies from men who survived because Edmonds stood firm.

In 2015, Yad Vashem recognised Edmonds as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’, a rare honour awarded to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, making him the first US soldier (and one of only a few Americans) to receive it.

At a 2016 ceremony in Washington, President Obama warned that antisemitism was rising and urged people not to ignore it. Now, more than 80 years after the act itself, America will finally award its highest military honour to his name.

Edmonds’ story goes beyond inspiration to expose how evil manifests in the real world. It is more relevant today than at any time since his courageous act. The Auschwitz gas chambers were simply the culmination of the antisemitic journey. The Holocaust started with segregation and the demand that Jews be singled out, and that everyone else stand aside and let it happen. That is why Edmonds’ act remains so powerful: he refused to take the first step.

Today, that first step is making a comeback. Across the United States, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents in 2024, the highest total in the ADL’s tracking history, marking a fourth consecutive year of increases. In 2025, more than half of Jewish Americans (55%) report experiencing some form of antisemitism in the past year. Nearly one in five reported assault, threat, or verbal abuse based on their identity.

In the UK, the Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate crimes across the country in 2025. This is the second-highest annual total ever reported to CST. It represents a 4% increase from the 3,556 antisemitic incidents in 2024 and is second only to the 4,298 incidents logged in 2023.

In France, government data counted 1,320 antisemitic acts in 2025, accounting for 53% of all anti-religious incidents, remaining at historically high levels for a third straight year.

Jewish people are being threatened, targeted, excluded, blamed, harassed, assaulted, and made to feel that their public existence is a provocation. We should be precise and unwavering about where eliminationist antisemitism is being promoted and put into practice today.

Hamas’s original 1988 charter explicitly contains antisemitic incitement and conspiracy theories about Jewish control; language that reflects the same worldview that fuelled Europe’s exterminationist movements. Hamas later released a 2017 document attempting to alter some of its framing (stating its struggle is against the “Zionist project” rather than Jews), yet it continued to reject Israel’s legitimacy and endorsed “liberation” claims “from the river to the sea”. Hamas’s words are now repeated on our streets, legislatures and university campuses, daily and weekly.

Meanwhile, Iran’s regime has aided Hamas for decades, including materially and financially. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has documented a long history of Holocaust denial and distortion from the Iranian government and official media sources, one of the classic ways through which antisemitism is disguised as “politics” and “respectable debate”.

We are witnessing a revival of Nazi-style antisemitism in modern guise: sometimes religious, sometimes revolutionary, sometimes “anti-Zionist” in label, all while still peddling the oldest anti-Jewish myths.

We need action today. Master Sergeant Edmonds did one thing: he made it impossible to single Jews out. That is the heart of this call to action. When someone Jewish is targeted for their identity, it does not matter whether it occurs online, on campus, in a workplace, on a street, or in a synagogue. Our response must not be silence, ambiguity, or “both sides” of the issue.

It must be: we stand together.

  1. Speak out loud. If you hear “Hitler was right,” “the Jews control…,” “Zionists are Nazis,” or any other recycled poison, do not let it go unanswered. The social cost of antisemitism decreases when decent people remain silent.
  1. Report what you see, document what you can. Use credible reporting channels (community security groups, campus reporting tools, the police when appropriate). Patterns become undeniable when they are recorded.
  2. Show up for Jewish spaces. Attend a public Holocaust remembrance event. Visit a Jewish museum. Accept an invitation to Shabbat dinner. If a synagogue or Jewish event is threatened, ask how to support them, not as saviours, but as neighbours.
  3. Push institutions to enforce their own rules. Schools and workplaces often have policies against harassment and hate. Demand they apply those rules consistently when the target is Jewish: no euphemisms, no excuses, and no special carve-outs for the “right kind” of hate.
  4. Respect moral courage and demand it from leaders. In the US, there was a bipartisan legislative effort to recognise Edmonds’ heroism, including a bill introduced in 2025 to award him a Congressional Gold Medal. Wherever you live, let your elected officials know you expect this kind of moral clarity, not just symbolic statements when convenient.

The Nazis demanded a list. Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds refused. Our era and our societies today face a similar choice, only with different uniforms and slogans. Make your decision. It matters. Will we continue to allow Jews to be singled out? Or will we stand united and declare, in practice and not just in sentiment:

We are all Jews here.



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, Msc in Psychology 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).

RETRACING ROOTS

Israeli travel advisor takes a trip of a different kind tracing the footsteps of his late mother to Uzbekistan’s Samarkand.

By Motti Verses

Central Asia was one of the few places that accepted Jews fleeing the Holocaust. Altogether, about 1.6 million Soviet Jews and 200,000 Polish Jewish refugees are estimated to have survived the war in Central Asia – across Siberia and parts of the Ural Mountains. In this fortuitous part of the world that became an unlikely center for Jewish refugees, the city of Samarkand played a significant role as a hub for these displaced Jews. Few in the world today are aware that this city served as a major center for the evacuation of children from the Soviet Union, with thousands being sent to Uzbek families and orphanages. Research reveals that the Samarkand region during the first years of the war, absorbed about 90,000 children. To meet this influx, sixteen orphanages were established absorbing 8,000 children, including 300 from Poland.

Safety in Samarkand. During WWII, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, became a refuge for Jewish refugees, primarily from Poland, who had been displaced by the war. Above is a group portrait of Polish Jewish refugees in Samarkand in 1943. (Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Anne Miransky)

My late mother Sarah was a teenager when together with her family and a quarter of a million Polish Jews, fled with the outbreak of WWII, to the interior of the Soviet Union. Residing in a small village near the city of Chelm in eastern Poland,  my mother, together with her parents and a brother and sister, crossed the nearby border into Soviet Russia following the German Wehrmacht entering Warsaw on October 1, 1939.  In retrospect, she was among the fortunate to have escaped the genocide that befell European Jewry. I can only imagine what she experienced as she fled from one labor camp to another across Central Asia’s Muslim regions.

Years passed, and when I was her age in Israel of the 1970s, she began to revisit her past and spoke about this “most beautiful town” she remembered – Samarkand. She was reliving the best and blocking out the worst – like her experiences in a labor camp. This was understandable.

While for years hearing the name “Samarkand”, I never imagined that 85 years after the deadliest disaster to befall the Jewish people, I too – intrigued by my mother’s recollections – would journey to this intriguing city in Uzbekistan renowned in ancient times for being on the Silk Road linking China to the Mediterranean. 

Samarkand Uzbekistan on the Silk Road and the Hilton hotel / MOTTI VERSES 5/2025

This past Spring, I set out on my long-awaited journey tracing my mother’s footsteps to the city and its people that saved her life. A five-hour comfortable night flight in an empty aircraft from Ben Gurion airport and we landed in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The view from my taxi was of a modern impressive metropolis, but while our eyes feasted on  the city’s wide boulevards, its iconic Independence Square with vibrant fountains, an impressive park and spacious walkways, our minds were elsewhere, some 300 kilometers away – Samarkand.

ON TRACK TO SAMARKAND

Uzbekistan offers modern transportation, including flights and trains – fast track as well as regular. Unfortunately acquiring tickets to the faster options is not that easy with online tickets sold-out long in advance. Frustrated, we booked the 4-hour slow train, however, fortune favored us as the Tashkent hotel concierge came to our rescue and business class tickets on the fast train were found at the last minute at affordable prices. This 210 km/h high-speed train, the Afrosiyob, proved quick and comfortable as well as providing an unexpected and interesting encounter. I met a fellow passenger, Orif Shermatov, an Uzbek astronomer who was on his way to a paragliding festival in Samarkand and we engaged in a long conversation thanks to Google translation. He told me about his Jewish friends that had immigrated to Israel and when the conversation shifted to why Jews eat Matzah on Passover, my mind shifted back in time to the war and the  Jewish refugees – including my late mother and her family – marking Pesach (Passover) during those trying times in work camps.

The 2-hour ride passed quickly and soon felt as if we had passed through a time tunnel arriving in Samarkand one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. It felt as if we had also arrived back in the 14th century. Situated at the  crossroads of trade, Samarkand flourished under the rule of empires with its strategic location on the Silk Road marking it a melting pot of diverse cultures, fostering advancements in science, art and particularly in astonishing architecture that soon became visually all to apparent.  It is home of the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty, a Turco-Mongol empire that ruled much of Persia and Central Asia in the late 14th and 15th centuries founded by Amir Timur, widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders of Central Asia and today an Uzbek national hero.

Exquisite and Enchanting. The structural geometry and colorful facades of Samarkand’s renowned Islamic architecture did not fail to enchant the writer. (Photo: Motti Verses)

For history lovers and architecture enthusiasts alike, visiting the exquisite Gūr-i Amīr or Guri Amir Mausoleum Complex is undoubtedly a must as we soon found out. It took our breath away staring at the incredibly huge azure dome over the tombs of Amir Timur himself and his sons and  grandsons. It was a highlight not to be missed. Gur-e Amir means “Tomb of the King” in Persian. 

A Feast for the Eyes. Interior of the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum which was erected on the initiative of Timur in 1404 and occupies an important place in the history of world Islamic architecture.(Photo: Motti Verses)

Located in the heart of Samarkand, the ancient Registan Square ensemble of Madrasas is a real gem and undeniably the centerpiece of the city. Its grand architectural ensemble has earned it global fame as a monument of oriental architecture offering a breathtaking journey through centuries of history, architecture, and cultural heritage. But it did not always look like this as we soon discovered.

‘Roaring’ Success. The name of the impressively restored Sher-Dor Madrasah on Registan Square built between 1619 and 1636, translates to “Madrassah with Lions”. (Photo: Motti Verses)

Over the centuries and a lack of resources left it neglected. We learnt how Samarkand had gone through severe economic decline, particularly when  its status of being a capital city passed to Bukhara and merchants of the Great Silk Road bypassed the city. 

However major restoration works were undertaken between 1967-1987 and the outcome is jaw dropping. We were left speechless facing this grand architectural collection and I couldn’t help thinking about my late mother, who had been 14 and 15 years old at the time, admiring the unmaintained sites in the 1940s before the restoration. The structures were then in a ruined condition with the domes and portals partially or in some cases, totally destroyed. The  minarets were dangerously inclined and the façades in some places had lost 70-80% of their ceramic tile coverings. We saw in the museum section of the madrasas, photographs capturing the history from those days. However, and this is what struck me so emotionally, was reflecting back to the city’s depressed period, its iconic architectural gems neglected and my mother  as with all the Jewish refugees also in a state of tragic upheaval and ‘disrepair’, nevertheless marveling at what she saw and experienced here in Samarkand. To my mother, it was the most beautiful city she had ever seen in her life.

Iconic Leader.  A great patron of art and architecture, Uzbek national hero, Amir Timur, the Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire. (Photo: Motti Verses)

The old town is gigantic in size. Much bigger to what I imagined. We explored endless additional breathtaking structures, monuments, mausoleums and the famous Bibi-Khanum Mosque, named after the emperor’s wife. At the time it was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world. Bibi-Khanym Mosque is considered a masterpiece of the Timurid Renaissance and left us once again breathless.

Majestic Mosque. A masterpiece of the Timurid Renaissance, Samarkand’s Bibi-Khanym Mosque is one of the country’s most important monuments and in the fifteenth century was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world.  (Photo: Motti Verses)

Everywhere we explored, I thought of my Mom as a teenager here, where she had been and what she saw and experienced. Leaving the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, we visited the nearby colorful Siab Bazaar known for its vibrant atmosphere and a wide variety of goods, including fresh produce, spices, textiles, and local handicrafts. 

Walking by numerous restaurants offering delicious Uzbek cuisine, we eventually stopped and tried the Plov, the national dish of Uzbekistan with carrots, rice and lamb. Tasty and definitely the ultimate social food here that brings people together.  As I chewed this delicious food, I could not escape the thought:

 “What did my mother eat as a refugee in this city? Did she also enjoy as I was the Plov?”

Food for Thought. Always wondering what his mother may have eaten here during the war years, the writer enjoys a plate of Plov, the quintessential dish of Uzbekistan.  (Photo: Motti Verses)

Thirty minutes away into the countryside and we were in the ‘Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Center’, a unique tourist complex built along an artificial rowing canal dating from the soviet times.

Dazzling Delights. Constantly wondering what his mother had seen all those years before of the ‘Eternal City’, the writer explores and is bedazzled by the restored beauty of Samarkand. (Photo: Motti Verses)

The architecture and landscaping – a recreation of ancient Samarkand, complete with domes and mosques, restaurants and bazaar-style shops – was stunning.

Surprise Encounters. The writer found surprise and beauty at every turn in this dream “Eternal City”. (Photo: Motti Verses)

Like Alice entering Wonderland, we felt we had stepped into an oriental fairy tale with the turquoise domes, majestic mosaics on palaces and high minarets piercing the blue sky.

While we strolled fascinated by the architecture, it was our minds too that wandered, imagining the versatile heritage of bygone centuries. The trade routes of the Great Silk Road paved the way to Samarkand paper manufacturing. The silk paper process-making is one of the most impressive presentations here. Thousands of years of astonishing technology by Samarkand craftsmen.

Paper Processing. From ancient times to the present, Samarkand paper has not lost its significance as seen hear in this silk paper process-making. (Photo by Motti Verses)

Moved by Samarkand’s magical landmarks and its rich cultural heritage, this city will certainly remain in our hearts forever. We felt  – as my mother must have felt – completely safe here, surrounded by the friendly Uzbek people. In my heart, I thanked them for being so brave and warm to the refugees fleeing the bloodiest conflict in human history. 

Time Travels. During the time the writer’s mother was in Samarkand during WWII, a group of fellow Jewish refugees are seen here in front of Tamarlane’s tomb. (Photo Credit:United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marc Ratner)

Visiting Samarkand was not only a breathtaking journey to a beautiful city with wonderful people but it was also a journey into the past, linking my mother’s stories of my childhood with her childhood in this wonderous place where she found refuge before starting a new life in a new land – Israel.


  • In memory of Sarah Migdal-Verses (1926-2009)



*Feature picture: The writer thinking of his late mother Sarah (right) in Samarkand’s Registan Square (Photo: Motti Verses).



About the writer:

The writer, Motti Verses, is a Travel Flash Tips publisher. His travel stories are published on THE TIMES OF ISRAEL  https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/motti-verses/. And his hospitality analysis reviews on THE JERUSALEM POST, are available on his Linkedin page LinkedIn Israelhttps://il.linkedin.com › motti-verse…Motti Verses – Publisher and Chief Editor – TRAVEL FLASH TIPSAnd his hospitality analysis reviews on THE JERUSALEM POST, are available on his Linkedin page LinkedIn Israelhttps://il.linkedin.com › motti-verse…Motti Verses – Publisher and Chief Editor – TRAVEL FLASH TIPS.





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

THE NEW ISRAELI

Israelis have been irrevocably changed by the events of 7 October

By Rolene Marks

We are almost at the one-year anniversary since the Hamas invasion of 7 October.  One year. How does one capture a year of trauma, loss, agony, miracles, triumphs, tragedies, anger, sorrow and just about every other emotion you can think of. It does not matter how many days have passed since that Black Sabbath, for Israelis, every day is 7 October.

It has been almost a year of profound devastation – but also of exceptional resilience and heroism. Israelis have always been a plucky, “chutzpanit” and innovative but since 7 October, a new Israeli has been born.

We will never be those people who went to sleep on 6 October, filled with joyous anticipation of the next day when we would celebrate the Jewish holy festival of Simcha Torah. How could we ever be the same? We have been birthed anew – irrevocably changed.

Processing and Persevering. Daniel Weiss sings next to the destroyed home of his murdered parents Judith and Shmulik Weiss (Credit: Noam Dvir)

In our grief, we each adopted a personal mission. Through our pain, we have each found a purpose. On 7 October, we experienced the worst of humanity. On 8 October, the best of Israel and the Jewish people trudged through their pain, shock and grief and rose to meet the challenges. We are trauma bonded forever – but we are turning our pain into purpose and power.

The new Israeli is forged with a backbone of steel, even tougher than those of our predecessors. We have to be.  The 7 October massacre was a brutal wake-up call that if we thought for one second, we could be complacent or let our guard down – think again. 

For many Israelis, the rampant antisemitism that we see on campuses and in protests in cities around the world has woken us up to the imperative of the State of Israel and that Jew hatred is not an abstract concept. The genie is not just out of the bottle, it is running like a screaming maniac down the streets and on the campuses, on social media and across industries and careers. Our reaction has been to not cower – but to face it head on with pride, dignity and action. Israeli’s do not fit into any particular box of definitions and this confuses the paradigm. Israelis, no matter their age or background, religious or secular, left or right leaning, are patriotic. We are proud of our flag; we are proud to serve and we are proud of our national identity and history. This is an inconvenient truth for many of our detractors.

Prior to 7 October, many of us pondered this generation of Tik-Tok obsessed, social media addicts and wondered what would happen if they were challenged in any way. Would they stand up? Would they be worthy?

This generation of Israelis are worthy. They are the reservists who did not wait to be called up by the IDF to defend Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack who rushed to their bases or caught planes from the four corners of the world to fight. They fight with honour and with pride. While many of their compatriots around the world are looking for the nearest “safe space” on campus – they are busy fighting a brutal enemy that threatens our western values and liberties. We need to be worthy of them and make sure that they receive our full support. They certainly have our gratitude.

Our young people have known pain and heartbreak that their peers around the world have never encountered. Many of them have lost friends and peers fighting for their country or during the massacre.

Israelis have learnt the hard way over the last year that not only are we judged by a different standard for the way we are prosecuting a war we did not start, we are judged for daring to have the audacity to defend ourselves. We have learnt that those who hate Israel will attach any dehumanizing and demeaning label they possibly can to demonize the Jewish state. We have heard them all – Apartheid state, colonisers and genocidal killers. We have learnt that despite our earnest attempts to communicate the facts, they vanish into the abyss. I believe the silent majority stands with Israel but are too afraid to be vocal because of the violence and intimidation shown by the “opposition”.

Resilience and Rebirth. The Be’eri Printing Press factory at Kibbutz Be’eri reopens a week after the massacre carried out by Hamas.

Many are debating what the “day after” looks like for Gaza. We know we need to have a plan because we will not allow for any scenario that creates a sequel to 7 October. The new Israeli, birthed in the baptism of fire and murder continues to hope for peace but will fight with all our might no matter what because we are fighting for our very existence. The new Israel carries not only the Farhud, Shoah and the expulsions on our shoulders and in our souls; we carry the Kibbutzim, Nova family and every innocent who was taken from us that black day.

We are also wondering what “the day after” looks like for us as Jews and Israelis, demonized and dehumanized by so many around the world. How do we send our children to university? How do we travel safely and without harassment? How do we reconnect, if ever, with those we believed were friends but were conspicuous by their silence? How do we walk the streets of major cities around the world knowing they were the weekly venues for chants for our destruction?

I will tell you how. We do it with pride and strength because we know that the same DNA that carries trauma also carries that will to survive, that tenacity to thrive and build, that stubborn burst of the light of home that no hate can extinguish.

The last year has birthed a new Israeli, a new Jew, a new Israeli. We are different but stronger, prouder, fearless, forged in steel like a sword – and the sword is as strong as iron.

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).

“JEWS NOT WANTED”

Jews are receiving a familiar message and its lethal.

By David E. Kaplan

Recollecting a conversation I had as a youngster with my late dad in South Africa, he related how his good friend Walter Levy, whom he enjoyed smoking cigars with and playing billiards, arrived in Cape Town 1936 on the last boat to sail from Germany, with Jewish refugees before the start of the Second World War.  

Departed Harassed; Arrived Harassed. The arrival on October 27, 1936 of the steamer Stuttgart at Cape Town in which Walter Levy arrived. It was the last ship from Germany with Jewish refugees and according to a report, “Upon arrival at Cape Town, when the refugees left the ship, they were harassed and abused by antisemitic protesters.” (Photo: public domain)

What was remarkable was that Walter was 16-years-old at the time and he arrived in South Africa alone.

Emigrating without any member of his family, I pressed on: “How come?”

My father continued:

“Walter was very popular at school, and was a star in his football team. His best friends were his football mates. Then one day, he came onto the field for usual practice and these same friends spat at him and called him a filthy Jew. These were his BEST friends. He was stunned! He ran home and told his parents, “That’s it; I’m leaving school and leaving Germany; alone if needs be.”

And that’s what he did and within the year, and on October 27,1936, under the shadow of Table Mountain, the SS Stuttgart arrived at Cape Town docks, and young Walter, with some 550 other Jewish refugees, disembarked to start a new life.

Sign of the Times. An SS member instructs others where to post anti-Jewish boycott signs on a commercial street in Germany.

Walter, who would emerge as an outstanding businessman in Cape Town, had read the writing on the wall at the age of sixteen and immediately understood on a football field, an ancient hateful millennial message:

“Jews not wanted”

It is a message today following October 7 that Jews around the world are receiving loud and clear across the globe.

From the individual Jew on campuses across Europe and North America to the collective Jew of the State of Israel, that same message is clear. The recent behaviour of France was a dark reminder of an era in Europe we believed we left behind and now feels ever closer to revisiting! When the French government earlier this month BANNED Israel from participating in the prestigious Eurosatory defense exhibition – where the merchandise of Israeli companies is always in high demand – sent the same message Walter Levy felt in Germany in 1936 of “not wanted”.

Held every two years in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre in Paris, the Eurosatory is the largest international exhibition for the land and air-land defence and security industry. In 2022, it gathered over 1,700 exhibitors and approximately 62,000 visitors from 150 countries. This year, the city whose police and gendarmes on 16 -17 July 1942 mass arrested Jewish families at the behest of the Nazis, banned Israelis.

HALT! Verboten to Israelis. The Eurosatory Defense and Security trade show in Villepinte, outside Paris, where this year, not only was Israel banned from exhibiting but Israelis were banned from attending. (Photo: AP)
 

It went further.

Upon the request of pro-Palestinian groups, not only were Israeli companies prevented from exhibiting their products as they traditionally do, but a district court furthermore barred Israelis from even attending the event.  Apparently, the petition filed by the pro-Palestinian groups were not satisfied with cancelling the Israeli pavilion as it:

 “Did not guarantee the absence of Israelis at the event.”

The court sided with this disgraceful argument,

So, while the representatives of China and Iran – two of the world’s worst violators of human rights – were free to come and go, of course, Israelis were barred.

And then, reminiscent of 1930s Berlin windows of Jewish-owned stores painted with the word “JUDE” (Jew), the French court ordered that the letter announcing the ban at the exhibition be posted at the entrances to the exhibition. Although long and convoluted, its message was clear:

 “No Israelis allowed”

As The Jerusalem Post columnist, Liat Collins wrote, it was only a step away from “No entrance for Jews.”

France’s decision to exclude Israel and its citizens from the fair was in its words driven by “suspicions of war crimes and genocide in Gaza”.  Really?

Apart from no evidence of either, Israel will never “get a fair shake from most of the world,” writes Eric R. Mandel, director of the consulting firm, Mandel Strategies. Writing in The Jerusalem Post (March 11 ‘Convincing American’), Mandel notes that:

 “Some 69% of protests in the first week after Hamas invaded Israel, on October 7, 2023, were against the Jewish state. This, despite Hamas causing the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, with unimaginable sexual violence. And the Jewish state hadn’t even started its ground operation.”

Ignoring Massacre and Sexual violence of Jews. Thousands of protestors participate in a pro-Palestinian protest in London on October 22, 2023. This followed the massacre of Israelis on October 7 and before Israel began the land incursion into Gaza on October 27.

In other words, the world had turned on the hate BEFORE Israel responded to the massacre of October 7. Hence, it does not matter what Israel says or does; it only matters to antisemites that Israel exists.

While Israel is being unreasonably pressurized to consider “the day after” offering a “political vision for tomorrow,” I cannot help but subscribe to the position that a people that base their right to self-rule, forfeit that right if their cause rests on the destruction of another.

That today is the position of the Palestinians where according to a Palestinian poll published by the Ramallah-based non-profit Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research released on June 12, “more than two-thirds support Hamas’s decision to launch its killing spree in southern Israel on October 7.”

Clearly, we have a clash of “visions for tomorrow”.

Israel is not obliged to commit suicide.

Masada fell once. It will never fall again.





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 LOVE LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF MY COUNTRY

These past 7 months have demonstrated that Israelis are extraordinary in so many ways.

By Rolene Marks

It has been over 7 months of agony. It feels like years. I do not remember life before 7 October – I do not think most people do either. There is 7/10 – and life before that, which is blurred and fuzzy. We are not the same people who went to sleep on 6 October. We never will be again. How could we be?

This year, the national holidays in Israel have a distinctly different tone. They are sacred days, filled with sorrow – and dread. Yom Hashoa (Holocaust Memorial Day) in the shadow of 7/10 was extremely poignant and difficult. The images of our brothers and sisters burnt to ash or herded onto the back of trucks and taken away as well as the raw, unbridled hatred that fueled the attack was reminiscent of the experiences of our ancestors – and family.

On 7 October, Hamas intended to terrorise. And they did. The trauma we have is so deep; it is at a cellular level. They came into the one safe haven of the Jewish people, our collective home and into our individual homes as families, and raped, mutilated, tortured, burnt, murdered and kidnapped. We thought it could never happen again – but it did.  We are so deep in our collective trauma that we have not even begun to emerge into post trauma but no sooner had the news broken, Israelis began to flex our well-toned resilience muscle. War and trauma are not new to Israelis or the Jewish people, but this time it was different. The level of depravity was beyond our comprehension – and many of us feel that we have been transported back in time, to the pogroms and persecution of our grandparents and great-grandparents.

We are now approaching two Days of Awe – Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror – and Yom Ha’atzmaut, Independence Day. The two days take place one after the other so that we never forget the price we paid for what we have – a Jewish state. This year it is all the more emotional and heightened as we are fighting a war for our very survival – while antisemitism soars to astronomical levels.

Hamas made no distinction between any of us – left or right, religious or secular, Muslim, Christian, Jew, and foreign national – everyone was a target. Our answer to that, despite our differences, is to come together as a nation and focus on what is most important – supporting our bereaved families and families of hostages, demanding the immediate return of our hostages, ensuring the world does not forget what happened on 7/10 and standing behind our army.

In our grief, we each adopted a personal mission. Through our pain, we have each found a purpose and this article is my personal love letter to every single one of my exceptional fellow citizens and women. On 7 October, we experienced the worst of humanity. On 8 October, the best of Israel and the Jewish people trudged through their pain, shock and grief and rose to meet the challenges.

These Days of Awe, I want to express my profound love for my fellow citizens.

To the men, women and canines on air, sea, land, tunnels and airwaves, who are fighting not just for our survival, but for our very existence, there are not enough words to thank you. You are the best of us. You are our husbands and wives, sons and daughters, lovers, colleagues, friends and you are not just fighting for us, you are the vanguard in the clash between good and evil. We are proud of you, we stand by you and we know without any doubt that you adhere to the strictest moral and ethical code as you fight a monstrous entity that does not respect the laws of armed conflict, but instead uses their civilians as human shields. You can hold your head up high.

To our warriors, human and canine, who paid the ultimate price for our safety, your names will go down in the annals of our history, and we will honour you eternally. We will wrap our arms around your families. May your memories forever be blessed.

The 7th of October was the darkest day in Israel’s history, but it was also a day that ordinary people became superheroes. There were parents who drove down south to rescue their children in the carnage, risking their lives and saving many. Noam Tibon, a retired IDF General, and his wife got into their car and headed straight to Nahal Oz to help rescue his son and his family, trapped in their safe room.  Tibon and his wife would not only rescue injured soldiers, shepherding them to safety, but Noam engaged in combat with terrorists before managing to free his family. Civilians like Yusuf Marhat, a Bedouin bus driver who transported revelers to the Nova festival and then drove towards the carnage to rescue as many as possible. He saved many lives that dark day. Aner Shapira was amongst a group of people hiding in a shelter when Hamas opened fire on them and threw grenades in. Video footage shows Shapira throwing at least 7 grenades out before he was eventually killed. His best friend Hersch Goldberg Polin was taken as a hostage and remains in captivity. These are just a few of the many who drew superhuman strength to save as many lives as they could.

To every first responder who ran into the danger, we salute you. It was the call centre operators who took those first calls from terrified kibbutz residents. I keep thinking of the operator who took the distressed call of Avigail Idan’s siblings, who saw their parents murdered and did not know where their baby sister was. The siblings hid in a cupboard where their mother Smadar had safely hidden them before she was murdered. The operator told them to hide there “till the good people come”. Images of Jewish children hiding in cupboards from killers takes us back to that darkest time in our history. The remarkable first responders from Magen David Adom, firefighters, United Hatzalah, Zaka, IDF soldiers, doctors, nurses, police and all who ran into the gates of hell went above and beyond the call of duty. They were nothing less than magnificent.

The attacks of October 7 left many orphans. Statistics estimate 119 children who lost either one or more parents. Breastfeeding mothers rushed to donate their breast milk so that our smallest and most vulnerable treasures would receive sustenance. This is love in a profound time of sorrow.

The Beautiful Israel.  Young kids making sandwiches for soldiers who may be their fathers or mothers defending their country in the north and the south.

To the volunteers, near and far, who are diligently picking fruit and vegetables, thank you! You are helping to feed a country who faces the real threat of a lack of food security. Many of the agricultural workers who came from Thailand, Nepal and other countries returned to their countries in the wake of 7/10, leaving farms without labourers. Israelis sprang into action, making sure cows were milked, fruit, vegetable picked, and that the farms that form the country’s food belt have continued to function. Volunteers have been streaming in around from around the world to help – including a team of cowboys from the USA.  It has been an incredible show of love and solidarity.

Stepping up to the Plate. Braving warm smiles on faces traumatized by national tragedy, Israelis preparing food for their soldiers.

To my colleagues who are journalists or are in the field of public diplomacy – we are tasked with bearing witness, recording history and testimony and sharing it with the world. It has been at times, an agonizing task. We have had to see the images and footage from the atrocities that are unfathomable in their cruelty. We have had to see them again and again in order to ensure the story is told, the atrocities not denied or forgotten. It takes a massive toll. We will continue to speak.

To the lawyers who are defending Israel in the international courts against libelous accusations of genocide – some heroes really do wear capes. In this case, robes. You are our legal heroes in your robes, presenting Israel’s case with alacrity, dignity and forensic detail, compiling case after case that easily disproves the accusation of genocide. You have had to pore over the evidence of a true genocide, the atrocities of 7 October, in all of its savage imagery. This is unbearable but proves without a doubt who the perpetrators are – Hamas.  

To my sisters, the Zionesses roaring on behalf of our mothers, sisters and daughters who no longer have a voice, who were raped and tortured and then violated again by feminists and women’s organisations who not only denied the violence they endured, but built a wall of silence. We, the women of Israel, will tear down that wall by speaking up. We will not be silenced.


Country United. As they say an army marches on its stomach, it didn’t take long for Israel’s restaurants to get into the kitchen to feed their heroes. Within days of the war began following the massacre of October 7, even Israel’s top restaurants rallied to provide food for the soldiers.

Someone once said that an army marches on its stomach. The IDF must be the most well-fed army in in the world. Israelis and volunteers from abroad have been packing food parcels, donating, hosting barbeques on the border and ensuring that the army that defends its nation, eats well. Restaurant owners have koshered their restaurants to ensure that all food meets religious requirement and no soldiers is excluded from enjoying a delicious meal.  Druze women and restaurant owners have closed their restaurants to the public and are catering solely to soldiers. When they open to the public again, we will support them in our masses.


What’s Cooking? In wartime Israel, everyone does their part – even if that means cooking dinner in a parking garage. Seen here at the Keshet school in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, are student volunteers in their school’s parking garage, which also is functioning as a makeshift kitchen feeding as many as 300 people per day.(Photo by Neil Weinberg)
 

To the hostages – our brothers and sisters held in torturous conditions, and those who have been released – no amount of words do justice to explain your courage and your dignity.  Former hostages who have bravely shared about their horrific experience have done so with the greatest dignity and continue to fight for the 132 that remain captive. The stories are shattering – torture, starvation, systematic sexual abuse and more accounts that speak of unfathomable trauma. We will not stop until every single one of you is back.

The people who have vowed to rebuild their devastated communities and kibbutzim, you are the beacon of hope, of resilience. You remind us of what we have, what we cherish and what our commitment is.


Seniors in the ‘Service’. Volunteers sort donated resources for Israelis displaced by the October 7 attacks and Israel-Hamas war. (Photo: Foni Mesika)

Young people who have risen to the challenge. You are more than our greatest hope, you have more than proven our future is radiantly bright – you light the way. You have shown up in our darkest moment in the most magnificent way and while we look around the world at the chaos on campuses and in marches, alarmed at how the young and more often than not, gullible have been radicalized, we do not fear for the future of Israel. You are our future. You are the generation that will go down in the annals of history as one of our greatest. I believe that.

To you who has gone above and beyond and who I may not have mentioned, thank you. To every single one of us, navigating our own trauma and pain, but showing up, every single day, there is no greater love than the love we have for each other.

Every single one of us. 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).

UCT COUNCIL ELECTION

Shaping a safer future today for tomorrow’s students

“A university is supposed to be a safe space for young students to learn, debate, and discuss things,” said Daniel Bloch, the director of the Cape South African Board of Jewish Deputies.  He was sadly referring to Cape Town University (UCT), that in recent times has emerged as an increasingly hostile environment for Jewish students.
Once the bastion of academic freedom and free speech, Jewish students frequently face frightening abuse and threats from Israel haters.
In the light of the forgoing, Lay of the Land was approached to bring to the attention of its readers, many of them UCT alumni, that there is an important Council Election taking place at present that closes on the 23 April 2024.
See below for details.

David Kaplan
Editor Lay of the Land


UCT Alumni Action Alert 📢📢📢

UCT has announced the commencement of its Council Elections. This allows alumni to have a direct impact on the future of the university. The UCT Council is the highest decision-making body at UCT. The election runs until 23 April 2024.

Over the past number of years UCT has become notably hostile toward Israel, academic freedom, independent thinking and opposition voices.  Events in which Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthi speakers have even been hosted have been held on the campus.

Four alumni candidates are running for the UCT Council to help restore stability and support the university’s commitment to academic excellence and freedom.  They are:

David Ansara, Think Tank Director; Mark Oppenheimer, Advocate; Kelly Phelps, Legal Academic; Brian Kantor, Professor Emeritus

VOTE NOW FOR ALL FOUR CANDIDATES – Support the future of the University of Cape Town and all South Africans

To Vote:

You can only vote if you have received a ballot via email from UCT.  If you haven’t received a ballot, request one by emailing convocationelection@uct.ac.za and follow the instructions. To learn more about the candidates  https://tinyurl.com/fnftnvyd

PLEASE PASS ON TO OTHER ALUMNI!

Warm Regards

Adam Frank
Researcher in Geo-Political Risk
UCT Alumni Action Alert





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).