Posts Tagged ‘Jerusalem’
Next week Prime Minister Natanyahu will be in Washington D.C. for “peace talks” with Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) who is the Palestinian President, although he has not been re-elected (there were no more elections and his term was over long ago).
Abbas who belongs to the “Patach” faction is hated by “Hamas” and even fears to enter the Gaza Strip where they rule, which also means he does not represent all the “Palestinians” and is really unable to make serious decisions.
Even so he is making many demands before the talks even begin, and it is doubtful if anything will come of them.
Israel also has some demands, the most important being recognition of Israel as JEWISH State and of course security guarantees and the non-militarization of a Palestinian State.
We’ll have to wait and see what the outcome of the talks will be - one thing is certain, we can’t be pressured into terms which will endanger our safety. Jerusalem is of course another problem.
A bit of history remembered
43 Years ago, I kept a personal diary of the Six-Day-War and want to copy here some lines from the date ; June the 7th , 1967.
“The Old City of Jerusalem is ours! After nearly 2,000 years, Jerusalem has come back to its rightful owner. How can I describe in words my feeling when I heard this?
“My eyes grew moist and I seemed to swallow or choke down my tears. I felt that I had to shout this news out loud - I wanted everyone to share my delight.
“I smiled at my sons (aged 15 and 13 then) - who came home punctually every hour to listen to the news broadcast and we all looked at one another, but the words we said, like “How wonderful” etc. carried no meaning, because we all felt something in our hearts that couldn’t be put into words.
“I am not a religious person and even strongly dislike the behaviour of those ultra-pious who try and force others against their wishes to observe religious laws and even throw stones at those travelling on the Sabbath, but Jerusalem is something special for me.
“Jerusalem is Zion. Jerusalem is Judaism, and as a Jew it is part of me. I can’t explain it.
“When I’ll be able to visit the Old City, I will surely go to the Wailing (Western) Wall, and may even give a prayer of thanks. I’ve been praying inside myself for the last few days, but this will be something different.”
And nothing has changed, I and most of us, still feel the same.
Today’s hardship is from nature
The latest great heat wave in Israel has caused much damage to agriculture.
I saw a program on TV yesterday showing orchards with rotting fruit, saw chickens dead of the heat, we were told of the hens laying less eggs and other agricultural ruins.
The prices of fruit and vegetables have also gone up lately, presumably this is the reason.
Now for something good to end my blog with:
Prof. Elon Lindenstrauss of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was awarded the 2010 Fields Medal for mathematics - considered the “Nobel Prize” in the field , for outstanding work.
This prestigious prize was awarded in Hyderbad, India, at the opening of the International Congress of Mathemeticians, which is convened by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
This is the first time an Israeli has received this award, for leading mathematicians aged 40 and below.
And with these words I end today. Shalom from Irene
Posted in Gaza, Israeli conflict, Life in Israel, Observations, Palestinian conflict, State of Israel | 
Tags: 6-Day War, DC, Drought, Israel, Jerusalem, Mahmud Abbass, Natanyahu, Palestinian Peace Talks, Palestinian President
Again violence in Jerusalem, this time it was Muslim Arabs on the Temple Mount where the El Aqsa mosque stands, in the place of the former destroyed Jewish Holy Temple.
It’s a known fact that in many areas of the world where churches and places of prayer by other religions were destroyed, the Muslims have built mosques on these sites.
This time they took their rioting further than usual, by throwing stones and rocks from the Mount above, at the people below, who were praying by the Western Wall, the only remnant left of the Temple and the holiest place for Jews.
The police were called in and manged to disperse the rioters - many were wounded on both sides. Now, until things quieten down, only people wishing to pray above the age of 40 are allowed to enter the Temple Mount on their way to the mosque. I hope everything will return to normal soon
The massacre of Armenians by Turkey during World War I has come into the news again.
An American diplomatic source said that a resolution classifying the World War I killing of Armenians as genocide passed a House committee in Washington on Thursday.
It is a well-known fact that this genocide happened but for political reasons it has been kept quiet for these many years by most countries in the world, even I must regretfully admit by Israel.
The passage of the resolution in the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has triggered a crisis in Turkish-US ties. The resolution will now go to the House floor for a vote.
A similar resolution passed the House Committee in 2007, but then-President George W. Bush urged Congressional leaders not to table the vote because of concern for US-Turkish relations.
If any of my readers are interested in details of this act of genocide, I suggest they read the book,The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” which is a historical novel depicting the heroic battle of Musa Dagh, which took place in 1915.
For months the ruthless Turks had waged a campaign of terror against the Armenians – massacring ,hanging, looting and raping. This great novel was written in 1933 by the Austrian writer France Werfel.
An Israeli film called “Ajami” was amongst five films nominated for the Oscar prize for foreign films this year.
Ajami depicts the brutal life involving drugs, violence and poverty in the Jewish-Arab neighborhood by this name in Jaffa and the film was directed by Scandar Copti, an Israeli Arab, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew.
The movie used mainly nonprofessional actors, who were taught in special workshops before filming began.
Some of these actors are themselves residents of the Ajami district.
But this film is not typical of all Muslim-Christian-Jewish relationships in Israel, which are usually normally good.
It depicts only one small poor and unhappy area. Anyway, the film didn’t get any prize, an Argentinian film got the Oscar.
With this I close today. Shalom from Irene
During the last few days here, much of the news has been about our kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. We have seen and heard him speak on the video film the Hamas organization which is holding him, have made. Evidently it is really him and his voice, but one can see that the words he was reading were not written by him, and although he appeared in clean clothes with a nice haircut, no one can tell under which conditions he has been kept till now, and if he will return to them.But one thing is certain - we are all so glad he is alive - many had feared the worst in that respect. Now hopefully negotiations for his release will go ahead faster, although we know the price for that is very high.