On Friday we will be giving a presentation to the Workers Education Association  on the Gaza Conflict of 2014.

In war, it has been said, the truth is the first casualty.

Hamas are the champions of the oppressed, fighting for the freedom of their people.

While Israel, the foreign oppressors, who are building an Apartheid state,  conducted an illegal war  backed by the  imperialist American war machine, using disproportionate force, caused untold atrocities against women and children.

Once again, Gaza has been left devastated, impoverished and mourning their dead.

Is there an alternate narrative? What might that be? How can you tell who is telling the truth?

Much disinformation surrounds the politics of the Middle East and in particular Israel.  These briefings give the opportunity to review the reports from sources on both sides of the conflict and to make more informed and measured conclusions.

These briefings will be held monthly though there will be no meeting in April.

You are cordially invited to

A Breakfast With H.E. the

Ambassador of Israel to
New Zealand

Yosef Livne

To be held at

Papanui Baptist Church, 44 Sawyers Arms Rd, Papanui, Christchurch

Sunday, February 22, 2015

7am – 8.30am

Order of events

A light breakfast consisting of a selection of cereals, yoghurt, milk, fruit, coffee and tea will be provided.

Admission:  Gold coin donation; feel free to invite your friends

Sunday Evening 7pm 5th October 2014

Venue: Rutland St Church Lounge, entry from Gosset St, Christchurch

Please bring a plate of finger food for supper.

Mr Shlomo Behaim,

on behalf of the JNF (Jewish National Fund), presents an evening talk on two topics:

“Jewish Rights to the Land of Israel”

What are Jewish rights to the Land of Israel from the perspectives of the Tanach (Old Testament), History and world opinion?

And

“Restoring the Land of Milk and Honey:

The Development of Agriculture in Israel”

Agriculture has transformed Israel. In 1948 it was a land that was often rendered untillable by deforestation, soil erosion and neglect. Today over 95% of the nation’s food requirements are supplied by its own horticultural industry. In recent times technology has played an important role in increasing production yields. The fruit of the land is abundant once more.

The JNF is a non-profit organization and was established in 1901. They have planted an estimated 240 million trees throughout the land of Israel, and have built 180 dams and reservoirs, developed 250,000 acres of land and established more than 1000 parks.

This talk is brought to you in association with the

Jewish National Fund

and

New Zealand Friends of Israel

Shadows of Shoah is an artistic educational project that communicates the gravity and significance of the Holocaust in a unique way. Using photography and original music, selected episodes from survivors’ experiences are presented in a brief, compelling format. To reach a generation for whom the Holocaust holds little relevance or significance, Shadows of Shoah strives to produce powerful and evocative art while carefully maintaining historical accuracy.

The opening of the exhibition features guest speaker, Daniel Gold, Holocaust Survivor.  Here he is with his father shortly after WW2 (left).

Daniel Gold was born in Siauliai, Lithuania in 1937. In 1941, the Germans occupied Lithuania, and the Jews of Siauliai were enclosed in a ghetto. In 1943, “Aktions” were carried out in all the ghettos of Lithuania, and all the old and weak people, as also the children were rounded up and sent to their deaths. Parents tried to hide the children, but only a very few remained undetected, out of them Daniel and a few cousins.

In the summer of 1944, a few days before liquidation of the ghetto and dispatch of all survivors to concentration camps, his aunt and uncle escaped, taking with them their two sons, a female cousin and himself. They found refuge with a Lithuanian peasant family, where they lived in hiding, under extremely cramped conditions, until their liberation by the Russian army, in late fall of 1944.

In 1946, Daniel was reunited with his father in Germany, where his father was liberated from Dachau concentration camp by the American army in 1945. Daniel’s mother perished. In 1952, they made Aliyah. In 1955, he joined the Air Force and pilots’ course, during which he was wounded, just prior to the Sinai campaign. Later, he served as pilot in the Six Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War and first Lebanon War. Altogether, he served as reserve pilot for several decades.

Daniel went into academia, attaining the position of Professor in the field of medical microbiology. Although being retired for the last eight years, he continues to teach medical students on a voluntary basis.

He has a fascinating story to tell.

The exhibition runs through until October 13.