All going well, Israel’s Lunar Lander is due to land on the Moon on April 11. Here’s an illustration of its amazing journey through space. Quite a technological feat.
How I beat the Nazis and survived: 100-year-old tells her story | NZ Herald
Lena Goldstein hid under German uniforms and used her wits to survive the Holocaust in the Warsaw ghetto. Photo / Supplied, Sydney Jewish Museum
When the Nazi soldiers came to take her away to Treblinka camp and be gassed, Lena Goldstein managed to hide under a pile of German uniforms in a laundry.
It wasn’t the first or last time Lena had tricked the Nazis or watched them take someone she loved off to the extermination camps.
But the day remains seared in her mind, and as she tells her story, having just celebrated her 100th birthday in Sydney, it is with a freshness and an urgency to ensure the atrocities are not forgotten.
Archaeologists Find First-ever Philistine Cemetery in Israel | Haaretz
Cemetery in ancient Ashkelon, dating back 2700-3000 years, proves the Philistines came from the Aegean, and that in contrast to the conventional wisdom, they were a peaceful folk.
A huge Philistine cemetery some 3000-years-old has been found in the Mediterranean seaport of Ashkelon. The manner of the burials proves, for the first time, that the Philistines had to have come from the Aegean Sea region, and that they had very close ties with the Phoenician world.
“Ninety-nine percent of the chapters and articles written about Philistine burial customs should be revised or ignored now that we have the first and only Philistine cemetery,” says Lawrence E. Stager, Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel, Emeritus, at Harvard University.
Hanukkah: Mixed messages | J-Wire
Jacinda Adern, PM of NZ
The subject came to mind once again as Jewish communities received Chanukah greetings from politicians in particular. No doubt many of these individuals are genuine friends and their felicitations written after some research or input from Jewish advisors contain some elements of reality. Whether the deeper meaning of the religious occasion is understood is an entirely different matter.
Holiday foods and family gatherings notwithstanding the two main themes remain the lights of the Chanukiah and the historical message fundamental to our commemoration. Most messages made mention of the candles shedding their light and how this light dispels darkness. A few discerning individuals noted the resurrection once again of hatred against Jews although a significant number ignored this increasing phenomenon. The crux of the Chanukah story was of course the xenophobic hatred of Jews and Judaism by the Seleucid Greeks of the day.
This leads to the real lesson totally ignored by many who are either genuinely ignorant of the subject or deliberately avoid it because it is definitely not politically correct these days.
We celebrate at this time the victory of the Maccabees who restored Jewish sovereignty in Judea, reunited the Capital Jerusalem under Jewish control again and rededicated the Temple after it had been defiled by the previous pagan occupiers. Latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (donuts) may be the centre of attention for many but it is the eternal Jewish experience of the few and powerless against the many and powerful which should resonate. The fact that in many cases the restoration of Jewish sovereignty is not mentioned speaks volumes about the situation we currently face.
Interestingly most political leaders who post greetings prefer to ignore the obvious because it raises too many awkward questions. How many conveyors of Chanukah greetings have stopped to think through the implications of their messages? How many who wax lyrical about the holiday realize the hypocrisy that accompanies it?
By not recognizing Israel’s modern day restoration of sovereignty in Jerusalem they make a mockery of their pontifications. While we celebrate Jerusalem’s central place during this Festival of Freedom the rest of the world, except the USA, denies that the Jewish State has any right to claim it as its Capital. Moreover the United Nations negates the unique Jewish connection to the city.
Holocaust survivor who became US Army major general has died | NZ Herald
Sidney Shachnow
Sidney Shachnow, who survived the Holocaust as a child and fought in Vietnam as a U.S. Army Green Beret before becoming a major general, has died. He was 83.
Shachnow’s wife, Arlene, said by phone Wednesday that he passed away on Sept. 27 at a hospital in Pinehurst, North Carolina. They lived in the nearby town of Southern Pines.
Shachnow was involved in some of the biggest events of the 20th Century, from enduring the horrors of Nazi-controlled Europe to leading American forces in Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall.
He served in the U.S. Army Special Forces for more than 30 years, a career that was informed by a childhood spent avoiding death. It came full circle when he lived in a house in Berlin that was once owned by Adolf Hitler’s finance minister.
Student uncovers early Jewish history in Auckland’s oldest cemetery | Radio New Zealand
The stories of those buried in Jewish section of Auckland’s oldest cemetery are coming to life thanks to the work of an anthropology student.
For the past two months, Richard Myburgh has been meticulously translating and documenting Hebrew enscriptions on more than 80 headstones in the Symonds Street Cemetery.
Old records containing the translations were destroyed in the 1940s but Auckland University student Mr Byburgh was working to rectify that.
“A lot of them are either damaged or very weathered over 150 years so I like being here when I’m reading and writing them because there’s something about the space that really lends itself to the weight and gravity of it,” he said.
Jews uneasy as changes in attitude creep in | NZ Herald
Yitzhak Rabin Memorial, Harris St, Wellington, New Zealand
On Wednesday a letter was published in Wellington’s Dominion Post. The writer wanted to know why there was a memorial to former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin – a man he described as leading “a bloodstained life” – on public land in the central city’s Harris St.
It may have been an honest inquiry, and there have been a few such similar letters in the five or so years since the memorial – a piece of Jerusalem stone acknowledging Rabin as a Nobel Peace Prize winner beside an olive tree – was dedicated.
A close up of the memorial
A reply yesterday pointed out the memorial was for Rabin’s efforts to break a deadlock between Israelis and Palestinians and that “soldiers sometimes make the greatest peacemakers, and to urge us to reflect on whether his violent death really means that we must descend again and forever into the abyss”.
The original letter came as no surprise to some.
Eight things the media may not tell you about the “Freedom Flotilla” | NZ Israel Institute
David Cumin, NZ Israel Institute
1. It is incorrect to refer to the blockade as “illegal” and BSA has ruled it is irresponsible for NZ media to do so.
2. Violation of a lawful blockade constitutes unlawful activity and an interception in international waters is entirely correct if the vessel is attempting to breach a blockade, according to International Law. The detention of Mr Treen was inevitable, given his attempt to breach a legal blockade.
3. This group, like the last, has admitted their cargo is not nearly as important as the publicity – “There is also some medical aid on board, although the amount of medical aid is merely a gesture,” said Richard Sudan of Iran’s Press TV UK. “We’re talking just a few boxes.”
4. Thousands of truckloads of goods enter Gaza from Israel, even now as Hamas and other militant groups continue to indiscriminately send flaming kites, mortars, and missiles over the border. If this group truly cared about delivering aid, they could easily do so via Israel.
5. The shipmates of Mr Treen are known to support terror groups, including Hamas as PFLP.
6. There has not been violence on boats when this stunt has previously been attempted as long as the activists followed instructions and did not resist arrest. Mr Treen has admitted to resisting arrest.
7. According to the UN Palmer Report (paragraph viii), “…Where a State becomes aware that its citizens or flag vessels intend to breach a naval blockade, it has a responsibility to take proactive steps compatible with democratic rights and freedoms to warn them of the risks involved and to endeavour to dissuade them from doing so.”.
8. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and removed all Jews in hopes it would become the “Singapore of the Middle East”. Hamas violently took control of Gaza in 2006 and has continued its conflict with Israel at the expense of the welfare of the Gazan people. Instead of building infrastructure, Hamas has invested in terror.
– David Cumin
PLO-Hamas anti-England, anti-Israel hatred politicises FIFA World Cup | J-Wire
Hatred against Britain and Israel surfaced in Gaza as England progressed its way through the World Cup to meet Sweden in the quarter finals…writes David Singer.
One Gaza fan was outspoken:
“Of course I will support Sweden.
I can’t imagine a Palestinian supporting England, which created the Balfour Declaration, or not supporting the country that stood before the world and recognised our state.”
The 1917 Balfour Declaration has never been forgotten or forgiven by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas – both of whom consider the Declaration to be null and void – spending decades in spruiking this false message to their respective constituencies – fomenting Arab hatred against the Jews since the Declaration first called for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
Israeli leader says he understands criticism of Poland deal | NZ Herald
Benjamin Netanyahu
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he understands the criticism of his compromise agreement with Poland over its disputed Holocaust speech law, as he tried to tamp down an uproar at home in which critics have accused him of whitewashing history for political considerations.
Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart issued a joint statement last week praising Polish resistance to the Nazi occupation and distancing Poland from the Holocaust. The move came after Poland agreed to scrap prison terms for those who criticize its wartime conduct.
The agreement was aimed at ending months of tension between the two generally friendly governments that was accompanied by a wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric in Poland.
Instead, the compromise sparked outrage in Israel over Netanyahu’s seeming capitulation to the Polish narrative that they were only victims of the Nazis. Historians say anti-Semitism was deeply rooted in Poland and that many Poles collaborated with the Nazis in the genocide.
In a rare rebuke of the Israeli government, the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial slammed the statement, saying it contained “highly problematic wording” and “grave errors and deceptions.”
It warned that the law’s revision did nothing to change its essence, saying it could still impede historical research. Even some of Netanyahu’s coalition partners called the declaration disgraceful and demanded it be scrapped.
At his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu defended the compromise statement while acknowledging it did not address all elements of the dispute.
“The statement published after the changing of the law was accompanied by a senior historian. However, after its publication different comments were heard,” he said. “I listened closely to the comments of the historians, including about some things that were not included in the statement. I respect that, and it will be expressed.”
The declaration, which denounced “anti-Polonism” alongside anti-Semitism, was seen as a diplomatic coup for Poland, which has long sought international recognition of the massive suffering its people experienced under German occupation and for the heroism of its wartime resistance fighters.
For decades, Polish society avoided discussing the killing of Jews by civilians or denied that anti-Semitism motivated the slayings, blaming all atrocities on the Germans. Raised on this narrative, many Poles react viscerally when confronted with the growing body of scholarship about Polish involvement in the killing of Jews.
In Israel, home to the world’s largest survivor population, many remember anti-Semitism in Poland from before, during and after World War II.
“Netanyahu must stop trading in history as if it were his personal property,” read Sunday’s main editorial in the Haaretz daily, titled “History Is Not for Sale.”
“Instead of getting mired in controversial issues and clumsy attempts to decide matters at the heart of vital historical research, it would be better to publish a document that leaves the work with historians on both sides,” it added.
Poland is among a growing number of nationalist governments in eastern Europe that have become more supportive of Israel in recent years. Netanyahu has expressed pride in such deepening ties and has sought to enhance them.
Many in Israel, particularly on the left, fear the newfound diplomatic backing has come at a cost.
Tamar Zandberg, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, said she is convening a parliament vote this week to disavow the agreement.
“Netanyahu sold his soul to the devil in a document that the greatest anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers in Europe would gladly sign off on,” she said. “It is unbelievable that the prime minister of Israel is simply willing to sell out the history of our people for this nonsense.”
