“Snapshots of the News” and Hanukah Thoughts

December 13, 2006

It has been over a month that we have been away from home, so we were longing to return to Jerusalem and our routines and familiar surroundings. A month is a very long time to be away. Much can happen in the course of four or five weeks, especially in the volatile climes of the Middle East and I hardly trust CNN or the scanty reports in the Los Angeles Times to give me an accurate picture of the latest moves and steps in the diplomatic and political ballet performed in the quotidian realities of life in Israel. The fact that I had but limited access to the Internet during my Los Angeles sojourn only added to my news-junky angst. So I could not wait to get home and sink into my easy chair as I caught up on the latest copies of the Jerusalem Post and the Jerusalem Report and went on-line to peruse HaAretz, YNet and various other sources of news and gossip about happenings in and around Israel and the Middle East.

So much has transpired since we left, here are just some snapshots of what was in the news when we got home.

Prime Minister Olmert has gotten himself into more hot water through a slip of the tongue made in an interview with German journalists during his recent visit to the German Republic. It seems that he implied the obvious—that Israel is a nuclear power, when he intentionally or unintentionally included Israel in a list of nuclear powers. This remark ran counter to Israel’s carefully maintained policy of ambiguity and obfuscation when it comes to declaring whether or not it has nuclear military capabilities. The fact that there is no one in a position to care who harbors so much as a scintilla of doubt that Israel maintains a stock of nuclear weapons did not stop the eruption of a firestorm of criticism against Olmert in the Israeli media. Not surprisingly, in his subsequent remarks, the Prime Minster reiterated Israel’s long-standing position that it would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East conflict. This, of course, was a clear warning to Iran.

Truth be told, there was little reaction to the Prime Minister’s “slip” outside of Israel, so it appears, though there was a great deal of a flap within Israeli political circles. Not that this should astonish us, as the only ones who seem to believe that Israel’s position of ambiguity is at all believable—or effective—are Israeli politicians, specifically those in opposition to whoever transgresses the once-sacred doctrine. This is yet another reminder, perhaps, that in Israel there is no such thing as foreign policy divorced from domestic politics. The political wolves circle around any sign of weakness in their prey. Ever since last summer’s war it seems that we have endured one long, sustained drought in leadership.

One of the biggest stories here (and, I imagine, even in the US) was the “International” conference on the Holocaust held in Teheran, Iran. Holocaust deniers and anti-Zionists from around the world joined for an orgy of truth-twisting and fact-bending all in the name of the pseudo-history of “Holocaust Revisionism.” Perhaps the most disturbing of all the participants were the delegates of the Natorei Karta, the Ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionists whose antipathy towards Israel drives them to such extremes that they willingly join with these modern day Nazis to bash Israel and deny history itself. It is amazing that our own religious authorities in the Haredi world have not excommunicated these internal enemies of our people who overtly work for our own destruction. And there they were, prominently displayed in the front rows of the convocation of evil, their side-curls and beards and frock coats proclaiming to the world that the conveners were by no means anti-Semites, because here were good and pious Jews right in their midst, supporting them and their twisted agenda.

I was gratified to read the responses of world leaders who joined in condemnation of the conference. Outstanding among them (not surprisingly) was Prime Minister Tony Blair, but we also heard from Germany and France and Italy and officially from the EU. Notably silent was the United Nations as a body and all those NGO’s who raised their voices against Israeli racism in the infamous Durban Resolution of 2001, once again demonstrating the unfortunate hypocrisy of the world body when it comes to issues relating to Israel and anti-Semitism.

It was just reported that the Israeli High Court annulled the Intifada Law passed by the Knesset in 2005 which absolved the state of financial responsibiliy in nearly all "non warlike" instances of personal and property damages since 2000. The law applied to all areas of the territories declared as "conflict zones" by the defense minister. Before the amendment was passed, hundreds of damage suits were filed by Palestinian residents who had sustained corporal or property damage from the IDF during the intifada. In its ruling the High Court supported a petition brought before it by nine civil rights groups (spearheded by the Palestinian Adalah Center and including Rabbis for Human Rights) allowing non-combatants and those not associated with terrorist activities to sue the state for damages caused by military and government personnel.

Thuough this was a controversial decision, it is another significant indication of the strength of Israel’s independent judiciary. It also says much about the substantive concern for the protection of civil rights even during trying wartime conditions. I am not sure that this perspective of Israel is properly depicted in the international media where picures of destroyed houses and lines of Palestinians at checkpoints make for more spectacular press than this kind of news. Yet, while not denying those picures that make it into the media, it is precisely this kind of under-reported news that speaks of the real Israel and the vibrant democracy that it is.

So, these are just a few of the stories that we came home to. Though Israel is often singled out for criticism and even condemnation on CNN, on the BBC, in the New York Times and in the LA Times, the news abroad and in Israel is also filled with unrest in Lebanon brought on by the Lebanese themselves, virtual civil war in Gaza with Hamas gunmen killing the innocent children of Fatah officials—all independent of any Israeli actions. We live in a very rough neighborhood and this makes the prospects for peace in the short run dim. But, though I may be pessimistic in the short run I am, nonetheless, an optimist in the long run. Why? Well, perhaps because this is the season of miracles and this is the land of miracles.

When playing with my dreidel at Hanukah in America I followed its spin with its facets bearing Hebrew letters standing for “A great miracle happened there,” reminding me of a far-off place and a legend from long ago. Here we play with tops that spin out a message of “A great miracle happened here.” Here, all around us…in those days at this season. If then, why not now? In Israel, the difference between reality and miracles is that miracles sometimes take a bit longer to happen.

For me, the fact that we are getting by—at least for the present—without a Judah Maccabee to lead us is scary, but all-in-all, maybe something of a miracle.

For me, our very existence after the Holocaust, especially at this moment and despite those who would deny history—and us—is a miracle.

For me, the fact that we struggle but are determined to maintain our humanity and our sense of what is right when so many forces both internal and external seek to throw us off our moral balance is something of a miracle.

In a few days it will be Hanukah. We will light the candles, spin the dreidels and eat too many latkes, doughnuts and chocolate coins. But the shining lights displayed prominently in the windows will remind us that we live in a land of miracles. Perhaps this year…

Hag Urim Same’ach and shalom from Jerusalem.