Yom Hashoah 5784 – 2024

A picture is worth a thousand words: Yom Hashoah 2024 via Hillel Fuld Instagram

Israel’s Yom Hashoah began at sundown this evening with the annual ceremony at Yad Vashem with torches lit in memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Shoah.

This year we did not need to much of an effort to remember the victims of the Shoah. The whole period felt all too close and personal in the shadow of the horrific massacre of Simchat Torah, 7th October 2023, in which 1,200 Israeli and foreign nationals were mutilated, raped, tortured, and murdered, and a further 250 were kidnapped by Hamas and their complicit Palestinian civilian helpers, which in turn set in motion the Swords of Iron war in which we are still engulfed.

In fact the theme of this year’s Yom Hashoah was set presciently already a year ago, focussing on destroyed communities:

Yad Vashem determined the central theme for this year’s Yom Hashoah Holocaust commemoration before the October 7 massacres, but there’s an eerie resonance between those atrocities and “A Lost World: The Destruction of Jewish Communities.”

Taking place under the cloud of seven months of war with Hamas in Gaza, the theme has built-in associations with several Gaza-area Israeli communities that were largely destroyed. During the unprecedented Hamas rampage, 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 253 people kidnapped into Gaza, igniting the current round of war.

“The whole subject matter of this year’s theme is very much reminiscent of October 7,” Yad Vashem spokesperson Simmy Allen told The Times of Israel.

You can watch the entire ceremony here:

The six torchlighters, representing the 6 million Jews who were killed in the Shoah, were: Michael Bar-On, Raisa Brodsky, Arie Eitani, Allegra Gutta, Pnina Hefer and Izi Kabilio. You can read more about them on the government website.

The six torchlighters for Yom Hashoah 2024

There has been much commentary about comparisons of 7th October to the Shoah. President Isaac Herzog in his address to the ceremony said that we must not make such comparisons, however terrible the massacre was. After telling the terrible tale of Holocaust survivor Naftali Furst, he recounted how Naftali’s granddaughter’s family and neighbours were slaughtered and abducted on October 7th 2023 in Kfar Aza. He then added:

Ten percent, a tenth of the small community of Kibbutz Kfar Azza were lost on that cursed Sabbath, and close to twenty beloved souls were abducted to the terror tunnels in Gaza, on the day when the most Jews were murdered and slaughtered in one day since the Holocaust.

Dear people of Israel, my sisters and brothers. Throughout the decades that have passed since the Holocaust, we assured time after time: “Never again,” and we swore that the Jewish people would never again stand defenseless and unprotected. And yet, despite all that, the horrors of the Holocaust shook us all during the October massacres, echoing in all our hearts.

To me as well, the descriptions of mothers silencing babies so they wouldn’t cry and give away their hiding place; of children torn from their parents; and of abominable murderers – who saw in the Nazis a model to emulate, and who, burnt, and butchered entire families – echoed the horrors among us. But especially on this day, I ask that we pay close attention to the words of Naftali Furst, who, after the massacre, said to his granddaughter Micah, and I quote: “This is similar, it’s terrifying, there are no words to describe this cruelty, but it’s not the same thing. It’s not a Holocaust. There won’t be a second Holocaust.”

Indeed – it’s not a Holocaust. It wasn’t a Holocaust – because the Holocaust was the deepest abyss in human history, in every measure. Never in the annals of human history has there been such a systematic and total murder, on such a massive scale – spanning countries and continents. Lasting for so long, like the Jewish Holocaust.

One out of every three Jews in the world was murdered by the Nazi extermination machine. In Auschwitz alone, the factory of death, the symbol of horror, about ten thousand Jews were murdered on average every day. But the magnitude of the Holocaust is not the sole reason.

October 7th was not a Holocaust because today we have the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces. Although the results of the tragedy and the shock still haunt us; we don’t forget that what our brothers and sisters who perished in the Holocaust could only dream of, only imagine: a country and an army of our own. An army that even now fights in a battle that has not yet ended – for our national home. The home of national independence.

I say this with complete and absolute conviction – despite the disaster and mourning that still afflicts us: nothing can destroy this home. This people, our people, who endured the most terrible Holocaust of all, and built for themselves sovereignty in their homeland two millennia after being exiled from it by force – nothing can erase them.

The educator Rabbi Hagai Lundin wrote a similar opinion in a Facebook post which was translated to a whatsapp group (via Suzanne):

October 7th is not the Holocaust not only in terms of the number of victims (by way of illustration, 43,000 Jews were killed on one day, 3 November 1943) but first and foremost, in terms of the national status of the Jewish people.

The Holocaust was the final nail in the coffin of the exile that lasted 2000 years, 2000 years in which the Jewish people were massacred, since they did not have a country, government or the power to defend.

October 7th is undoubtedly one of the darkest days in the history of the Jewish people, but it is on the historical continuum of our return to the land, a return in which there are also falls and disasters. October 7th is a dark window into the days of exile; 14 hours of darkness in which we tasted a bitter drop from the poisoned cup our grandparents drank on a daily basis. Fourteen hours later, and in fact already during them, the State of Israel recovered and fought back against its enemies.

So yes, the surprise was great and the blow hard and painful, but thank God there is a state, and there is an army, and there are heroic fighters who came and prevented a much bigger disaster.

Statements from the progressive line of thought such as “the State of Israel ended on October 7th”; “we are back in the days of the Holocaust”; “we have made no progress in the last 80 years” – are false and hollow. The State of Israel did not end on October 7th; we are not back in the days of the Holocaust; and certainly, the world and the Jewish people have made miraculous progress in the last 80 years.

We will painfully mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, and we will painfully mark the day of remembrance that will be established in memory of the tragedy that befell us this year – but we will not be ungrateful to God, blessed be He, Who is moving us forward generation to generation and from year to year.

The evil will pass
The good will prevail
With the help of God

Never again is now: Yom Hashoah 2024 Via Shosh Oz on Facebook

It may not have been the Shoah, but we are certainly seeing echoes of the 1930s in the surge of antisemitism worldwide, particularly on university campuses, prompting fear for the future of Jewish life in the West:

In 2023, France registered the highest increase in recorded antisemitic incidents of any country with reliable statistics, according to data released in a new report that warned that current trends could threaten the very “ability to lead Jewish lives in the West.”

Published Sunday by Tel Aviv University and the Anti-Defamation League, the report showed a near-quadrupling of incidents in France, from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 last year. It also highlighted antisemitism on US campuses, which the head of the ADL called the “most alarming” aspect of the surge of Jew-hatred in the United States.

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In the United States, the tally more than doubled, from 3,697 incidents in 2022 to 7,523 last year, with 52% of the 2023 total occurring after October 7. In Canada, the increase was from 65 to 132; in the United Kingdom from 1,662 to 4,103; in Germany from 2,639 to 3,614, and in Italy from 241 to 454.

It is a very depressing picture all round. Who would have expected we would find ourselves in this situation in 2024?

As I have done in the past, I draw your attention to my Family History pages where I have recorded the history of my family during the Shoah, especially the murder of my mother’s three brothers, David, Elchanan and Uri Strauss HY’D, in Sobibor.

David, Herbert (Elchanan) and Uri Strauss HY’D who were murdered in Sobibor in 1943

Never forgive. Never forget. May the memory of the 6 million be for a blessing.

ה’ יקום דמם. יהי זכרם ברוך

Guest Post: In war, accidents happen: the tragedy of the WCK aid workers

This is another guest post by frequent contributor Brian Goldfarb. He addresses the tragic accidental killing by the IDF of 7 World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza – and it was indeed an accident no matter what the world thinks or says – or possibly a Hamas trap. Read on.

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A Palestinian inspects near a vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike (credit: Ahmed Zakot/Reuters)

I would hope that we can all agree that the killing of the foreign aid workers in Gaza by the IDF (and admitted by them) is a tragedy that should never have happened. We should also note that either 2 or 3 (the numbers varies between reports that I have heard on the radio) senior officers have been relieved of their duties (at lest for the time being) presumably pending an inquiry/hearing/court martial. Which is as it should be.  Here is an excerpt from the IDF investigation at the link above:

The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees. The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.

After being presented with, and considering the investigation’s findings, the IDF Chief of the General Staff decided that the following command measures will be taken: the brigade fire support commander, an officer with the rank of major, will be dismissed from his position. The brigade chief of staff, an officer with the rank of colonel in reserve, will be dismissed from his position. Additionally, the brigade commander and the 162nd Division commander will be formally reprimanded. The IDF Chief of Staff decided to formally reprimand the commander of the Southern Command for his overall responsibility for the incident.

We can note that this procedure is standard across any number of armed forces in the democracies. Allow me here to digress (but it is relevant to this situation): while still employed as an academic, I had a colleague, some 10 years older than me, who had done National  Service in the UK army. He had been stationed in Hong Kong as Headquarters company clerk in the early 1950s. One of his duties was to accompany any army patrol that was sent out to deal with any riots that occurred. As such, he had to record exactly what happened including any orders the officer in charge gave. If the officer felt it necessary to order shots to be fired (whether in the air or at rioters), on returning to barracks he placed himself under open arrest, pending an inquiry. In many former British colonies, the armed forces still follow this practice: it is part of their version of what in Britain is called “Queen’s/King’s Regulations”.

I understand  that he same is true of the IDF, and some version of this is what has happened to the IDF officers concerned, and the statement that the markings on the vehicles in which the aid workers were travelling were not as clearly identifiable as they should have been may be true, but does not necessarily excuse the resulting action.

However, and it is a massive however, the response of many in the media demanding that Israel and the IDF immediately scale back their efforts to consign Hamas to the dustbin of history so that this doesn’t happen again is to demand that Israel and the IDF effectively declare that Hamas have won. What this does, especially if the IDF were to do as these commentators demand, from the safety of their studios in unwar-torn Europe and North America, is to say that October 7 didn’t happen, or that it is irrelevant to what came after. It is to deny the reality of the last 6 months.

So, let’s go back six months. Who started this war? Did Israel attack itself on October 7 and say Hamas did it, so that the IDF could enter Gaza and start to flatten it? Yes.of course that last sentence is nonsense: Hamas did start this war and have stated, openly and often, that they would wish to do the same again and again and…Which is why the IDF is doing what it is in Gaza, so that Hamas can’t do it again and again, or at least not for a significant number of years. And in war, there are unintended consequences, at least by those responding to the aggression of others.

Let me take some examples, which are chewed over again and again (with no consensus as to the “proper”or “right”answer) from World War Two: the bombing of Dresden and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

First of all, who started the war in Europe, the Western Allies and Russia or Nazi Germany? Okay, we all know the answer to that one. Does that justify the virtual destruction of Dresden? There are those who argue that Dresden had no strategic significance, and thus the bombing was, in effect, a terror attack, made worse by the fact that many domestic buildings in Dresden were built of highly flammable materials. Others counter-argue that Dresden was a railhead, vital for supplying the German troops in Eastern Europe and Russia. But it was wartime, and total war at that.

Either way, it wasn’t the Republicans who, during the Spanish Civil War, bombed Guernica (a Republican city) but the German/Nazi Condor Legion: a foretaste of what the Luftwaffe would do to Amsterdam, London, Coventry and many other British cities.

Then there is my other case: again, who started the war in the Pacific? Did the Americans provoke the Japanese with acts of aggression? And before anyone comes up with some crazy conspiracy theory, the answer is no: the attack on Pearl Harbour was a totally unprovoked attack on a non-combatant in World War Two. Does that justify the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The general counter-argument is that without the A-Bombs, invading the Japanese Home Islands would have probably cost at least half a million allied troops lives, to say nothing of the cost in civilian lives in those islands. There are those who accept this argument, but suggest that the second bomb (on Nagasaki) was superfluous, because the Japanese were close to surrender after the first bomb.

Whether or not these counter-arguments are accepted, the major point is that in every case I’ve cited, it is the victims of the initial aggression who are being held to account for what might well be excessive responses or even genuine mistakes. And thus the fact that these are responses and not initial acts of aggression is of great importance. We always need to remember that the law relating to war and fighting between two powers short of formal war states unequivocally that a sufficient and proportional response to aggression directed towards a sovereign society by another organisation, whether a state or a non-state actor, is such as to stop the aggressor: not a bullet for a bullet, etc, but sufficient to stop them. In the case of Hamas (and similar terrorist organisations : are you listening, Nasrallah of Hezbollah), what the IDF are doing may well, with occasional (and they are occasional) slippages, come comfortably under this umbrella of “proportional responses”.

The eminent commentator on these matters, Natasha Haussdorf of UK Lawyers for Israel, believes so: do look out for her comments on these matters.

Here is a video of Natasha Haussdorf addressing the charges of genocide against Israel:

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Anne adds:

Brian, thank you for an excellent description and backgrounder of the reality of “collateral damage” and who is to blame for it in the context of war.

First of all I would advise everyone to read the Jerusalem Post article that I linked to at the top, it shows how Hamas deliberately acted to confuse the IDF and its drone operators, and lured them in to deliberately target the innocent aid workers. Here is the relevant extract:

The drone unit saw multiple suspicious actions, starting after 10 p.m. Monday.

First, the drone unit said it saw a Hamas terrorist climb onto one of the trucks and fire in the air at what it called action point two.

According to the IDF, this tactic is frequent and is used by Hamas to send signals to other Hamas fighters in the area regarding his position.

At action point three, the convoy split up.

At action point four, the convoy entered a hangar, which obscured which vehicles might be going in and out and who might be in the vehicles compared to who was in the vehicles before entering the hangar.

IDF unable to reach aid workers

In the first four action points, the IDF drone unit refrained from attacking the aid trucks, because they questioned their commanders and were ordered by Division 162 Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen not to, despite a suspicion of Hamas terrorists being involved. IDF tried to call aid workers, was unable to reach them.

At the fifth action point, the aid trucks had left the hangar.

As the events developed, the IDF tried to call the aid workers involved in the field and was unable to reach them.

Next, the IDF called the WCK headquarters. The WCK headquarters tried to call its own aid workers in the field, but they did not answer.

When vehicles left the hangar, the IDF drone unit believed that these were not the same vehicles and thought that these were Hamas vehicles or that around four Hamas operatives had joined or taken over the convoy.

According to the IDF, attacking the trucks after all of this was a mistaken identity issue but could not lead to criminal charges.

Accordingly, the drone unit believed the order not to attack no longer applied.

Around a kilometer later, around 11:09 p.m., the drone unit believed it had the right to engage the trucks.

Also, the drone unit had thermal imaging that did not see the WCK aid worker sign posted on the roof of the trucks.

When the drone unit attacked three separate times in succession, it believed that the “coast was clear” completely to attack what it thought were clearly Hamas targets.

As one commentator on Twitter wrote, “Hamas are playing the West like a violin”.

I have also come across a couple of excellent articles in the British press on this very issue and I highly recommend you all read them and share them widely.

From the Spectator: The truth about Israel’s “friendly fire” by the always excellent Brendan O’Neill.  A snippet:

It seems Israel is the only state not allowed to make mistakes. Where us decent Westerners kill friends in error, Israel does it intentionally, with malice at its heart. The double standards are staggering. It is hypocritical and ridiculous for the citizens of nations that have accidentally killed far more people than Israel to now lecture Israel about its wayward bombs.

It smacks of bigotry, too. We make mistakes, they commit crimes. We err, they murder. We should be forgiven, they should not. There’s an ironically neocolonialist bent to this fury with Israel, for it bigs up the West, despite its history of war crimes, as a suitable judge and jury of that uppity little state over there.

From the Daily Mail: The double standards in war are nauseating, by Richard Littlejohn:

An estimated 300,000 Iraqi civilians were killed after the 2003 Anglo-American invasion, and although there was widespread opposition to the war I don’t recall anyone credibly accusing the British or U.S. governments of committing ‘genocide’.

In 2011, a NATO-led bombing campaign in Libya, enthusiastically endorsed by then Prime Minister David Cameron, claimed countless innocent lives. After the fall of Colonel Gaddafi, Call Me Dave even went on a victory parade in Tripoli.

Yet today, the now Lord Cameron is condemning Israel over its actions in Gaza and demanding a ‘full, transparent explanation’.

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Both Cameron and Biden can legitimately be accused of self-serving hypocrisy, aimed at restoring their own, tarnished wartime reputations and, in the case of the U.S. President, seeking electoral advantage by sucking up to Muslim voters in swing states such as Michigan.

When British or U.S. troops accidentally kill innocent civilians, journalists or aid workers it’s ‘friendly fire’ in the heat of battle. When Israel does likewise, it’s a deliberate war crime. The double-standards are nauseating.

To summarise my own feelings on this tragedy, I get the strong feeling that the world, yes, even Israel’s ostensible allies in the West, have been standing in the wings almost drooling, waiting for Israel to make a mistake. Yes, the IDF killed 3 of our own hostages accidentally, but that doesn’t count because they are not “innocent Palestinians”. But FINALLY, the IDF did what everyone has waited for. They killed 7 aid workers. And the world pounced with glee.

I know I am exaggerating slightly but I simply cannot avoid this awful sensation of the world just waiting in fevered anticipation of Israel making a deadly mistake. It doesn’t matter that this has finally happened after 6 months of intense urban warfare, no one cares a hoot. And despite the casualty figures (where the Palestinian casualties cannot be relied upon since they were provided by the terrorists themselves), even if you relied on the fictitious numbers provided by Hamas, the civilian to combatant ratio is incredibly low, lower than any other army has achieved in war.

On this very subject – the charges that the IDF is killing civilians, read this article by war historian and military expert John Spencer in Newsweek: Israel has created a New Standard for Urban Warfare:

In their criticism, Israel’s opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set. In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the U.S. military, I’ve never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy’s civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings. In fact, by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history—above and beyond what international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The international community, and increasingly the United States, barely acknowledges these measures while repeatedly excoriating the IDF for not doing enough to protect civilians—even as it confronts a ruthless terror organization holding its citizens hostage. Instead, the U.S. and its allies should be studying how they can apply the IDF’s tactics for protecting civilians, despite the fact that these militaries would almost certainly be extremely reluctant to employ these techniques because of how it would disadvantage them in any fight with an urban terrorist army like Hamas.

And that is in the end what angers and frustrates me to tears – the unfairness of it all, the lack of logic, the lack of historical analysis, and the pandering to the extremists in Western populations.

But we shall continue, and we shall fight on to victory because we have no other choice.

!עם ישראל חי

 

Guest Post: According to disgraced David Miller “It’s always the Jews”

This is another guest post by frequent contributor Brian Goldfarb. He is writing about the ongoing saga of the highly antisemitic Professor David Miller, (see blog posts here and here) who was sacked from Bristol University for his anti-Jewish bias. Miller appealed – and his sacking has been overturned!! However, there is more. Read on.

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It’s always the Jews, isn’t it?

Before I explain the title, let me say what this article is not about: It isn’t about the appeal itself, although I have read the Report, all 108 pages of it, nor is it going to be a complaint that due process failed to find that Bristol University had good cause to end David Miller’s employment (he was found to have been unlawfully dismissed, although the Tribunal does note, almost in passing, that social media posts Miller put up 2 months after his employment ceased would probably have given the University sound grounds to lawfully end his time there).

David Miller and his conspiracy theories in the chart behind him

That said, that is crystal ball gazing. Had Miller remained at Bristol, having, perhaps, been disciplined, within the University’s code of conduct, he might not have posted those comments. I say this because I am not a lawyer of any sort, let alone an employment lawyer and also because a friend, who is a former Employment Tribunal member and later Chair, implied that there does not appear to be anything wrong with the process nor the findings as reported. That said, one of the exchanges he reposted to me which was an exchange between him and another lawyer suggests that there are other lawyers in the field who might feel differently as to whether the last word has been said here. However, as a non-lawyer, I accept, whether or not this might be the case, that it is outside my area of expertise and I am not going down that road. My concerns lie elsewhere.

I promised to explain the title. Some years ago, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (on the South Bank of the Thames in London, and opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral on the North Bank) decided to mount a season of all Shakespeare plays, played by a huge number of different companies in, if their first language was not English, their native tongue. The Habima Theatre of Tel Aviv, Israel, were recruited (or offered) to perform The Merchant of Venice, in Hebrew (with English surtitles around the theatre). We (my wife and I) booked for one of the performances. So far so good. Then Mark Rylance, a British actor, objected and recruited  a number of theatrical colleagues to do likewise. What was their objection to Habima? They were subsidised by the Israeli Government. It seems to have escaped his notice that his career (at least, that of it on stage and, possibly, anything on television and radio) was similarly subsidised by the UK Government via the Arts Council of Great Britain. Either that hadn’t occurred to him or “that’s a different matter” or some other lame reason. In turn, this attracted the attention of the anti-Israel brigade across the spectrum, who attempted, with little or no success, to disrupt the performances. They were thwarted by The Globe employing highly efficient security staff.

The wonderful Maureen Lipman crossed (s)words with one of Rylance’s buddies on a morning BBC news and chat show. As they were faded out, Ms Lipman uttered the immortal phrase “It’s always the Jews, isn’t it?”

Thus the title: these days, it does seem a lot like that.

To return to the core of this article. I will note below that it is my belief that Bristol University (hereafter BU) missed a couple of (to me) obvious channels to demonstrate Miller’s unfitness to continue his employment at BU. Miller, like numerous commentators on the Middle East, refers to Israel as a “settler/colonial state”. This may, or may not, be an accurate academic description of Israel. But if it means that people not native to the country concerned have become the dominant population, to the detriment of the original inhabitants, then there are numerous other examples around the world of similar cases. Just, for example, the United States and Canada, most if not all of the Latin American countries and those in the Caribbean, the Antipodes, to say nothing of Africa, south of the Sahara; and all of this in the modern era, dating from around the 14th or 15th centuries AD (or, if you prefer, CE). So what makes Israel so different? Ah well, it’s always the Jews, isn’t it? And this is what starts to make this an issue: if so-called “settler-colonial” states are an issue with one, why is it only Israel that is the predominant example. [cue Maureen Lipman, again]

Actually, there is a major difference. There is historical evidence that there were Jews in the land from about 1000 B.C.E. The Assyrian chronicles, accepted by specialists in these things as accurate, report the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel in the 6th or 5th Century BCE. Those deported from the land disappear from history.

And the Babylonian Chronicle record the Babylonian conquest of the southern kingdom of Judah a century or two later, and then the return of the Jews to the land under Cyrus the Mede. And neither conquest completely emptied the land of Jews. Any more than did the Roman expulsion in the early Common Era, when they destroyed the Second Temple after putting down the Bar Kochba revolt and again expelled many (but not all) Jews.

The point here is that at no time from around 1000 BCE were there never Jews in the land. And this remains true to the present day. Whereas, there were no Europeans in the “New World” (the Americas, etc) until relatively recently. This circles around, again, to the case in hand: why did BU not have access to experts who would point this out to them and to David Miller: essentially, if “settler-colonialism”is your thing, why Israel your only target? And more importantly, why are the Jewish students in your class the only ones targeted as, therefore, agents of a foreign power? Are there no other Europeans who might be so labelled? Do your non-Jewish students not have relatives in the US, Canada and the Antipodes?

It has to be further noted that there never was a “Palestine” in the area. This was the Province name given to the area by the Romans after they scattered most of the Jewish population across their empire, in order to destroy the historic link with the land that the Jews had. And that didn’t work either.

So we are back to considering David Miller’s mind set in focussing on Israel as THE example of “settler-colonialism”. Regular readers of Anne’s Opinions will know that I posted two articles which drew attention to David Miller 2021, (see blog posts here and here – Anne) when he first came to prominence. In preparation for that focus, I need to move slightly further back in time for context. In April 2015, it was proposed that there should be an academic conference at Southampton University, the title of which was “Internationalism and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility & Exceptionalism”. I will reduce the long-running debate on the then much more active EngageOnline website that followed, but suffice it to say that I was arguing (and eventually won over most other commenters) that the lack of a question mark in the title (whether a literal or figurative one) meant that could not be a proper academic conference. This demands debate, proposes, refutations, and so forth. There were further concerns in my mind: the wording implied that the topic of Israel was pre-determined as a prime example of a state born in blood. I argued long and hard that there were other examples: the USA and its War of Independence; the Russian and Chinese Revolutions: why only Israel. Eventually, most of my fellow commenters agreed that, as written (and as over half the papers to be presented showed), whatever else it was, this would not have been a proper academic conference. Southampton University eventually cancelled the conference anyway.

I have no idea if David Miller would have gone to that conference or not, but his focus on “settler-colonialism” and one example would appear to be akin to that cancelled conference. It is my contention (as in my previous articles featuring him) that his focus on singling out his Jewish students (presumably because of his focus on “settler-colonialism” in general and Israel in particular) and his view of them as, therefore agents of a foreign power led him into completely unprofessional conduct. The critical question is whether BU should have first subjected him to the full rigour of their internal disciplinary procedures and only then, had he overstepped the mark again, dismiss him. Given the conclusion that the Tribunal came to, that he had been unfairly dismissed, the answer is probably that doing it that way might have led to a more satisfactory outcome for those who abhor his attitude towards at least some of his students.

UPDATE: No sooner had I finished this article and sent it to Anne, than the (UK) Jewish Chronicle had a front page article reporting the response of  Lord John Mann, the UK Government’s Antisemitism Adviser. I have written about him before in these pages, recommending his edited book on antisemitism, a collection of essays from other authors.

His response (reflex action?) is to urge the Government, in the person of the Attorney General, given the Miller Employment Tribunal’s decision that Antizionism is “a protected philosophical belief”, to make Zionism “a protected philosophical belief”. This would stop the likes of David Miller dead in their tracks. He and those of his belief system could still argue that Israel is a “settler-colonial state”, but they couldn’t attack others who proclaimed that they’re Zionists (and thus entitled to proclaim their support for the continued existence of Israel) and accuse them of being agents of a foreign power just because they proclaimed themselves as Zionists, or, just as importantly, because they were Jewish.

That would solve the problem: either those like Miller could not attack those who proclaimed themselves as “Zionists” just because of that (now protected) belief, or if they did so, they might well find themselves not protected by the decision in the employment tribunal (or in other legal or quasi-legal situations).

Parliament should intervene over a “ludicrous” ruling that an academic who called Jewish students “pawns” of Israel was sacked unfairly and that anti-Zionism is a “protected characteristic”, Lord Mann has said.

Sociologist David Miller, 60, was sacked by Bristol University in 2021 after a string of provocative statements.

But this week, an employment tribunal awarded him compensation.

Lord Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, told the JC: “The concept that an ideology needs protecting is totally ludicrous. What needs protecting are identities, not ideologies…

“The same logic could be applied to a white supremacist.” He added: “The ruling starts to undermine the protections that the Equality Act claims to guard.”

The antisemitism adviser also suggested that if anti-Zionism is labelled a protected characteristic then Zionism should be categorised in the same way, potentially collapsing the case.

The Attorney General should “reflect and come up with a solution,” he said. “There will be a consensus in Parliament that this needs ironing out.”

Masterstroke!

And, once again, thank you Teresa May for appointing him to this position.

Any legislation (probably in the form of a single paragraph) should sail through Parliament (both houses are overwhelmingly pro-semitic) and King Charles has already stated that he wishes to be known as “the defender of the faiths” and is thus likely to push his advisers aside to get to the Bill to sign it into law.”

Anne adds: Despite all their protestations to the opposite, anti-Zionism most definitely IS antisemitism, which I prefer to call old fashioned Jew-hatred. Here is a video from pro-Jewish activist and all-round heroine Heidi Bachram on the reaction of Miller’s fan-club to the overturning of his sacking. I feel sick watching this, and this is just a small example of the Jew-hatred prevalent in the streets and academia in the UK, the US and elsewhere in the so-called civilized world.

 

A packed room of pro-Palestinian activists hoot and cheer for the man who said Jews are not discriminated against. Who targeted Jewish students in his antisemitic conspiracy theories. Who invoked the “Jewish landlord” trope. They hoot and cheer. pic.twitter.com/Zrb6ml0chy

— Heidi Bachram 🎗️ (@HeidiBachram) February 13, 2024

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Anne adds: Brian, thank you for this thorough backgrounder on the convoluted case of disgraced Professor David Miller, a case which in my humble opinion should not have been convoluted at all. He is clearly a raging antisemite, using “Anti-Zionism” as a cover for his Jew-hatred. But the vagaries of UK employment law intervened.

Also thank you and kol hakavod on your potted history of Jewish existence in the Land of Israel throughout history back to Biblical times. This is such a necessary issue to press amongst the ignoramuses and haters.

And thank you for that last minute update about the wonderful Lord Mann and his proposal in Parliament. Let’s hope and pray it is accepted and passed.

 

IDF rescues two more hostages in Rafiah

In the last few days Hamas has been hysterically warning Israel against entering Rafah (Rafiah) in the south of the Gaza Strip. Strangely, their warnings have been accompanied by dire warnings from Egypt, the US and other western countries.

What – or who – were they hiding in Rafah??

Brothers-in-law Fernando Merman (60) and Luis Har (70) were taken hostage from Nir Itzhak on October 7.Courtesy of the family

We found out overnight – the IDF rescued two hostages in a daring raid which developed into an al-out firefight. Only one soldier was slightly injured in the operation.

Israeli special forces overnight rescued two hostages, brothers-in-law Fernando Merman (60) and Luis Har (70), during a complex targeted operation in Rafah, southern Gaza.

The men were kidnapped from Nir Itzhak on October 7, a kibbutz on the Gaza border, along with 3 other family members. Both are said to be in a good health condition.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, the former hostages were transferred to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv for medical examination and necessary treatment, including psychological support.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari gave a morning press briefing and revealed details of the operation, saying it had been prepared for a long time.

“Following an airstrike, at 1:49 a.m. (local time) the special forces broke into a building in Rafah and found Merman and Har on the second floor being guarded by armed terrorists,” Hagari said.

A firefight ensued, and Hagari said the soldiers used their bodies to shield the hostages from the gunfire.

Troops took Fernando and Luis to a safe zone where they underwent an initial medical inspection and were then transferred to Israel by helicopter. Hagari added  that the former hostages have already been “excitedly” reunited with their families.

Here is the IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari on the rescue:

Here is the video dubbed into English.

And here is the latests update from Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy. Scroll forward to the four minute mark, that’s when the video starts:

This post will be updated later as more information comes in.

May we continue to hear good news!

!הודו לה‘ כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו

!משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה

 

 

Chanukah Same’ach! – even during a war

It feels slightly surreal to celebrate Chanukah, one of the happiest festivals in the Jewish calendar, during wartime. However since Hamas ruined Simchat Torah possibly forever with their horrific massacre, rape and abduction binge, we cannot let them mar any more chagim of ours. Moreover, we are in a much different position since that terrible black day, the IDF are well on their way, with the help of G-d and our allies, to destroying Hamas and rooting out the viper’s nest of terror that has been sitting on our border for decades.

So since it is 1st day Chanukah, and we are heading into Shabbat Chanukah, I want to bring you, not exactly a Good News Friday post, but some moving and uplifting items from the battlefront and from around Israel.

Last night, at the central candle-lighting at the Kotel, an extra 138 Chanukiot were lit in honor of the 138 hostages still held in horrific conditions (according the 70 or so freed hostages of last week) by Hamas in Gaza, in order to keep their flame alive.

Families of hostages light Hanukkah candles

In a ceremony filled with hope and despair alike, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum lit a menorah in honor of the remaining hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas.

The menorah was lit by recently-released hostage Amit Shani, 16, who shared a sense of excitement to be lighting the candles, along with a feeling of despair: “I am excited to light the first Hanukkah candle on Israeli soil. We will fight until the last hostage returns from Gaza.”

138 candles were lit on the “Hostages’ Menorah,” with a candle lit for each hostage remaining in captivity.

…

Raz Itamari and Shani Kaner, young women from Kfar Aza whose friends are held captive in Gaza, also spoke to the crowd. “We cry out and plead – return all the hostages home now, as soon as possible. You all know what happened on October 7th, you heard the horror stories in the news and read countless posts on social media.

…

US Ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew was also in attendance and added: “Within this tragic war, we are reminding here tonight that light will always ultimately triumph over darkness. The United States stands by Israel now and always. We are committed to building here a future of lasting peace and security. We will not cease action until all 138 hostages return home.”

In a complete turnabout, almost a Purim-like ונהפוך הוא, the huge Menorah that stood on the roof of the Netzarim Synagogue in Gush Katif in Gaza, and which was removed at the time of the cursed “Disengagement”, the pullout of Israeli residents from Gaza in 2005, was returned from the Gush Katif Museum where it has been resting for 18 years, and was planted back in its rightful place. What could be a better sign that that?

On the left: an IDF soldier stands in front of the Menorah on the site of Netzarim in Gaza. On the right: Removing the Menorah from Netzarim Synagogue roof in 2005

An inventive IDF soldier decided not to let shell casings go to waste – and created a beautiful Chanukiah out of them!

Waste not want not! Rockets and shells into Chanukiyot. pic.twitter.com/VXrL36ZukC

— anneinpt אנחנו ננצח בעז״ה #JusticeforMalkiRoth (@anneinpt) December 8, 2023

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This reminds me of the Chanukiya that my late Grandfather created during the Second World War out of shell casings. We use it to this day in our family.

My late Grandfather Leo Strauss’s menorah made out of shell casings.

And to conclude this post, here is a beautiful drone show that took place last night in terror-struck Ofakim in the south of Israel for the enjoyment of its residents.

Wishing everyone Happy Chanukah, chag urim same’ach.

May Hashem protect our soldiers and citizens, and bring our hostages home safely and speedily.

Shabbat shalom!

עם ישראל חי!

On the hostage deal

Although it’s Friday, and we have already reached the first day of Chanukah I want to explain (or apologize) for my radio silence these last few weeks. The reason is that I simply get overwhelmed by the news, the emotions that flood me, the fear, the frustration… all of it. You don’t need me to tell you the news, and I can’t find the words to write down how I feel, certainly not in real time.

When the “hostage deal” (exchanging innocent Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas for vicious Palestinian would-be murderers) was announced I admit I was furious and terrified. Furious at once again being held over a barrel by the sadistic Hamas, and frustrated at an imposed ceasefire, which was clear would be violated very quickly by Hamas. But then again… we needed to get our hostages home.

In hindsight of course I was wrong on both counts. Yes, Hamas violated the ceasefire, no surprise there, but hearing the views of respected military experts who consistently insisted that the hostage deal was no bad deal, and extremely necessary, I calmed down. And my fears that the army would not go back in with full force into Gaza were unfounded. As you all know, the IDF has almost completely cleared out northern Gaza and are busy rooting out Hamas from the south.

Sadly every day brings news of more fallen and wounded soldiers. Israel being the small country it is means that nearly everyone knows or knows of a fallen or wounded soldier or civilian, knows or is acquainted with people who know the hostages and those murdered on Simchat Torah, 7th October 2023.

We must keep praying for the release of the hostages by any means necessary short of surrender by Israel. We must keep praying for refuah shlema, a complete recovery both physical and psychological, for the wounded soldiers, civilians and released hostages who underwent horrific treatment including phsyical and psychological torture at the hands of the Hamas sadist terrorists.

And we continue to pray to Hashem to protect our soldiers and our citizens who are still living under rocket fire all over Israel (although Baruch Hashem and thanks to the IDF’s successes in Gaza the rockets are more sporadic now).

I will close this with two short prayers: First for the hostages still being held in Gaza:

ושבו בנים לגבולם

The children will return to their borders

And secondly for the safety of our soldiers:

May Hashem protect our soldiers and defeat our enemies.