Grandma's army

The purpose behind all wars is to capture as much enemy territory as possible. That is how all the world’s imperialistic Empires have been founded. The November 1947 United Nations vote to bring Israel into existence was a momentous reversal of imperialism. It gave back to the Jewish people the home taken from them by empire after empire. Judaism differs from the other monotheisms, Christianity and Islam, as it never created, or sought to create, an Empire. It was the imperialism of the Roman emperor Hadrian that led him in the 2 nd  century to change the country’s name to Palestine, one of the first - but certainly not the last – deliberate falsifications of history by those who seek to deny the Jewish people’s right to their land. There are 56 Islamic nations, and 159 in which Christians form the majority. There is, and only ever has been, one Jewish state, tiny and vulnerable though it is - and always was. That is why Anti-Zionism, denying Jews the right to their one an...

Books are made of paper which, of course, comes from trees . Today, a very special festival, celebrated by all sectors of the Israeli public, is the New Year of trees (Tu Bishvat). David Gefen writes in this weekend’s Jerusalem Post: “Tu Bishvat has a beauty of its own – a time when we continue to ensure that our land will grow and develop through afforestation.” To commemorate the 70 th  year of the State of Israel the Jewish National Fund published a call to all Israeli citizens: “Whether we are from the right or the left, religious or secular, new immigrants or veteran citizens, let’s all give back to Mother Earth. This year we celebrate Tu B’Shvat as a symbol of unity.” As I write these words - from  kindergartens to Senior Residence Homes, trees and other green plants are being planted all over Israel. There are also Tu B’Shvat events being celebrated in every part of the country.  It is written in the Bible “When you come into the land you shall plant….” ...

Encouraged by the government back in the late 60’s and early 70’s to settle and develop Gush Katif, the settlers’ ideology and faith gave them the momentum to make the region blossom. They were so connected to the land itself, that they simply couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. When their communities were destroyed, completely crushed and dismantled, they relied on that same ideology and strength of character to persevere, rebuild and still radiate a warmth that only those from such small towns and villages can radiate. Simcha’s youngest son, 23 year old Gilead,  has been serving in the IDF for three years and five months. Since his father had been murdered on army duty he was exempt from serving in a fighting unit and his mother had to sign a special document in order for him to do so. “From the time I was recruited, I was determined to join a “fighting”  unit but  wanted something different, something a little harder, more challenging. I was taught, from an ...

Simcha was devastated as she had to both support her five children and to create a new home in a completely unfamiliar and unstable environment, facing an uncertain future. We were not aware of the great toll it took on her physical and mental health as she put on such a brave front. It was only when we discovered that she was suffering from malnutrition (she lost 11 kilo) that steps were taken to boost her both physically and psychologically. All the children suffered traumas which have repercussions - until today. The only bright spot was the warm and unstinting support she received from her community all of whom stayed together, the strong helping the weak. The members of the moshav who had been working outside in various jobs were able to continue to support their families. The majority, who were farmers had no land to work on, even if they would have had the necessary will, stamina and ability to start all over again. Also many of them had been employed in the Gush with no ...

In 199 5 , Israel disengaged from 85% of Gaza and 100% of its population living there. The disengagement created the largest terrorist base in the world, led/harboured by PLO graduates of terrorist camps in Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia The disengagement was interpreted, by terrorists, as a retreat from the role-model of countering terrorism (Israel), and a reward to the role-model of terrorism (PLO/PA). It has inspired Islamic terrorism, which also threatens pro-US Arab regimes. The day immediately after the disengagement, the nine thousand Jews from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron, found themselves scattered at random in hotels and youth hostels, with no idea of what their next steps would be. No strategy was planned to re-settle or re-integrate them. The compensation packages significantly undervalued their assets, and hardly covered basic living expenses during the lengthy period of unemployment. Most had to use some of the compensation monies to pay off their m...

On January 12 th 2005 a terrible tragedy struck our family – our beloved son-in-law, Simcha’s husband Gideon, was murdered by terrorists. Since the Israeli Defense Forces were responsible for the defense of settlements in the Gaza strip, Gideon had been driving in an army jeep to determine where to build a security fence at one of the settlements - Morag. While they were traveling in the area of the greenhouses around which the fence was scheduled to be built, the jeep was suddenly blown up by a roadside bomb which was detonated by two terrorists. Gideon, who was driving, was killed outright and the vice battalion commander who was sitting next to him lost his leg. The two young 19 year-old soldiers sitting at the back were miraculously physically unharmed but severely traumatized. Gideon’s oldest son, Nir, who worked together with his father and was supposed to be with him at the time, was held up and didn’t accompany him to Morag. To compound the tragedy, in August of the ...

GUSH KATIF – II Gush Katif – 10 years old Since Gush Katif was planned as a strategic buffer between Israel and Egypt, people were given incentives to join and were offered a small house (not yet built) and a greenhouse. Ganei Tal , which Simcha (my first-born) and her husband, Gideon , decided to join, was the second moshav to be built there. Since the houses had not yet been built the other members, who were all married and lived elsewhere, had to leave their families in their homes at the beginning and lived together as bachelors in one building, in order to be able to start work in their greenhouses. Simcha and Gideon, who were newly-weds, started their married life living in an old caravan and turned it into a home - although Gideon was so tall that his feet stuck out of the “bedroom” window! Their next “home” was an old bus from the time of the British mandate which Gideon shlepped from the Tel-Aviv old ...

Jews and their Israelite ancestors have lived in Gaza since Biblical times. A historic Jewish community existed in  Gaza City  prior to its expulsion by the British, for safety reasons, during the infamous 1929 riots by the city's Arabs. Land for the village of  Kfar Darom  was purchased in the 1930s and settled in 1946. It was evacuated following an Egyptian siege in the  1948 Arab-Israeli War . Gush Katif began in 1968, when  Yigal Allon  presented an initiative for the founding of two  paramilitary settlements in the center of the Gaza Strip. He viewed the breaking of the continuity between the northern and southern Arab settlements as vital to Israel's security in the area, which had been captured the previous year in the 1967  Six-Day War . In 1970, Kfar Darom was re-established as the first of many Israeli agricultural villages in the area. Allon's idea was ultimately designed with five key areas slated for Israeli presenc...

For the last two thousand years at least, since the Jewish People had no homeland and were subject to the whims of their host countries, they were not allowed to own land and were very restricted in their livelihoods.  They only started working on the land again when the first pioneers emigrated to Israel in  1882 which was known at the time as Palestine, a name given to the area by the Romans. The original names, from bible times, were Judea and Samaria. Which brings me back to the moshav in the Negev where I spent 40 years of my life. All our children helped out on the moshav from a very early age and learned the value of hard work, developing a strong “work ethos”.  What is most surprising however is that,  somehow, my oldest son Azriel “inherited” love of the land. He knew he wanted to be a farmer from a very early age and, in order to study agriculture he went to the U.S., after his army duty, in order to make enough money to attend the Faculty of Agri...