Nostalgia Sunday – Jerusalem 1967
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, education, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Travel, War
In 1967, Moshe Lavi was a soldier fighting in the Six Day War. In the days that followed the retaking of Jerusalem, Lavi armed himself with a camera and documented the events unfolding around him. These never before published images are part of the larger historical record but also provide us with a glimpse into the past through the eyes of one young man who was there.
This what the Old City looked like, just days after the war ended.
(Click on image to view larger).
Israeli citizens began flooding to the Western Wall…
Soldiers and civilians alike (you can count my parents among them) took a close look at enemy weaponry…
A makeshift memorial of flowers and a small plaque was set up in memory of five paratroopers from Division 80 Reconnaissance Unit 75 who were killed in the battle for Jerusalem…
This was eventually replaced with a larger memorial, by sculptress Yona Palombo, for Paratrooper Division 80′s fallen. Today, it includes the names of 47 more soldiers killed in Israel’s wars and stands on the outskirts of the Old City.
This photo courtesy of the Paratrooper Brigade website. All other photos graciously provided by Moshe Lavi.
Taking care of our children
Hila Betzaleli poses at the Mount Herzl parade grounds, two hours before the tragedy in which she lost her life. (photo credit: Channel 2 News)
Two soldiers died tragically yesterday in what would seem to have been preventable accidents. The incident that grabbed the top headlines was at Mount Herzl where a lighting rig fell during practice for the next week’s Independence Day ceremony, crushing to death 20-year-old Hila Betzaleli from Mevesseret Zion.
The other death was 19-year-old Yehoshua Hefetz who collapsed during an exercise at the Combat Engineering Corps. in the Negev desert where he was training for the group’s elite Sayeret Yahalom special operations unit. First reports were that he was severely dehydrated on an unusually hot day with high winds and lots of dust. The army says it was cardiac arrest, although a post-mortem electrocardiogram performed at Eilat’s Yoseftal Medical Center showed no evidence of any congenital heart defect.
The second death hit closer to home: our daughter knew the young man, a Jerusalemite, through a mutual friend and went to high school with Hefetz’s sister. She texted me yesterday quite upset, understandably.
The two incidents – the second one in particular – always raise the question of “how could they have let this happen?” We send our children off to the army and entrust that the IDF will take care of them. War is one thing, but training accidents are particularly tragic.
And there have been others: earlier this year, Private Dvir Moor died after contracting an infection during basic training. And two years ago, another training incident claimed the life of Omri Shoshan was accidentally shot in the back.
I know that sh*t happens. As a parent, I have sometimes imagined locking my children in the house so that they’d be free from any harm out in the big scary world. I can’t imagine our children would agree.
Our daughter said that Hefetz’s father had died just two months ago. He is survived by his mother and two sisters. Our hearts go out to him and Hila Betzaleli. May their families know no more sorrow.
Nostalgia Sunday – Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012
Filed under: A New Reality, education, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Nostalgia Sunday, Picture of the Week, Politics, Pop Culture, War
A few weeks ago, in advance of the upcoming Holocaust Remembrance Day, a new tree was planted at Yad Vashem. The sapling was a special one, sprouted from a chestnut tree that Anne Frank wrote about in her diary. The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam donated saplings to Yad Vashem and other institutions when the tree became sick and collapsed in 2010.
Anne wrote about the tree three times in her diary, the last time on May 13, 1944, noting, “Our chestnut tree is in full bloom. It´s covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year.”
The Yad Vashem sapling was planted near the Children´s Memorial and International School for Holocaust Studies, in the presence of Hanna Pick (pictured), Holocaust survivor and childhood friend of Anne Frank.
How ironic that such a fitting memorial should be followed, only a few days later, by the outrageous news that the Berlin branch of Madam Tussaud’s had inaugurated an Anne Frank tableau, meant to inspire “optimism”.
If the Berlin waxwork is a fitting memorial, it is not to Anne Frank’s memory, but to Madame Marie Tussaud herself, who gained notoriety during the French Revolution as a maker of death masks. Put that in your nostalgia pipe and smoke it.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is not nostalgic, “nostalgia” being a sentimental or happy recollection of times or things past. It is a day for recalling the most unpleasant aspects of human nature, for honoring the memory of people we may or may not have actually known and hopefully, a day of self-examination and learning about a terrible chapter in Jewish history.
For over half a century, Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, has been committed to what it terms the four pillars of remembrance: Commemoration, Documentation, Research and Education.
Of those four, it is the last one that has become most critical as older generations pass away. In fact, its fair to say that the first four provide the foundations upon which education can stand; the Yad Vashem website provides a wealth of downloadable materials, educational programs and lesson plans for educators, as well as an online photo and document archive and YouTube channel of documentary films, survivor testimonies and historical lectures.
Visit the Yad Vashem website this week – there is always something to learn there.
We love Iran
Filed under: Blogging, coexistence, design, education, General, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, War
Ah, those crazy art students. Wouldn’tcha know it, but it took a couple of graphic designers to reach the Iranian public — through the web and Facebook – and let them know that we’re really just people, and not all that interested in a major war. The couple, Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamir, created several simple, graphic posters depicting regular Israelis and the words, “Iranians We Will Never Bomb Your Country,” and within hours, began receiving hundreds of responses from Israelis and then Iranians.
On their Facebook page, people are sharing music links — Stevie Wonder’s We Can Work It Out — messages about their appreciation for the campaign, wishes for a happy Iranian new year and Iranian versions of the Israeli poster. If you were just reading this site, you’d think there’s no chance for a nuclear war.
Read this comment:
Just in from Iran:
miscommunication is a funny thing . when i saw the original blog and first comment was why so cocky why u say u dont bomb us like u want to but u dont and few hours later i saw one israeli said why they dont said it back that we dont bomb u either. u see? something its good thing in Your country and its bad thing in mine . because we dont know each other. they never let us to know each other. they afraid we became united and realize we got played and they cant control us any more (they are : government of both countries ) . i dont know about u guys but here they keep saying israel is bad . israel its evil and all that crap and its going into your subconscious and u start believe a lie that deep down u know thats not true at least not all of them but u know what, when i see pictures specially family ones its like i know u guys and i never met any of u .any one with a little bit knowledge knows innocent people gonna get kill in wars .people who dont deserve it and people who do deserve it they going to sit in their office and write a apology note . love and respect to every irani or israeli or american or what ever countries that say no to war . some people said this is start of a friendship between two countries but i say (base on two countries history ) this is reunion of brothers and sisters who lost each other over time and finally find each other .
B. Tehran – IRAN
It helps to have a ‘place’ to go where you can regain a sense of sanity about people and war and the general desire to vote for peace rather than warfare. The question is whether pink and green posters can make any kind of difference in this global disaster.
A defiant Israel in the face of rocket attacks
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Entertainment, General, Israeliness, Life, Music, War
A policeman protects a young girl as warning sirens go off in Ashkelon during the current barrage of rockets from Gaza. (Yediot Aharonot)
So the rockets are raining down on Israel again, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis are being forced to duck for cover.
It’s certainly an absurd, surreal existence we have here – living a modern life in one of the most progressive, advanced societies in the world, and at the same time engaging in life-threatening battle with an elusive enemy.
On Saturday night, when most of the South was hunkered down in their homes or in shelters, I was out and about in Jerusalem – attending the opening of my son’s senior year art exhibition, replete with wine and cheese and student jazz band accompanying the magnificent art work and proud parents.
Right after that, my soldier daughter – home from the Egyptian border – and I drove around the corner to the Zappa Jerusalem nightspot for an all-acoustic show by Assaf Avidan, likely Israel’s most talented singer/songwriter. The spacious and beautifully designed club was packed with mostly young Jerusalemites out for a good time – and Avidan provided it in spades.
The situation in the South wasn’t mentioned by either the performer or the members of the audience – as if by ignoring what was happening only a couple hours away and insisting on whooping it up, he and they were sending a big FU to the Palestinian heavies wreaking the havoc.
My daughter and joined in the celebration, but we were also slightly cautious. That’s because the next morning at 7 am, she was headed back down to the also hot-as-fire Egyptian border. In Israel, every party has its price.
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