Haman rears his ugly head

February 28, 2010 - 10:55 AM by David · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Politics, War, coexistence 

Ahamadinajad, Assad and Nasrallah - a summit of the villains with humous. (Photo: AP)

Maybe because it’s Purim, and we Jews are obsessing with bad guys trying to annihilate us, but didn’t the photographs of Syrian President Bashir Assad, Iranian President Ahmadinajad and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah sitting around a goodies-laden table at the end of the week in Damascus evoke a shiver down your spine?

It was like one of those scenes Batman or Austin Powers where the idiosynchratic but well-costumed villains stage an evil summit to hatch new plans for world domination. There’s some eerie synchronicity going on – we’re gathering to hear the Megilla reading in Israel and around the world, being reminded of Haman’s plan to wipe out the Jews. And generations later, these anti-Israel professionals – one, Nasrallah, actually in his best Penguin meets The Joker garb – are gathering around humous and eggplant salad to discuss the very same thing.

We’ve sat down at the peace table with some unsavory folks in the past – Yasser Arafat anyone? But even that was within the realm of possibility, as he talked about making peace with Israel and living side by side, even if his actions didn’t resemble his words. And King Hussein and Anwar Sadat always seemed like level-headed leaders, even when they were our enemies, so it was no great leap to find commond ground with them when the time came.

But what about the terrible trio of Assad, Ahamadinajad and Nasrallah? Are we ever going to be able to sit around the humous table with them? Or is it going to play out like a Purim story, where one side has to triumph over the other? Stay tuned, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

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How ’bout those apples?

February 19, 2009 - 10:18 PM by Jessica · 2 Comments
Filed under: History and Culture, Politics, coexistence 

ein-shemer-applesJust wanted to make sure you all caught that news item about Israel resuming its regular export of Golan Heights-grown apples to Syria. The idea is to allow Israeli Druze farmers in the Golan Heights — the controversial northern region of Israel that was wrested from Syrian control in 1967 — to market one of their main crops in Syria.

The Druze apples will be shipped in Red Cross trucks through the UN-patrolled border at Kuneitra, offering a diplomatic and economic solution for the Druze, Syrians and Israelis. For the Druze farmers and Syrians, it’s an important connection to the motherland, despite their settlement in Israel. For Israel, it shows the possibility of free trade with Syria, something that’s still quite hard to imagine.

The Druze say their apples are tastier than the Israeli apples, despite the fact that Israelis produce more apples, thanks to their more generous water allocations from the Israeli government. What I know about Israeli apples is that they often spend months in cold storage, leaving them somewhat tasteless once they cross the supermarket counter. And I also know that I’ve tried many tasty and/or quality Druze products, from Savta Gamila soap to the cured olives sold at the labane and fresh pita stands that line the road up the Hermon ski resort.

But hey. If we can make peace over a basket of apples, then I like them apples.

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