Jerusalem Diaries


Bush security proved a tourist attraction

By Judy Lash Balint


JERUSALEM—While most Jerusalemites were home trying to keep warm last night, the young and the curious did venture out in the cold rainy evening to try to get a glimpse of the mammoth American security apparatus that has descended on our city for the duration of the Bush visit.

One of the most curious sights had to be the presence of a bulletproof bus belonging to the Shomron regional council being used to block King David Street a few yards away from the King David Hotel where Bush and entourage are staying.

For American political purposes, the Shomron region, known as Samaria in English, is part of the West Bank, under consideration to be part of the Palestinian state through a Bush/Olmert vision of the two-state solution.  The reason buses in that area are bullet-proof is because Arab terrorists find it expedient to fire on Jewish civilians who have the audacity to want to travel to and from their homes.  How ironic that the Bush security detail couldn't find anything better than “settler” buses to protect their president.

Most of those out on the street ogling the bus and the security personnel are young Haredim.  Perhaps it's because there are few legitimate entertainment options for the young ultra-orthodox lads that their rabbis permitted them to go out on the streets for the presidential visit. Huddled in small groups behind the crowd control barricades, the black-clad guys smoke and joke among themselves while awaiting police permission to cross the streets closed off by barricades.

Jerusalem residents had been warned to be sure to carry ID at all times (it's the law here anyway….) and sure enough, early this morning, not far from the Dan Panorama Hotel that houses the White House press corps, two cops stopped the lone pedestrian on the normally bustling street to search his backpack and check his ID.

Perhaps the extra attention was because of an incident that took place outside the hotel yesterday evening that involved a couple of my friends. A few American olim had decided to organize an effort to try to provide the journalists with some alternate points of view to the government line.  Under the rubric of Concerned American Citizens they hung around the press center to give interviews and distribute some written material. 

Three of the activists fell afoul of the authorities and were bustled into a police car and taken to the nearby Russian Compound interrogation center where they were detained for almost an hour while the Israeli thought police attempted to read through the English booklet they were trying to give to the journalists.  The booklet is a harmless rundown of reasons why Fatah should not be considered as a moderate peace partner, penned by a sixty-something American immigrant grandmother who belongs to my shul. The booklet was deemed “seditious material” by the ever-vigilant cops.

Demonstrators fared little better in Ramallah this morning when at least 10 were arrested and dozens injured as more than 1000 Palestinian anti-Bush protestors took to the streets to send Bush a message.

Out on the streets of Jerusalem today, hundreds of shivering police and army personnel stood around with nothing to do now that G.W. is temporarily in the hands of the Palestinians as he traverses from Ramallah to Bethlehem.  Tonight, half of Jerusalem's roads will close down again as the President heads to a state dinner with Prime Minister Olmert.

Balint is a freelance writer based in Jerusalem

LETTER FROM JERUSALEM

Baroque music lovers brave Bush security

By Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM—The tower, stonework, landscaping, and interior spaces of Jerusalem's YMCA ("yimka" in the local tongue) make it one of the city's landmarks. It is across the street from the King David Hotel. Both reflect efforts from the time of the British Mandate to do something impressive in the Holy City. They are just east of downtown, and just west of the Old City.

Among the YMCA's features is an ornate concert hall, showing its age and problems in competing with grander facilities in the Jerusalem Theater and the National Convention Center. It has seats for about 500, and the rent is probably a factor in attracting the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. The folks in charge saved on the heat during the first concert that occurred in cold weather, so yesterday we dressed as we would for an American football game in its season.

We debated whether to forego the experience. President's Bush's choice of the King David Hotel for himself and more than 200 of his companions meant that a large area around the concert site would be closed to private cars, buses, and taxis. Announced demonstrations threatened to create more noise than the small orchestra playing on its instruments from the 17th century. Would it be worthwhile for the mandolinist from Italy and the bass soloist from Britain, along with the 10 or so on violins, violas, oboe, cellos and harpsichord to do their thing? The average age of Jerusalemite enthusiasts for baroque music, as shown by previous concerts, was above 70, and would probably go above 80 if we overlook the group of young people who come with their instrument cases from their classes at the Academy of Music. How many would brave the winter weather, the police barricades, and the need to walk from bus stops or parking places outside of what security personnel had declared to be the sterile zone?

Apparently lovers of baroque music are quietly enthusiastic. It is not the stuff that provokes jumping and dancing in the aisles, but it is great in its measured way. Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Frideric Handel, Arcangelo Corelli, and Johann Sebastian Bach, whose works were on last night's program, remain best sellers 350 years after they did their work. The crowd was only a bit smaller than the 200 or so that came to earlier performances. It could not have been encouraging for the musicians to work in a hall that was only about one-third full, but they did a great job. As usual, some of us nodded off to sleep now and then, but what to expect from our age and the nature of the music? Some of the moments were fantastic, and we all woke up to clap loud and long. For the first time this season, we demanded and received an encore, and left the hall only at 11 PM. 

Other things were happening in the neighborhood. Today's headline is that George Bush will tell Mahmoud Abbas  that Palestinians must choose between a state and chaos. I hope that will make them think about Yassir Arafat, who chose chaos over a state the last time an American president involved himself deeply in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict during 2000.

Ehud Olmert said that Israel demands peace from Gaza as well as the West Bank, as a condition for moving forward toward a two-state solution. He also reiterated that the Israeli state would be a Jewish state, which means that Palestinian refugees will have to be elsewhere.

What we heard from the Palestinians was disappointing. The Palestinians are demanding an immediate end to all construction in Jewish settlements of the West Bank, and will promise only to do their best to stop the rockets from Gaza. American officials support the Palestinians on the issue of stopping settlement activity now. As I heard Olmert, however, that will not happen, at least not until there is enough order in Gaza to stop the rockets. Other Israeli officials have made the point that Abbas' government has not done anything more than cosmetic efforts to stop the violence coming out of the West Bank, some of it traced to members of his own security forces.

Last night's music warranted an extra effort to get through the mess of Bush's visit. What was happening nearby indicates that baroque music might have to age for another 350 years before the Palestinians achieve a state of their own.

Sharkansy is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University

Gandhi's grandson blames Jews for 'culture of violence' in the Middle East

By Bruce Kesler

ENCINITAS, California—I have pointed out that the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Arun, is consistent with his grandfather, who counseled that victims of evil, like Europeans and Jews during World War II, should lay like lambs for the slaughter.

Arun however went beyond his grandfather in not even being able to tell the difference between the lamb and the wolf. Arun wrote in yesterday’s Washington Post that “Israel and the Jews are the biggest players” in creating a “culture of violence” in the Middle East.

I received the following email from a reader, Rachel Lipsky, who found out that Arun does know the difference between the lamb and the wolf and, given Arun’s above statement, Arun sides with the wolf.

Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson was a guest speaker last summer at the Chautauqua Institute, NY. He mainly shared his stories related to his grandfather’s philosophy; following the path of active non-violence. As I suspected that he will stress on this topic, I came prepared with two separate quotes by Mahatma Gandhi (the grandfather) who was speaking to the Jews and to the British people during or before WWII.

I ran to the microphone and this is what I told him:

“ I am a proud Jew and a Yoga practitioner and as such, I try to follow the path of personal non-violence. But I have with me two quotes by your grandfather which with your permission, I would like to share with the audience (there were anywhere between 1,000-2,000 people attending his lecture.)

He agreed and I proceeded and read the quotes. Here they are:

Gandhi's Advice To the Jews of Germany, Gandhi offered the following:

"I am as certain as I am dictating these words that the stoniest German heart will melt [if only the Jews] adopt active non-violence. Human nature... unfailingly responds to the advances of love. I do not despair of his [Hitler's] responding to human suffering even though caused by him."

When it appeared that Nazi Germany would attempt to capture England, Mahatma Gandhi offered the British the following advice:
"I would like you to lay down the arms you have which are useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions. Let them take possession.... If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourself, man, woman and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them."

After I finished reading the quotes, I heard a heavy sigh from the audience. Gandhi’s grandson admitted in his response to me that his grandfather didn’t understand the extend of the evil actions of the Nazis. He mentioned though two examples of active non-violent that helped save some Jews in Europe, but acknowledged that in the big picture it didn’t work.

Now, what makes him think that this self destructive philosophy would work with the enemy we are facing now?

As Rabbi Dov Greenberg mentions in the article from where I retrieved the quotes:

“Had Gandhi convinced the English to lay down their arms and practice non-violence, the Jewish people would have been annihilated, democracy and human rights would have disappeared, and our world would have been plunged into a new Dark Age of unimaginable cruelty. War, while always unfortunate and painful, is not always evil; sometimes, fighting a war is the most moral thing to do.”

Rachel Lipsky is on the faculty at the University of Buffalo teaching Hebrew. She holds a master of humanities from SUNY at Buffalo specializing in media and music and an Artist Diploma in Music performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is also a certified Yoga teacher.

In a recent interview at the University of Rochester where Arun Gandhi’s peace center resides, Arun said:

Gandhi said that passive violence makes people angry, which leads to physical violence.
"It's actually passive violence that fuels the fire of physical violence," he said. "If we want to put out the fire, we have to stop the fuel supply."

Arun Gandhi needs to take his own advice, as his words are the fuel that fires evil through denying the difference and, even, contradicting it.

UPDATE: Today Arun offered what he calls an apology, but actually is a repetition of his views:

"I do not believe and should not have implied that the policies of the Israeli government are reflective of the views of all Jewish people. Indeed, many are as concerned as I am by the use of violence for state purposes, by Israel and many other governments."

UPDATE 2: R. DelVecchio writes:

I am not sure how at least a few people don't stand up and scream at the top of their lungs at (Arum). History has made Gandhi into a total saint (which he may have been personally), but has utterly ignored the fact that the reason nonviolence worked against the Brits was the Judeo-Christian foundation of their culture.

People like to think that committing mass slaughter, even genocide, goes against the basic human grain. It does not, and since the recent lessons of Cambodia and Rwanda and Darfur cannot penetrate the armored skulls of such well meaning humanitarians, we can safely conclude they are well beyond any use of reason, logic, common sense, etc. Kind of amazing/depressing, but human animals can be smart, educated, come in from the rain without being called, and still be out of touch with reality in a big way.

Hell, what blew me away was finding out there are actually Israelis who want to dissolve Israel and have a new nation with the Palestinians and let everything sort itself out that way, after which peace and understanding will flow like a torrent through the territory.

Wow... OK, this way to the showers, people!
Del

UPDATE 3:

Mahatma Gandhi was not exactly consistent, nor saintly, nor...most of the things attributed to him. See this 1983 analysis of his beatification in the film "Gandhi" Arun is cut from the same holey cloth as his grandfather.

UPDATE 4: The Anti-Defamation League calls Arun's piece and false apology "outrageous."

Kesler is an employee benefits consultant and broker, who also writes at Democracy-Project.com