Here We Go Again!
Years ago, I had a very interesting insight into the problems of Israel and the Palestinians.
My next door neighbour; Charles was a retired senior officer in the Royal Engineers, who was in the King David Hotel, when it was blown up by the Irgun.
The hotel was used by the British to administer the Palestinian Mandate. The story of the King David Hotel Bombing has this Wikipedia entry, which is well worth a read.
Charles and his wife had also lived in Palestine before the Second World War and described it as a much more peaceful place, where the only way to tell if anybody was Jew or Arab was from their surname. He felt that they got on well, until it was all stirred up by the right-wing Zionists.
One of my big regrets in life, is that I didn’t interview my neighbour more deeply, as he had fascinating tales to tell.
Food Wars In Israel
Most stories to come out of Israel are not about how well Orthodox Jews and Muslims get on, but this one from The Australian is. Here’s the introduction.
IT was meant to be a battle for supremacy in the kitchen and, perhaps, for the right to claim ownership of the cuisine.
But Israel’s most popular cooking contest has achieved what decades of peace talks have failed to do after turning an orthodox Jew and a Muslim Palestinian into firm friends.
As Jackie Azoulay and Salma Fiyumi completed their dishes in the Masterchef final on Wednesday, they cheerfully embraced on national television.
It’s just a pity that the leaders of both sides can’t sit down with these two women and have a really good meal.
My next door neighbour years ago, had been a Colonel in the British Army. At one time, he had been enforcing the British mandate in Palestine, so he knew the area well.
He said that the only way to tell if the various people in the area, were Jew or Arab, was from their surname. It would appear, these two women have performed that wonderful feat of turning the clock back constructively.
A Glimmer of Hope in Palestine
The Times yesterday had an article and a leader about how things are getting better in Palestine.
Let’s hope so!
They give the credit to Salam Fayyad, who has been concentrating on economic development of the country.
They sum it all up with this last paragraph.
Mr Fayyad’s efforts are embattled and small-scale, but they are far from futile. They exemplify the principle that statecraft is better practised by improving people’s lives than by promoting sweeping revolutionary schemes. They are a good deed in a weary region.
I wish Mr. Fayyad well.
But perhaps he may turn out to be the right person in the right place at the right time! Palestine and the world for that matter needs a great statesman to move things forward.
Job Interview – Palestinian Style
My next door neighbour years ago had been a Colonel in the British Army. One of his duties had been to enforce the British mandate in Palestine before the Second World War. I remembering him saying that he got on well with both the Jews and the Arabs and in many cases the only way to tell them apart was by their name. He didn’t like Menachem Begin, but I don’t suspect I would not have, if he tried to kill you with a bomb in the King David Hotel.
What has happened since has been a tragedy for both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
I can remember the Six Day War of 1967, where nearly everybody had sympathies for little Israel, who was being threatened by their much larger neighbours. But since then we’ve all had more sympathy for the Palestinians, as the Israelis and the corrupt Palestinian leaders have driven them further and further into abject poverty. I will not aportion blame between the two sets of leaders, but feel that if they’d talked and cooperated, they all might be in a better state.
And now we have this sex scandal in Hamas. And for a bit of balance, the assassination of one their leaders. One is for the tabloids and the other for the serious papers.
If both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict behaved with dignity and compassion, and perhaps admitted sometimes that they were wrong, we might find a solution. But then they all believe it’s so much more satisfying to reach for their weapons.
Weapons rarely solve a problem, but they can make it a whole lot worse!
The Anonymous Widower 