Interviewed last week for International Holocaust Rememberance Day, my Christian TV host recalled his visit to Yad Vashem and the sight of the cattle wagon exhibit and an unfinished scrawled message he had seen on the woodwork.
This reminded me of my own visit to Yad Vashem many years ago, where I stood for a long time before this particular exhibit. It had special meaning for me as the son of an Auschwitz survivor who, at 19, was carted to Auschwitz with his mother and father in such an overcrowded and fetid wagon.
Standing there I tried to recall my father's narrative of that nightmarish journey, all recorded in his book The Yellow Star. The journey ended with the barking of savage dogs on the Auschwitz camp platform, from which my grandparents were swiftly selected for death that same evening.
Totally lost in my thoughts about the sheer helplessness of our defenceless people, I took a step back as one does in museums and galleries and bumped into someone. Turning to apologise, I found myself facing a young IDF soldier with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a kippa on his head.
I don't think my apology ever came out in full, so overwhelmed was I by the irony of this moment and this encounter.
From a vision of total helplessness, I had come face to face with its exact opposite - a symbol of our national independence and the power to defend our people.
The soldier quickly moved on, but that moment and its emotion has stayed with me to this day.
No IDF bombing or drone attack in Gaza is carried out without the strictest approval protocols to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage to critical infrastructure that is needed for medical or basic sustenance of Gaza citizens.
For a long time now, lawyers have been embedded with IDF forces to review tactics from the standpoint of the Geneva Convention and human rights legislation and standards.
All this is diametrically opposite to the inhuman behaviour of Hamas that demonstrators in London and New York seem to cheer on. How sick are these people that their own Jew-hatred blinds them to depravity.
Whilst in Israel over Sukkot, I went down to the Gaza border to see the extent of fire damage caused by Hamas’s flying petrol bombs. It’s distressing to see large swathes of blackened landscape. Our people were so proud to make the desert bloom – whilst our so-called peace partners are into scorched earth and wanton destruction.
Whilst in the border area I visited Black Arrow, a memorial to the many IDF units which operated in the south, including Unit 101 which was commanded by Ariel Sharon. A young girl in a baseball cap was standing at the lookout and asked where I was from. She told me that she had immigrated to Israel from Los Angeles a couple of years earlier. I was scanning the Gaza horizon for incoming fire balloons when she said; “My boyfriend served in Gaza, was injured and lost his sight. We’re getting married next year.” She said this so matter-of-factly, it left me stunned and I was still dwelling on the thought many days afterward.
I recall this again here after reading a letter recently published on an Israeli website from an anonymous soldier, telling the true story of what they face at the Gaza border on a daily basis.
Whilst I empathise with the frustration of this soldier, his letter reminds me of the speech made by Colonel Richard Kemp to the UN in Geneva when he said the IDF had done more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.
Here is the letter:
“I monitor the news media and am dismayed how it ignores what’s really going on at the Gaza border fence. These aren’t “riots” but war in every sense of the word. When I go home and tell people what’s really going on here, they’re shocked.
For a long time now, on a nightly basis, we’ve been facing Hamas groups that throw hundreds of grenades and petrol bombs at us. They fire at us from within crowds of women and children so that we are prevented from responding. Not that we would otherwise shoot them because the rules of engagement for opening fire are confused and frustrating. All of this goes on against a backdrop of powerful exploding balloons and fires that fill the air with black smoke.
We don’t approach the border fence because it is rigged with land mines and explosives which are hidden in all sorts of things; even the inside of Hamas flagpoles. Hamas has studied our weaknesses and is taking full advantage of the situation.
They send children to break through the fence and they come towards us close enough to see the whites of our eyes. We then have to withdraw leaving Hamas to destroy our positions. We are not allowed to return fire and, instead of going on the attack, we have to take cover due to warnings of sniper fire.
We have been abandoned on the battlefield. We feel alone. This week there were warnings of the incendiary balloons being loaded with chemical substances!
And it’s not true that we haven’t suffered injuries. Perhaps not mortal injuries but many soldiers have been wounded in these clashes. The fact that there haven’t been losses on our side is a mystery which can only be explained as Divine protection from Above.
I write this so that Am Yisrael will know the truth of what is going on here.”
And so, it came to pass that Rabbis Gad, Reuben and (half-sized) Rabbi Manasseh approached Moses and said unto him: “We would like to stay in our ghettos outside the camp of Israel, we will not go to the army, but would still like to receive our welfare payments, housing subsidies and free healthcare”.
Moses replied: “Do you expect your brothers and their sons to fight for the land whilst you live off the fat of the land? Is it not commanded by G-d that every male from 20 years and above must go out into the army of Israel?”
“We do not agree with G-d. Just give us what we are entitled to. If not, we will block your streets and your chariots shall not pass.”
In 1960 my father wrote a book
about his time in Auschwitz and Buchenwald and of the murder of his parents and
most members of his family during the Holocaust.
‘The Yellow
Star’ was recently republished after 50 years.
This is the
story of how it got to be republished.
It appears
as the afterword to the new book.
It’s sad to see how so much of the world seems to have
descended into a new epoch of Jew hatred. However much they try to disguise
themselves as anti-Israel or anti-Zionist, these are anti-Semites just like the
duck analogy walks and talks and looks.
And just as in Germany the Nazis emerged from a highly
cultured and educated society, the main sources of this resurgent Jew-hatred
are in academia, the arts and cultured classes where anti-Semitic parlour
chatter is rife and almost trendy.
Israeli scientists with ground-breaking medical cures are boycotted
whilst artists who immortalise Palestinian suicide bombers are lauded and
awarded. Most people agree that being supportive of Israel is ‘the kiss of
death’ in media and academia; no advancement, no promotion, no prospects.
I am therefore always amazed when any non-Jewish personality
actually stands up for Israel. ‘Why do they do it?’ I wonder. ‘What bad dream
did this person have that compelled them to risk ridicule and eternal
peer-abuse by standing up for the Jewish state?’
Such a question came to me on October 16th 2009
when a British army officer and commander of forces in Ireland, Bosnia and
Afghanistan stood up at the UN in Geneva and delivered this speech:
“I am the former commander of the British forces in
Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in
Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia; and participated in the Gulf War. I
spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on
international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee.
Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During
Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the
rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of
warfare.
Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military
capability behind the human shield of the civilian population.
Hamas, like Hizballah, are expert at driving the media
agenda. Both will always have people ready to give interviews condemning
Israeli forces for war crimes. They are adept at staging and distorting
incidents.
The IDF faces a challenge that we British do not have to face to the same
extent. It is the automatic, Pavlovian presumption by many in the international
media, and international human rights groups, that the IDF are in the wrong,
that they are abusing human rights.
The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians
notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over
100,000 phone calls. Many missions that could have taken out Hamas military
capability were aborted to prevent civilian casualties. During the conflict,
the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid
virtually into your enemy's hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite
unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.
Despite all of this, of course innocent civilians were killed. War is chaos and
full of mistakes. There have been mistakes by the British, American and other
forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, many of which can be put down to human
error. But mistakes are not war crimes.
More than anything, the civilian casualties were a consequence of Hamas’ way of
fighting. Hamas deliberately tried to sacrifice its own own civilians.
Mr. President, Israel had no choice apart from defending its people, to stop
Hamas from attacking them with rockets.
And I say this again: the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in
a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.
Thank you, Mr. President.”
I was brimming with admiration, but yet still wondering:
why?
I got the answer two years later on a plane out of Tel Aviv
where I spotted the officer, Colonel Richard Kemp, in the opposite aisle seat.
I said I wanted to shake his hand and thank him for his courageous defence of
my people. We exchanged cards and deplaned in London.
Later that evening I got the following email from him :
“Many years ago I read a book called The Yellow Star by somebody who
was I believe called S B Unsdorfer. Any relation?”
I replied: “Wow .. what a coincidence. That was my
father's book. Long out of print.”
He replied: “A remarkable coincidence. I never expected
to have the honour to meet the author of The Yellow Star, or indeed his son. I
read the book when I was about 14 or 15. A phenomenal work. Without question,
of the many books I have read in my life, your father's made by far the
greatest impression on me. I read a battered paperback copy that belonged to my
aunt, and I still have it.”
Well – this time I got my answer to my eternal question about what makes such a person speak out for Israel.
I decided there and then to republish and digitize The
Yellow Star with thanks to Richard for his inspiration and for agreeing to
write a personal foreword.
We are now good friends and I continue to follow Richard's outstanding advocacy for Israel and her armed forces in forums all over the world, and his support of all those brave souls, in and out of uniform, who are fighting the just war against radical Islamist terrorism and the forces of jihad.
The Yellow Star is available at Amazon and other online vendors.
See Richard Kemp's blog here. Watch his UN speech here.
The death of Hadas Malka was a tragedy. She died at the hands of Palestinian youths of between 18 and 19 years old.
A new generation of Arabs who no longer respect, much less fear, the IDF uniform.
Why?
Because (a) they know that the soldier will hesitate to use lethal force, lest he/she is indicted like Sgt. Elor Azariya. (b) They also know that, short of 72 virgins, they are assured of excellent jail conditions while their families are paid handsomely by Abbas’s prisoner fund. And (c) these are the same soldiers they grew up learning to walk right up to at flashpoints like Beit Zafafa and spitting in their faces with impunity.
The same goes for residents of Judea and Samaria who are constantly at risk from surrounding Arabs who know full well that the government denies most settlers gun licences and those who carry guns have every reason to fear prosecution if they are used.
Last Shabbat’s Torah portion was about the spies sent by Moses to scout out the land of Canaan. They famously reported of the Canaanites: “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
In past generations, there was zero tolerance of disobedience and Jews in uniform commanded respect and fear in the Arab street. It was Yitzchak Rabin who called for “breaking bones” – not some far right leader.
Outside times of war, the youth of the Palestinian street seem to look upon the IDF and Israel’s border guards as grasshoppers. This will only encourage more opportunistic attacks where beautiful lives like Hadas will be lost to our people.
Israel must reassert its army’s deterrence on the Arab street.
This means starting at the very basic level of rules of street engagement, whereby any protestor who comes within ‘spitting distance’ of a soldier is hauled away by police and sent to the cooler.
Significantly last week’s Haftara reading was the story of Joshua’s spies who were told by the Canaanite innkeeper Rahab: “Our people know that G-d has given this land to you and the fear of your people has fallen upon them.”
That’s where we need to get to.
As the good book says: תִּפֹּל עֲלֵיהֶם אֵימָתָה וָפַחַד
“War is chaos and full of mistakes. But mistakes are not war crimes”
[Col. Richard Kemp, Geneva 2009. UN debate on Goldstone findings]
If we were Britain which bombed the German city of Dresden killing 25,000 people in two days, we could have silenced the Hamas rockets in the same two days without loss on our side.
If we were NATO which bombed Serbia and its capital Belgrade, killing 2,000 civilians and destroying 300 schools libraries and 20 hospitals, we could have been finished in Gaza within a week without committing ground troops.
If we were Russia which bombed Chechnya and its capital Grozny, with civilian deaths never officially revealed, we could have stopped the rockets within a few days without loss of a single soldier.
If we were the USA which nuked two Japanese cities vaporizing nearly 250,000 people, we could have ended the Hamas rocket fire within an hour, without burying a single one of our boys.
But we are not any of the above.
We are the people of the book.
It is not in our nature or our DNA to indiscriminately bomb any city, even when our own families are under fire.
The only moral option against an enemy hiding behind and under civilians was to send in our boys to closely check targets and risk their lives to enter booby-trapped buildings and tunnel entrances.
By dropping warning leaflets as well as phoning and texting thousands of warnings, our army gave up its most valuable tactical weapon: the element of surprise.
For this morality in war – truly unmatched by ANY army in the history of military conflict – we are now burying our 56th soldier.
May the Almighty grant comfort to their grieving and yet immensely proud families.
Finally an interfering Danish peace activist gets it in the teeth. Not pleasant for him I am sure. And oh so embarrassing for the Prime Minister and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
But it was bound to happen eventually. There is only so much daily provocation, incessant abuse and spitting that any human being can put up with before he cracks. Soldiers are human beings too - even Israeli soldiers.
This kind of abuse goes on every day in all parts of Israel thanks to the luvvies of Machsom (Checkpoint) Watch - an organisation funded by overseas antiSemites which sets out deliberately to provoke soldiers into just this kind of Youtube 'gotcha' scoop.
To understand who these people are, here is a photograph of Machsom Watch spokeswoman Raya Yaron hugging the mother of Hakim Awad who confessed proudly to the butchery of the Fogel family and their 3 infant children in Itamar. These activists are not just useful idiots for the PLO, they are also pure drekk.
No doubt there will be disciplinary proceedings against Lt. Col. Eisner for his assault and moves to strip him of his rank. But this will not solve the problem. The real blame lies with Defense Minister Barak for allowing these provocateurs close and personal contact with soldiers who are daily carrying out the difficult task of protecting our borders and checkpoints.
Unlike Israel, England has the luxury of being at peace. But if I showed up at the army base in Aldershot with my movie camera, I would be moved on pretty quickly. Or if there had been a terrorist alert at Heathrow airport and - as we have seen before - army jeeps and personnel carriers were stationed at the entrance to the airport tunnel, would I be able to step out and film them? Absolutely not! And what about in Ireland? Did you ever see British troops being jostled and spat at day-in-day-out? No, because such folks were kept far away.
Any areas where these provocateurs turn up should be declared a closed military zone and a 'cordon sanitaire' provided by order of the military authorities. Any activists in breach of these rules should be arrested and fined for obstruction. If they are foreigners, they should be driven to the airport and deported. If this had been policy years ago, Rachel Corrie might still be alive.
The Defense Ministry needs to get real about such things and change its operating procedures at borders and checkpoints.
Besides which, we need people like Eisner to kick Hamas and Hezbullah in the teeth when the time comes, not be sitting at a desk busted to corporal.
Israel's ambassador Daniel Taub told how his son filled his pockets with coins to qualify for an IDF combat unit.
He was speaking at a fundraiser for the Orot Yehuda High School in Gush Etzion, where three of his own sons had been students.
The phenomenon of today's IDF is that virtually half the officer corps are now observant Jews wearing kippas and the vast majority of youngsters enlisting for combat units come from the religious Zionist communities in Judea, Samaria and Gush Etzion towns like Efrat where the school is located.
'My son Judah was worried he would be underweight for the combat unit he wanted to serve in, so he filled his pockets with coins' said Taub.
Then the envoy remarked how ironic it was that his grandfather had done just the opposite to avoid being conscripted into the Polish army.
Amazing footage of our boys in action in Lebanon against Hezbollah terrorists who are wearing full IDF uniform and kit.
A sobering testament to the heroism of our armed forces and what lies behind the headlines. Worth thinking about next time you hear the IDF prayer in shul.
As Iron Dome punches missiles out of the skies, I am reminded of the Pesach message of the deliverance of our people "with an outstreched arm" from the slavery of Egypt.
During the last few days, Israel has shown its outstretched arm ... and the ability of its forces to target and liquidate Hamas terror leaders in Gaza. In their homes or in their cars ... there is no place to hide.
Hamas are now begging for a ceasefire.
The long arm of the IDF has shown itself in all sorts of places. Out in the Mediterranean Sea where it impounded an Iranian weapons ship; as far as the port of Sudan where its Apache helicopters took out a car carrying weapons smugglers; in Dubai last year with the assassination of bomb-maker Mahmoud al Mabhouh and January's kidnapping in the Ukraine of Hamas rocket supremo Dirar Abu Sissi.
50 years ago Israel reached as far as Argentina to pull Adolph Eichmann into a hangman's noose as architect of Hitler's genocidal 'final solution' for the Jews.
42 years ago the Israeli navy stole into France to 'take delivery' of 3 missile boats it had bought and paid for, but which French president Charles de Gaulle had embargoed in a weapons ban on the Jewish state.
35 years ago Israeli commandos flew 2,500 miles into Africa to rescue over 100 Jewish hostages in a 55-minute operation at Entebbe, Uganda.
27 years ago, Israel reached out to Ethiopia and rescued 8,000 natives whose Jewish lineage was about to be wiped out forever.
And in humanitarian terms, the Jewish State has crossed continents to assist victims of natural disasters from Turkey to Haiti to Japan.
Plucking missiles out of the skies seems simple by comparison. .
Secularists in Israel have been nervous about Netanyahu's recent appointment of two kippa-wearers to high office. General Yaakov Amidror as National Security Advisor and Yoram Cohen as head of Shin Bet security service.
Occasionally it happens that a kippa-wearer performs better than others.
But secular gripes about religious appointments have been overshadowed by other news in Israel.
Such as the stunning success of the IDF's new anti-missile system: Iron Dome
We’d all seen the captioned videos and listened to the conflicting reports on TV and in the press. Some of the Israeli papers carried firsthand accounts by Israel’s Navy SEALs of ‘Shayetet 13’ their faces pixillated by the military censors. But, for me, no story of the Gaza Flotilla operation was more touching than the one told at one of the events we promoted recently in London.
It was told at a fundraiser for the Keshet Yehuda pre-military academy of the Golan in the presence of Israel’s Ambassador Ron Prosor and special guest speaker Brigadier General (Res.) Efraim “Effi” Eitam.
General Eitam is one of the most decorated soldiers in the IDF and holder of the Medal of Distinguished Service for his heroism in the opening hours of the Yom Kippur War against the advancing columns of Syrian tanks. He went on to command the elite Golani unit which rescued the Israeli hostages at Entebbe.
Eitam had taken part in debriefing of the SEALs and told of his conversation with the third officer to rappel down the rope. He asked him what was going through his mind at this time. The officer said he watched his first comrade land on the deck and immediately disappear under a violent scrum, which then moved him to the side of the deck. The same thing happened to the next man: "as soon as he hit the deck they were all over him".
Eitam then asked the question which most of us seeing that newsfeed would have wanted to ask: “Watching this sight below ... you were only half way down the rope … what were your thoughts at that very moment?” The Navy officer responded: “I said Shema Yisrael and dropped the rest of the way down … I then drew my pistol and shot at the armed men who were trying to kill us.”
So long as our commandos know how to say Shema Yisrael, they will remember what they are fighting for ... and why losing is simply not an option for our people.
While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone was in your home while you were away.
I am that someone.
I spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into your home.How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had slept on your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.
I knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as your enemies, with stinging humiliation.I am convinced that you hate me with unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what I have to say.At the same time, it is important for me to say the following in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.
I spent many days in your home.You and your family's presence was felt in every corner.I saw your family portraits on the wall, and I thought of my family.I saw your wife's perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife.I saw your children's toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next to the screen, just as I do.
I wanted you to know that despite the immense disorder you found in your house that was created during a search for explosives and tunnels (which were indeed found in other homes), we did our best to treat your possessions with respect.When I moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and lay them down neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer.I even covered the computer from dust with a piece of cloth.I tried to put back the clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.
I know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a ridiculous light.Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that you will channel your anger and criticism to the right places.
I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your home.
I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in your household that are university students.Your children learn English, and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what is going on around you.
Therefore, I am sure you know that Qassam rockets were launched from your neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.
How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?
I can hear you saying "it's not me, it's Hamas".My intuition tells me you are not their most avid supporter.If you look closely at the sad reality in which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make excuses about "occupation", you must certainly reach the conclusion that the Hamas is your real enemy.
The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from Gush Katif.Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity, water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).
Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns.For three years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in order to remove those who want to kill us.A reality that is painful but very easy to explain.
As soon as you agree with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them, your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must come from within.I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier to write than to do, but I do not see any other way.You, who are connected to the world and concerned about your children's education, must lead, together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.
I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads, building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your Israeli neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now.If your leaders were not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed.If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your kitchen as a soldier.
You don't have money, you tell me?You have more than you can imagine.
Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat, millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders bank accounts.Gulf States, the emirates - your brothers, your flesh and blood, are some of the richest nations in the world.If there was even a small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people * your situation would be very different.
You must be familiar with Singapore.The land mass there is not much larger than the Gaza strip and it is considered to be the second most populated country in the world.Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and well managed country.Why not the same for you?
My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly.
I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my army did, and what I did.However, I feel your pain.I am sorry for the destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment.
On a personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as much as possible.
In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine.I am a civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with the military.However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked.I have no desire to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.
The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take control of your destiny. How?I do not know.Maybe there is something to be learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a flourishing and prospering country.It is possible, and it is in your hands.I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.
