All a Twitter? Not So Fast.



When it comes to computers, the “new thing” is, by definition, smaller, faster, and cheaper. “Moore’s Law” defines how much so: the power of microprocessor technology doubles and the costs of production fall in half every 18 months. Hence, a powerful computer that once filled ten thousand square feet of office space can now comfortably reside in your wristwatch. Plus, now you can afford it!

The economies provided by “Moore’s Law” also changed the world of communication, as slow, inefficient modalities like written correspondence have given way to cheap and fast email, texting, and FaceBook entries. Yet, faster and cheaper doesn’t always yield “better.” Once upon a time, taking pen to paper presumed sufficient inspiration to engage in the relatively inefficient act of correspondence. Today, it’s infinitely easier to connect, but do we really have that much more to say?

Enter the latest conveyor of atomized information: Twitter. Twitter is a way to stay in touch with all of your “peeps” (people, in the current lingo) through the timely uploading of messages called “tweets” of up to 140 characters. The necessity for such brevity, coupled with the human desire to be “in touch” leads to some amusing examples from the Twitter world. “Back from Belgium,” Representative Darrell Issa of California tweeted last month. “They make quite a waffle.” Claire McCaskill, the junior senator from Missouri, tweeting non-stop since the inauguration, wrote: “I get old style crunchy taco, and a chicken burrito supreme & Diet Coke at Taco Bell... Miss those tostados.” Then: “Ok, ok, brain freeze. I know you can only get Diet Pepsi at Taco Bell.” (from the New York Times, April 19, 2009).

To be fair, McCaskill and other politicians do use Twitter for more conventional political purposes, say, like sharing their views on upcoming legislation. Yet, much of what passes for conversation on Twitter is banal, pseudo-intimate details of someone’s life. A year ago, this was new and fun. Today, the “ambient awareness”, as Virginia Heffernan coins it, promoted by Twitter, has transformed into something darker, perhaps because the world is a darker place given the economic downturn. She writes: “Where once it was “hypnotic” and “mesmerizing” to read about a friend’s fever or a cousin’s job complaints, today the same kind of posts, and from broader and broader audiences, seem . . . threatening. Encroaching. Suffocating.”

While Twitter is an uber-efficient way to share and amplify the national zeitgeist, it now appears that technology can enslave, not just liberate. As writer Bruce Sterling put it when speaking recently at the tech conference “South by Southwest”, the clearest symbol of poverty is dependence on “connections” like the Internet, Skype and texting. “Poor folk love their cellphones!” he said.

He didn’t intend to insult the poor; he meant that the clearest sign of wealth and prosperity is the desire and capability to “turn off” those devices (and their ringers!) and instead to enjoy some peace and quiet alone or with friends, or with a book or a walk in the woods, things you can put in your hand and which can’t be digitized and transmitted instantaneously across the world. Rather than feeling more “connected”, we end up craving the quiet and privacy we thought we were trying to escape. Only the most affluent can afford to abandon the technological umbilicus and hire personal assistants to continue to compose the stream of “tweets” emanating into the ether. The rest of us are looking for ways to escape the ever-beeping Twitter. As one of the more underprivileged “Twitterati” recently wrote: “I wish I didn’t feel the need to write pointless things here.” And interestingly, “I wish I was rich and had personal assistants.” What for? To sit and post “tweets” on his behalf so he could be rid of them. Ironic? Indeed. But pardon me; I am off to go buy a new book. After I check my email. And maybe Facebook.

Rabbi David B. Cohen

Lots of news coming from ISRAEL these days. I've been trying to get my arms around the idea that Avigdor Lieberman will be the foreign minister, for example. Below, I am sharing with you a message from HONESTREPORTER, a media watchdog agency that works in middle eastern news sources. The piece illustrates in detail how the news we receives gets so biased in transit... and how for many local reporters for CNN, BBC, etc., there is no conflict between being a journalist and being a political advocate. Read on...
David Cohen

Exposed: How Palestinian Fixers Manipulate their Media Bosses "FIXING" THE FOREIGN PRESS While one refers to the "foreign press" in Israel, most employees are local Israelis or Palestinians who are hired for their language skills, access and local knowledge. Sometimes it isn't enough just to monitor only the news stories and critique the media. The hiring practices of the media organizations can also impact significantly on what news is reported and how decisions are made as to the information reaching Western audiences. It isn't only the personal attitudes or potential bias of a journalist influencing the final article or television report. Other media professionals can also have a major bearing on the construction and direction of a story. Palestinian translators and fixers may be necessary but those with a political agenda can be selective with the information they feed the journalist or, at worst, mistranslate the words of the interview subjects. Writing on the influence of Palestinian organizations on foreign news reporting, the JCPA's Dan Diker noted: According to senior foreign news sources based in Jerusalem, the vast majority of Palestinian fixers - often close friends of Palestinian employees of Jerusalem-based foreign news agencies - are ideologically motivated by the Palestinian cause, and actively encourage journalists to report exclusively on the "evils" of the Israeli occupation, rather than on the lack of democratic freedoms or human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza. WHO DOES CNN EMPLOY? A case study of this phenomenon is Nidal Rafa who was, until recently, employed for the past few years as a producer for CNN. A simple Google search of her name reveals that she has contributed to many CNN pieces from Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as for other media organizations such as NPR and the BBC. She has also been involved with a number of pro-Palestinian organizations and publications. Now, media analyst and commentator Tom Gross has publicly exposed Nidal Rafa's agenda. Gross was present at a debate in Jerusalem arranged for the media between the Yisrael Beiteinu and Israeli Arab Balad political parties on the issues of citizenship and identity.* During this media event, Rafa crossed the line from media professional to agenda driven activist. Following the debate, the journalists in the room were given the opportunity to ask questions. Rafa, however, launched into a tirade against Yisrael Beiteinu's representative, newly elected Knesset Member and former Israeli Ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon. Rafa not only breached professional media standards (aggravating even her own colleagues at the debate), but also left us with no doubt as to her personal politics. Gross was sufficiently appalled by what he saw that he posted video footage of this appalling incident, which can be viewed by clicking here. Here are some select parts of the exchange between Rafa and Ayalon: NR: The thing is, do you agree that there will be in the future one Palestinian state [..] that all the Palestinians want is to be treated as anyone else in the world....[sic]...when you are making life equal for the people [..] when [their] dream to see Jerusalem... and in the West Bank, and Ramallah and in Jenin [..] you are not suffering at the end of the day and you want people to believe... DA: Please, don't get excited, of course I'm not suffering because I'm not killing anybody. NR: And you want to decide, you want people to believe, that you as previous ambassador to the UN, sorry to say fascist, fascist [..] party... where this party... I am the indigenous people, I have been here as my grandfather was here before the State of Israel [..] Crowd: What's the question, what's the question? NR: ...the whole thing you are talking about is bullshit, you don't want to open your eyes and you keep [being] blind, not to see what's the problem, and it is occupation. DA: Now you know why you don't have a state. NR: And the only guarantee to live here is ending the occupation. Do you not recognize that there is an occupation? Yes or no? YES OR NO? Do you agree that there is an occupation? Do recognize the occupation? Yes or no? Give me an answer and then you can go. [**] DA: I would like first the eradication of terror, first of all, and secondly, your recognition that I have the right to be here, that this my country, I'm not here by anybody's favor. This is my country, this is my land. NR: It's Palestinian land. DA: No its not Palestinian land, this is Jewish land, this is what you have to accept, and if you don't accept it, then we don't even have anything to talk about. ********* Nidal Rafa is, of course, entitled to her personal views and to act on them as she so wishes. However, this should not infringe on professional journalistic ethics. Rafa has used her media access to advance her own pro-Palestinian agenda to the detriment of those journalistic standards claimed by mainstream media outlets such as CNN. Following her outburst, Tom Gross: spoke with Kevin Flower, the Jerusalem Bureau chief for CNN, and he says Rafa's contract with CNN has been discontinued though he declined to provide a specific reason. Despite this, Rafa handed out her CNN business card to several people, including myself, after her outburst against Danny Ayalon, and said she was still working for CNN. Even if she no longer works there, the question is why CNN employed someone like this for at least the last two years? (There are many examples of anti-Israeli articles co-authored by Rafa on cnn.com. For example, "Jewish settlers on 'terror' rampage," December 4, 2008.) When I spoke to Rafa it was clear that, like many (but by all means not all) Arab journalists working for CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press and other major Western news providers in the Middle East, she didn’t think there was any contradiction between working as a journalist for an international news outlet and holding extreme anti-Israeli views. How could CNN employ Rafa and how has she been able to push her political agenda on to other media outlets? Some more research reveals that the incident above is not an isolated one. Nidal Rafa's political activism was certainly no secret when various media outlets employed her. An archived Jerusalem Post article from May 30, 2001 referred to three aspiring Israeli women politicians shadowing UK politicians to experience the British democratic process. One of these women was Rafa, who is described as a "Balad activist" and the chair of the radical Arab party's women's unit. RAFA: MANAGING AND MISTRANSLATING FOR THE MEDIA Evidently, Rafa spent some time working as a fixer for other media, including Fox News, before landing a position at CNN. Ha'aretz, in a feature several years ago, accompanied Fox News correspondent at the time, Jennifer Griffin, on a trip to Israel's Wadi Ara region: It is Griffin, aided by an interpreter, who conveys what the Arabs have to say. Here, she is totally dependent on her interpreter Nidal Rafa. Rafa, who is considered a top professional, is an Israeli Arab from Haifa, definitely a Palestinian and a graduate of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank - and she possesses clear political awareness. She is young, opinionated and assertive, and - to put it mildly - she pretty well manages the event. She is not pleased about the team from Ha'aretz Magazine that accompanied Griffin to Bartaa. My initial attempts to strike up a conversation with Griffin were loudly interrupted by the interpreter. When Griffin asks what I can tell her about the Wadi Ara region, as background, I don't manage to get out even one whole sentence before Rafa interjects herself, in English, with an obvious edge to her voice: "I will give you the background," she says: "This whole area was expropriated by Israel from the Arabs. Everything here belonged to the Arabs. There are Jewish settlements such as Katzir and Harish above: villas, beautiful homes. And all of it on our land." During Griffin's interview with the bereaved father, Rafa decides what to translate and what to leave untranslated. "Do you condemn Hamas for sending the suicide bomber who killed your son?" Griffin asks. Rafa translates. Razi Kabha gives a general, unfocused answer, about the protracted conflict. "So you don't condemn Hamas for this suicide bombing?" Griffin wants to know. Rafa gives her a piercing look: "He already answered that. Go on to the next question." Griffin persists. "Nidal, I need you to ask him that again." Rafa argues the point. The two conduct a discussion in English (the camera has been turned off) while the father sits mutely, not understanding what is going on. Finally, Rafa is persuaded and asks the question again, though making it obvious that she is doing so against her will. And so it goes on. Griffin's original plan was to interview the family and the head of the local council in the village. But the plan got changed. Rafa channeled the visit to include the section of the village on the other side of the Green Line. She persuaded Griffin that the visit would be incomplete without visiting the Palestinian section. And so on and so forth. Did Rupert Murdoch and Roger Aisles take this kind of thing into account? Not necessarily. What is certain is that last Thursday, the person who finally decided what their news channel would broadcast from Bartaa was Nidal Rafa. DANGEROUS DOCUMENTARIES Nidal Rafa has a production credit for an infamous 2002 British documentary "Palestine is Still the Issue," produced by notorious anti-Israel polemicist Jon Pilger. HonestReporting critiqued the documentary and even Michael Green, the chairman of Carlton TV, responsible for the broadcast, described it as "factually incorrect, historically incorrect," and a "tragedy for Israel so far as accuracy is concerned." From start to finish, Pilger's documentary was a veritable encyclopedia of every anti-Israel canard in existence today. But this isn't Nidal Rafa's only involvement with anti-Israel broadcasts. Christiane Amanpour's six-hour documentary "God's Warriors" earned CNN's senior correspondent our 2007 Dishonest Reporter Award. To recall, Amanpour's series: Equated years-old isolated cases of Jewish extremism with Islamic terror that has killed thousands of people in New York, London, Madrid, Bali, Amman, etc. Spuriously claimed that fringe elements of world Jewry succeeded in hijacking Israeli and American government policy. Addressed radical Islam with kid gloves. Belittled religious belief in general. Listed as one of those involved in the production of this highly contentious documentary is Nidal Rafa. While Christiane Amanpour needs no assistance in formulating her own views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, how much influence did Rafa have on some of the biased and one-sided content that featured in "God's Warriors"? MEDIA MANIPULATION: A CONTINUING PROBLEM HonestReporting has also previously addressed the issue of biased and unprofessional Palestinian media employees after the Jerusalem Post exposed how two of the largest wire services - Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Associated Press (AP) - had employed journalists with inappropriately close ties to the Palestinian Authority. Perhaps the most infamous manipulation of the media by a Palestinian stringer was that of cameraman Talal Abu Rahmeh. His edited footage and sole testimony from Gaza in 2000 was the basis for France 2's discredited report on Mohammed al-Dura. (See HonestReporting's "The Big Lies" interactive presentation for more on the case.) In 2004, the BBC's Fayad Abu Shamala was exposed as a possible Hamas member after Ha'aretz reported on a Hamas preacher caught on tape stating "that Hamas man Faiz Abu Smala works for the BBC, and that way he writes the story in favor of the Islam [sic] and Muslims." This was the same BBC employee who, in 2001, told a Hamas rally in Gaza (attended by the then Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin) that journalists and media organizations in Gaza, including the BBC, are "waging the campaign shoulder-to-shoulder together with the Palestinian people." Following the kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, a Hamas member who worked for the BBC (confirmed as Abu Shamala) was allowed to enter Gaza to assist in efforts to free Johnston. This raised serious questions concerning the BBC's hiring policies. As a result of the kidnapping, the foreign media fled Gaza and the vacuum was filled by local Palestinian stringers. In 2007, the Jerusalem Post noted the problems of using only Palestinian stringer-produced material: "The people who use the stringers have to sift their material very carefully," says Jay Bushinsky, a veteran member of the Foreign Press Association. "You have to be naive to believe that in a place like Gaza you can be a fair-minded reporter. They have a mission and they don't give anything detrimental to their leadership." It is clear that Nidal Rafa went beyond the boundaries that a media professional should be expressing in public. Rafa was at this event in her capacity as a media professional and not as a Palestinian activist. If Rafa is unable to separate the personal from the professional in this setting, how can we trust content from CNN or other media organizations to which Rafa has contributed? As Tom Gross notes, there are many Arab employees of media organizations carrying out a professional job under trying circumstances. Nidal Rafa is not one of them. Media organizations need to make far greater efforts to avoid hiring Palestinian activists as journalists and producers in the future. * This debate was one of many events held by MediaCentral, an independent project of HonestReporting which provides services to foreign journalists visiting or based in Israel. As with many of MediaCentral's briefings, footage of the event was posted online, and after a number of journalists present protested the hostility and partisanship of Nidal Rafa, Tom Gross posted this excerpt as noted and brought the matter to the attention of HonestReporting. HonestReporting. com

Pardon the length of this posting - I took Friday night off for Shabbat and the result is lots to report tonight! (If you make it through nothing else, read the anecdote about this evening's cab ride that appears at the very end of this message).

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Friday morning, the group drove to Ha HaZikaron, the "Mountain of Memory", so called because it it's the location for two foundational institutions for the modern state of Israel: Mt Herzl, the military cemetery (skin to Arlington in the US) and "Yad vShem", Israel's national memorial to the Holocaust.

We began, just as foreign dignitaries do on their official visits, at Yad v'Shem. The name Yad v'Shem comes from Isaiah: "and to them will I give in my house and within my walls a place (memorial) and a name (a "yad vashem") that shall not be cut off." (Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 5)

The official name in Hebrew, however, is a bit longer: "The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority." Of particular significance is the word "gevurah" meaning bravery or heroes. In memorializing the Shoah (Holocaust), Israel highlighted the role played by those who chose to fight back against the Nazis, for example, in the Warsaw Ghetto. In doing so, Israel underscored a core tenet of Zionist ideology called "Shlilat HaGolah" (negating the diaspora)." For early Zionists, the world was an irredeemably hostile place for Jews as history made clear time and again. Those who understood history's lessons would make Aliyah (move to Israel). Those who picked up arms and fought against the oppressors (from the Macabees to the partisan fighters during WW II) were the antithesis of the marginal and powerless Jew; they were the model for a new, self-reliant Jewish people born of the modern state of Israel.

An example of such heroism: Janusz Korczak, the director of an orphanage for Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto. His life story is related in short movie currently nominated for an Oscar called "Train to Toyland" The movie's production notes explain: "on August 2nd, 1942, reflecting his lifelong compassionate devotion to both children and the rights of children, Korczak adamantly refused offers for his own safety and with defiant dignity he led the orphans under his care in the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto to the trains that ultimately would take them all to death at the Treblinka Death Camp."

This is a picture of a sculpture at Yad v'Shem,
depicting Korczak shielding his students.

For more information about Korzak and the current movie, press here.

In addition to honoring Jews who displayed heroism in the face of certain death, Yad v'Shem honors the memories of "righteous gentiles", i.e. non-Jews who risked life and limb to rescue individual Jews and, at times, entire families. A grove of trees are named for individual righteous gentiles", many of whom were flown to Israel before they died to be honored publicly for their compassion and bravery.

Beyond memorializing the victims and honoring those who heroically fought back, Yad v'Shem offers a place to document the lives of those who were killed. Survivors and families of those who died complete a "page of testimony" that records what is known of the fate of a loved one. Historians at Yad v'Shem maintain an enormous database of information, some of which comes from such pages of testimony (like those below), and some of which comes from the detailed records of the Germans themselves.




The nature of Yad v'Shem has changed over the past decade. Originally, Yad v'Shem was a family memorial to those who died in the Shoah. It didn't presume to teach what happened.

As the generation of survivors passes away, the nature of Yad'Shem has undergone significant renovation, with the creation of a new new Holocaust history museum which presents the story from a Jewish perspective and makes the most of cutting edge interactive technology to tell the story.

One of the most affecting elements of Yad Va'Shem is the Children's Memorial. Hollowed out from an underground cavern, the Children's Memorial contains six memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to remember the dead. Small mirrors are fixed in such a way to reflect the six candles many times over. In fact, the dark and somber space is filled with one and a half million reflected candles burning, seemingly in midair. All the while, a voice reads the names of children who perished, one at a time, with names that reveal their country of origin. Germany, France, Poland, Lithuania.

For more information about Yad v'Shem, press here.

Adjacent to Yad v'Shem is Har Herzl - Israel's National Military Cemetery. There are specific areas dedicated to soldiers who fell in specific battles, e.g. those who were lost in a submarine that sank in the early sixties, or the teenagers who served as runners during the 1948 War of Independence. Most of the graves, however, are uniform and simply decorated. A Stone marks the name, age and rank of the soldier and the war in which he died. In this way, the marker for Jonatan Netanyahu (brother of current Likud leader, Bibi), the commander of the Entebbe mission in 1976 that freed scores of Jews and Israelis who were being held hostage by Palestinian and German terrorists in Uganda (he was the only soldier to be a casualty) looks exactly like the marker of a relatively anonymous soldier. In death, everyone is equal.



Mt. Herzl also serves as the National Cemetery for national leaders. Most Prime Ministers and Presidents of Israel are buried there, including Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir. Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, was reburied in Israel after the state's creation (In photos, left to right, regular soldier graves; Herzl's tomb; and Rabin's grave).

Just recently, an interesting controversy arose over the desire of Edgar Bronfman, the wealthy scion of the Canadian brewing family, to be buried on Mt Herzl. Bronfman has served as the president of a number of important Jewish organizations and was singularly involved in compelling the Swiss to reimburse Holocaust survivors from the many insurance policies and bank deposits which had been taken from them. Even so, some argue, Bronfman never became an Israeli citizen, a baseline consideration for inclusion. For more on the latest brouhaha, press here.

For Lunch, the group descended on Mahane Yehuda, a large, mostly open air market, which is filled at Friday lunch time with those shopping for Shabbat. The following photos are self explanatory!

Friday evening, we went down to the Western Wall, where Rabbi Marc Berkson and I conducted a Kaballat Shabbat service. We then moved closer to the wall where, at the center of a hige, very excited crowd, was Senator Joe Lieberman. The reception he got made me think that these days he has to pretty far to find a Jewish audience who are happy to see him! We had a delicious Shabbat dinner at Mercaz Shimshon, in a third floor hall whose eastern wall is made entirely of windows looking out at the walls of the Old City. Beautiful and inspiring. During dinner, each table was joined by one or more Hayalim Bodedim", or "Lone Soldiers." These are young men and women doing their military service whose families are not in the country. The army goes out of its way to look after this group, including, evidently, getting them an occasional hotel meal with guests from outside of the country. Many of the group were Americans, though there were others from New Zealand and Russia. Their stories were inspiring.

After dinner, we were treated to a performance of an a capella group of Israeli soldiers who sing on behalf of the Chief Rabbinate. Their intricate harmonies were matched only by their personable and approachable natures.

By midnight, the awaited storm arrived, like one of Milwaukee's finest fall or spring weather events - downpours, thunder lightening and squall lines of howling wind. As I lay in bed listening to the storm outside, I realized that those group members who had arranged to go down to visit Masada were in for a disappointment. Even less rain than we were getting can give rise to what are called in Hebrew "Sheetfonot" or flash floods. It needn't be raining down at the Dead Sea; rain forty miles away can turn into a raging flood by the time it has coursed through miles of valleys from the hills of Jerusalem down to the Aravah, the rift valley in which the Dead Sea sits. This photo shoes how quickly water can arrive.

Indeed, my prediction was correct; the roads were closed because of flash flooding. Even so, the group was able to make it to Ein Gedi at the Dead Sea's Northern end, where they bathed in the theraputic mud. As their photo indicates, it looks like they had fun!

While they were floating in the Dead Sea, I went out for a walk in Jerusalem. When I left the hotel it was overcast (I hadn't expected to need the winter coat I wore when I left Milwaukee, but I was glad to have it today), but I was soon drenched by a torrential downpour and then, adding insult to injury, HAIL! I was soaked to the bone when I got back to the hotel, but I knew better than to complain. Israel has experienced a severe drought over the past two years so this rain is very welcome. Tomorrow we travel up North to the Kineret (Sea of Galilee) where, we are told, the water levels are the lowest they've been in a long time. As the country's sole source of potable water, the Kineret's health is of concern to all.

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What is in the news? There is a lot of horse-trading going on as political parties jockey for position. Tzipi Livni, the head of the centrist Kadima party had said a few days ago that she would never join Netanyahu's coalition to be "a rubber stamp for very conservative policies." Today, other senior party officials are talking about the possibilities of joining the coalition. Big news today was that the government has told Hamas that until Gilad Shalit is returned (the soldier kidnapped outside of Gaza two and half years ago) the border crossings to Gaza will remain closed and peace talks frozen. Tonight on TV there were interviews with family members of people killed in terrorist attacks over the passt years that were planned by Hamas members currently in Israeli jails who are rumored to be included in a prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit. The surviving relatives were saying they can't understand why the government responds emotionally to the issue of kidnapped soldiers rather than with common sense. Others agree, but say that such is the commitment Israel feels to its soldiers, akin to the US Marine's commitment never to leave a soldier behind. That value is understood and appreciated by those who have lost family members to terror. What leaves a bad taste in their mouths is the idea that hundred of murdered might be back out on the street, ready and committed to return to terrorist activities.

In regional news, there is worry about the report that Iran may have enough fissionable material to make a nuclear bomb, something Israel said it would never tolerate happening. There's been discussion about the course being charted by Turkey these days between its desire to both join the Eurocentric world of NATO, on the one hand, and to curry favor with its Muslim neighbors, on the other. Turks haven't forgotten or abandoned the memories of their role as a regional leader in Ottoman times. They'd like to return.

In Israeli politics (from the Israeli press) "As he began consultations for the formation of Israel's post-election cabinet Wednesday, Feb. 18, President Shimon Peres made an extraordinary statement. Addressing the Presidents Conference, he admitted for the first time that Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005 was a mistake "which will not be repeated." His decision regarding the future composition of the governmental coalition would therefore be dictated by its policies, he said.

Peres, who was vice premier in the government headed by Ariel Sharon which ordered the 2005 evacuation of the Gaza Strip, confessed for the first time that he was wrong to support it. Things should have been differently, he said. (Israeli forces forcibly evicted 8,500 Israelis living in the Gaza communities - many of whom remain in reduced situations to this day - and opened the way for Hamas' takeover.)

Peres said: "My problem is less whom to entrust with the role of prime minister but rather the candidate's policies. The world is undergoing new situations and the new government must adjust its policies accordingly. I do not disqualify any Israeli who was duly elected."

Many eyes here are focused on Durban, where a draft resolutions for the United Nations Durban II summit on racism brand Israel as an occupying state that carries out racist policies, Haaretz (The Israeli daily newspaper of record) has learned. The draft refers to "the plight of Palestinian refugees and other inhabitants of the Arab occupied territories," apparently meaning Israel itself. The resolutions appear to confirm concerns that the second World Conference Against Racism will be used by Arab nations and others to criticize Israel. Despite those concerns, the United States said last week it would participate in planning the summit.

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Tonight, congregants Judi Ketten, Jane Gellman and I had dinner with a number of former Milwaukeeans: Cantor Tamar (Heather) Feffer (36 weeks pregnant); Anat Barkin (Nir was in the US); Alon and Einat Galron (former Shaliach); Phil Nadel and Ros and Hannah Roucher. Much fun was had by all. Below are Judi Ketten and Cantor Tamar (Heather) Feffer and the group.

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AND NOW, for the inaugural segment we'll feature from here on in, entitled "RAK B'YISRAEL - ONLY IN ISRAEL..." Featuring stories and anecdotes that could have happened "Only in Israel."

As the ten of us had dinner in Abu Ghosh, twenty minutes outside of Jerusalem, Yisrael, our cab driver, waited outside to drive Jane, Judi and I back to Jerusalem. On the way, he pointed out a bit of esoteric Jewish knowledge I had never heard: he handed us his business card, pointed to his name, and said: "All of Jewish history is in my name.." and then proceeded to show how every patriarch and matriarch was represented by one the letters in his name. Yud-Sin -Resh -Aleph-Lamed.

The letter Yud for Yitzhak (Isaac) and Ya'akov (Jacob);
The letter Sin for Sarah;
The letter Resh for Rachel and Rivkah (Rebecca);
The letter Aleph for Avraham; and
The Letter Lamed for Leah.

As we marveled at this novel bit of Jewish tradition, Yisrael snorted and said: "You're not going to find a cab driver in New York City who can teach you Torah!"

Yisrael, our "Torah-teaching" cab driver,
and Judi Ketten

We woke this morning for an early breakfast at our Hotel, David's Citadel. Israeli hotel breakfasts are sumptuous, albeit in a most healthy way. The buffet consists of a variety of cold salads, served with soft and hard cheeses, omelets and olives, fruit, and delicious breads. (If you want to learn more about Israeli breakfasts, press here.

After breakfast, we assembled to hear David Ze'ev. David hosts the Israeli version of "Meet the Press" on television and radio, a weekly news analysis show with interviews, guests, etc. David gave us his impressions on the post-election scene in Israel. Whereas his theory before the elections had been "Israel needs to stop apologizing" every time it does something someone doesn't like, e.g. invade Gaza, his thought after election is now " the current Israeli political system has to go." Incremental changes, like direct election of prime minister (rather than voting for a party, which then picks its own leader), have proven ineffective; yet, those who would need to envision transformational change and implement it (member of the Kenesset or parliament) are the people least likely to want to move away from the status quo.

Elections this past Tuesday resulted in a statistical dead heat. Since Tuesday, President Shimon Peres has been interviewing political parties to assess which party has the best chance of putting together a viable coalition government. Today, he announced that the Likud, the conservative party led by Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu would have first "crack" at it. Tzipi Livni, the leader of the Kadima centrist party, vowed to stay in the opposition and resist the temptation to join the government. Livni said: "Today the foundation was laid for an extreme right-wing government led by [Likud Chairman Benjamin] Netanyahu. This is not our way, and there is nothing for us in such a government," Kadima leader Tzipi Livni told party members on Thursday, after 65 MKs announced their decision to support Netanyahu for the post of prime minister-designate. (for more information, press here).

Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial head of the Israeli Beitenu party (Israel is our land) pledged his provisional support to Netanyahu. Lieberman, who has said he would require Israeli Arabs (not Palestinians living in Gaza or the West Bank) to take a loyalty oath. The coming days will reveal whether Netanyahu can put together a coalition of at least sixty one members - since the Kenesset has one hundred and twenty members, sixty one comprises a simply majority. As Leiberman warned, any government that exists with only a narrow margin will not survive long.

In a move some have been demanding for some time, the government told Hamas that the border crossings to Gaza will remain closed, and all movement toward a resolution of the current tensions, will remain frozen until the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israel soldier kidnapped by Hamas two and a half years ago. For more information about Gilad Shalit, press here.

For Shlomo Avineri's analysis of the need for electoral reform, press here.

Jerusalem Post correspondent Bradley Burston thinks people voted for the right because only the right can make peace (Like Begin), press here.

We then went to the Old City and walked through the Jewish Quarter. I was surprised to see that the Hurva synagogue, the largest in the Jewish Quarter and destroyed by the Jordanians after 1948, is being rebuilt. Since the Jewish Quarter was taken back by the IDF in 1967, the Hurva was cleaned up but only the shell remained as a memorial.

We continued on to the Western Wall. While some assume the wall had been part of the second temple itself, in truth it was part of the retaining wall King Herod erected to created the temple mount, which was the largest building project the Roman empire had ever embarked on. Over the past decade, excavations along the base of the wall continued in a northerly direction and uncovered what is now an underground tunnel stretching from the plaza in front of the western wall all the way to the far reaches of the Christian Quarter to the north.

For more information about the tunnels, their excavation, and the political uproar that ensued when Muslim religious authorities claimed that Jews were plotting to literally undermine the Dome of the Rock, a very important Islamic shrine, press here. To take a virtual tour of the tunnels and other areas around the Kotel - the wall, press here.

After a pasta lunch, and the slight matter of the bus leaving the restaurant while yours truly was still in the bathroom (sorry, no pictures of the look on my face at the time), we visited a new museum dedicated to the life of Menachem Begin. Israel's first prime minister elected from the conservative party, the Likud (in 1977). Begin was a warrior - some say a terrorist - who led the pre-state "Irgun" militia in such missions as blowing up a wing of the King David Hotel (being used at the time by the British occupiers). Yet, he was also the statesman who invited Anwar Sadat to come to Israel and who himself went to Cairo, in the run up to the signing of the Camp David accords, which brought an end to decades of war between Israel and Egypt. In Israel proper, Begin argued that Jews from Europe (Ashkenazim) and those from Arab countries (edot HaMizrach or oriental communities) should have equal opportunities in political life, business, academia, etc.

For more information about the Begin Center, and, in particular, the battle between the Hagana led by Israel's first prime minister, David ben Gurion, and Menachem Begin's Irgun - a battle that came to a head with the sinking of the Altelena - a ship the Irgun was using to bring in munitions for Irgun fighters in Jerusalem, in contravention of Ben Gurion's orders, press here * or here or here. If you want to watch a video of Yitzhak Rabin relating the sinking of the Altelena - don't pay too much attention to the biased introduction - the second half of the video is worth it. Press here.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called "Darna" that specializes in Moroccan food. The picture shows some of the delicious salads. The food was of the French influenced cuisine of a certain part of Morocco. When I lived with a Moroccan family in Jerusalem during my junior year of high school, the food was more influenced by Arab culture, reflecting the experience of a different socio-economic stratum in Moroccan society. Below are pictures of two of a group of Milwaukee students currently studying in Israel through the Milwaukee Jewish Federation's sponsorship, including Rachel Dolnick and Mara Alpert.

Three News Items to share:

The first is the weather: today the weather changed from sunny and sixty degrees to a cooler, almost foggy looking day. After a few minutes it became apparent that the frog was really a cloud of dust that probably had come all the way from North Africa. This weather is a precursor for some stormy weather heading our way, rain that will likely hit us tomorrow evening. To read about how dust clouds form, press here. To see a satellite picture of what such a dust cloud looks like, press here.

The second item is abut John Kerry, who is visiting Israel and who spent part of today in Gaza. For details of the visit, press here.

The third news item was by far the most important: last night we ate and celebrated with Yemenite Jews. Today, it was announced in the media that the Jewish Agency had worked in secret to take ten Jewish individuals out of Yemen and bring them to Israel.

Why is this newsworthy? Because while most of Yemenite Jewry came to Israel in the early fifties (Operation Magic Carpet, so named because so many had never been in an airplane before) a remnant has remained in Yemen, totaling today about 140 families. In recent years, the community has become the target of a local Al Qaeda affiliate. The President of Yemen took seriously his task of protecting the Yemenite Jewish community. In fact, in recent months, the Yemeni government decided to consolidate the Jewish community in one town, rather than the two towns where the Jews had lived. Despite these extraordinary efforts, the protection could not be total; in recent weeks there have been a number of attacks with hand grenades, guns, etc. We didn't see mention of it in the western press because Israel was already setting into motion a plan to evacuate the remaining families. However, the news got out about the operation and it remains to be seen what will happen now. Such evacuations in Ethiopia had to be curtailed once news got out; local officials who were happy to look the other way as Jews left (a bribe or two helped) were suddenly outraged when they realized that their complicity was there for all to see.

In the meantime, the news tonight in Israel showed the family with ten relatives arriving to the airport and reciting the shechiyanu prayer - thank you God for giving us life, sustaining us, and enabling us to be here together to share this day. To read more about it, press here.


QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED IN UPCOMING BLOGS (remember, I will be in Israel through March first):

I have been collecting excellent questions sent to me by Milwaukeeans. I hope to begin sharing some insights and answers in the coming weeks. Here is a sample:

· How do Israelis you meet feel about continued building in the Palestinian territories despite Supreme Court decisions? What effect does the activism of Rabbis For Human Rights have on Israeli citizens? Any discussion?

· How do Israelies you meet feel about continued building in the Palestinian territories despite Supreme Court decisions? What effect does the activism of Rabbis For Human Rights have on Israeli citizens? Any discussion?

· David Landau wrote in Ha'aretz today/yesterday that the Israeli-Palestinian situation will reach either a two-state solution or a one-state solution, an Arab state. How widely held is that viewpoint?

· Just read that 20,000 Israelis lost their jobs last month... Some countries are blaming the US. It would be difficult for Israelis to blame the US out loud but perhaps privately? I am sure everyone is asking about the future pm. Do they believe it will be other than a unity government? Is it possible for either to make a coalition? Are they fearing Iran more than Hamas and Hezbollah?

· I am very interested in what has happened to the moderate/left voice in Israel. I don't hear much on our media. So,the man/woman voice on the street is very interesting to me.

· Questions for them (Ros Roucher and Rabbi Phil Nadel)--what are the best things and the most challenging parts of moving to Israel?

· And the questions for the sixth grade class at Sinai:
· How tall is the tallest building?
· What do people eat? (street food, food we don't have, Joey wants to know if the pizza still tastes weird)
· What do houses look like? Apartments?
· What is shopping like?
· Please bring chocolate!

First Report -
Wednesday night
February 18, 2009

After twelve hours of flying, I arrived to Israel Wednesday morning at 9:15 am. I snapped a picture as well passed over Tel Aviv, minutes away from landing.

Waiting to go through immigration control, in I saw we were joined by a group of tourists from Africa wearing colorful native gowns, as well as by the a Turkish (The Turkish?) soccer team. Milwaukeeans Mert and Dottie Rotter and I hitched a ride to Jerusalem with Milwaukee's own Habad rabbi, Rabbi Samuels (on the right, conversing with Federation president, Bruce Arbit).

As we drove into Jerusalem, I caught sight of a new building project - a Calatrava designed bridge that will be part of an urban light rail system. Calatrava's work is instantly recognizable, especially for a Milwaukeean!

After a few minutes (literally) to wash up in the hotel, we set out for Latrun, approximately halfway back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem. Latrun was the sight of an important series of battles during Israel's war of Independence in 1948. Today, the former British police station serves as a memorial to fallen members of Israel's armored corps, as well as a museum to over one hundred and fifty different kinds of tanks Israel has had to use in wartime. In addition, the site is where future armored corps soldiers are sworn in.

For more about the modern history of Latrun, press here. To learn about American Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus, who helped the fledgling IDF (Israel Defense Forces) build the "Burma Road" to break the Arab siege of Jerusalem in the late forties,) press here.

And to learn more about the Israeli designed and manufactured Merkava (chariot) tank (and to see a video of it in action) press here.

After lunch and a visit to the museum and memorial, we headed down toward the Mediterranean to Kibbutz Ayalon. Ayalon was a collective settlement that prior to and during the War of Independence (1948-1949) hid an underground factory that produced nine millimeter bullets for the war effort. To see the program the "History Channel" did about the clandestine bullet factory, press here.

BUT WAIT! The day wasn't over yet. After a tour of the Weitzmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, we arrived at Moshav Ish'i, a collective settlement founded by Yemenite Jews. We ate a delicious Yemenite dinner and took part in a ceremony preparing for a Yemenite Wedding. The bride groom and attendants were bedecked with fabulous traditional costumes, which are owned collectively by the community and loaned out to brides and grooms. Brides were many different rings of silver and are usually covered with designs painted on with Henna from head to foot. There was lots of dancing, in which we all took part. Sinai congregant Jane Gellman got into the dancing in an especially vivid way, sporting a hat of burning candles (see picture). I am happy to report that everyone everyone emerged from the wedding banquet unsigned and in good health!

If you would like to read a first person report on the preparations for a real Yemenite wedding, press here.


A last thought: Today, on multiple occasions, we drove by the downtown Jerusalem residence of the prime minister. It felt as if we were "so close yet so far" and this underscores an inherent paradox of our trip so far: on one hand, we are at the center of the news universe. Israelis themselves are news junkies, regularly tuning to the evening newscast and reading at least one daily paper.

And yet, being tourists in Israel, slowly acclimating to the time change and the jet lag, means that we are ironically cut off from the news. Our days are filled with traveling and learning, not watching television and reading the newspaper. Ironically, it's easier to follow Israeli news from afar.

Even so, we have some important advantages in being here, first and foremost that we can talk to Israelis one on one. I've already cornered the bus driver, our security guard (who, at 21, seems armed with little more than sunglasses), the tour guide (whom I know from twenty five years ago when I worked in tourism in Jerusalem), and some others, in order to ask them their thoughts and analyses of the day's events. I won't report on those right now; I'll wait until I have critical mass tomorrow or Friday. In the meantime, please feel free to share these missives with friends and family - that's what they are there for!

Rabbi David B. Cohen

p.s. Please let me know if there are specific question you'd like me respond to, or to pose to my Israeli friends. I've already received 20 suggested questions and I have time to ask even more!

In a few short hours, I will be getting on a plane for Israel (well, via New Jersey). I am going to Israel for two reasons: During the first five days, I will be taking part in the Milwaukee Jewish Federation's mission. We will be touring the country, talking to experts, and spending time particularly in our "P2K" - Partnership 2000 region of the city of Tiveria (Tiberias) and the surrounding cities and settlements encircling the Kineret (the Sea of Galilee).

During the second week, I will be participating in the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) - the organization of reform rabbis - yearly meeting which this year is being held in Jerusalem. Fortuitously, the last day of the the Milwaukee mission is the first day of the CCAR conference.

In addition to "blogging" every day on the issues and emotions of the day, I also am collecting questions people in Milwaukee would like me to answer while I am in Israel. Some have asked about the election and its aftermath; others want to know how Israelis are feeling about the recent war in Gaza. Others have asked me how Israelis are viewing the Madoff scandal and other Wall Street "outrages." Others have asked me to photograph particular sites.

If you'd like to ask a question to which I'll respond in the blog, (or want to see a photograph of a particular place) please write to me here.


L'hitraot - see you soon -
Rabbi David B. Cohen