Today is the 5th of Iyar. In English, it is the 28th of April. It’s the first description that determines my post today, because the English day of celebration changes all the time. It’s Yom Ha’atzmaut- Israeli Independence Day.
Under the set of most improbable circumstances, the State of Israel was founded 72 years ago today. After centuries, after millennia, there was finally going to be a return to the bona-fide home for the Jewish people, who’d been hoping, praying, craving for such a situation.
And, before many of you who claim you possess absolutely no anti-Semitic feelings – and will then prove yourselves wrong by echoing a clearly anti-Semitic sentiment, consider these facts. What country would you like to pick – anywhere around the globe- that came to its independence without a war against others, without a fight over the land upon which is resides? Why is it you feel obliged to hold Israel to a different standard?
Did not the United States appropriate its lands from the Indians? Or, the Latin American countries from their indigenous peoples? Not to mention the other states (some of which are falling apart as we speak) in the Middle East. Or, the never-ending battle between India and Pakistan? Even the European nations became what they are after countless wars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SRXCj7O8_s
Is Israel a perfect state? Hardly. I, for one, probably abhor the policies of its Prime Minister more than you do. (I have higher hopes for the next Prime Minister- Benny Gantz.) However, I know for what Israel stands. It does stand for democracy. (I am terribly worried that the USA is losing its affiliation with this principle, given the current administration, which makes Netanyahu’s star appear brighter than it deserves.) Israel clearly stands for justice. And, most of the Israeli citizens have a desperate yearning for peace.
During this pandemic, Israel has been dealing with its ultraorthodox population, who seem to be as sensible as the WrongWing (egged on by the GOP establishment) in America to refuse the rules of social distancing and quarantine. These folks refuse to stop crowding together in their synagogues, their yeshivot (schools of learning), and in their homes- yielding COVID-19 deaths and debilitations, at rates akin to those of the poor across the USA.
For decades, Israel has been reclaiming the desert and the swamps for its farmlands, for its tech sectors, for residences for all its citizens- Jews and Arabs, both. As opposed to other nations that have been squandering their resources (water, land), Israel developed and pioneered processes such as drip irrigation to maximize the benefit of the little water it has. Forested major areas of the desert. (And, for a while, it recognized that it must cull those forests to preclude major fires. Until terrorists burned down acres of trees.)
As opposed to other nations, Israel has accepted all those Jews persecuted in Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. You don’t find those folks in refugee camps, the way you find the refugees who were advised by the Arab League to vacate Israel during the wars started in 1948, when the UN declared Israel’s right to exist. And, it’s the grandchildren of those refuges that are still there, still in poor conditions, some 72 years later.
(I am NOT making light of the situation that obtained for a while for the Mizrachi and Sfardi Jews who had decades of problems being accepted by the Ashkenazi Jews in Israel. But, that battle didn’t extend over centuries, as oppression of others still obtains in the US.)
You should also recall that what Kuwait did as soon as America liberated it from Iraqi domination during the first Iraq war; that very first act as a liberated nation? It banished all the Palestinians from within its borders.
Over the past,72 years, Israel has not had a single coup, disintegration, etc. It has grown its economy- and its thriving high-tech industry- that is the envy of almost every other country in the world. And, that is for a nation that until recently lacked its own energy sources. (It now controls one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world.) And, Israel does not possess many natural resources (other than this natural gas deposit), to boot.
Israel has wonderful universities- for all. It has a vibrant culture of literature and the arts. It is one of the very few countries in the world that protects other faiths- and their places of worship. (Except when some of those places are deliberately stocked with munitions and weaponry.)
And, like the USA, Israel’s democracy is still a work-in-progress. One that I look forward to seeing burgeon even further- one that will provide reasons for my children and grandchildren to evoke feelings of pride and honor.
A nation whose anthem was written some 80 years before it actually became one. A nation whose pledge of allegiance dates back to King David.
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand lose its powers,
let my tongue cleave to my palate.
let my right hand lose its powers,
let my tongue cleave to my palate.
If I do not remember you,
if I do not regard Jerusalem
with my utmost concern.
if I do not regard Jerusalem
with my utmost concern.
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I have negative feelings about every country who disenfranchised the indigenous people who were there first, including America. So I certainly wouldn’t single out Israel.
Except Israel didn’t disenfranchise the indigenous folks- they’ve been able to vote since the very first election ever held. The folks that were disenfranchised were the ones who were living in what is now called the West Bank- Jordan didn’t let them vote, neither has the PLO held an election in 15 years. Those in Gaza (by the way, Egypt didn’t want that region back) haven’t had an election in longer.
I definitely look forward to visiting Israel sometime.. and the anthem sure has strong sentiments..
And that painting is so beautifully symbolic and emotional
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Udi really is a talented artist. I have been honored to know him.
Thank you for sharing the history of Israel, Roy. Like all nations, Israel is not without its problems. We, individuals and nations alike, are all works in progress.
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I have had real problems since Netanyahu took the reins. I was hoping Gantz would have won a year ago. But, hopes and reality are not always in concert
I’m learning more from your blog posts than I did in school. Thank you for sharing the history of the Israeli Independence Day.
Glad to oblige, Martha. Thanks for reading my post- and leaving a comment.