Eliyho Matz: The Cat and The Rooster--An Answer to Isaiah Berlin

(Meow) A cat has a thousand dreams, all about mice.

(A Palestinian Arab proverb, first heard in Jerusalem at a conversation with Abram Sorramello, 1970)*

                                               

THE CAT (Meow) AND THE ROOSTER (Cock-a-doode-doo): 

THE INVENTION OF SHLOMO SAND (ZAND) AS A RESPONSIBLE ISRAELI, PATENTED THINKER AND GIFTED ISRAELI HISTORIAN

 By ELIYHO (MEOW) MATZ

         In New York City many years ago, I used to visit Hillel Kook and Samuel Merlin at their east-side office, sometimes several times a week.  It was the end of the 1970’s and early 1980’s.  I was a student, and my studies on America and the Holocaust were near their end.  Our topic of conversation focused on the future of the Israelis, as a modern people who achieved sovereignty in 1948.  As a result of these conversations, I became aware of the fundamental issues relating to Israeli political identity that plagued these two elderly individuals, who mainly spoke of the process of statehood as having been a grand missed opportunity for the Israelis to become a modern people and a new nation with a written constitution, i.e., a constitution for all Israelis within its territorial sovereignty (not a constitution for New York Jews).  They spoke about an Israeli Republic, or, as they called it in the 1940’s, a Hebrew Republic.  Critical for them was the issue of an Israeli political identity, as opposed to the old issues of “Jewishness.”  They were brilliant thinkers.  Talking to them, I first grasped the beginning of what was to become my own intellectual approach to a different way of looking into Israeli society, and at Jews wherever they reside.  Their main argument was, since Israel never wrote a constitution defining itself, the political identity of the Israelis is totally unclear, and thus for a nation this omission causes a variety of political as well as personal crises of identity. 

This array of anomalies, internally or externally, very few Israeli historians till today understand.  In his second book, The Invention of the Land of Israel, Shlomo Sand most profoundly attempts to explain to the Israelis and to the world the complexities of Jewish/Israeli ideas, as well as critical Israeli and Jews’ history.  He does not immerse himself in issues of Israeli political identity, although his themes touch upon them.  His writing style tilts between Tolstoyean narrative to Isaiah Berlin’s literary and historical criticism, and to great effect Professor Sand is profound in his approach to straightening out the outline of Israeli and Jew’s history.

         I met with Professor Shlomo Sand (Zand, in Hebrew) twice, both times on the campus of Tel Aviv University.  We had punctuated exchanges, primarily about his thoughts on the subject matter of his research, as well as some exchange of ideas on the history of Jews.  He is an original: a leftist Israeli sort of a thinker who has presented a Classical interpretation of history from the point of view of neither left nor right, thus avoiding a history that is twisted, inaccurate and misleading.  For a Classical historian’s task is to present facts, and the interpretation of facts, which might lead to “History” or “Philosophy.”  In my view, Professor Sand (Zand) is thus as an historian not to be defined as a Leftist; rather, he can better be defined as a very concerned Israeli, an Israeli patriot, as well as a thoughtful historian who has researched the history of nations.  His expertise lies in his attempt to explain to the Israelis as well as to the worlds’ readers the misconception surrounding the generic term “nationality,” any nationality.  To me, his uncompromising attempt to explore Jews’ history dating back to ancient times is not only absolutely courageous, but also essential for the enduring future of the Israeli nation, as well as for lives of Jews wherever they reside. 

In order to explain a bit of Professor Sand’s (Zand’s) book on Jews’ history as a cultural religious phenomenon, I have to take a turn first to relate or explain some other issues I have encountered over the past forty years dealing with Jews’ history.  My attempt to understand myself as a Jew and an Israeli, as well as Israeli history and the history of Jews, began at an early age, and it was not until I completed my MA at Yeshiva University in New York City that I gained a bit of a better understanding of Jews’ history.  Looking carefully at Jews’ recorded history, we have been around for at least 2½ thousand years, if not more.  My first encounters with the difficulty of explaining the history of Jews came when I was writing my Master’s thesis at Yeshiva University. The subject of my research was an analysis of the initial response of the American Jewish leadership to the massacre of European Jewry between November 1942 and April 1943.  The idea to work on this project was conceived at the University of Massachusetts.  My professor there, Dr. David S. Wyman, who taught modern American history, was at that time involved in an attempt to unravel the FDR Administration’s response to the Holocaust.  My research for him was eventually incorporated into his book The Abandonment of the Jews, published in 1984.  From the beginning his book was, and will continue to be, a profound contribution to Holocaust studies.  To me personally he was helpful, although perhaps not respectful enough academically.  In the course of our work together, Dr. Wyman introduced me to Hillel Kook (a.k.a. Peter Bergson) and Samuel Merlin.  In America during the Holocaust, Kook and Merlin carried on their shoulders the burden of responsibility to stand for the rescue of the dying Jews of Europe during the Holocaust years.  Various books and movies have been made about them; their activities during the Holocaust demand a good history.  Politically, they belonged to the right wing of Zionism, Jabotinsky’s political camp.  In reality, they were members of the proto-Israeli group called the “Irgun” (an explanation of this term will follow).   As a young Israeli, born on September 15, 1948, growing up I had absolutely no inkling about them, I had neither heard nor learned about their activities, because the history of their activities during WWII was not taught in any public schools or universities in Israel.  But to my great benefit, I ended up working at their office in New York City while finishing up my MA, as well as while attempting to write my PhD at the Graduate Center of City University.

         Here I am going to step back a bit again to introduce another individual who made an impact on my life.  He, too, was connected to research on the Holocaust.  While I was doing my graduate work, I became acquainted with S. Beit-Zvi.  “S” stood for “Shabtai,” and “Zvi” was the name of his son who had been killed while fighting in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948.  We first met at his home in Tzahala, a suburb of Tel Aviv, where he lived with his wife.  He was in his 70’s at that time, a former teacher, and the author of a book on the Zionist leadership during the Holocaust, titled Post-Ugandian Zionism in the Crucible of the Holocaust.  Remarkably, he was not a trained historian, but he had the mind of an historian, and as a matter of fact, his book, which criticizes the Palestinian/Zionist leadership during the Holocaust years, has today become a mainstream Israeli history book.  But that was not so in 1976 when the book was published, and it took years to sink into the Israeli historical mind. Self-published after years of research, Beit-Zvi’s book initially was a total failure.  The universities, as well as Yad Vashem, banned him.  Finally in recent years his book has emerged as a contender to Yad Vashem’s official Holocaust history.  From the first, Beit-Zvi always had one strong supporter –me -- and we understood each other very well.  My MA confirms what he wrote.  Beit-Zvi and I met many times in Tel Aviv and in New York, sharing conversations as well as letters, and we developed an excellent relationship that lasted for many years until he died.  The main argument of his book is: the Zionist movement was not really focused on saving European Jewry.  Politically speaking, Shabtai’s work should have shaken up the Israeli political leadership, but that did not happen.  As a matter of fact, it is still not happening.  The fact that Ben Gurion and his cronies did not do much to save European Jews during the Holocaust is still an issue that haunts Yad Vashem as well as every Israeli government until today. 

         While in New York, Hillel Kook introduced me to an Israeli philosopher, Gershon Weiler, who then in the 1970’s was a visiting professor at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.  He was a very interesting person, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary who after WWII came to Israel as a Zionist.  But as his life developed, he became influenced by the Canaanite movement.  Intellectually, the Canaanites advocated the interaction of Israelis into the region, that is the Middle East.  He was a learned man in philosophy, as well as in Jewish studies, and had written a book which was published in 1976, the same year that Beit-Zvi published his book.  However, unlike Beit-Zvi, Weiler had the backing of a very respected publisher, Am Oved.  In his book, titled Jewish Theocracy, Weiler’s basic and most fundamental argument was that Jewish theology (halakhah) inherently stands against the establishment of a modern Israeli nation.  The book is a scholarly attempt to explain that concept.  Weiler was brokenhearted: his book, which contradicted Zionist political theories and challenged Israeli political theory vis-à-vis religion and nation, was ostracized and criticized and basically led to the end of his career as a lecturer.  I met him a few times in New York, in Tel Aviv, and at his home in Rechovot.  He was a broken man.  Israelis could not understand what he had written, and besides, Israeli society was moving swiftly into the realm of political fantasy and deep religious swings, so nobody paid any attention to him or his book.  His book was later translated into English, but his message was never understood either by intellectuals or the wider public.

         I was born in Tel Aviv on September 15, 1948, and grew up in Rishon LeZion.  As a curious kid, I read profusely.  I am not suggesting by any means that I understood better than others what I read, but I read a lot, and as a matter of fact, I aspired to become a writer of some sort, but I was not sure exactly how to achieve that goal; at the ripe age of 64, I am still not sure how to make that work.  But what is significant here is that Rishon LeZion is the birthplace of modern Hebrew.  It is the place where, for the first time in 3000 years of Jews’ history, the “Rishonim” opened up a kindergarten and primary school where Hebrew was taught in Hebrew (rather than as a translation from some other language) as early as the 1890’s.  Of course, Hebrew used as textual material existed for thousands of years, but, as a spoken everyday language it was only first practiced in Rishon LeZion.  And the process was complicated.  For, fifty years after the beginning of modern Hebrew in Rishon, when a million and a half Jews arrived in Israel, and thousands of them came to Rishon, among them my parents, when Israeli independence started, those immigrants arrived speaking Yiddish or other languages, and the newly developing Hebrew became even more complex.  My teachers, with all best intentions, did not speak proper Hebrew.  So I, the Israeli-born Sabra, whose parents’ Hebrew was only mediocre, whose teachers’ Hebrew likewise was difficult to grasp…, no wonder I had difficulties learning and understanding via the broken Hebrew that I was surrounded by.  Math and Physics were difficult enough for me, but to try to study them in Hebrew with teachers who did not speak proper Hebrew – I was lost.  This school system simply did not fit my needs.  Consequently, I left high school.  After completing my high school degree on my own, it was only after three years of military service that I returned to school, enrolling at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  What a thrill it was for me when I took a course in Israeli Hebrew Literature with Professor Gershon Shaked!  Many years later I became familiar with the work of Professor Paul Wexler and his student Ghil’ad Zukermann and their analysis of our current status of Israeli Hebrew.  According to them, the DNA of modern Hebrew is recycled Yiddish. So much then for my struggles, and for the difficulties Israelis have until today in expressing themselves in recycled Yiddish.  I am reminded of the Israeli joke about a man who has just gotten married and immediately afterwards takes his wife to the Western Wall.  When his friends ask him why, he replies, “I want her to learn how to talk to the wall” -- in Hebrew, ledaber eim hakeer, which is a direct translation utilizing the well known Yiddish expression, red tzu de vant.  In another example, when a clerk at a local store in Queens that sells Israeli products asks his customer how much cheese to cut her, the Israeli-American woman answers, “I vont a little bit….”  In Hebrew, ani rotza k’tzat…; in Yiddish ich vil abis’l.  Nu?  Let us imagine Ludwig Wittgenstein visiting Rishon LeZion in the 1930’s, trying to confirm his theories on language and uncertainty.  I cannot imagine a more thrilling situation for Wittgenstein – he probably would have written a thousand-page book on the invention of the new Hebrew (Yiddish) language.  Next, imagine one coming from Morocco or Iraq, trying to express himself in Hebrew (i.e., Yiddish Hebrew) -- it is almost a farce.

 Solving the problem of Israeli self-expression will take a long time.  The repercussions of this unresolved process are not just inconvenient, but impact Israel’s way of conducting itself as a nation.  A cardinal issue relating to understanding the Hebrew language in modern times is demonstrated in the use of the term “leumi.”  For example, the organization “Irgun Tzvai Leumi” was established during the end of the 1920’s into the early 1930’s in Jerusalem and disbanded in 1948.  Irgun means “organization,” Tzvai means “military,” and Leumi means “nationality.”  The question is, what “nationality” were they referring to?  Most Israelis would say, “Jewish.”  But, that cannot be, because Jewish nationality as a political concept has never been politically defined, and to me the political definition of Israeli nationality represents the quintessential issue of Israeli survival; otherwise, we cannot hope to endure in the modern world.  The Israeli Declaration of Independence (or the Declaration of Non-Independence) carries within it the duality of “Israeli” and “Jewish.”  Today’s Prime Minister, B. Netanyahu, with his coalition members, wants Israel to be a “Jewish” state.  But politically one cannot define Jewishness; religiously, one can.  So, does Netanyahu mean that Israel will transform itself into a religious “Jewish” state, thus being one that can be neither democratic nor Jewish, and definitely not Israeli?  Or, to make things more interesting, the human race of homosapiens in Israel will become “homozionists” or “homojewish” – of course, this is absurd.  The political goal of Zionism that was achieved in 1948 was meant to integrate “Jews” of the world community into a new nation that was called the Israeli nation, but still the essence of the concept of  “nation” or “leom” in Hebrew remains fuzzy and undefined. 

         For many who are not aware of it, linguistic inefficiencies in modern Hebrew have created major obstacles in issues of self- and critical-expression as well as in thinking for the Israelis.  Perhaps then it is no wonder that Israel has produced great scientists, great doctors, great generals, great felafel-makers and great Israeli-salad makers, but not a single great intellectual.  To understand the depth of the meaning of “the Intellectual,” it is important to look at a book by Edward W. Said, Representations of the Intellectual (New York: Pantheon Books, 1994).  It is sort of ironical, but not unusual, that an American professor of Palestinian descent who taught at Columbia University wrote a classic piece on the Intellectual; Said was definitely an example of an intellectual.

         Moving on from this odyssey that I have taken to explain Eliyho Matz’ trip to Ithaca ( cf “Ithaca,” a poem by C.P. Cavafy), I would now like to describe what I see as the most important event in Israeli history in recent years.

         Throughout his life, Professor Shlomo Sand (Zand) has been, it can be said, sort of a radical person.  For awhile a leftist and Communist, he later became associated with Palestinian rights and is now standing on the frontline of their fight, presumably appreciated by some of those whose cause he is trying to support.  As for his education, he had a difficult path to higher education, but he made it.  Professor Sand is a concerned Israeli patriot with his eyes on the future of the Israeli nation.  Over the past few years, through teaching and studying the broad aspects of nationality, he has done what no other scholar in Israel has done.  His study of Jews’ history, as reflected in his first book, The Invention of the Jewish People, is a testimony to his unique efforts to explain to Jews their history.  What he reveals is a different type of history – though the entire academic world is not ready for it.  His general theory that he demonstrates unequivocally is that Jewish survival is due to conversion, whether Jews like to hear it or not; that conversion is the pivotal source of success in Judaism throughout the ages, which is the main point of his book.  In his second book, The Invention of the Land of Israel, Sand goes on to deal with the overriding attitude of Judaism, which is how Halakhic Judaism views the Land of Israel.  In this book he makes a very interesting point: he demonstrates that historically as Jews became scattered throughout the world, the Land of Israel came to represent two distinct and separate entities, that although they supposedly seemed connected, they were not really connected.  That is because on one side throughout the centuries, the core rabbinical (Halakhic) thought stood against settling the Land of Israel: praying for the land was the acceptable norm, but to settle there was totally forbidden.  On the other side, it was only the Zionist ideology in modern times that began mixing and connecting the concept of a modern nation with an ancient land, and the consequences have been brutal.  Sand’s book is a scholarly attempt to explain this concept of bringing together the people and the land, and its ramifications. 

         The final chapter of Professor Sand’s (Zand’s) book is a reflection on Israeli military, political and religious extremism.  Tel Aviv University where he teaches stands on the ruins of a Palestinian village.  Sand’s historical narrative includes a mild suggestion for a way for Israelis or Tel Aviv University to display a sign to memorialize the Arab village of Sheik Mounes, but only time will tell if anything will be done to rectify what he points to.  The title of this chapter is “The Scorpion and the Frog,” which reminds me of another professor, Isaiah Berlin of Oxford University, who wrote an important and elegant essay many years ago titled, “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” which was Berlin’s attempt to explain Tolstoy’s great novel War and Peace to the English-speaking world.  He was one of the brightest intellectuals of the Twentieth Century.  Apropos to the subject of Holocaust and rescue, during WWII Berlin aided the British government in New York and Washington by providing secret reports on America and its Jews.  How many Jews in Occupied Europe died as a result of his work one can never know (Britain was happy for any excuse not to save Jews), but too much concern for the exterminated European Jews he did not have.  He is not the only Jewish intellectual residing in New York or other areas of the United States who did not pay attention to the events of the Holocaust; many other intellectuals felt no urgency in this regard.  As a general theory on intellectuals of that period, Jewish intellectuals were not in the business of saving Jews.  As a footnote to this, here I would like to insert some radical ideas of my own on the subject of the Holocaust.  Aside from the fact that most Jewish intellectuals did not deal with the Holocaust while it was occurring, one should mention that the entire rabbinical establishment as well as the organized Jewish lay leadership also failed in their response to the Holocaust.  Shouldn’t that teach us something?  Shouldn’t we modern Jews look back at our two-millennium span of rabbinical Jewish authority and conclude that something with Judaism went wrong?  But of course, Jewish life continues without looking back, until the next disaster will arrive.

         Most of my university studies centered around American Jews, American Jewish leaders and the Holocaust, but eventually it became obvious to me that I had to turn my focus to the Holocaust and its aftermath.  What I mean by “aftermath” is explained in my book Who is an Israeli?, which has been published as an Amazon Kindle e-Book.  The Israeli nation, that was born in 1948, has been my concern ever since I became aware of all sorts of issues connected to its establishment.  Many years ago, when I visited Abram Sorramello, I heard from him the famous Palestinian-Arabic saying, “The rooster is dead, but his eye is still looking at the garbage pail.”  Thus, all the historians and philosophers I have mentioned in this essay have been like the cat or the rooster: very, very focused. 

To add to Professor Sand’s (Zand’s) dreams, I would like to suggest a performance by Simon and Garfunkel on the bridge over the Yarkon, which is very close to Tel Aviv University, singing their song “A Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  And since I live in the Berkshires of Massachusetts in the vicinity of Arlo Guthrie’s shrine to his father Woody Guthrie, the great American balladeer, I have suggested to him in a letter that he join with Simon and Garfunkel to perform Woody’s popular American folk song “This Land is Your Land” with a choir of Chassids and Palestinians singing a cappella.

         Benedict Baruch (in Yiddish, Borech or Berel) Spinoza, in his famous Theological Political Tract in which he analyzes the fall of the Second Temple, concluded that a nation cannot exist unless there is a separation between church and state.  This tenet of Spinoza entered into our modern world, though with difficulties, but is normally accepted in the Western tradition of government.  Spinoza, hopeful about the Jewish experience in the future, saw no problem in the future creation of a new Jewish political entity that would adhere to his recommendation.  It is very unfortunate that today’s modern Israeli nation has not followed his line of thinking.

         Good luck Shlomo Sand (Zand).  I hope they follow your advice.

[The famous Italian actor Marcello Mastroiani, the quintessential Don Juan who knew his way around women, once said, “Not a single woman has ever applauded me while we were having sex.”  I think Marlon Brando would probably concur.  STELLA, STELLA!  (For Marlon Brando’s contribution to the creation of the Israeli nation, see my essay on the Altalena.)

Shlomo, don’t wait for the applause….]

*Dedicated to Dianne (DD) and her cats, which

     had difficulties catching mice.

Summer Break...

Blogging should be sparse this summer, hope to get back to it after Labor Day. Enjoy your Summer Vacations!

Corcoran Uproar: Desperate Gambit to Rescue a Foundering D.C. Museum UPDATED

Corcoran Uproar: Desperate Gambit to Rescue a Foundering D.C. Museum UPDATED

Happy Flag Day!

More here: http://www.nationalflagday.com/default.asp.

Watch Anthony Marx's Presentation on Future of NY Public Library

It's online at the NYPL website (ht Caleb Crain), http://media.nypl.org/video/news_20120522_newschool.mp4. IMHO, he's smug, condescending, and does not sound like a book lover,

Criminal Gives Deerfield Academy Commencement Address

So much for a criminal conviction--especially for DUI, a particular problem for youth--serving as a deterrent...New York Public Library boss Anthony Marx is scheduled to give the graduation address at Deerfield Academy, a posh boarding school (catering to the elite 1% and fraction thereof), according to this story in The Scroll:

Anthony Marx, president of the New York Public Library, former president of Amherst College, and father of Josh Marx ’12, will be speaking at Commencement this year.

No mention of Marx's drunk driving conviction in the school newspaper. Obviously, Deerfield journalists know how to suppress a story. So, where's Mothers Against Drunk Driving when you need them?

Hush Money Allegations Add to Criminal Anthony Marx's New York Public Library Scandal

From Robin Pogrebin's New York Times article Former Employees Feel Silenced on Library Project.

The library says nondisparagement clauses are standard in separation agreements and that it has used them for 18 years. Still, critics say that for an institution with a tradition of championing free speech — the library opposes book bans and has permitted visitors to watch pornography on its computer terminals — the clauses seem inconsistent. “It does raise the question, what are they afraid people are going to say?” said Joan E. Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. “So what if former employees criticize them? They ought to be able to take the heat.”

Criminal Anthony Marx Tells WABC TV News He Wants More People, Fewer Books in New York Public Library

Incredible public confession on NY TV news from convicted drunk driver pushing New York Public Library real estate vandalism scheme, watch here: More on this topicon Caleb Crain's blog, SteamThing.

Update on Protests Against Criminal Drunk Driver Anthony Marx's New York Public Library Vandalism

Hey Laurence, You have received the following message about "President Marx: Reconsider the $350 million plan to remake NYC's landmark central library" on Change.org ------------------------------------------- Update about 'President Marx: Reconsider the $350 million plan to remake NYC's landmark central library' Dear Colleagues, We are writing to those of you who signed the letter to Tony Marx, protesting the plans for the CLP at the New York Public Library. *First, we want to let you know that since the petition went online a few days ago, we've added more than 300 signatures, among them those of Tom Stoppard, Colm Toibin, Francine Prose, Donna Tartt, Darryl Pinckney, and Antonio Munoz Molin. Now we need your help circulating the petition on Facebook, Twitter, email or in person—whatever works for you. It is vital that we get as many signatures as possible. *Second, we want to invite you to join us at a public meeting about the Library's plans on Tuesday, May 22 at the Theresa Lang Community Center of the New School for Social Research, 55 W 13th St, 2nd floor, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. A panel consisting of preservation architect Mark Hewitt, historian David Nasaw, n+1 editor Charles Petersen, and historian Joan Scott, will be moderated by Eric Banks, president of the National Book Critics Circle. The NYPL has been invited to send a representative to join the panel discussion. Thus far they have declined. *Third, you may have received a letter yesterday from the library's president, Tony Marx, in which he mentions a piece in the New York Review of Books by Robert Darnton. Several of us have sent replies to Darnton's article to the NYRB. You can expect to hear more replies to Tony Marx's comments at the panel on Tuesday. *Fourth, there has been a good deal of coverage of the petition in the New York Times (http://nyti.ms/JMYaus) and the Wall Street Journal (http://on.wsj.com/JjHhJU). An investigative article and overview of the library's plans, with many new revelations, has also been published in n+1 magazine (http://bit.ly/K2wHTH). Even the American Conservative (http://bit.ly/Kj52fp) has picked up the cause. There are more articles in the works. Our letter seems to have opened a public discussion in exactly the way we hoped it would. We're extremely grateful to you for having help us do that. Please help us continue to do so by spreading word about this petition with whomever you can. Many thanks, Joan Scott (for the organizers of the protest campaign) ------------------------------------------- Click the link below to view the message and reply. http://www.change.org/messages/private?message_id=52267840&ue=emn To stop receiving update emails about this action, click the link below. http://www.change.org/account_settings/petition_updates_opt_out?email_id=SLMSDSMWUEPZZCENIXAF&event_id=375338&ue=emn

Mark Alan Hewitt: The Man Who Could Save the New York Public Library

For more information, see Mark Alan Hewitt's Save the NYPL Stacks Website.

Save the New York Public Library!

Change.org|Create a Petition

This letter to the President of the New York Public Library, Anthony Marx, was written to express opposition to the plans (never fully publicly revealed or discussed) to drastically restructure the library's landmark main building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Journalists and bloggers had alerted us to the Central Library Plan (CLP): Scott Sherman wrote an excellent long-form article in The Nation; Caleb Crain wrote a series of important posts on his blog; and Charles Petersen wrote a two part investigative essay for n+1. As public awareness spread, architects joined the outcry. This letter seemed the best way to express our collective opposition. Initially, it was circulated by email. 750 signatures from librarians, scholars, artists, writers, students, and (as one person described herself) “ordinary users” arrived in record time, among them Nobelist Mario Vargas Llosa; Pulitzer Prize winners Frances FitzGerald, Margo Jefferson, David Levering-Lewis, Edmund Morris, Art Spiegelman, and Annalyn Swan; writers Salman Rushdie, Jonathan Lethem, Amitav Ghosh, and Luc Sante; Anne Waldman, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets; John Palattella, literary editor of The Nation; historian Natalie Zemon Davis; Lorin Stein, editor of the Paris Review; Jackson Lears, editor of Raritan; and the editors of the journal n+1; Lawrence Weschler, head of the New York Institute for the Humanities; Srinivas Aravamudan, President of the Consortium of Humanities Councils and Institutes; and Jonathan Galassi, President of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. On May 9, 2012, the letter was sent to President Marx, as well as to every member of the library’s board of trustees, to Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn, and to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The letter was also sent to local and national media, where the movement to stop the renovation has begun to receive wide coverage. Even Garrison Keillor has started cracking jokes about the library's plan to move a majority of its books to New Jersey. We thought it important to continue to express outrage about the plan and to demand a public discussion of it. That meant putting the letter on-line in this format. We hope you will sign and circulate it to others. The more names we collect, the better. The goal is to bring the CLP out into the open and to have a frank and critical discussion of what it will mean for the future of the NYPL, the People's Library. In an effort to open a public discussion of the library's plans, the organizers of this petition are holding a meeting on May 22 at the Theresa Lang Community Center of the New School for Social Research, 55 W 13th St, 2nd floor, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. A panel consisting of Mark Hewitt, David Nasaw, Charles Petersen, and Joan Scott, will be moderated by Eric Banks. The NYPL has been invited to send a representative to join the panel discussion. — Anthony W. Marx, President New York Public Library Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street New York, NY 10018 Dear Dr. Marx: We write as scholars, writers, researchers, and teachers who have long benefited from the services and collections available to us at the four research facilities of the New York Public Library. We are alarmed by the Central Library Plan, which seems to us to be a misplaced use of funds in a time of great scarcity. The budget cutbacks of the past five years have had disastrous effects for the NYPL’s research libraries, and especially 42nd Street: *the skilled staff vital to supporting our research activities—curators, archivists, bibliographers, and librarians—has been drastically reduced in number; *the Slavic & Baltic division and the Asian & Middle Eastern division have been entirely eliminated; and there is no full-time curator for the Slavic collection; *the Schomburg Library in Harlem—the place to do research on African-American history—has been allowed to deteriorate through the postponement both of capital improvements and of computer upgrading; and *the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center is no longer a haven for scholars and critics. Many of the reference librarians who specialized in dance, music, recorded sound, and theater were eliminated, moved off the reference desks, or offered buyouts. Instead of addressing these issues, the CLP will spend over $300 million on a restructuring of the 42nd Street building which includes a huge expansion of public space, the removal of stacks (and the 3 million books in them), and the creation of a circulating library in the building. While we understand that it may be necessary to store some books in order to make room for others and that more computer access may be necessary for users of the library, the changes planned envision a much more radical transformation. NYPL will lose its standing as a premier research institution (second only to the Library of Congress in the United States)—a destination for international as well as American scholars—and become a busy social center where focused research is no longer the primary goal. Books will be harder to get when they’re needed either because of delays in locating them in the storage facility or because they have been checked out to borrowers. Those of us who also use university libraries know how frustrating it is to discover that the book we need immediately is checked out or lost. And we worry about the effects of removing the stacks that now support the glorious Rose Reading Room. More important, perhaps, is that the CLP seems to make no mention of restoring the staff positions that have been lost and that are critical for the functioning of a major research institution. One of the claims made about the CLP is that it will “democratize” the NYPL, but that seems to be a misunderstanding of what that word means. The NYPL is already among the most democratic institutions of its kind. Anyone can use it; no credentials are needed to gain entry. More space, more computers, a café, and a lending library will not improve an already democratic institution. In fact, the absence of expert staff will diminish the accessibility of the collections to those who aren’t already experienced researchers, narrowing the constituency who can profitably use the library. They will be able to borrow books, to be sure, but they won’t be inducted into the world of archives and collections if staff aren’t there to guide them. Also, in the age of the web, we need, more than ever, skilled, expert librarians who can assist us in navigating the new databases and the back alleys of cyberspace. We understand that it is often easier to raise money by attending to buildings (and naming them), but the real need at the NYPL is for the preservation of a great library and the support of its staff. We appreciate the fact that you have established a committee consisting of some critics of the CLP to advise you. We hope you will take a hard look at the plan you’ve been given and revise it so that the splendid culture of research embodied by the NYPL can be maintained. We think the money raised can be better used to preserve and extend what already exists at 42nd Street. Change is always necessary, but not of the kind envisioned by the CLP. 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Julian Assange Meets David Horowitz (and Slavoj Zizek)

US Treasury Secretary Pays Tribute to Morgenthau, Pehle & DuBois

Remarks By Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner At The U.S. Capitol On The Annual Day Of Remembrance Ceremony Hosted By The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
4/19/2012
WASHINGTON - Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Oren, Speaker Westerberg, Chairman Bernstein, Vice Chairman Bolten, Director Bloomfield, survivors of the Holocaust, and other distinguished guests.
I am deeply honored to be here today.
The Museum asked me to speak about Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. and to tell the story of his leadership and the courageous work of his staff on behalf of European Jews during World War II.
Before I relate those events, I want to recognize Robert M. Morgenthau, Henry's son, who helps maintain the legacy of his father's work at Treasury. Bob could not be here today, because he is speaking at a Holocaust Remembrance event at West Point. We all admire his long and distinguished record of public service, and it is appropriate that we honor Bob as we honor his father.
I also want to pay tribute to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the men and women who have made it such a vital institution. Their work has helped show millions of people, in vivid and painful detail, the dangers of unchecked hatred.
And they have brought us together here in this great setting to remember not just the millions who died but also those who chose to act to save lives.
Henry Morgenthau served as Treasury Secretary from 1933 to 1945. He believed that individuals serving in government carry a moral responsibility. He was not constrained by the limits of his direct responsibility or authority. It didn't matter to Morgenthau that the Treasury Department was not the Department of War or the Department of State. He was not concerned with the risk of criticism or strength of the opposition to what he believed was right.
Morgenthau was prescient about the threat of war with Nazi Germany and the need for early U.S. involvement. In 1938, he persuaded President Roosevelt to give Treasury's Procurement Division significant authority over military purchasing policies—more than two years before the U.S. would begin its Lend-Lease program.
Morgenthau used this authority to help arm our allies and prepare the nation for war. He was instrumental in the effort to stockpile and ramp up production of war materials. And crucially, he enabled the UK and France to purchase U.S.-made aircraft—sometimes over the objections of the War Department and isolationists in Congress.
Later in the war, news of the mass murder of European Jews came to the attention of a small group of men at the Treasury.
Josiah DuBois, a Treasury assistant general counsel, and John Pehle, Treasury's chief of foreign funds control, uncovered mounting evidence that State Department officials were systematically undermining efforts to save Jews in Europe.
They were delaying licenses necessary to provide financial support to relief organizations in Europe—licenses that would have enabled the rescue of hundreds of thousands of Jews. They were denying visas to refugees. And they were blocking the spread of information about the Holocaust.
The State Department first received word of the "Final Solution" on August 11, 1942, in a message from Gerhart Riegner, the World Jewish Congress Representative in Bern, Switzerland. Upon receiving confirmation of the news that November, the Department then acted to suppress the evidence.
DuBois set to work on a report, which was presented to Secretary Morgenthau by General Counsel Randolph Paul on January 13, 1944. The memo bore a chilling title: "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews."
The first page read, "Unless remedial steps of a drastic nature are taken, and taken immediately, I am certain that no effective action will be taken by this Government to prevent the complete extermination of the Jews in German controlled Europe, and that this Government will have to share for all time the responsibility for this extermination."
Morgenthau moved quickly. That Sunday—January 16—Pehle, Randolph Paul, and Secretary Morgenthau met with President Roosevelt at 12:45 PM. They explained to the President that because other parts of the government were resisting action, the only solution was to create a body with independent authority in the matter of refugees. Roosevelt agreed, and six days later, he issued Executive Order 9417, which established the War Refugee Board.
The Board's charter declared that it would "effectuate with all possible speed the rescue and relief of victims of enemy oppression who are in imminent danger of death."
John Pehle was named Executive Director. At Morgenthau's direction, Pehle set up shop in an office on the fourth floor of the Treasury Department and began his work.
Pehle had to secure private funds for the vast majority of the Board's activity. But Pehle was industrious and relentless and effective.
He secured a haven for 1,000 Jews at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York. He helped purchase boats to ferry thousands of refugees out of Romania. Under his leadership, the War Refugee Board streamlined the process for issuing licenses, so that relief organizations in Europe could provide funds and aid within weeks of requesting it. And the Board sent representatives to neutral countries, which assisted in evacuating Jews into safe territory.
One of those representatives was Treasury employee Iver Olson, who was sent to Sweden. In Stockholm, Olsen helped send a young Swede named Raoul Wallenberg under diplomatic cover into Hungary. Wallenberg's efforts saved as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews.
Iver Olson's son Jerry is with us today, along with George Lesser, whose father Lawrence Lesser also served on the War Refugee Board.
By the end of the war, the work of Pehle and the Board had saved some 200,000 Jews from almost certain death.
Years later, Pehle said, "What we did was little enough. It was late. Late and little."
But without the work of the War Refugee Board, and without the actions Morgenthau had taken to arm and prepare the Allies, the history of that time would have been even darker, with hundreds of thousands more killed.
When we think about the Holocaust, we are forced to come to terms with more than just the evil of Adolf Hitler. We must also confront the failures that allowed this genocide to occur—the moral failures, the institutional failures, the cowardice and apathy and hate.
Henry Morgenthau, John Pehle, and Joe DuBois refused to accept those failures.
They knew that when institutions fail, individuals must act. It did not matter to them whether it was in their job description or not.
When warned by an official of the political risks, Secretary Morgenthau responded, "Don't worry about the publicity. What I want is intelligence and courage."
These men understood their own power as individuals in public life to make a difference—their obligation to do so—and they took it very seriously.
I am proud to say that this tradition has continued at Treasury.
Stuart Eizenstat, as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the 1990s, helped achieve a measure of justice for victims of the Holocaust and European Jews, by negotiating—through sheer force of will and individual initiative—landmark agreements with foreign governments covering restitution, compensation for forced labor, recovery of looted art and money, and payment of insurance policies. More recently, Under Secretary Stuart Levey and a group of individuals at Treasury built—from the ground up—the world's most creative and effective system of financial sanctions to stem the flow of money to terrorists and deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions. Their work, led today by Under Secretary David Cohen, is crucial to thwarting those who would kill in the name of hatred.
We live in a world in which people still possess an alarming willingness to abuse, imprison, and murder others because of the god they worship or because they are different.
In confronting this reality, we are always reminded of the complexities of the world—the shades of grey, the intricacies of choice, the risks of action and inaction.
The world is indeed a complicated place. But our basic responsibilities as human beings are not. Protect the weak. Shelter those in need. Resist evil in all its forms.
These are our responsibilities. They cannot be fulfilled only with thoughtful reflection. They require action.
The Talmud says, "Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the world and does not, is responsible for the transgressions of the world."
John Pehle, Joe DuBois, Henry Morgenthau—these men understood. They protested against the transgressions of the world. And they made a difference.
###​

For more historical background on this topic, watch my documentary film: WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE?

IN DEFENSE OF ALLEN WEST

by Agustin Blazquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton

Did you know that many high-ranking members of the Democratic Party are also members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)? If you didn't know that, it's because of the hypocrisy of the U.S. mainstream liberal pro-Obama media, which have found it prudent to fail to mention the fact.

In a 2002 article titled A VICTORY FOR TYRANNY, http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagaq097.php I wrote, "But after all, 56 members of Congress are registered members of the Democratic Socialists of America, which is the largest U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International. No wonder their deep resentment against the U.S. even though they pretend to be patriotic and concerned Americans. The Founding Fathers did not intend for a failed socialist political philosophy to be imposed upon the free people of United States."

I recently saw on TV and YouTube a clip of Florida Congressman Allen West at a town hall meeting located within his district: http://youtube.com/watch?v=E6J6z7g50jp&feature=relmfu West was asked by members of the audience, "How many members of the Democratic Party are card-carrying Marxist Socialists?" West replied that he believes there are "seventy-eight to eighty-one" members of the Democratic Party in Congress who belong to the Communist Party.

His error was to say that they are members of the Communist Party, since officially they are not. They are members of an umbrella organization created and organized by those who support the Marxist goals of the Communist Party. Communists are very secretive about their true affiliation. That's the way they operate. But in essence Allen West was right and finally revealed the truth about something that should have been a well-known fact by now.

But the liberal media immediately accused West of "McCarthyism" because for them it's a major offense to expose communists. Of course, when those on the left don't have a defense they resort to the communist technique of character assassination to discredit the ones who dare to expose a truth. Conservatives and Republicans are worse than communists in their crooked eyes.

There is nothing wrong with Americans belonging to whatever organization they want. What is wrong is to hide this information about public servants, especially from the people who elect them to represent their interests. Most Americans do not espouse that foreign political system that has caused so much hardship and suffering and has killed more than 100 million people the world over. If Americans are informed, they won't vote for them.

Socialism, Communism and even Hitler's National Socialism (Nazi Party) are based on Marxism-Leninism, which was put into practice by Vladimir Lenin in Russia in1917 and has been ravaging mankind ever since.

The information about the proclivity of Democratic Party members of Congress to belong to international socialist organizations has been known to me since the 1990s through sources on Capitol Hill that were outraged by this act of disloyalty to the principles of this nation.

Many members of socialist organizations belong to the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).

Note that “progressive” is a key word that used to mean “advancing” that now can be a code word used to identify hidden socialists, communists and even fascists. "Progressives" has degenerated into an unusual concoction of all these political aberrations hostile to the United States. Once the word's new meaning becomes mainstream, they will come up with a new nice-sounding word. That's what they do to fool you.

The relentless Socialism/Communism is not over. Snap out of that stupid, implanted thought! Wake up to what is going on now around you in the United States. Yes, it is happening here. After years of these people infiltrating into our democratic institutions, it is possible to dupe you into the political nightmare of Socialism. Snap out of that stupor if you want to continue singing “God Bless America”!

The anti-U.S. left, the Marxists and the “progressive” elements, are in control of most of our learning institutions and print and television media and are censoring information to keep you in the dark so you can easily fall prey.

They were the first to adopt “political correctness,” a communist technique (read my article http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/4/4/121115.shtml/) in order to manipulate, change and brainwash the masses – now including elementary schoolchildren.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many Marxist professors teaching your children in a capitalist country like the United States? Or did you even know they are there, working on your kids? What can be learned from them when their theories have been demonstrated to be dismal economic and political failures everywhere they have been tried?

In no way, shape or form is this an endorsement of the Republican Party, but based on my observations and experiences in the country where I was born and my 45 years living in the U.S., the Democratic Party has been sliding too far to the left, the anti-U.S. side of the spectrum. I am very concerned about where that party will end up in the not so distant future.

And don't shortchange the significance of this one plank of the Democratic Party's platform. It is the most far-reaching plank, encompassing virtually everything from abortion to gas prices. It's simple: accept it and it determines everything.

Thank you, Congressman Allen West, for your courage. I hope more will follow your example. You are a good American.

© 2012 ABIP
Agustin Blazquez, producer/director
www.YouTube.com/JAUMS
www.CubaCollectibles.com

Who Lost the Global War on Terror?

In Memoriam: Edythe Koffler Jarvik

EDYTHE KOFFLER JARVIK Eternal optimist, Edythe Koffler Jarvik, who always believed "everything works out for the best," died April 8, in Salt Lake City, UT, at the age of 96. Forever an adventurer, she moved West at age 91 from her home in Glenbrook. She loved to travel the world, throw dinner parties, wear pink, and have a good conversation. She was a great mentor and a great friend. She taught us to use the good china, that good things come in small packages, and that "your children are just on loan." Edythe was preceded in death by her husband and "best beau", former Stamford physician Norman E. Jarvik; her brothers Dr. Arthur Koffler and Joseph Koffler, and her sister Anne Koffler Roth. She is survived by her sister Fran Koffler Goldstein, Bloomfield, N.J.; daughter Barbara Jarvik, Los Angeles; sons Dr. Jonathan Jarvik (Mary Anne), Pittsburgh, and Dr. Robert Jarvik (Marilyn) New York; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; and many favorite nieces, nephews, extended family members and friends. The family would like to extend its love and thanks to Kathy Moll for making the last four years of Edythe's life full and beautiful and making her home "a little spot of Stamford" in Salt Lake City.

Eliyho Matz on a Chinese Passover Offer...

Passover Chinese News
BY: Eli-yho Ma-tz
April 1, 2012
 
 
​In a surprise move, the Chinese Communist government announced today, April 1, 2012, a special offer to all Jewish patrons who are celebrating the Passover holiday.  A free Chinese kosher meal will be given out at all local Chinese restaurants, paid for by the Chinese government.  
 
What apparently prompted this move was consideration based on two parallel events: the Chinese Communists’ “Long March,” that started with a small step by the late Chairman Mao (in Hebrew, meaning “What is he?), and Moses and his famous long march through the desert, that is the symbol of Hebrew liberation.  The affinity of both events and the resulting similarity of experiences, as well as the Jewish involvement in the Silk Road trade for hundreds of years, were part of this consideration.  Upon registering with www.PassoverChinese.com, the internet user will be able to print out a coupon for a free kosher Chinese dinner at any location in the United States.
 
In an arrangement made with the Kosher Chicken and Matzot authorities in Israel, these authorities will provide kosher chicken and matzot to every Chinese restaurant in the United States, all paid for by the Chinese Communist government.  There will be no need for anyone who wishes to participate to show an identity card – all coupons taken from this website will be honored.  
 
The long business history between Jews and Chinese dating back for at least 3000 years has prompted this generous promotional gesture.  This offer will only last for the eight days of the Passover holiday.  The promoters believe that it will support the love of Chinese food among Jews.  The Chinese have not yet targeted their next ethnic group for a similar promotion of Chinese food, but rumors heard at various Chinese restaurants suggest the next recipients to be Native American Indians and Eskimos.

Actual Exhibit at DC's Ford's Theatre Center for Education and Leadership

Eliyho Matz on Two White House Meetings with Jewish Leaders

TWO MEETINGS IN THE WHITE HOUSE:
DECEMBER 8, 1942, AND MARCH 5, 2012

By Eliyho Matz

The March 5, 2012, visit to the White House and the long conversation held there between the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the American President Barak Obama achieved what the American President set out to do with the politically pompous and religiously fanatic Israeli Prime Minister.

The atmosphere was calm, the official photo shoots looked good. The American President clearly stated his concerns in his warning to the Israeli Prime Minister not to do foolish things in order that the Middle East does not become engulfed in flames. Prime Minister Netanyahu tried to explain his position, doing so by first trying to clarify who he is, ideologically, religiously and politically. He used all the tricks nonsense ideology and emotional pressure, along with Israeli political naiveté, to explain to his audience of American Jews and the religious Israelis, via his lecture to President Obama, that Israel is a sovereign nation of the Jewish people, and therefore, that as a Jewish State Israel is entitled to take whatever measures it wants to express the Jewish religious feelings of the Jewish Israelis. All in all, Netanyahu said what he said, President Obama said what he said, and the world continues to do what it does best, that is, speculate about the meeting.

It is almost seventy years since another important meeting took place in the same White House. At that special meeting on December 8, 1942, the leader of the Free World, President Franklin D.Roosevelt, invited the entire American Jewish leadership to a meeting. Here, FDR, in American English, explained his stance, summarized as follows: America is well aware of the massacre of European Jewry (at that time it was estimated that 2.5 million Jews had already perished in Europe), and most important, with all sympathy, American is in a war to defeat the Nazis. Therefore, now, nothing can be done to save European Jewry.

One difference between the 1942 meeting with the American Jewish leadership and FDR, and the meeting in 2012 between Obama and Netanyahu, is that no official White House record is available from the 1942 meeting (I’m reasonably certain that this is not the case in 2012). In 1942, it was one of the Jewish leaders who left us an account of what transpired at that December meeting. His report of the meeting was totally unknown until I discovered it though my research at the end of the 1970’s, and published an article based on it in Midstream magazine (August/September 1980). The minutes, written by Adolph Held, the President of the Jewish Labor Committee, reflect his own first-hand impression of the meeting:

The meeting with the President was arranged for Tuesday, December 8,
1942, at 12 o’clock. We were originally notified that the President would give
us 15 minutes, but the conference lasted 29 minutes…

When we were seated, the President opened the conversation by saying: “I am a sadist, a man of extreme sadistic tendencies. When I appointed Governor Lehman as head of the new Office of Relief and Rehabilitation, I had some very sadistic thoughts in my head.

I know that Governor Lehman is a great administer, and I wanted a great administrator for this post. I had another thought in my mind, however. I had hopes that, when God spares my life and the war is over, to be able to go to Germany, stand behind a curtain and have the sadistic satisfaction of seeing some “Junkers” on their knees, asking Lehman for bread. And, by God, I’ll urge him to give it to them….

Rabbi Wise did not read the details of the committee’s statement but simply said: “Mr. President, we also beg to submit details and proofs of the horrible facts. We appeal to you, as head of our government, to do all in your power to bring this to the attention of the world and to do all in your power to bring this to the attention of the world and to do all in your power to make an effort to stop it.”

The President replied: “The government of the United States is very well acquainted with most of the facts you are now bringing to our attention. Unfortunately we have received confirmation from many sources. Representatives of the United States government in Switzerland and other neutral countries have given us proof that confirm the horrors discussed by you. [My emphasis – E.M.] We cannot treat these matters in normal ways. We are dealing with an insane man – Hitler, and the group that surrounds him represent an example of a national psychotic case. We cannot act toward them by normal means. That is why the problem is very difficult. At the same time, it is not in the best interests of the Allied cause to make it appear that the entire German people are murderers or are in agreement with what Hitler is doing. There must be in Germany elements, now thoroughly subdued, but who at the proper time will, I am sure, rise, and protest against the atrocities, against the whole Hitler system. [My emphasis, E.M.] It is too early to make pronouncements such as President Wilson made, may they even be very useful. As to your proposal, I shall certainly be glad to issue another statement, such as you request.”

The President turned toward the delegation for suggestions. All, except rabbi [sic] Rosenthal, put in suggestions. Mine was about the possibility of getting some of the neutral representatives in Germany to intercede in behalf of the Jews. The President took notice of that but made no direct replies to the suggestions. The entire conversation on the part of the delegation lasted only a minute or two. As a matter of fact, of the 29 minutes spent with the President, he addressed the delegation for 23 minutes.

…We rose from out seats, and as we stood up, the President said: “Gentlemen, you can prepare the statement. I am sure that you will put the words into it that express my thoughts. I leave it entirely to you. You may quote from my statement to the Mass-Meeting in Madison Square Garden some months ago, but please quote it exactly. We shall do all in our power to be of service to your people in this tragic moment.”

The meeting on December 8, 1942, as is well known, was the only meeting that FDR held throughout the war with the entire American Jewish leadership. That epic meeting in fact bore little fruit, and at least for a year’s time FDR did nothing to save a single Jew.

The meeting in 2012, seventy years later, gave Netanyahu another fine opportunity to evoke the Holocaust as a cause for President Obama to act to help the Israelis. The difference is that this time there exists a sovereign Israeli nation, established in 1948 with the help of the United States, that Netanyahu prefers to call a “Jewish State.” The Israeli nation, the same one that is no longer considered “Israeli” by Netanyahu, does have weaponry and an air force, and can defend itself. The fact that Netanyahu is not really sure how to do so, and has come to Washington to seek support for his half-baked ideas about Israeli security, is just a farce.

The solution to the Middle East problems does remain in the hands of the American President, but not in the way that Netanyahu is appealing for. What is needed here is for some logic to be applied. If done with cautious rationality, both nations can benefit. However, Netanyahu does not recognize that in 1948 a new nation of Israelis was born, yes, with Jews declaring and receiving recognition by the world community as a new Israeli nation. Sadly, Israel, as a modern nation, has been regressing in the last forty years vis-a-vis its Israeliness, and consequently Israel has become more and more a Rabbinical Jewish nation for its Jewish and non-Jewish population – ironically, a total betrayal of original Zionist principles. Israeli propaganda and politics have been incoherent as well as misleading. The fact that the American Jewish leadership has gone along with the Israeli propaganda is beyond my understanding. The current state of affairs in Israel today is the classical situation of a nation that has gone intellectually and politically insane; as an example of this, one need only look at the March 18, 2012, article in Ha’aretz in which A.B. Yehoshua epitomizes this confusion.

The cure will be, for Israel’s own national security, to declare itself an Israeli Republic with a written constitution for its Israeli inhabitants (not a constitution for American Jews or Jews of the world), and thus, try to resolve the political differences with the Palestinians. For his part, Barak Obama should call for the creation of a Middle East Block that will include all Middle East awakening nations. Perhaps thus, with American help, this Block of nations in inter-cooperation can build a future for themselves and the entire region.

Benjamin Netanyahu's Purim Spiel

Thank you. Todah rabah.

Thank you very much.

Sara and I want to thank you for that wonderful reception. This applause that could be heard as far away as Jerusalem .  Jerusalem – the eternal and united capital of Israel.

Thank you Howard, Rosy, Michael, and thank you all the leadership of AIPAC.  Thank you for everything that you do.

I know that more than a half of the members of Congress are in attendance here tonight.  I deeply appreciate your being here.




Michael, you said that when I spoke last May, in Congress, you – the members of congress – stood up to applaud the State of Israel. 
 
Now I ask for another applause.  Now I ask the 13,000 supporters of Israel who are here tonight to stand up and applaud you for standing up for Israel.  Democrats and Republicans alike, I salute your unwavering support to the Jewish state

I want to send a special message to a great friend of Israel who is not here tonight:  Senator Mark Kirk, the co-author of the Kirk-Menendez Iran Sanctions Act.

Senator Kirk, I know you're watching this tonight.  Please get well soon.  America needs you;  Israel needs you.  

I send you wishes for a speedy recovery.  So get well and get back to work.    

I also want to recognize Yossi Peled, who is here tonight.  Yossi, would you please stand up. 

Yossi was born in Belgium.  His parents hid him with a Christian family during the Holocaust, World War II.  His father and many other members of his family were murdered at Auschwitz.

His mother survived the Holocaust, returned to reclaim Yossi, and brought him to Israel.  He became one of Israel's bravest and greatest generals.  And today, he serves as a minister in my cabinet.

Yossi's life is the story of the Jewish people – the story of a powerless and stateless people who became a strong and proud  nation, able to defend itself.

And ladies and gentlemen, Israel must always reserve the right to defend itself. 

I want to recognize Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren.  Michael, you're doing an outstanding job.  Thank you for all you do for our country.  And thank you for everything you are doing for the friendship between Israel and the United States.

I also want to recognize Ambassador Dan Shapiro, the United States' Ambassador to Israel.  President Obama is right, your Hebrew is improving, though it is not on par with Michael Oren's.  Dan, we appreciate your efforts to strengthen the alliance between America and Israel. 

Are there any students here tonight? 

Is there anyone here from Florida?

from New York?

from Wisconsin?  -- that's important. I'll tell you about it later

from California?

You're the future, and thank you all for ensuring the future of the great alliance between Israel and the United States.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Tonight, I'd like to talk to you about a subject that no one has been talking about recently…: Iran.

Every day, I open the newspapers and read about these redlines and these timelines.  I read about what Israel has supposedly decided to do, or what Israel might do.  

Well, I’m not going to talk to you about what Israel will do or will not do,  I never talk about that.  But I do want to talk to you about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.  I want to explain why Iran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. 

President Obama has reiterated his commitment to prevent that from happening.  He stated clearly that all options are on the table,   and that American policy is not containment.  

Well, Israel has exactly the same policy -- We are determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons; we leave all options on the table; and containment is definitely not an option.

The Jewish state will not allow those who seek our destruction to possess the means to achieve that goal.

A nuclear armed Iran must be stopped.

Amazingly, some people refuse to acknowledge that Iran’s goal is to develop nuclear weapons.  You see, Iran claims to do everything it's doing, that it’s enriching uranium to develop medical isotopes. 
 
Yeah, that's  right.

A country that builds underground nuclear facilities, develops intercontinental ballistic missiles, manufactures thousands of centrifuges, and that absorbs crippling sanctions,  is doing all that in order to advance…medical research.
 
So you see, when that Iranian ICBM is flying through the air to a location near you, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  It’s only carrying medical isotopes. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then what is it?

That’s right, it's a duck.  But this duck is a nuclear duck.  And it’s time the world started calling a duck a duck.

Fortunately, President Obama and most world leaders understand that the claim that Iran's goal is not to develop nuclear weapons is simply ridiculous.

Yet incredibly, some are prepared to accept an idea only slightly less preposterous: that we should accept a world in which the Ayatollahs have atomic bombs.

Sure, they say, Iran is cruel, but it's not crazy.   It’s detestable but it’s deterrable.

My friends, 
 
Responsible leaders should not bet the security of their countries on the belief that the world’s most dangerous regimes won’t use the world’s most dangerous weapons.

And I promise you that as Prime Minister, I will never gamble with the security of the State of Israel.

From the beginning, the Ayatollah regime has broken every international rule and flouted every norm.  It has seized embassies, targeted diplomats.  It sends its own children through mine fields; it hangs gays and stones women; it supports Assad's brutal slaughter of the Syrian people; it is the world's foremost sponsor of terrorism: it sponsors Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and terrorists throughout the Middle East, Africa, even South America.

Iran's proxies have dispatched hundreds of suicide bombers, planted thousands of roadside bombs, and they fired over twenty thousand missiles at civilians.

Through terror from the skies and terror on the ground, Iran is responsible for the murder of hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans.

In 1983, Iran's proxy Hezbollah blew up the Marine barracks in Lebanon, killing 240 US Marines.  In the last decade, it's been responsible for murdering and maiming American soldiers in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

Just a few months ago, it tried to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States in a restaurant just a few blocks from here.  The assassins didn’t care that several Senators and  Congressmen would have been murdered in the process.

Now this is real chutzpa: Iran accuses the American government of orchestrating 9/11, and that's as brazen as denying the Holocaust, and they do…

Iran calls for Israel's destruction, and they work for its destruction – each day, every day, relentlessly. 

I say all his to make one point clear -- This is how Iran behaves today, without nuclear weapons.  Think of how they will behave tomorrow, with nuclear weapons.  Iran will be even more reckless and a lot more dangerous.
 
There's been plenty of talk recently about the costs of stopping Iran.  I think it's time we started talking about the costs of not stopping Iran.
 
A nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically increase terrorism by giving terrorists a nuclear umbrella. Let me try to explain what that means, a nuclear umbrella.

It means that Iran's terror proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas will be emboldened to attack the United States, Israel, and other countries because they will be backed by a power that has atomic bombs.  So the terrorism could grow tenfold.

A nuclear-armed Iran could choke off the world’s oil supply and could make real its threat to close the Straits of Hormouz.
 
If you're worried about the price of oil today, imagine how high oil prices could get once a nuclear-armed Iran starts blackmailing the world. 

If Iran gets nuclear weapons, it would set off a mad dash by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others to acquire nuclear weapons of their own.  The world's most volatile region would become a nuclear tinderbox waiting to go off.  And here's the worst nightmare of all, with nuclear weapons, Iran could threaten all of us with nuclear terrorism.

It could put a nuclear device in a ship heading to any port or in a truck parked in any city, anywhere in the world.

I want you to think about what it would mean to have nuclear weapons in the hands of those who lead millions of radicals who chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." 

When you think about that m you'll reach a simple conclusion: for the sake of our prosperity, for the sake of our security, for the sake of our children, Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons!

Of course, the best outcome would be if Iran decided to abandon its nuclear weapons program peacefully.  No one would be happier than me and the people of Israel if Iran dismantled its program. 

But so far, that hasn't happened.  For fifteen years, I've been warning that a nuclear-armed Iran is a grave danger to my country and to the peace and security of the entire world. 

For the last decade, the international community has tried diplomacy.  It hasn't worked.

For six years, the international community has applied sanctions.  That hasn't worked either.

I appreciate President Obama's recent efforts to impose even tougher sanctions against Iran.  These sanctions are hurting Iran's economy, but unfortunately, Iran's nuclear program continues to march forward.

Israel has waited patiently for the international community to resolve this issue.  We've waited for diplomacy to work.  We've waited for sanctions to work.  None of us can afford to wait much longer.

As Prime Minister of Israel, I will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Some commentators would have you believe that stopping Iran from getting the bomb is more dangerous than letting Iran have the bomb.  They say that a military confrontation with Iran would undermine the efforts already underway; that it would be ineffective; and that it would provoke an even more vindictive response by Iran.

I’ve heard these arguments before.  In fact, I've read them before -- In my desk, I have copies of an exchange of letters between the World Jewish Congress and the United States War Department. 

Here are the letters:

The year was 1944.  The World Jewish Congress implored the American government to bomb Auschwitz.  The reply came five days later.  I want to read it to you. 

"Such an operation could be executed only by diverting considerable air support essential to the success of our forces elsewhere…

and in any case, it  would be of such doubtful efficacy that it would not warrant the use of our resources…"

And, my friends, here’s the most remarkable sentence of all, and I quote:
 
"Such an effort might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans."

Think about that – "even more vindictive action" -- than the Holocaust.

 My Friends,

2012 is not 1944.  The American government today is different.  You heard it in President Obama's speech yesterday. 

But here's my point: 

The Jewish people are also different.  Today we have a state of our own.  And the purpose of the Jewish state is to defend Jewish lives and to secure the Jewish future.

Never again will we not be masters of the fate of our very survival. Never again.

That is why Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. 

My Friends,

We deeply appreciate the great alliance between our two countries.  But when it comes to Israel's survival, we must always remain the masters of our fate.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Israel's fate is to continue to be the forward position of freedom in the Middle East.  The only place in the Middle East where minorities enjoy full civil rights; the only place in the Middle East where Arabs enjoy full civil rights; the only place in the Middle East where Christians are free to practice their faith; the only place in the Middle East where real judges protect the rule of law.

And as Prime Minister of Israel, I will always protect Israel's democracy – always.  I will never allow anything to threaten Israel's democratic way of life.  and most especially, I will never tolerate any discrimination against women. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This week, we will read how one woman changed Jewish history. 

In Synagogues throughout the world, the Jewish people will celebrate the festival of Purim.  We will read how some 2,500 years ago, a Persian anti-Semite tried to annihilate the Jewish people.

And we will read how that plot was foiled by one courageous woman – Esther.

In every generation, there are those who wish to destroy the Jewish people.

In this generation, we are blessed to live in an age when there is a Jewish state capable of defending the Jewish people. 

And we are doubly blessed to have so many friends like you, Jews and non-Jews alike, who love the State of Israel and support its right to defend itself. 

So as I leave you tonight I thank you for your friendship.  Thank you for your courage.  Thank you for standing up for the one and only Jewish state.

Thank you all and happy Purim.