60 Seconds of Relevant History: Iran

In 1953 Mosaddeq, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, was a threat to British hegemony over Iranian oil. As a result, the British government of the time manipulated the Americans to believe that Mosaddeq was a communist supporter. Together with the Americans, they organized a coup that outset Mosaddeq from power, destroyed the newly established democracy, and planted the seeds for the Muslim revolution that turned Iran into a fundamentalist state.

Just in case you thought the Americans were the root of all evil ...

Muslims and Israel

 Despite the last few years of intensifying Muslim kill Muslim wars, despite the increase terrorism around the world, despite Isis and Boko el Haram, Israel is still viewed in the Muslim world -- and, unfortunately, by many in the west --   as the cause for all their troubles.  If only facts made a difference ...

Israel: the Muslim killer

The Day I Joined the Underground

This is an excerpt from the book I am working on. Here the mother is telling her story to a group of kids sitting in the shelter.


“Soviet Union – yes … Egypt – no … Greece – no … United States – Yes … Grandpa, with a sheet of paper of all the countries in the UN assembly, was adding the numbers. On November 29th 1947 everyone was glued to the radio.

“As soon as the last vote was counted, we all rushed out, flooding the streets, heading for the city center, singing David Melech Israel Chai Vekaiam (David the king of Israel alive and living). Shops and restaurants opened their doors and handed out free food and drinks. Circles inside circles of hora dances erupted, and I, too, was singing and dancing, carried along by the crowd, unable to choose my way. After two thousand years, a dream was coming true; we were going to have a country again. The sight of the brightening eastern skyline startled me and brought me back to reality. Dreading punishment, I rushed back to the Old city. Grandpa was very strict.

“From the street below I could see that the light in the kitchen was on, and I knew that grandpa was awake, awaiting me. As soon as I put my key in, he opened the door. I froze. My throat was dry. I did not know what to expect. This was the first time I’d been out the whole night.

“Grandpa did not say a word. Slowly I looked up. ‘There is someone here to see you,’ he said, his face solemn, not angry. I followed him to the kitchen, my anxiety turning to curiosity. Who would visit so early in the morning? Two men were sitting at the table. Grandpa did not mention their names. Instead, he leaned forward and whispered, ‘These are members of the Haganah. They want to speak to you.’”

“What’s Haganah?” Tali interrupted.

“It’s a secret army when we were not allowed to have a real army,” I said.

“Let her tell the story,” someone hushed me. I looked around. Having pulled the mattresses closer, everyone was sitting in a circle around us.

“Boaz is right,” mom said. “The Haganah was an underground organization that defended us from the Arabs. They were our heroes. I remember one night when Grandpa entered my room with a bag in his hand. He thought I was asleep. From his bag he pulled a gun and tucked under a tile in the floor. That was when I learned that he, too, was with the Haganah.”

“Grandpa was in the Haganah?” I asked, loud enough to make sure that nobody had missed it.

Mom shot at me one of her warning glares, long enough to make me regret my comment. Then she continued. “I was disappointed. The men looked so ordinary, not like heroes at all. One was short and very thin. The other spoke in a secretive voice. He had a pointy mustache and looked like a kibbutznick. They invited me to sit with them, and told me how the Arab Higher Committee did not accept the UN resolution, and that the seven Arab states were planning a war.

“None of this was new to me. Arguing politics was our favorite pastime at school, in the youth movement, and at home. Everybody knew that the League of Arab Nations had promised 'to soak with blood every inch of Palestine' should the resolution pass. I still didn’t know why they came to speak politics with me, especially so early in the morning.

“‘We were hoping you’d help us,’ the short one said.


“I was tall and strong for my age, but could not imagine how a young girl like me could help. Still, I was excited. I didn’t think about danger or war, only that the Hagana was asking for my help. Of course I’d help. What child wouldn't?

“I jumped to my feet, stood upright and saluted. ‘At your command,’ I said

“Grandpa, who had joined us at the table with coffee and slices of cake, laughed.

“The short guy laughed, too. ‘At ease,’ he said. Then he turned serious again. ‘The Arabs do not agree to turn Jerusalem into an international city. They believe that destroying Jewish Jerusalem will break our spirit.’

“He took the last sip from the coffee and, turned the cup upside down, letting a few drops fall into the saucer. ‘You've always made the best coffee,’ he sighed looking at Sabba. Then he turned back to me. ‘The British will be leaving in six months. But they won’t let us prepare. They’ll search and arrest adults, but we believe they’ll let children pass. Your father says that you can find your way around in the Old City with your eyes shut. We need you to help us get ready.’”

Attack on Israel and Calls for Peace, are they One and the Same?

The Syrian killing - the biggest civilian massacre in Middle-East's modern history - is of no interest for most peace movements around the world

The Israeli government has approved the construction of 3,000 new homes in the occupied West Bank. A famous Israeli Rabbi has issued new dressing guidelines for religious women, stating that not even girls as young as three should expose any part of their body or wear bright colors. New regulation undermining human-rights and democracy are commonly raised in the Israeli parliament these days. It is as though Israel is playing into the hands of the anti-Israeli campaigners, whoever they might be. And they love it, especially the government sponsored Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

“We told you that Israel is against peace,” reminded us a French NGO, after the announcement of the new construction.

“Israel prefers to keep entrenching its occupation, expanding its illegal settlements, and devouring Palestinian land, rather than pursue a genuine peace with the Palestinians on the basis of UN Resolutions and International Law.” Cries SABEEL – and NGO sponsored by the Swedish and Dutch governments – in their annual Christmas message.

“Bethlehem, a city of peace, has been disfigured by tanks and soldiers on its streets,” reads the back of a Christmas card issued by War on Want, which receives British government funding.

One might be forgiven to believe that it's values like peace, justice, and human rights that motivated these statements.

But if peace is their genuine goal, why don't they mention Hamas leader, Mr. Haniyeh, who reiterated in his speech a few weeks ago that Hamas will keep fighting Israel until it is annihilated. Isn't he an obstacle to the peace process?

If justice is the motivation, shouldn't they mention, at least in a side note, the number of 'City of Peace'-originated suicide bombers responsible for the killing of dozen Israel civilians.

And if human right is what they care about, aren't they missing the largest civilian massacre in the modern history of the middle east. A massacre of 45,000 Syrians that is still taking place at this very moment.

But it's not truth, peace and justice that they care about. Those are merely excuses for the relentless anti-Israeli attacks that have been going on since the inception of Israel, regardless of what the Israel's policy of the time might have been.

But it's high time to call these organizations to reconsider their position. After all, with the worrisome changes undergoing Israel, it's slipping down the slope of becoming less democratic, more politically extreme and more religious – the very values practiced by the countries these NGOs have been embracing when attacking Israel. If Israel became like Syria, for instance, would it free its attackers to focus on where they are needed the most, like Congo, where monthly 40,000 war-related deaths have already consumed more than 6 million lives?

Goodbye Arab Spring; Welcome Back Misery

 This is not a Zionist agent

Story 1:

In 2010, before the Arab spring, a serious of shark attacks on swimmers in the water of the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh lead to the Egyptian media blaming Israel for training the sharks to destroy the Egyptian economy.

Story 2:

At the onset of the Libyan revolution, Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan tyrant – for years a supporter of anti-American and anti-Israeli campaign – was blamed by the Arab media for working for the Israeli Mossad.

Story 3:

When his father, Hafez al-Assad died, there was a moment of hope that the UK-educated, self spoken new Syrian leader will enter peace negotiations with Israel. Within months, it became clear that his views about Israel are even more extreme than his father's. This, however, did not stop the Arab media from blaming him to be a Zionist agent, when he launches his massacre rampage against his own people .

And today

A group of Jihadist from Gaza attacked an Egyptian post, killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, stole their armored vehicle and used them to break through the Israel border. Once in Israel they where intercepted and destroyed. But who is there to blame? Israel, of course. The Egyptian government is now claiming that the Mossad was trying to destabilize the newly elected Egyptian government. Naturally, nobody even tries to explain why would Israel want to have an unstable Egypt as it south border.

For the last hundred year, nobody has killed, maimed, terrorized or tortured as many Arabs as the Arabs themselves. But until the Arab people start listening to reason and fact, and unless hey wake to realize that blaming Israel for their own misdoings will not solve their problem, their misery is here to stay – probably forever.

Israel - the benevolent guardian

I wonder if it is the right timing for the Palestinian to demand their own independence now, while the Arab Spring is devouring its victims, and the Arab summer is likely to get worse.

After all, the way the Arab are treating their own people (Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, …) as they have always done (Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon Civil War, Algerian Civil War, Jordan 1973, Egypt invading Yemen 1960s, to name a few ) makes Israel look like a benevolent guardian.

Every spring leads to winter; in Egypt it may skip summer altogether

In a typical convoluted Arab political logic, a senior Egyptian source blamed Israel that the raid of the mob on its embassy in Cairo did not yield the desired results.

A senior Egyptian security source said that the room which the mob was able to breach in the embassy's first floor was left unsecured, and the documents that were found there were "worthless."

"This was a trap for those who broke into the room, so Israel could drag Egypt into a diplomatic crisis by claiming that the embassy was compromised," the source maintained.

Many in the west have called it the Arab Spring.

Syria and Israel

Syrian protesters remain along the Israeli border despite the 23 killed there in the last few days. It seems that these days, the Israel border is the safest place for Syrians. Definitely safer than staying in Damascus.

A naive question about Israel, Gaza and hypocrisy

The Rafah Crossing

The Israeli attack on the flotilla to Gaza has heated up emotions around the globe. But leaving emotions aside, the Gaza situation raises many question. 

The first one that comes to mind, is about the siege itself.  Because, while Israel is condemned for the marine siege of Gaza, a territory from which thousands of rockets have been launched onto Israel cities, Gaza has another border, a border with Egypt. Rafah is the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. However, except for a few short periods, the crossing has been closed since 2007. 

Egypt, a country of brothers to the Palestinians, has stopped any access to Gaza. Do they have a reason that Israel doesn’t? Why don’t we see attempts to break the into Gaza through the Egyptian border? Why aren’t they condemned? 

Gaza, the Israeli invasion, and some soul searching

I'm not going to delve into the complexity of the Middle East, and the futility of the solutions offered by the mass-media-informed citizens of the world, who believe they have a deep secret knowledge of the way to solve the problem between the two sworn enemies. Most believe that the an Israeli withdrawal from the territories will solve all problems.

Well, those deep thinkers seem to forget that  Israel did withdraw from Gaza a couple of years ago, and the world  celebrated the birth of HK of the Middle East. It did not happen, and the launching of missiles into Israeli cities has only intensified since then.

Other believe that Israel opening of the boarder would not solve all problems. Again they forget that whenever Israel tried it, suicide bombers from Gaza blew themselves up in Israeli cities. They also forget that Gaza has a border with Egypt. Egyptian, worried about the spread of terrorism, close their border, as well.

Anyone who claims that Israel should let missile fall on its land, and suicide bombers explode in its cities, is a hypocrite, what would you have done if bombers would explode in a regular basis in your own city, if rockets landed in your streets? Would you demand your government to deal with it? Would you demand kill on of theirs whenever one of ours is killed? Or would you demand your government to do everything in its power to make your life safe?

I am most perplexed about the heated emotions here in England. Why weren't there any demonstrations in the weeks leading to the Israel attack, when Hamas had fired dozens of missiles into Israel and Israel made it clear that it would respond if the firing continued. Why didn’t the English demonstrate to stop the attacks on Israel then, not to protect Israel but merely to stop the unavoidable?

And why didn’t we see demonstrations against Shiites killing Sunnis (and vice versa) in Iraq, against the war against PKK in Turkey, against the genocide in Darfur; against Hamas killing the Fattah supporters in Gaza, against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Iraq-Iran War, the massacre in Algeria, Russia in Chechnya, the war in old Yugoslavia, and many others. There were no demonstrations in London, regardless of the death toll, even when it was a clear genocide.

Is it possible that under the intellectual and liberal veils, some good old anti-Semitism is raising its head? Why are you more emotional about Gaza than about  the PKK or Sri Lanka? Are you the product of the mass media brain washing, or maybe you are not the liberal you want to believe you are?

Gaza: Do They Really Care?

The anti-Israel campaigners have disappeared from my town. This is natural now that the fighting has stopped. But where are the donation collectors? Where have they gone now that the Palestinians need them the most?

There was no reason for donation during the war. Now there is. Now that the fire has stopped you can transfer medicine and food to Gaza. It is now that the people in Gaza need help rebuilding their lives, their homes, hospitals and schools. Now they need financial aid. But nobody seems to collect for them any more. Not in my town.

We now know that a great deal of the donations for the Tsunami victims never reached the suffering Indonesians. So while I have no doubt about the good intention of the street collectors, is it possible that the donation operation was merely a cynical exploitation of the emotions in the street to make some people rich?

How do we know how much went to those suffering in Gaza and not to enrich people here? If it went to Gaza, why have they stopped now?