17/12/2019
There are so many “Points to Ponder” these days that I can’t choose between them.
Should I write about the Palestinian claim that there never was a Jewish presence in the Holy Land or a Temple in Jerusalem and all archaeological and historical evidence to the contrary are forgeries by the Israelis/Zionists/Jews?
Or about the rising antisemitism around the world? No. Too boring. How about something new and exciting? Or rather, old and exciting.
“A 5,000 year old metropolis uncovered in the north” reads the Jerusalem Post headline. Actually not in the north but, for those of you familiar with the map of Israel, on the modern road between Hadera and Afula, following the ancient road which connected the Mediterranean coast with Megiddo and the Jezre’el valley, known by some as Armageddon. The very road used by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III who took Megiddo in 1457 BCE from the local Canaanite king thereby opening his way for further conquests on his way northwards to Mesopotamia and Asia Minor.
The site was known but, as happens so often in Israel, only when work began on a planned junction interchange was the extent of the archaeological remains realised.
In 2017 the Israel Antiquities Authority began what they thought would be a minor excavation but soon understood that this was to be a major find, both in terms of size and historical importance.
Over the next two years more than 5,000 teenagers and volunteers took part in the excavations. Netivei Israel, responsible for the construction of the interchange, has made alterations to the original plans so that the site can be preserved.
Initially it will all be covered thereby allowing the interchange to be built above the site. When the interchange is completed the site will become an archaeological park open to the public, as is nearby Megiddo.
Millions of artifacts, including potsherds, flint tools, and basalt stone vessels have been found including articles which were brought from Egypt and other surrounding kingdoms.
A selection of the items discovered can be seen on Getty images: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/en-esur?sort=best&mediatype=photography&phrase=en%20esur
The site is at least 160 acres and was probably home to about five thousand people, larger than any in the land of Canaan at that time – the Bronze Age, about 5,000 years ago.
Surrounded by walls, which in some places were preserved to a height of two metres, the city was laid out with streets and squares, storage areas and drainage. A cemetery was also discovered.
Digging deeper, the remains of a temple which the archaeologists believe is from the Chalcolithic period, two thousand years earlier were uncovered. Burned animal bones, a stone basin and figurines give credence to this theory.
For historical perspective, the rule of King David was about three thousand years ago, the conquest of the Land of Canaan by the Israelites was about two hundred years earlier and Abraham was a bit more than 3,500 years ago.
Every year, on the National Day of Mourning for those who have fallen while serving the country, we, the Southern African Jews in Israel, collectively remember the eighty seven fallen from our community.
Their names are engraved on a memorial wall in the heart of the JNF-KKL Lavi forest close to the Golani junction, on a plaque in the offices of the SAZF in Raanana and appear at the end of this article. Continue reading
The State of Israel is 550 km from top to bottom. At its narrowest point, where I live, it is sixteen km wide. It takes six hours to go from Metulla in the north to Eilat in the south. It takes less than a quarter of an hour to get from my home to the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, their accepted geographic names until the 1970’s. Continue reading
Shalom
On Wednesday evening Jews all over the world will be celebrating the New Year and I am sure than many, both Jews and non-Jews, occasionally ponder: what is a Jew? Continue reading
12th December, 2009
To my Dear Family and Friends
Last night, before lighting the Shabbat candles, Jews around the world lit the first of eight candles in the Hanukiah, celebrating Hanukah, the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the rededication of the (Second) Temple after it had been desecrated and plundered by order of Antiochus, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. Continue reading
Holocaust, Holocaust Denial, Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism
The Holocaust and Holocaust Denial are subjects which many people feel have been over flogged, for want of a better expression. The never ending reference by Israelis and Jews to events which took place seventy years ago, two whole generations ago, are considered by some to be counter productive especially when we recall that millions of people lost their lives in that terrible period. Six million Jews is a small proportion of the total deaths of WWII.
Continue reading
4th July, 2009
Every now and again (like now) I ask myself why I write my newsletters and articles. And then I tell myself that I write because I want open minded people out there in cyberspace to have a deeper insight into the events here in this corner of the world (i.e. Israel & her neighbours), to be aware that there are two sides to a coin, two sides to any story, or, to use the current “in” phrase when relating history, there are two “narratives“, an Israeli and a Palestinian. I want you, my readers, to have the tools to be able to establish which is based on facts. which. I believe you have open minds and want to hear “the other side”. Continue reading
Contrary to the opinion held by those trying to de-legitimise the State of Israel, Israel does not owe its existence to the Holocaust. The League of Nations, in 1917, recognised the right of the Jewish people to re-establish their homeland in Palestine (historically known as Israel, Judah and Judea until the name was changed by the Romans in the second century), where the nation was born and from which it was twice exiled.
7th February, 2009
As we here in Israel watch the news about our little corner of the world, as reported by all the international stations , and read the editorials and commentaries from the most influential newspapers world wide, we are painfully aware of all the usually deliberate half truths and downright lies that are endlessly repeated. We cannot but help recall the exact same situation when Israeli troops attacked Jenin Continue reading
27th January, 2009
One of the saddest aspects of the Israeli attack on Gaza was the suffering of the civilian population, particularly the children. Israel has been accused of “lack of proportion”, but the equation is not how many dead on each side in the two week offensive. Continue reading
Israeli building on the West Bank and in parts of Jerusalem has become an accepted mantra to excuse terrorism against Israel. Repeated so often its accuracy is rarely questioned. But there are many, many questions one could ask. Continue reading
Part of newsletter 27th Dec. 2007
Last night I saw a very powerful South African movie – “Tsotsi”. I was born in SA and although I haven’t been back since coming to live in Israel I still have family and friends there and keep abreast with the news. The movie, which presented a microcosm of the poverty and despair of a large portion of the population, set me thinking. Measuring poverty and despair are so subjective that, to be trite, one man’s poverty is another’s wealth. Continue reading
Just when we are lulled into thinking that maybe things are improving in this corner of the world, we are rudely awakened by the latest bout of Moslem violence on the Temple Mount. What caused it? The professed reason is the allegation that Israeli plans to tunnel under the Temple Mount, thereby endangering the sanctity and stability of the Dome of the Rock and the El Aksa mosque – Islam’s third (!!!!) holiest site (after Mecca and Medina). Continue reading
Dr Yehuda Avner
Newsletter December 2006
Yehuda Avner was privileged to work with many of Israel’s more illustrious Prime Ministers and his memories of the personalities and the events in which they participated are most entertaining. Continue reading
Newsletter – 16th December, 2006
I am sure that most of my readers are aware that Jimmy Carter has just had a new book published. Although I have not read it, the cover and the reviews horrify me. I have chosen an article by David Horowitz, author of numerous books including an autobiography, as it appeared on FrontPageMagazine.com on December 14, 2006. If as reputable person as a former president of the USA can ignore, or even worse, twist historical, documented facts why should we expect less from the average Jew/Israel hater?
Jimmy Carter: Jew-Hater, Genocide-Enabler, Liar. By David Horowitz Continue reading
Newsletter 29th July, 2006
Since there seems to be almost total consensus that Iran is responsible, to a larger or lesser degree, for the current violence on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, my readers may be interested in a few words about the history of Iran, or as it was known prior to 1935, Persia. No less interesting is to see how that history entwines with Jewish history and, in its earlier stages, with the Hebrew Scriptures. Continue reading
Newsletter 7th July, 2006
Islam, its origins and its meaning, are so much in the news but few have the time to rely on anything more detailed than the brief comments and allusions which appear in the media. In this newsletter I hope to give a slightly wider background. I have been toying with the idea for some time but the final push came from a book I have just finished reading, “In the Shadow of the Prophet” by Milton Viorst. Published in 2001 this book is not part of the post 9/11 literature dealing with the Moslem world. Continue reading
Denis Prager & Joseph Telushkin Newsletter 6th May, 2006
This article is largely based on a book I have just finished reading – “Why the Jews?” by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin, from which I will be quoting extensively. Continue reading
Newsletter 7th December, 2005
In 2001 the civilized world was outraged by the Taliban destruction of statues of Buddha in Afghanistan. As I wrote in my newsletter of March 2001, at that very same time the area below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was similarly being vandalized but this destruction was met with a thundering silence. Continue reading
Newsletter 15th November, 2005
Last week I was privileged to join the ranks of the very few who have had the opportunity to actually see, first hand, the mosaic floor of what may well prove to be the ‘oldest known Christian Church’. For this I have to thank the VIP I was guiding and his well-connected hosts!!! Continue reading
Newsletter 13th August, 2005
Tonight is erev Tisha be-Av, the evening of the ninth day of the month of Av, a fast day in the post-Torah Hebrew calendar of festivals and fasts. But unlike Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which could be described as a Shabbat (meaning a complete rest from work) dedicated to introspection and penitence, Tisha be-Av is a day of mourning on which we are permitted to work and travel. Continue reading
This year, as we mourned as we do every year, for over six million Jews who were killed in Europe, for no other reason than that they were Jews, the world (or much of it) recalled that in May sixty years ago WWII in Europe came to an end, Auschwitz was liberated.
