Adapted from "Jerusalem", May 18, 2007
Yaniv Alfia
Two and a half years ago, Azzam "lucky to have been born in Israel and proud of it" Azzam was released from Egyptian prison. (I remember the moment he crossed the border into Israel and someone handed him a cell phone to call his family. All he said - in Hebrew - was "I am in Israel" and his family at the other end of the line burst into hysterical shouts of joy).
He has become a celebrity: people stop to talk to him, ask for his signature. People love him, want to talk to him and shake his hand, and Azzam is all too eager to tell his story (I can vouch for that: I saw him one day at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and I smiled and nodded at him. He immediately stretched out his hand, and I asked him how he was, and told him how happy I was to see him out of prison. We made small talk for a couple of minutes and parted Israeli style - wishing each other all the best. He looks very fragile, but his huge smile and lively eyes exude warmth and confidence.)
Coming home was difficult and painful for Azzam: "I wasn't able to lie down in bed, literally, because it felt like floating in outer space. I told my wife that I had to sleep on the floor. So we placed mattresses on the floor and slept on them during the first night. The next night I slept alone on the floor. Eventually I got used to sleeping in bed once again."
When the media coverage died down, Azzam was left alone, confused, with nothing to do, a stranger to his own children – without a future. "My wife noticed there was something wrong with me, that I was different. I wasn't really there. I was afraid of crowds. Once I ran away from home to be alone in the woods. So I was taken to Jerusalem for psychiatric treatment. I talked to doctors and nurses several times a day. I read books and watched TV. I was given a room of my own. One day the doctors found me writing on a piece of paper the names of all the wardens and officers I had met in jail. They told me, Azzam, it's OK, writing is good. I felt better when I left hospital. The staff who treated me encouraged me keep telling my story because people will want listen to me: You have got to get it out of your system."
So Azzam is telling his story, mainly on weekends. He is a cherished guest in private homes. He is fully booked in advance. The story brings tears to the eyes of his listeners. People tell their friends about him. The establishment has also become interested: public institutions, the army, different organizations.
- What do you tell your audience?
- I am simply telling my story. I warn them that they will hurt and become emotional. I tell them to look at me and follow my example. If I can smile after all I have been through, they should also smile. Then I tell them – I am Azzam Azzam, Israeli Druze from Mrar (a village where people, including a relative of Azzam's were killed by Katyusha strikes during the second Lebanon war). I am married with four children. I have six brothers. My oldest brother died in the Yom Kippur war. I served in the IDF. I was a sewing machine technician who went to Egypt to train workers in the textile industry.
- Tears fill the eyes of the audience when I tell them about my family. I show them this 15 minutes DVD presentation, with news clips and all sorts of pictures. People see my children before my arrest, and also eight years later, when I was released.
After my release a lot of people contacted me and wanted to hear my story. The IDF and IAF wanted me to speak to soldiers. My friend Mofaz (Shaul) told me that I could motivate young people before they join the army. I tell them that one can deal with getting into trouble and that one need not collapse under pressure. I assure them that the State of Israel looks after its citizens, Jews or non-Jews. I tell them to value this country and refrain from being too judgmental. Nobody values what they have until it is taken away from them.
(The following is for all those who claim that Arab detainees, mostly terrorists, are being abused in Israeli jails. Four Jordanian murderers were released from Israeli prison this week at the request of King Abdullah. Once in Jordan they complained about the bad treatment they received at the hands of the Israilis, who do not value human life. Can they beat Azzam's story? And please remember that Azzam did in fact spare us the most gory details. The abuse is absolutely incomprehensible and unbearable). Azzam recalls what he went through, mainly while being held in the underground facilities of the Egyptian intelligence (intelligence, yeah, right, Egyptian intelligence is a good one). He was tied upside down above a tub of ice-cold water. His interrogators would lower him repeatedly into the tub until his head was completely submerged. They told him to confess unless he wanted to be cut up into pieces and fed to the crocodiles in the Nile. There is not one inch of his body that has not been subjected to electric shocks. How DID he survive for over eight years, or more precisely 2,950 days, in a windowless cell measuring 250x185 cm, with a threadbare mattress, three blankets, one pillow and two plastic buckets, one with water to wash his face, the other to be used as a toilet? How did he survive the fist four months without being allowed to shower? How did he survive on two bowls of fava beans a day? He wasn't allowed a drink of tea for several long months, until one of his jailers took pity on him and improvised a paper funnel to drip the precious liquid into his mouth through the latticed peephole. As he speaks, Azzam shuts his eyes and inhales the aroma of the warm drink. The people in the audience feel for him.
He shows everybody the tiny wireless radio provided for him by the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and a jumping rope. (The Arab criminals jailed in Israel can watch TV, use computers and talk on the phone, yet Israilis do not value human life and treat prisoners badly). He jumped rope counting to 28,000 every day. This is how he killed time and kept his sanity in his tiny cell. (Arab terrorists jailed in Israel are allowed to study for academic degrees, alas, in Hebrew, and can obtain Bachelor's and Master's degrees in political sciences, geography, history, etc., yet it is the Israilis who treat prisoners badly and do not value human life).
The radio has a special place in Azzam's story of how he survived in hell: he improvised an aerial from a piece of wire, tied it to the door and fiddled with the buttons until he heard "This is Radio Israel Station B, the morning news show with Aryeh Golan." This is how I became a dedicated consumer of Radio Israel news programs. It felt as if the entire State of Israel was sitting with me in my cell. I felt closer to home."
Two and a half years into captivity, all hope of freedom seemed lost, and Azzam tried to kill himself. He started complaining of headaches and backaches and the guards would bring him painkillers, which he hid in a plastic bag. One day he was supposed to receive news from Israel. But the news never came. Feeling hopeless and abandoned, he swallowed the pills: "You only live once. My cell was not fit to house a human being. My wife had to see me like this. My brothers were angry. That was no life for me. I wanted to die. After I took the pills I felt terrible abdominal pain, I became dizzy and I threw up. I was foaming and bubbling at the mouth. I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember was lying in bed in the prison infirmary. The doctor told me they had pumped by stomach. He gave me a mirror and told me to look at myself: I was unrecognizable, emaciated with bloodshot eyes. He encouraged me: Only an innocent man would try to take his own life. Prove to them that you are not a spy."
Two weeks later, Azzam's brother Sami came to see him in prison and was very angry when he heard about the suicide attempt: "What are you trying to accomplish? We are working hard for your release. Do you want your wife to become a widow? Your children orphans? We are doing all we can to support them and you want to kill yourself?" It was then that Azzam realized that he wanted to prove his innocence and be able to return to Israel as a proud man.
After more than eight years in Egyptian prison, Azzam did indeed return to Israel as a proud man. He even talked to PM Ariel Sharon on the phone, and later met him at the Sheraton Hotel in Tel-Aviv where he was taken from the Taba border crossing. His brother had brought him the Israeli flag and some new clothes. Azzam proudly wrapped himself in the Israeli flag: "I was an Israeli soldier, I pledged allegiance to the state, I am a proud Israeli (you hear that, Avrum Burg?), and I am not ashamed of the Israeli flag."
Despite his great love for our country and despite his gratitude and love for Arik Sharon whom he calls his father, his liberator, despite the publicity and media coverage, Azzam is having a hard time regaining normalcy. He cannot find employment, he is frustrated and depressed. He seems to find solace in touring the country and telling his story again and again, in talking to young soldiers about Zionism and values. He can't let go of prison, and prison won't let go of him. He has nightmares and cries in his sleep. "Only last week my wife told me that I was talking and shouting in my sleep."
He was invited to light a beacon on Israel's Independence Day. As long as people recognize him in the street, as long as ministers and MK's call him on the phone, as long as he is an honored guest at the ceremonies for the completion of IDF officer courses, Azzam Azzam is there to share his experiences again and again.
- Are you a hero?
- I'm no hero.
- What are you then?
- A loyal citizen. (How do YOU plead, Avrum Burg?)
Friday, July 13, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
The Leftist Fascist
Ben Dror Yemini
Ma'ariv, June 15, 2005
(Shabbath supplement)
Years of dehumanization have turned the Jews' very existence into a menace to world peace. Years of demonization have turned Israel's very existence into a menace to world peace. Avrum Burg dehumanizes, demonizes and comes to the fascist conclusion: no right to exist.
These types are readily found in the extreme right. One can tell them by certain peculiarities: they deeply despise everyone who is not like them; they totally deny the other's right to exist as a human being; they totally deny the other's right to self-determination; they also deny the other's national rights.
In order to justify their existence, fascists resort to that old trick: dehumanization. Thus, the Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular, are nothing but a bunch of animals. All of them, without exception. As such they have no right to self-determination or to a state of their own.
All of this is perfectly mirrored by the extreme left fascism. The two are identical twins. Everything the right-wing fascist says about Arabs, the left-wing fascist says about Israelis and/or Jews. Israelis and Jews are thus demonized and dehumanized and can be turned into Nazis, or quasi-Nazis, who no longer have the right to self-determination and a state of their own.
Reinforcement player
The left-wing fascist camp in Israel has been joined by a fresh player, Avrum Burg. He no longer is a post-Zionist, he is anti-Zionist now. He is in favor of a Palestinian state. Or perhaps two Palestinian states, as fascist standards are double standards. Whatever the side you support deserves must be denied the side you oppose. Don't let Burg fool you! The fact that he quotes Ehad Ha'am and George Steiner doesn't mean he is less of a fascist. In true fascist fashion, he misquotes Ehad Ha'am. And Steiner is several sizes too big for Burg, but one can see why he clings on to him.
Steiner, an important and creative thinker, defines himself as a citizen of the world, a Diaspora kind of Jew. In fact he is cosmopolitan and radical. His ideal Jew is the wandering Jew. His texts are his motherland. But despite his critique of Zionism, Steiner also justifies it. He comes close to blaming Jews for anti-Semitism. He may have even crossed the red line. Not that he has done anything. "Jews are guilty of innocence", he says, in order to explain, or perhaps justify anti-Semitism. Everything Steiner claims, not always with great success, is regurgitated by Burg in a miserably superficial manner.
It is not by chance that Burg chose Hitler for the title of his book. Steiner got there ahead of him: The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. (A.H. being Adolf Hitler). The plot is not important here. Steiner's book concludes with Hitler's defense plea. The Nazi criminal miraculously turns accuser: "Did I declare the superiority of the Aryan race? It was the Jews who declared themselves the chosen race (ubermenschen). Did I invent genocide? You taught us how to destroy other peoples, the way you destroyed those you conquered in your Promised Land." Mind-boggling demagoguery. On the one hand, Steiner engages in an intellectual exercise. On the other hand, his text becomes anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist. Steiner tries to explain that Hitler's convincing argument, which remains unanswered, is a technique employed by Dostoyevsky as well. In fact, he even admitted that he doubts that there is an answer. His mind was probably made up.
Burg tries to plagiarize Steiner, but the results are disastrous. Steiner managed to link between Herzl and Bismarck's nationalism. Burg, the little imitator, claims that the Israeli nationalism equates pre-Nazism. The original is wrong, and the copy – a disgrace. Three years ago, Burg published an article justifying the Palestinian shaheeds and blaming the Israeli for the suicide bombings. One can look hard and still find no facts, no evidence of the Hitlerism taking root in our bosom. This is dehumanization at its most monstrous. It is fascism.
We honor Burg by comparing him to Steiner. Steiner is a man of controversy. He sometimes hesitates. He even admitted last year that anti-Zionism is a pretext for anti-Semitism. But there, he sprouted a wild weed that pretends to walk in his footsteps.
Humanism and its opposite
Decades of blood libel, brainwashing, dehumanization and demonization have created the Jew whose very existence threatens world peace. Decades of blood libel, brainwashing, dehumanization and demonization have created Israel whose very existence threatens world peace.
This is exactly what left-wing fascists do, those who call themselves anti-Zionists. That's exactly what the extreme Islam, such as Hamas, does. This how low Burg has sunk. He has dehumanized Israel: the Jewish State threatens world peace, and has come to the only logical conclusion – the State of Israel has no right to exist. Fascism is the opposite of humanism. If humanism is all about recognition of rights, fascism is all about the denial of rights. Burg, at the height of his gall, dares call himself a humanist.
A swamp of lies
Facts? What about them? Is there a grain of truth in the libels spewed by Burg & Co.? The world is currently witnessing terrible and horrible war crimes that have nothing do to with Zionism, Jews or Israel. One may, can and should criticize Israel. But one must also put things in perspective. Since most of the criticism directed at Israel targets "occupation", it might be a good time to tell the truth about this occupation. During the 40 years of Israeli occupation, less than six thousand Palestinians have been killed. The absolute majority died in war operations. Very few of the nearly six thousand can be defined as victims of "war crimes". Very few.
Every armed conflict in the world claims far greater numbers of victims and causes far greater suffering among civilians. In just one week of conflict, more Muslims were butchered in Srebrenica, Europe, that in the entire Arab-Israeli conflict. In just one week, more civilians are massacred in Congo than in the entire 40 years of occupation. In Saddam's heyday, every single month ten thousand individuals were murdered in Iraq, obviously more than in 40 years of occupation. The NATO air strikes campaign against Milosevic's rule in Serbia exacted many more innocent civilian victims, relatively, than the Israeli occupation.
There is no national conflict generating such a small number of casualties. And I am not claiming that all Israeli actions are clean. But examining the global scale of atrocities committed against mankind in the last century alone, if Hitler were top of the list, Israel would only make to the last occupants at the bottom of the list, perhaps even the last.
But let us not confuse Burg & Co. with facts and figures. They are holding fast to demonizing. Blood libels have always been the anti-Semites' lifeline, just as they are the lifeline of those who hate Israel. They just can't do without the defamation. Take e.g. a large scale ground operation in Gaza – most Israelis are against it, despite the Qassams. But Burg claims most Israelis are in favor. And by the way, most Israelis would be justified to such a large scale operation. But that is not the point. The point is that Burg is living in a swamp of lies. And he just can't do without those lies. Because that is the essence of fascism. That is how Kahanists think of Muslims. That is how Hamasniks think of Jews. This is how Burg thinks of Israelis.
The jeep has nothing to do with it
It is high time one put Burg back in his place. Him and his friends from the radical islamists, the neo-Nazi right and the radical left. Not because of his salary and not because of his jeep. Not even because of his superficiality – after all it is hard to find intellectual depth in a person who adopts Azmi Bishara's ideas, but because of his support for Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak. It is hard to define Burg's sort as "serious" when he chooses to live in Europe, but at the same time vehemently asserts that Sarkozy is a "threat to world peace". After all, Burg was supposed to be a Zionist, according to Nordau's definition of Zionism as an extension of European borders into the Middle East. Except Burg has no idea who he himself is. He is against Zionism because we have built a wall separating us from the East. He is anti-Zionist by virtue of his being European and cosmopolitan.
Burg must be put back in his place because he is a fascist, an anti-Zionist fascist. And if anybody wanted more proof that fascism and anti-Zionism go hand in hand with idiocy and meanness, with dehumanization and denying the very right to exist, there comes Burg to provide it. But please don't thank him; we didn't really need more proof.
Ma'ariv, June 15, 2005
(Shabbath supplement)
Years of dehumanization have turned the Jews' very existence into a menace to world peace. Years of demonization have turned Israel's very existence into a menace to world peace. Avrum Burg dehumanizes, demonizes and comes to the fascist conclusion: no right to exist.
These types are readily found in the extreme right. One can tell them by certain peculiarities: they deeply despise everyone who is not like them; they totally deny the other's right to exist as a human being; they totally deny the other's right to self-determination; they also deny the other's national rights.
In order to justify their existence, fascists resort to that old trick: dehumanization. Thus, the Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular, are nothing but a bunch of animals. All of them, without exception. As such they have no right to self-determination or to a state of their own.
All of this is perfectly mirrored by the extreme left fascism. The two are identical twins. Everything the right-wing fascist says about Arabs, the left-wing fascist says about Israelis and/or Jews. Israelis and Jews are thus demonized and dehumanized and can be turned into Nazis, or quasi-Nazis, who no longer have the right to self-determination and a state of their own.
Reinforcement player
The left-wing fascist camp in Israel has been joined by a fresh player, Avrum Burg. He no longer is a post-Zionist, he is anti-Zionist now. He is in favor of a Palestinian state. Or perhaps two Palestinian states, as fascist standards are double standards. Whatever the side you support deserves must be denied the side you oppose. Don't let Burg fool you! The fact that he quotes Ehad Ha'am and George Steiner doesn't mean he is less of a fascist. In true fascist fashion, he misquotes Ehad Ha'am. And Steiner is several sizes too big for Burg, but one can see why he clings on to him.
Steiner, an important and creative thinker, defines himself as a citizen of the world, a Diaspora kind of Jew. In fact he is cosmopolitan and radical. His ideal Jew is the wandering Jew. His texts are his motherland. But despite his critique of Zionism, Steiner also justifies it. He comes close to blaming Jews for anti-Semitism. He may have even crossed the red line. Not that he has done anything. "Jews are guilty of innocence", he says, in order to explain, or perhaps justify anti-Semitism. Everything Steiner claims, not always with great success, is regurgitated by Burg in a miserably superficial manner.
It is not by chance that Burg chose Hitler for the title of his book. Steiner got there ahead of him: The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. (A.H. being Adolf Hitler). The plot is not important here. Steiner's book concludes with Hitler's defense plea. The Nazi criminal miraculously turns accuser: "Did I declare the superiority of the Aryan race? It was the Jews who declared themselves the chosen race (ubermenschen). Did I invent genocide? You taught us how to destroy other peoples, the way you destroyed those you conquered in your Promised Land." Mind-boggling demagoguery. On the one hand, Steiner engages in an intellectual exercise. On the other hand, his text becomes anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist. Steiner tries to explain that Hitler's convincing argument, which remains unanswered, is a technique employed by Dostoyevsky as well. In fact, he even admitted that he doubts that there is an answer. His mind was probably made up.
Burg tries to plagiarize Steiner, but the results are disastrous. Steiner managed to link between Herzl and Bismarck's nationalism. Burg, the little imitator, claims that the Israeli nationalism equates pre-Nazism. The original is wrong, and the copy – a disgrace. Three years ago, Burg published an article justifying the Palestinian shaheeds and blaming the Israeli for the suicide bombings. One can look hard and still find no facts, no evidence of the Hitlerism taking root in our bosom. This is dehumanization at its most monstrous. It is fascism.
We honor Burg by comparing him to Steiner. Steiner is a man of controversy. He sometimes hesitates. He even admitted last year that anti-Zionism is a pretext for anti-Semitism. But there, he sprouted a wild weed that pretends to walk in his footsteps.
Humanism and its opposite
Decades of blood libel, brainwashing, dehumanization and demonization have created the Jew whose very existence threatens world peace. Decades of blood libel, brainwashing, dehumanization and demonization have created Israel whose very existence threatens world peace.
This is exactly what left-wing fascists do, those who call themselves anti-Zionists. That's exactly what the extreme Islam, such as Hamas, does. This how low Burg has sunk. He has dehumanized Israel: the Jewish State threatens world peace, and has come to the only logical conclusion – the State of Israel has no right to exist. Fascism is the opposite of humanism. If humanism is all about recognition of rights, fascism is all about the denial of rights. Burg, at the height of his gall, dares call himself a humanist.
A swamp of lies
Facts? What about them? Is there a grain of truth in the libels spewed by Burg & Co.? The world is currently witnessing terrible and horrible war crimes that have nothing do to with Zionism, Jews or Israel. One may, can and should criticize Israel. But one must also put things in perspective. Since most of the criticism directed at Israel targets "occupation", it might be a good time to tell the truth about this occupation. During the 40 years of Israeli occupation, less than six thousand Palestinians have been killed. The absolute majority died in war operations. Very few of the nearly six thousand can be defined as victims of "war crimes". Very few.
Every armed conflict in the world claims far greater numbers of victims and causes far greater suffering among civilians. In just one week of conflict, more Muslims were butchered in Srebrenica, Europe, that in the entire Arab-Israeli conflict. In just one week, more civilians are massacred in Congo than in the entire 40 years of occupation. In Saddam's heyday, every single month ten thousand individuals were murdered in Iraq, obviously more than in 40 years of occupation. The NATO air strikes campaign against Milosevic's rule in Serbia exacted many more innocent civilian victims, relatively, than the Israeli occupation.
There is no national conflict generating such a small number of casualties. And I am not claiming that all Israeli actions are clean. But examining the global scale of atrocities committed against mankind in the last century alone, if Hitler were top of the list, Israel would only make to the last occupants at the bottom of the list, perhaps even the last.
But let us not confuse Burg & Co. with facts and figures. They are holding fast to demonizing. Blood libels have always been the anti-Semites' lifeline, just as they are the lifeline of those who hate Israel. They just can't do without the defamation. Take e.g. a large scale ground operation in Gaza – most Israelis are against it, despite the Qassams. But Burg claims most Israelis are in favor. And by the way, most Israelis would be justified to such a large scale operation. But that is not the point. The point is that Burg is living in a swamp of lies. And he just can't do without those lies. Because that is the essence of fascism. That is how Kahanists think of Muslims. That is how Hamasniks think of Jews. This is how Burg thinks of Israelis.
The jeep has nothing to do with it
It is high time one put Burg back in his place. Him and his friends from the radical islamists, the neo-Nazi right and the radical left. Not because of his salary and not because of his jeep. Not even because of his superficiality – after all it is hard to find intellectual depth in a person who adopts Azmi Bishara's ideas, but because of his support for Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak. It is hard to define Burg's sort as "serious" when he chooses to live in Europe, but at the same time vehemently asserts that Sarkozy is a "threat to world peace". After all, Burg was supposed to be a Zionist, according to Nordau's definition of Zionism as an extension of European borders into the Middle East. Except Burg has no idea who he himself is. He is against Zionism because we have built a wall separating us from the East. He is anti-Zionist by virtue of his being European and cosmopolitan.
Burg must be put back in his place because he is a fascist, an anti-Zionist fascist. And if anybody wanted more proof that fascism and anti-Zionism go hand in hand with idiocy and meanness, with dehumanization and denying the very right to exist, there comes Burg to provide it. But please don't thank him; we didn't really need more proof.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Yelena Warshawskaya
Eli Brandstein
Ma'ariv, July 5, 2007
64 years ago, Yelena Warshawskaya, a Jewish warrior, died defending Estonia's capital. Her grave was located two and a half months ago. Yesterday she became the first Red Army combatant to be laid to rest on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, with full military honors.
What were the chances of Yelena Warshawskaya, a Jewish girl who died fighting the Nazis in Tallinn 64 years ago, to be buried in Jerusalem? What were her chances to become the first Red Army soldier to be given a full military funeral in Israel? Slim. But that's exactly what happened yesterday. Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel-Aviv recited Kaddish over her grave. Next to him stood one of the Chief Rabbis of Russia, Berl Lazar, the President's Military Secretary, Col. Shimon Hefetz, who laid a wreath on behalf of the IDF, and the Russian ambassador to Israel, Piotr Stegniy. Israeli soldiers carried her coffin covered by a Shield of David. When the coffin was lowered into the grave, the Army Chief Rabbi recited "El Male Rahamim" (Most Merciful God) in her honor.
Yelena was sixteen and a half years old in 1941 when the Nazis invaded the USSR. A talented musician, she had been born in the Ukrainian town of Poltava, but moved to Moscow together with her parents, in order to study at the prestigious Gensin Institute. Althoug a painter, her father joined the Red Army. Eventually, Yelena and her family, along with millions of other Soviet citizens, were evacuated to Central Asia, away from the front line. But idealistic Yelena had other plans, so she jumped off the train and reported to the nearest enlistment station, where she persuaded the recruiting officer that she was old enough to join the army as a nurse.
She was assigned to an artillery regiment where she fought with great courage. She received several citations and decorations, including "The Red Star", for saving the lives of hundreds of Soviet soldiers and officers. She even captured two German officers during the battle of Oriol in 1943. Yelena was killed during the battle for Tallinn, between the Soviet and German armies, either from a stray bullet or a shell, while tending to the wounded in the field hospital.
Yelena's mother returned to Moscow towards the end of WWII, and found her husband recovering from combat wounds. Their soldier son had been killed in battle and declared MIA. Grieving over the unbearable loss of her own two children, Yelena's mother adopted two orphaned nephews.
Nobody had known where Yelena's grave was until two months ago, when the government of independent Estonia decided to dismantle the monuments of "Mother Russia's glorious Red Army troops", mainly to remove the monument raised by the Soviet authorities in memory of the liberating Red Army, including the mass grave of 12 soviet soldiers, among them Yelena, and relocate them to the military cemetery in Tallinn.
The Russian minority residing in the city took to the streets in violent demonstration that killed a person and wounded several others. Russia threatened economic sanctions against the rebellious Baltic state, but the Estonians didn't flinch. They wanted rid of the monument that reminded them of the Soviet occupation. So they exhumed the remains of the fallen soldiers and invited the families to give them proper burials elsewhere. Berl Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia, called on Yelena's parents and suggested they give her a Jewish burial.
Vladimir Parnas is an Israeli citizen dividing his time between Israel and Russia. After some research, he discovered that Yelena was a long lost cousin. He contacted Rabbi Lazar, who suggested that Yelena be buried in Israel. The Rabbi also wrote to the Ministry of Defense, and asked that Yelena be laid to rest on Mount of Olives and even promised to fund the entire operation. Yelena was laid to rest in the civil section of the cemetery.
Zecher Tzadika Livracha.
Ma'ariv, July 5, 2007
64 years ago, Yelena Warshawskaya, a Jewish warrior, died defending Estonia's capital. Her grave was located two and a half months ago. Yesterday she became the first Red Army combatant to be laid to rest on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, with full military honors.What were the chances of Yelena Warshawskaya, a Jewish girl who died fighting the Nazis in Tallinn 64 years ago, to be buried in Jerusalem? What were her chances to become the first Red Army soldier to be given a full military funeral in Israel? Slim. But that's exactly what happened yesterday. Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel-Aviv recited Kaddish over her grave. Next to him stood one of the Chief Rabbis of Russia, Berl Lazar, the President's Military Secretary, Col. Shimon Hefetz, who laid a wreath on behalf of the IDF, and the Russian ambassador to Israel, Piotr Stegniy. Israeli soldiers carried her coffin covered by a Shield of David. When the coffin was lowered into the grave, the Army Chief Rabbi recited "El Male Rahamim" (Most Merciful God) in her honor.
Yelena was sixteen and a half years old in 1941 when the Nazis invaded the USSR. A talented musician, she had been born in the Ukrainian town of Poltava, but moved to Moscow together with her parents, in order to study at the prestigious Gensin Institute. Althoug a painter, her father joined the Red Army. Eventually, Yelena and her family, along with millions of other Soviet citizens, were evacuated to Central Asia, away from the front line. But idealistic Yelena had other plans, so she jumped off the train and reported to the nearest enlistment station, where she persuaded the recruiting officer that she was old enough to join the army as a nurse.
She was assigned to an artillery regiment where she fought with great courage. She received several citations and decorations, including "The Red Star", for saving the lives of hundreds of Soviet soldiers and officers. She even captured two German officers during the battle of Oriol in 1943. Yelena was killed during the battle for Tallinn, between the Soviet and German armies, either from a stray bullet or a shell, while tending to the wounded in the field hospital.
Yelena's mother returned to Moscow towards the end of WWII, and found her husband recovering from combat wounds. Their soldier son had been killed in battle and declared MIA. Grieving over the unbearable loss of her own two children, Yelena's mother adopted two orphaned nephews.
Nobody had known where Yelena's grave was until two months ago, when the government of independent Estonia decided to dismantle the monuments of "Mother Russia's glorious Red Army troops", mainly to remove the monument raised by the Soviet authorities in memory of the liberating Red Army, including the mass grave of 12 soviet soldiers, among them Yelena, and relocate them to the military cemetery in Tallinn.
The Russian minority residing in the city took to the streets in violent demonstration that killed a person and wounded several others. Russia threatened economic sanctions against the rebellious Baltic state, but the Estonians didn't flinch. They wanted rid of the monument that reminded them of the Soviet occupation. So they exhumed the remains of the fallen soldiers and invited the families to give them proper burials elsewhere. Berl Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia, called on Yelena's parents and suggested they give her a Jewish burial.
Vladimir Parnas is an Israeli citizen dividing his time between Israel and Russia. After some research, he discovered that Yelena was a long lost cousin. He contacted Rabbi Lazar, who suggested that Yelena be buried in Israel. The Rabbi also wrote to the Ministry of Defense, and asked that Yelena be laid to rest on Mount of Olives and even promised to fund the entire operation. Yelena was laid to rest in the civil section of the cemetery.
Zecher Tzadika Livracha.
Iraqi young woman undergoes heart catheterization in Rambam Hospital, Haifa
Yonathan Halili
Ma'ariv
There are three Iraqis receiving medical treatment in the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel as we speak. A 30-year-old Iraqi woman underwent cardiac catheterization in order to seal an atrial septal defect. The entire procedure, performed by Dr. Avraham Lorber, was watched by a group of senior Israeli cardiologists attending a National Cardiology Seminar on invasive cardiology at Haifa's largest hospital. The young Muslim woman's identity was kept secret, or the life-saving procedure performed in Israel might cost her her life.
She was referred for treatment in Israel by the Shevet Achim group, a Christian organization who helps residents of Arab countries travel to Israel for medical treatment, in attempt to bridge gaps and bring Muslim and Jews together.
Two more Iraqi patients are currently being treated in Rambam: a two month-old baby who had surgery two weeks ago and a child who had surgery today.
Ma'ariv
There are three Iraqis receiving medical treatment in the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel as we speak. A 30-year-old Iraqi woman underwent cardiac catheterization in order to seal an atrial septal defect. The entire procedure, performed by Dr. Avraham Lorber, was watched by a group of senior Israeli cardiologists attending a National Cardiology Seminar on invasive cardiology at Haifa's largest hospital. The young Muslim woman's identity was kept secret, or the life-saving procedure performed in Israel might cost her her life.
She was referred for treatment in Israel by the Shevet Achim group, a Christian organization who helps residents of Arab countries travel to Israel for medical treatment, in attempt to bridge gaps and bring Muslim and Jews together.
Two more Iraqi patients are currently being treated in Rambam: a two month-old baby who had surgery two weeks ago and a child who had surgery today.
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