An Israeli soldier found Judea-Samarian checkpoints more traumatic than fighting in Lebanon

Elon Perry is an israeli journalist and soldier who gave a lecture at Limmud on 'Jerusalem Burning, 100 years of the Arab-Israeli conflict'. EP's account of his own life was fascinating, but his many historical mistakes means he should leave the history of Zionism and Israel to others who know it better and concentrate on his own wealth of experiences.  

This howler is an example where Perry talks about palestinian arab opposition to zionism:

“They started sending messages to Herzl and others 'don't dare to make aliyah'”

I don't know his sources for this statement, but when Herzl was alive there was no palestinian arab identity, and even arab nationalists were only beginning to form their movements. There was if anything some understanding from arab leaders such as Faisal that arabs could benefit from jewish immigration to Israel. Of course Faisal represented himself and his tribe but there were few other arab representatives for zionists to approach before the British overturned the ruling Ottoman Turkish rulein Syria.

“The masscres in Haifa, Hebron... were messages to Herzl, don't do what you're going to do” (The arab killers who took part in those attacks would have been sending their messages to a man who died 25 years before)

The statement is, apart from the two decade time lag ludicrous as the jews affected were not zionists but those jews who had lived in Pekiin, Hebron,Safed and Jerusalem amongst other places for hundreds if not thousands of years. The jews were attacked on account of their religion as Jews and because the racist arab leadership appointed by the British used their opportunity to foment pogroms. Trying to ascribe a nationalistic motive to these unprovoked attacks on jews is post facto anti-zionist obfuscation of the facts.

Elon's description of Ben Gurion's statesmanship in declaring the State of Israel (in the teeth of opposition by Britain and also the USA whose Defence Secretary Marshall believed/hoped that jewish forces would not last more than 3 weeks) is correct. He didn't however go into the extremely acrimonious relationship that developed between these two giants of zionism. Ben-Gurion in addition to being the outstanding leader of Israel was extraordinarily spiteful. He even forbade Weizmann from signing the Declaration of Israel's Independence.

EP gets interesting when recounting his own experiences:

Checkpoints

In the West Bank in those territories I found myself a policeman, a teacher ....... It's crazy we had to make decisions in seconds. The decisions were not to shoot or not to shoot but should I let this person in. This woman crying with her baby,what can you do? We are people, and we have mercy and you have to say yes you can go. And there's 300 in the queue. And some of them exploded.

When I go home I think of how to be better next time, but the media they condemn you, they call you killers...

It was really so difficult, you have a lot of pressure psychologically.

A lot of situations were like if I don't let her in she may die, how will I live with it.

 Elon complained that he had not got any help or training for such situations.

“when I think back on it, those situations were more dangerous than what we faced in Lebanon because in Lebanon you just took cover and could shoot. But here decisions stay with you all day.”

Before the wall (Oops-mostly a fence) we had 700 checkpoints, now less, 50 or 45 i'm not sure (Oops-I read somewhere that there are now just 3 plus mobile checkpoints, which is why there is an epidemic now of stonings and molotov and shooting attacks on israelis throughout Judea and Samaria).

People who complain about the fence, “don't know about the real situation where the wall is protecting Israel.”

“We give them jobs. We expect them to come to Israel, do their job, say thank you and go home. But some of them use terror.

“It's not that they want to use terror. Their leaders, they entice them...either they are offered money or they are blackmailed.”

"I nearly got killed many times at the checkpoint because we have to be up at front. We can't hide. I prefer the war."

 When asked about Britain condemning Israeli "occupation", the response was "what a chutzpah, the nation that occupied the whole of the world.......Jews in Israel will always be blamed, even for the weather."

"We built something from nothing in 70 years, and i travel the world a lot.... i see countries with nothing to compare "
Elon explained about his time in Gaza also published on his website:

“When I was a soldier serving in Gaza, we had been ordered to take shelter in the back of a hospital.
“We saw Palestinian kids covered in blood rushing into the hospital from an ambulance. At the back of the hospital the children took off their T-shirts which had been covered in ketchup.”

 Elon als recalled when his unit surrounded a house with terrorists in it. A child entered it and suddenly they were ordered not to fire at the house. A Hamas sniper there however did not have any such orders, and wounded 4 of his group. Elon had a friend die in his arms.

A general in the background had given express orders not to open fire, because of human rights concerns and fear over the Geneva Convention.

 The Geneva Convention does not apply in such a situation where human shields are deployed to protect combatants firing from a defended position. I challenge anyone to show otherwise, rather than just assert it as fact.

Mr Elon could not understand this point when I put it to him that not firing on the house was madness. Israel's enemies have so changed the situation that Israeli troops are scared of defending their lives, and pay for it.

As one Israeli commander said, 'I prefer my troops in hospital than before a courts martial'.

Israeli commanders need to back their troops if they expect them to do their duty. Covering their backs now will mean much blood spent uselessly in the future. Never in the history of warfare has an army faced such an untenable situation. If the enemy knew that the war crime of using human shields would not help them, the practice would very quickly disappear.

Elon should read the revolt by Begin to understand that Britain was not benign in its occupation of Israel, but often took sides, facilitating arab attacks on jews before the state existed. The Irgun and Lehi made Britain's continued stay in Israel hot enough for Montgomery to complain of Britain having been 'driven' out of Israel. 

Britain was never an honest broker in Israel. And even its present friendliness is hard headed opportunism with regard to Israeli technology and energy security, a hankering after Israel's gas reserves. Britain's dealings with arabs go back a long way and until Israel can offer Britain the lucrative bribes that the Saudis do with their billions of dollars arms contracts the change will be long coming.

Elon Perry has served Israel well and is still doing his best in its defence. But I believe he should avoid imparting wrong history to Jews about Israel and zionism.

He would be better to instead talk about his fascinating experiences fighting in Israel's wars and of highlights of his journalistic career in Israel.

I would have wished to have heard much more from Elon Perry about himself and his own experiences.

Muslim Waqf incitement against any jewish visiting of the Temple Mount

After yet another posting by the Elder of Ziyon showing a group of religious jews with young children walking around the Temple Mount, I decided to put what he says each time this happens to the test.

Are the Waqf really so hate filled, so intolerant that just the fact that jewish religious tourists' feet tread on that holiest of areas sacred to jews throughout millenia can be taken by muslims as 'provocation'? Is this enough for the muslim Waqf to write about "occupation" and "storming" of the mount? Are the jews not doing something to provoke all this invective, this emotive language?

The Waqf object to the jews taking pictures, but take many of their own. The pictures of the jews show them simply walking around and doing nothing in particular. If these are the worst pictures that the Waqf can find to portray the terrible behaviour of the jews, then this speaks volumes not of the jews but of the brimming over hatred for jews per se by the muslim authorities who control the Temple Mount.  There is no recognition at all of Moshe Dayan's magnanimous gesture in 1967 which left the jews' most holy place in muslim hands, all in the cause of peaceful coexistence. More fool you Moshe. A lifetime living with arabs, understanding their language, and still not understanding the basic dynamics of the middle east. If you have power you have peace. If you are perceived as weak  you will be attacked.

That jews setting up a tripod to take pictures arouses Waqf wrath brings yet again into question any possibility of ever coming to an agreement with palestinian arabs, of any chance of ever living as equals, side by side together in peace. Jews don't want to lord it over arabs, just to live peacefully with them in Israel. That is too much for the Waqf and its religious leader the Mufti, the supreme religious authority for palestinian arabs.


The Waqf piece alludes to the so-called 'science' students who seem to be a paramilitary force, of being prevented from rioting by the 'occupation' force. Religious jews with their kids peacefully walking around and learning about their history is obviously the utmost provocation for these people.


The problem is therefore not anything the jews are doing, but that they exist, that they are there. The jewish visitors' very peacefulness is a 'provocation' to those anti-semites who long for the times when they could drive a herd of sheep and cattle through the jewish worshippers praying in the narrow space at the Kotel on Yom Kippur. This was a new innovation by the Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin El Husseini with the connivance of the British Mandatory authorities. They in collusion with the Mufti in the 1920's forbade the blowing of the shofar on the most holy day of the year for jews.

When jews tried to erect a mechitza (a curtain to separate men and women) at the Kotel, this was the pretext (nothing changes, as now the call was that el Aqsa was 'under attack') for the arab riots throughout the country in which hundreds of jews were killed and injured, the ancient jewish community living in Hebron attacked with many killed. The community was ethnically cleansed and remained so until 1967. The interesting thing is that the jews were not even 'zionists', just apolitical jews living as they had always done with their muslim arab neighbours. The riots only happened because of perceived weakness of the authorities. The arabs saw that the British were either with them, or would do nothing, and used the opportunity to play out their hatred against jews.


Of course whilst the Ottomans ruled Israel, if a jew was caught on the Temple Mount of in the Cave of Machpela in Hebron he would be lynched. Just to go to the Western Wall during Jordanian times needed production of a baptismal certificate by foreigners.


Arabs take the long view, see the jews as crusaders and bide their time until jews can be evicted and killed as 'crusaders on holy muslim ground'. The Mufti of Jerusalem could not have made himself clearer only a few months ago in a talk (rather an emotion filled bout of screaming, the spewing of hate filled invective) to the 47th Conference of the terrorists of Fatah.




Yet again my thanks to the 'Elder'. The wall of hostility by our foes can not be broken down by any gestures we make. Israel must keep up its guard and remain strong, until such time our arab neighbours tire of violence and war, as happened with the Germans. This didn't happen after the First World War but only after terrible devastation and losses to the German people. Germans needed to  have their nihilistic wish and efforts to destroy our people and build a German empire bombed out of them. After at least 4 million dead, Germany learned to hate war. Arab intransigence and aggression must similarly follow such a process, which is maybe happening now in Syria if not elsewhere. 

 There is nothing we can do to change the realities other than refuse to be intimidated by threats of violence, to peacefully assert our rights to visit our holy place such as the Temple Mount , and to defend ourselves aggressively when we are attacked.

Israel despite itself is condemned to always live in an armed peace, to never let down its guard, and moreover to never make the slightest concession unless matched by our opponents. Concessions have always been misinterpreted in the past, as weakness by Israel, and not as an olive branch, a concrete sign of Israel's wish to live in peace together.


The many concessions by Israel have always led to more incitement and conflict, and it is because of this refusal by Israel to learn from past mistakes that Israel, is to blame for arab efforts against it on every level. If Israel gives something for nothing, to the arab mind and culture unexplainable weakness which leads to more threats and demands. This is the middle east, not post modern europe, and Israel's politicians must understand. 

The Translation is by Google and therefore not always easy to understand. The message is however clear, the Temple Mount should be 'Judenrein':

Main »News, violations and attacks» "Al-Aqsa Foundation settlers from the group" Attiyrat Cohanim "storming Aqsa and a video camera documenting Tdnashm provocatively"Al-Aqsa Foundation settlers from the group" Attiyrat Cohanim "storming Aqsa and a video camera documenting Tdnashm provocativelyTuesday, July 24, 2012, 16:51Print this topicNews, violations and attacksAdd a comment

 For a third day in a row: storm and the desecration of the maximum:Trapping Msatab science students after the arrest of one of them and threaten others by preventing them from entering the Al-AqsaIn a summary of the developments taking place in the al-Aqsa mosque said: "Al-Aqsa Foundation for the stop and Heritage" in a statement Tuesday, 24/7/2012, about 30 settlers stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque and desecrated its facilities, but the interesting thing is today transferred witnesses from "Institution Building-Aqsa and the holy sites" A group of four settlers from the group "Attiyrat Cohanim" extremist, including two children, stormed at the tenth-Aqsa mosque by the Mughrabi Gate, carrying a video camera with a stick installation, and the Mughrabi Gate turned directly towards Midhat cup and has one of the settlers photographed the children and an interview with the settler the other on a bench by the cup, try a guard of al-Aqsa mosque to prevent them from shooting, but police occupation confronted him, and insisted on allowing the settlers photography, and occurred between the guards of Al-Aqsa and the occupation forces Mlasna reciprocal, and in the meantime, combine a number of occupation forces to guard the settlers during the imaging process by the settlers who have completed pictorial tour around the eastern side, it is likely that these settlers were preparing a report for television broke into the extreme.
 He adds witness during his interview with "Al-Aqsa Foundation" It's in these moments, a number of older students terraces of science and turned towards the east to get to know the truth of what is happening there, and immediately suffered three of the Special Forces and two officers and members of the police occupation and cordoned off the area, After the out settlers from the door of the series gathered police and officers on the ring science students and arrested Abu Ayman - Ghassan Younis, one of the students Msatab flag and threatened to others that they will not allow them to enter the al-Aqsa mosque, and they know that the possession of cameras and they will work to prevent the introduction of these cameras to Far, in the same sustenance occupation forces prevented a school science project Msatab from the use of a small loudspeaker was used to provide one of science lessons in the Al-Aqsa.

 In the same context has confirmed that "Al-Aqsa Foundation" The number of settlers from the day they perform rituals of Jewish and Talmudic Temtemat and rituals in different parts of the Far, especially next to Bey off the Dome of the Rock.

 So in this charged atmosphere stressed occupation forces on the worshipers entering the Al Aqsa Mosque to perform the noon prayer, and since the morning hours present in the arena of maximum scores of students of terraces of science and an audience of worshipers from the people of Jerusalem and the pioneers of the march of flags and the number of visitors from different regions.

 This followed the "institution-Aqsa" on these events by saying: "We see what happened today in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and what happened in the last days of break-ins and the desecration of the Aqsa Mosque, and previous statements from agencies of the Israeli occupation, look at them into danger, and we stress that the occupation will not work to impose the status quo in the Al Aqsa Mosque, and to make incursions and attacks on Al-Aqsa and as is normal, we emphasize that the al-Aqsa mosque is a prerogative of the Muslims and Muslims alone, also emphasize that the presence of the occupation in the Al-Aqsa is the presence of occupation of the void, which is evanescent in the near future, but we stress again the importance of intensifying tension pack up and increasing daily communication early in the Al Aqsa Mosque. "