Dear Family & Friends,

Wintery weather again. Blustery, chilly – warm winter coats. Gorgeous clouds. Looks like rain but, not yet.

Had wonderful friends over this afternoon – from the ‘old country’ but, they are really from & of Israel. He had very penetrating insights into Israel’s inner turmoil during the election when every kind of mud is being thrown around…And, the world’s turmoil, counter-directed toward us & Israel. I invited him to walk up the stairs to my balcony where I can work on my computer while viewing & absorbing the beautiful valley below my big windows. I told him: “So go up & write what you’re saying so well! I’ll send it out. Take a stand…even if you want to remain anonymous.” Nope. Not yet. Maybe soon.

We should all mobilize our forces, our inner forces to speak out against the Hypocrisy that surrounds us. Always we Jews are targeted. We here in Israel have the power to defend ourselves, IF, we were to only use it for our good & the good of the world.

Iran imperils us existentially – as well as the rest of the world strategically. Iran aims first for hegemony over the entire Mid East – & then, a Global Caliphate, ruled by Sharia Law, fueled by its burgeoning Nuclear Stockpile – ready to breakout into weapons, small & tactical, plus Huge & Continent threatening.

Is it too late for Israel to demolish this World-Wide Threat herself? Only time & our courage will tell.

Have a pleasant sleep, a wonderful new day tomorrow. But, read our GW Diaries, with pithy articles from many great writers…Then, gird your loins, pick up your pens or computers & address the life-threatening, world-killing violence around us. Stand up for yourselves & your families.

All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba/Mom

Our Website is there to serve: WinstonIsraelInsight.com

1. The death of an Iranian general on the Golan gave US Senators’ Iran sanctions bills military muscle DEBKAfile

2. HAMAS & THE NEXUS OF GLOBAL JIHAD By Caroline B. Glick

3. Goofy generals galore By MARTIN SHERMAN

4. Dry Bones by Ya’acov Kirschen “Jordan & Egypt”

5. How Do You Know You’ve Gotten Through? By CITIZEN WARRIOR

6. Bill Maher: Obama ‘perhaps the worst president’ on press freedom

7. Jews in Turkey: Unending Discrimination by Uzay Bulut

8. Arlene Kushner: “Hypocrisy Writ Large”

1.The death of an Iranian general on the Golan gave US Senators’ Iran sanctions bills military muscle DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis Jan 22, 2015, 2:39 PM (IDT)

Binyamin Netanyahu in former address to US Congress

It is hard to believe that the White House was caught by surprise over House leader John Boehner’s unusual invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to address Congress on Feb. 11. After all, prior arrangements must have kept the Israeli embassy in Washington busy for weeks in a city, whose life blood is kept flowing by the mining & trading of information & secrets about friends & rivals alike.

All the same, it suited the four parties involved in this extraordinary event – Republican & Democratic lawmakers, the White House & Netanyahu – to pretend they were taken aback on Wednesday, Jan. 21 by the Speaker’s announcement of the prime minister’s coming address on “the grave threats radical Islam & Iran pose to our security & way of life.”

He accused President Barack Obama of “papering over” these threats over in his State of the Union speech a few hours earlier.

The White House said the invitation breached “typical protocol” but the administration would reserve judgment until they heard from Netanyahu about his plans.

The assumed air of astonishment greeting the invitation added an element of drama to the event. It also had the effect of further polarizing the camps for & against the Obama administration’s insistence on banking solely on diplomacy for containing Iran’s nuclear program.

Inevitable showdown

Obama & Netanyahu, who could never stand each other, have been at loggerheads for most of the six years of the former’s presidency over what is widely seen as the dead-end US Middle East policies he pursued in most major arenas such as Iraq, Yemen & Libya, the futile US air strikes against marching Islamist State soldiers, the unending Syrian conflict & the Palestinian issue.

The showdown building up for years between them may now be at hand. It will catch Obama & Secretary of State John Kerry fully engaged in a desperate pursuit of a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran & the Six-World-Powers group. This deal could then be presented as an unquestioned success of Obama’s Middle East policies – indeed the only one.

Together with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani & Foreign Minister Mohamed Zarif, US officials have roughed out a draft accord. But most American nuclear experts & Israel’s top political & military leaders view this paper as a bad agreement, because it would leave Tehran with the freedom & resources to jump back from low-grade enrichment to full-dress production of a nuclear bomb & missiles when international & economic circumstances were more convenient.

But Obama & Kerry are counting on the ayatollahs holding their horses until the end of 2016, when the US administration changes hands. The Iranian nuclear deal’s inevitable breakdown would then land squarely on the shoulders of the next president & secretary of state taking over in Washington, while Obama would have formally honored his commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.

Khamenei between two compulsions
But this plan faces an outsize impediment: Rouhani & Zarif are holding back from putting pen to paper because of the strong objections posed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei & the Revolutionary Guards military chiefs.

Earlier this month, the issue reached boiling point in Tehran, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report: The Guards threatened to unseat Khamenei by a military coup if he let Rouhani & Zarif sign the draft into a comprehensive, binding nuclear accord.
Khamenei, never lost for a devious maneuver, began weaving between the two compulsions – American demands for more concessions to finalize the deal & demands by hardliners at home not to give way. The move he made was to throw a bone in the form of an offer to cut down on the number of centrifuges used in uranium enrichment.
Obama & Kerry hailed this as a breakthrough toward a deal, although the experts dismissed it as meaningless.

Obama propositions Netanyahu

On this basis, Obama phoned Netanyahu Monday night, Jan. 13, to ask him for Israel’s support for the evolving comprehensive nuclear accord with Iran.

In return, he offered closer US cooperation in various areas of interest to Israel, such as the Palestinian issue, if the prime minister would withhold or cool his support for US Senate sanctions legislation:

The Republican Mark Kirk & Democrat Robert Menendez seek to enact new sanctions on Iran if nuclear negotiations fail to meet their June 30 deadline for an accord.

Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — supported by Republican Senators Lindsay Graham & John McCain — is pushing for legislation which does not contain sanctions but would require a Senate vote on any pact that is agreed upon in Geneva.

Netanyahu rejected Obama’s proposition.

The US President was therefore adamant in his State of the Union references to the Iranian nuclear issue: “New sanctions on Iran would all but guarantee that diplomacy fails, heightening the prospects of war.” He said.: “Between now & this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran, secures America & our allies – including Israel – while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict.”

Obama did not elaborate on the parties who would take part in this hypothetical conflict, or explain why he limited himself to only two extreme scenarios – either a deal with Iran or tighter sanctions that would precipitate war.

Israel takes direct aim at Iran

It was no accident that two days before this speech, Obama had his answer from Israel. Sunday, Jan. 19, Israeli Air Force drones struck an Iranian-Hezb’Allah military convoy near the Syrian Golan town of Quneitra. Six Iranian officers were killed, led by Gen. Mohamad Ali Allah Dadi, as well as the same number of high-ranking Hezb’Allah operatives.
This was a dual threat: Israel would not stand by if Iranian & Hezb’Allah forces moved into the Syrian Golan right up against its frontier. But in the wider context, Binyamin Netanyahu was signaling Obama in Washington & Khamenei in Tehran, that he no longer had any qualms about striking Iranian military targets if the two rulers failed to forge a workable, credible accord for keeping nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands.

The Israeli action added military muscle to the US Senate legislation on Iran – in the face of Obama’s reluctance to embrace tactics he believes would be disincentives for Khamenei to play ball on the ongoing multilateral nuclear diplomatic track in Geneva.

It also explains why John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress on Feb. 11.

However, until then, Iran, Hezb’Allah, Syria & even Israel may not stand idle. & the Obama administration may also decide to round up its assets in a bid to spoil the prime minister’s run for re-election on March 17.

The death of an Iranian general on the Golan gave US Senators’ Iran sanctions bills military muscle DEBKAfile

FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST FEBRUARY 7, 2014

For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace & for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” Isaiah 62.

FREEMAN CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES P.O. Box 35661 * Houston, Texas 77235-5661
* E-mail: bernards@sbcglobal.net OUR WEB SITE < www.freeman.org >

2.HAMAS & THE NEXUS OF GLOBAL JIHAD By Caroline B.Glick 02/05/2015

Today Israel’s closest ally is Egypt; under Obama, the US is a force to be worked around, not worked with.

Gazans celebrate the 27th anniversary of Hamas’ founding. (photo credit:REUTERS)

On Wednesday, Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud Zahar called on Hamas terrorists in Lebanon & Syria to attack Israel “to help us liberate Palestine.”
At the same time, Zahar denied that Hamas has been involved in the terrorist insurgency in Egypt. As he put it, “Our guns are always trained on the enemy,” that is, Israel.
The Egyptian regime was not impressed by Zahar’s protestations.
Last Saturday, an Egyptian court upheld an October 2014 decision by the Egyptian government to outlaw Hamas’s terrorist shock forces Izzadin Kassam, & designate it a terrorist organization.
Both the government’s initial designation & the court’s decision were in some sense, watershed events. They represent the first time an Arab regime ever defined any Palestinian terrorist organization as a terrorist group.
But in truth, Egypt had no choice. Despite its insistent protestations that the Jews are its only enemies, Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been a major player, indeed, arguably the key player in the jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula that threatens to destroy the political, economic & military viability of the Egyptian state. The declared purpose of the insurgency is to overthrow the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi & integrate Egypt into Islamic State’s “Caliphate.”
Last week saw yet another devastating terror assault against Egyptian security forces & civilians in Sinai & in cities around Egypt. Thirty- two people, mainly soldiers, were killed in a coordinated, multifaceted attack that included Hamas’s three signature modes of operation – mortars, rockets & suicide bombings.
Last week’s assault, like almost all previous ones, was credited to Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a jihadist group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State & declared Sinai a province of its “caliphate.”
According to a report by Yoram Schweitzer from the Institute for National Security Studies, Hamas members were among the original founders of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. The Egyptian government views Hamas-controlled Gaza as the rear headquarters of the group. In founding the group, Hamas cooperated with local Salafist Bedouin & with al-Qaida terrorists who escaped Egyptian prisons during the January 2011 uprising against then-president Hosni Mubarak.
From the outset, Egyptian security forces alleged that Hamas terrorists conducted the prison breaches. Among the other Islamists released during the jail breaks was Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi.
Morsi reportedly used Hamas terrorists as his regime’s Praetorian guard. They were charged with protecting the Muslim Brotherhood regime from protesters who opposed his moves to rapidly transform Egypt into an Islamist state & the spearhead of the Brotherhood’s sought-for Global Caliphate.
From an ideological perspective, there is no distinction between the Brotherhood & Hamas. From an organizational perspective, the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood branch has no difficulty integrating its forces seamlessly into the wider Muslim Brotherhood operational structure to serve what it views as their common ends.
& this brings us back to the insurgency in Sinai. In addition to claiming that Hamas enables Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis [Arabic for “Beis HaMigdash” (House of the Holy Temple) ours], Cairo accuses Hamas of having directly carried out several mass casualty terror attacks against its security forces. The most recent one, carried out in late October 2014, killed 31 soldiers. It precipitated Cairo’s decision to expand its security zone between Gaza & Sinai from 1 to 2 kilometers & begin emptying the Egyptian side of the border-straddling city of Rafah. It was also the catalyst for the government’s decision to label Izzadin Kassam a terrorist group.
The timing of last week’s attack indicates the close coordination between Hamas-Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis & the Muslim Brotherhood. As The Washington Free Beacon reported, two days before the attacks the Muslim Brotherhood issued a call for “a long, uncompromising jihad” in Egypt.
Hamas’s intimate relationship with what has now become the Islamic State affiliate in Sinai may well have facilitated the seeding of Islamic State cells in Gaza & Judea & Samaria, where Hamas terrorists are increasingly declaring their allegiance to Islamic State. Following last month’s massacre of the French journalists at Charlie Hebdo in Paris, several hundred protesters in Gaza waved Islamic State flags while burning the French flag in support of the massacre.
In recent weeks, Israeli security forces have arrested several cells of Israeli Arabs & Palestinians from Judea & Samaria that sought to establish Islamic State cells.
Beyond its role in both leading & enabling the insurgency in Sinai in concert with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas serves as a bridge between Iran & Sunni jihadists. In the aftermath of Operation Protective Edge last summer, Hamas began rebuilding its ties to Iran. Until the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, when Hamas felt obliged to support the Muslim Brotherhood that was fighting the Iranian-backed regime of President Bashar Assad, Iran had served as Hamas’s primary state sponsor since 2005. Iran never entirely cut off its support for Hamas. But after last summer’s war, it reinstated its formal alliance with Hamas.
On Saturday, in an interview with Hezb’Allah ’s Al-Manar television, Hamas’s Zahar called on Iran to increase its aid to the terror group.
He also called on Hezb’Allah to increase its cooperation with Hamas & send terrorist reinforcements to Gaza, Judea & Samaria.
Two days later, Iranian Brig.-Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, answered Zahar’s call. In an interview with Iran’s Fars news agency on Monday, Hajizadeh said that Iran is “exporting the technology of manufacturing missiles & other equipment,” to “Syria, Iran & Palestine as well as Lebanon’s Hezb’Allah to stand up to & ground the Zionist regime, ISIL & other Takfiri [i.e. fake Islamic] groups.
Hamas’s bridging role between the Muslim Brotherhood & Islamic State on the one hand, & between Iran and Hezb’Allah on the other, shows two things. First, that the Palestinian jihadist group, which the European Union is now trying to decide whether or not to label a terrorist organization, after the previous designation was struck down by an EU court, is about much more than destroying Israel. It poses a threat to people far beyond Israel. & its role in the terror nexus is not that of a bit player, but of a linchpin & a unifying force.
It also shows the unity of the threat of Sunni & Shi’ite Islamic totalitarianism. Egypt recognizes this unity.
According to the Arabic Al-Ahram daily, on Wednesday the head of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority, Lt.-Gen. Mohab Mamish, said that Egypt will defend the freedom of maritime traffic along the Bab el-Mandab that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Last month, Iranian- backed Houthi militia overthrew the US-backed Yemeni government. They now exert effective control over the country, & with it, the Bab el-Mandab.
Mamish said that Egypt “will not accept” closure of the waterway which “directly affects the Suez Canal & national security.”
In other words, Egypt sees a unity of the terror forces along the Sunni-Shi’ite continuum & believes its national survival is dependent on defeating both.
Israel has been doing everything it can to assist Egypt’s efforts in Sinai. Egyptian commanders have taken the extraordinary step of publicly thanking Israel for its help.
Yet, Israel is in a bind. Even as it seeks to assist Egypt in fighting Hamas & its allies in Sinai, due to US & European pressure, Israel is coerced into enabling Hamas to rebuild its terror infrastructure in Gaza. As the Meir Amit Intelligence & Terrorism Research Center revealed in a recent report, even as civilians in Gaza suffer through mass shortages & lack of shelter, Hamas has invested huge sums of money to rebuild its rocket arsenal through domestic production. It has restored much of its tunnel network. & it has used vast resources to train & indoctrinate some 17,000 teenagers in Gaza, & to train thousands of new forces. A new people’s militia has 2,500 recruits. Two Hamas officer courses with 1,060 cadets graduated in December 2014.
As the center’s director Dr. Reuven Erlich told The Jerusalem Post, “Israel will encounter these [forces & installations] in the next round of fighting.”
In other words, Israel’s ability to take effective action against Hamas in concert with Egypt is hampered by the Obama administration that is insisting that Israel facilitate the Hamas’s rearmament – a development that threatens Israel & Egypt alike.
& Israel isn’t alone in its plight. Egypt is also being pressured by President Barack Obama & his administration.
In its war against Sunni & Shi’ite jihadist forces that threaten to destroy Egypt, & among other things, cause mass harm to the global economy by imperiling maritime traffic, Egypt finds itself betrayed by the Obama administration.
Last month, just a few days before the Muslim Brotherhood called for “a long & uncompromising jihad” against Egypt, leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood met with senior US officials at the State Department. In response to a reporter’s question about the meeting, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki insisted that despite the Brotherhood’s call for holy war against the US’s closest Arab ally, the administration has no regrets about meeting, & so conferring legitimacy & implying US support for the Brotherhood in its war against the Sisi government.
Opposition leaders Isaac Herzog & Tzipi Livni have based their electoral campaign against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on blaming him for the crisis in Israel’s relations with the White House. It is hard to think of a more cynical, destructive allegation.
As the administration’s continued embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood despite its full membership in the terrorist nexus that threatens the US & all of its closest allies, along with its desperate courtship of the Iranian mullahs, makes clear, the Obama administration has chosen to appease rather than combat America’s worst enemies.
Perhaps the most sympathetic interpretation of Livni’s & Herzog’s unwarranted & harmful assaults against Netanyahu is that they simply cannot accept that the world has changed.
But the trends are clear. The only responsible thing that Israel can do is to act accordingly.
Today Israel’s closest ally is Egypt. Under Obama, the US is a force to be worked around, not worked with. www.CarolineGlick.com

HAMAS & THE NEXUS OF GLOBAL JIHAD By Caroline B. Glick

FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST FEBRUARY 7, 2014

For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace & for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” Isaiah 62.

FREEMAN CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES P.O. Box 35661 * Houston, Texas 77235-5661
* E-mail: bernards@sbcglobal.net OUR WEB SITE < www.freeman.org >

3.Into The Fray: Goofy generals galore By MARTIN SHERMAN 02/06/2015 07:41

Virtually every time top military figures have departed from their field of expertise & ventured into one where they have none (politics), they have–almost invariably—been disastrously wrong.

Kadima chairman MK Shaul Mofaz. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

[Israeli] security experts didn’t anticipate one major event in the Middle East in the past 50 years.: – Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Saban Forum, December 2014
Allow me to begin this week’s column with three somewhat lengthy excerpts from an essay, “Israel: The Case for Defensible Borders,” published in the influential journal Foreign Affairs.
‘One does not have to be a military expert…’
The selected excerpts relate to three topics:
(a) The indefensible pre-1967 lines “One does not have to be a military expert to easily identify the critical defects of the armistice lines that existed until June 4, 1967. A considerable part of these lines is without any topographical security value; and, of no less importance, the lines fail to provide Israel with the essential minimum of strategic depth. The gravest problem is on the eastern boundary, where the entire width of the coastal plain varies between 10 & 15 miles, where the main centers of Israel’s population, including Tel Aviv & its suburbs, are situated, & where the situation of Jerusalem is especially perilous…”
(b) The territorial imperative in the age of modern long-range weaponry “The purpose of defensible borders… is to provide Israel with the requisite minimal strategic depth, as well as lines which have topographical strategic significance… there are some who would claim that in an era of modern technological development such factors are valueless [and] that the appearance of ground-to-ground missiles, supersonic fighter-bombers, & other sophisticated instruments of modern warfare has canceled out the importance of strategic depth & topographical barriers… this argument is certainly invalid regarding Israel… where the opposite is true… the innovations & sophistication in weaponry… not only fail to weaken the value of strategic depth & natural barriers but in fact enhance their importance. This is even more true given Israel’s difficult geographic position… Precisely because of dramatic developments in conventional weaponry the significance of territorial barriers & strategic depth has increased.”
(c) The perilous asymmetry of the Arab-Israeli conflict “… the Arab states can permit themselves a series of military defeats while Israel cannot afford to lose a single war… a military defeat of Israel would mean the physical extinction of a large part of its population & the political elimination of the Jewish state…. To lose a single war is to lose everything…”
Shimon Peres concurred
Some readers may be surprised to learn that these words were not written by a “right-wing, radical extremist” or a pro-settlement ideologue. They were written by none other than the iconic Labor moderate Yigal Allon, in October 1976, who was deputy prime minister & foreign minister.
During the War of Independence Allon commanded the Palmach, the strike force of the Hagana underground.
His views were not uncommon in mainstream Israeli politics at the time – barely three years after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Indeed, they were endorsed – point by point – by the defense minister in the government in which Allon served as foreign minister, Shimon Peres.
Peres, too, emphasized the importance of defensible borders & strategic depth, & stipulated why the enhanced range, firepower & mobility of modern armaments increase rather than decrease the significance of these elements: “In 1948, it may have been possible to defend the thin waist of Israel’s most densely populated area, when the most formidable weapon used by both sides was the cannon of limited mobility & limited fire-power… In the 20th century, with the development of the rapid mobility of armies, the defensive importance of territorial expanse has increased…Like Allon, he warned of the dire consequences if these strategic imperatives were forgone: “… the lack of minimal territorial expanse places a country in a position of an absolute lack of deterrence. This in itself constitutes almost compulsive temptation to attack Israel from all directions… Without a border which affords security, a country is doomed to destruction in war.”
More pertinent than ever
Although Peres has since reneged on his eminently sober analysis, tragically validating virtually all his previous caveats as to the crucial importance of territory, the military rationale outlined so lucidly by Allon & Peres is more pertinent than ever before.
The procurement by our enemies of tens of thousands of high-trajectory weapons, & the development of tunneling techniques – neither of which were remotely conceived of in 1976 – together with the ascent of savage Islamist extremist elements across Arab world, have only enhanced the dangers entailed in relinquishing territory to Arab control.
Time & time again, disregard for the predicted consequences of conceding land in the hope for peace has vindicated those dire predictions – frequently articulated by those who later ignored them.
Every time Israel has withdrawn from territory, whether by bilateral agreement or by unilateral evacuation, sooner or later that territory has become a platform for carrying out lethal attacks against Israel & Israelis.
Only where Israel has retained its hold over territory – such as on the Golan – has catastrophe been avoided. This happy circumstance, however, is far more the fortuitous result of Arab intransigence than of prudent Israeli policy.
On numerous occasions the Israeli public has been assured that both Assad Sr. & Assad Jr. were worthy partners with whom a durable peace deal could be cut. The current carnage in Syria underscores just how hopelessly ill-advised such assessments proved to be.
Disastrously detrimental role
This brings me to the central theme of this column: the troubling role that senior military & security figures have played on entering Israeli politics, which has, almost uniformly, proved disastrous – both for the country & for themselves.
Indeed, over the past few decades a considerable number of former generals & heads of intelligence services have been chewed up & unceremoniously spat out by the Israeli political system with their reputations mauled.
The most recent victim is former chief of General Staff & defense minister Shaul Mofaz, who was forced into humiliating political retirement when it was clear that his Kadima list (once the largest in the Knesset) would not get enough votes to pass the threshold for election, & no other party was prepared to offer him a realistic spot in its list. Not far behind him is another Kadima refugee, the unfortunate Avi Dichter, formerly head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) & public security minister. If the polls are to be credited, Dichter, who lost a demeaning & protracted recount of ballots slips cast in the recent internal election in the Likud (which he had joined, deserted & rejoined) is unlikely to be in the next Knesset in March – despite his stellar career in security.
Mofaz & Dichter have been preceded by a long procession of top military & intelligence personalities who have entered the political arena to great fanfare and, after having – to be charitable – un-illustrious careers, have been forced to leave, without making any noteworthy contribution. In more than a few instances, after causing considerable damage.
Unimpressive record
Other names that spring to mind in the lengthy list of unimpressive performances by the top brass in politics include Maj.-Gen. (res.) Danny Yatom, former head of the Mossad; V.-Adm. (res.) Ami Ayalon, former commander of the navy & Dichter’s predecessor as head of the Shin Bet; the lackluster former chief of General Staff the late Lt.-Gen. (res.) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak; & the hapless Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Mordechai, former head of Southern Command & later defense minister, who left public life under a cloud of sexual scandal.
& then of course there was Lt.-Gen. (res.) Ehud Barak, former chief of General Staff, billed as “Israel’s most decorated soldier,” portrayed as a rare combination of James Bond, Baruch Spinoza & Albert Einstein, & heralded as the great hope of Israeli politics. It was a hope that was soon dashed. Swept along by the halo of his military glory, Barak was soon elected Prime minister & disaster followed hard on the heels of disaster. He was forced out of office after barely a year & a half, but not before ordering the ignominious flight of the IDF from South Lebanon in 2000, surrendering the area to Hezb’Allah ; consenting – or rather capitulating – to the far-reaching concessions of the Clinton Parameters; & failing to contain the violence of the second intifada that erupted despite his willingness to accept virtually all Palestinian demands.
Embarrassing errors, absurd assessments
Perhaps the most vivid vindication of the admonition by Naftali Bennett in the introductory excerpt in which he rebuked Israeli “security experts” for not correctly anticipating any major event for decades is provided by two of Israel’s best-known military heroes: Yitzhak Rabin, chief of General Staff in 1967 when the IDF swept to spectacular victory in the Six Day War; & Arik Sharon, who is credited with turning the tide of the 1973 Yom Kippur War with his daring crossing of the Suez Canal.
For all their achievements in the military sphere, Rabin & Sharon were responsible for the implementation for two of the most disastrous political decisions in the recent history of the nation: the Oslo process (Rabin) & the Gaza disengagement (Sharon).
To gauge the severity of their political misjudgment, consider these assessments: In a July 1995 interview, Rabin disdainfully dismissed the concern of his political opponents regarding the perils of the Oslo process on which he had embarked: “The nightmare stories of the Likud are well known. After all, they promised Katyusha rockets from Gaza as well. For a year, Gaza has been largely under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. There has not been a single Katyusha rocket. Nor will there be any Katyushas.”
In a Knesset address on October 25, 2004, roughly a year prior to the disengagement from Gaza, Ariel Sharon proclaimed: “I am firmly convinced & truly believe that this disengagement… will be appreciated by those near & far, reduce animosity, break through boycotts & sieges & advance us along the path of peace with the Palestinians & our other neighbors.”
Of course, nothing could have been further from the truth, their errors of judgment could not have been more embarrassing, their assessments of events more absurd.
Political speculation vs. military evaluation
The historical record is unequivocally clear. Virtually every time top military figures have departed from their field of expertise (the security) & ventured into one where they have none (politics); virtually every time they strayed from evaluating the military parameters to speculating as to the political outcomes; virtually every time they have subordinated their professional discipline to their political ambitions, they have been disastrously wrong.
Take for example the pronouncements of previous chief of General Staff, Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi, on the Golan & the prospects of making a deal with Basher Assad. Ashkenazi estimated that by ceding the Golan to Assad, Syria could be coaxed away from its alliance with Iran & affiliate itself with a moderate grouping of nations. Ashkenazi was quoted in Haaretz (November 13, 2009) as stating: “Syria is not lost. Assad is Western educated & is not a religious man. He can still join a moderate grouping.”
Askhenazi’s appallingly inaccurate assessment of Israel’s adversaries is particularly disturbing. After all, before his appointment as chief of General Staff, much of his 40-year military career was spent in the IDF’s Northern Command, including as its commander. One must, therefore, presume that a large portion of his time was devoted to evaluating the Syrian threat, & to familiarizing himself with the nature of the Syrian military dictatorship.
The fact that his appraisal was so wildly erroneous should serve as a salutary warning to anyone who feels that a military background bestows any inherent advantage in assessing political developments.
Caveat emptor – or rather voter
This warning is particularly pertinent for the upcoming election, in which two “new” generals will undoubtedly play a crucial role, both during the campaigning, & subsequently in an attempt to influence policy. These are Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, who is the designated candidate of the perversely named “Zionist Union” for the post of defense minister, & Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant of the newly constituted Koolanu party.
Both have come out with alarming statements on how to approach some of Israel’s crucial security issues – particularly with regard to the Palestinian problem – which fly in the face of logical reasoning & empirical fact. Restrictions of time & space preclude a full analysis of their proposed folly here, but in the near future (next week, subject to breaking news) I will devote a full column to it.

In any case, their proposals should be treated with circumspect suspicion. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, it ain’t a swan, even if a decorated general insists it is.
Martin Sherman (www.martinsherman.org) is the founder & executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies (www.strategicisrael.org).

Goofy generals galore By MARTIN SHERMAN

FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST FEBRUARY 7, 2014

For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace & for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” Isaiah 62

FREEMAN CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES P.O. Box 35661 * Houston, Texas 77235-5661
* E-mail: bernards@sbcglobal.net OUR WEB SITE < www.freeman.org >

The Jewish homes in Israel are not an obstacle to peace. The only obstacle to peace is the hatred of Israel’s neighbors.

Many of us in other countries in the Middle East see Israel as the only light of freedom & democracy in the midst of darkness, terrorism & hatred in the region.

The concept of real freedom & democracy seems foreign to anti-Semites. From here, it looks as if many of these self-proclaimed liberals have a self-congratulatory concept of what is right & wrong as closed-minded, un-free & un-democratic as that of the most rigid tyrant.

When people show solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood or Hamas, or with those who jail, try or flog people for free speech, it just further proves Israel’s rightfulness & legitimacy.

You would defend yourself against incoming rockets; why shouldn’t they? Israel has nothing to apologize for.

It is really hard to please the Jew-haters.

When Jews cannot protect themselves because they do not have a military, they are “cowards” & are persecuted in Turkey & worldwide. When they do protect themselves, thanks to their military, they are “oppressors.”

To anti-Semitic or anti-Israel people, Israel is the problem.

Many of us in other countries in the Middle East, on the contrary, see Israel as the only light of freedom & democracy in the midst of darkness, terrorism & hatred in the region.

Just recently, on January 12, Mahmoud Abbas, a Holocaust denier & terrorism glorifier, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

Before that, on December 29, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal spoke to the congress of the ruling AKP & said “Inshallah we will liberate Palestine & Jerusalem again in the future.”

The crowd in the congress shouted slogans “Mujahid Mashaal,” “Hamas, I [am ready to] lay down my life for you” & “Down with Israel!”

The problem is: the concept of real freedom & democracy seems foreign to anti-Semites. From here, it looks as if many of these self-proclaimed liberals have a self-congratulatory concept of what is right & wrong as closed-minded, un-free & un-democratic as that of the most rigid tyrant. When people refer to Israel as “the problem,” they imply that the existence of Jews is the problem.

When people show solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood or Hamas, or with those jail, try or flog people for free speech, it just further proves Israel’s rightfulness & legitimacy.

When people in this region say, “Down with Israel” it really means: We do not want democracy; we do not want equality. We want our own state to be supreme & we want Jews to be stateless & defenseless. We do not want the wisdom or knowledge of Jews. We just need more darkness, arrogance & enmity. We are as ignorant as can be & we are happy this way. & if possible, we want another Holocaust, just as Hamas calls for it. At the same time, we definitely want peace. & this is our understanding of peace.

Israel is where the ancestors of the Jews lived, learned & toiled. Jews need to be there not only to be safe from further massacres but also to learn in the light of their ancestors — who brought what are among the first laws of social justice to the word after Hammurabi. It is right there, all you have to do is read it. Pay the day-laborer by sunset. Do not cook the lamb in the milk of its mother. Do not steal. Do not murder. There are books more of them. These are the genuine messages of freedom.

Jews are Israel’s indigenous people & they have extended their hand in peace to both Palestinians & others many times — & been rejected. You would defend yourself against incoming rockets; why shouldn’t they? Israel has nothing to apologize for.

There is a popular belief that anti-Semitism had not been promoted in Turkey until the current Islamist Justice & Development Party [AKP] took power in 2002. However, taking a closer look at the lives of Jews in modern Turkey makes it clear that this was just a myth. The truth is that to be a Jew in Turkey seems to mean having been exposed to more than 90 years of systematic discrimination including pogroms, forced assimilation, & prohibitions against the use of their native language.

On November 21, 2014, MEMRI [Middle East Media Research Institute] published a must-read special dispatch entitled, “Anti-Semitism Hits New High In Turkey: Threats Against Turkish Jews, Expressions Of Admiration For Hitler, Calls For Jews To Be Sent To Concentration Camps; Jews Should Pay A ‘Special Tax’.”

“At the same time that President Erdogan was denying, in his September 22, 2014 speech at the Council of Foreign Relations, that he or his government were in any way anti-Semitic,” the dispatch read, “members of his party back home were tweeting praise for Hitler, & shops in Istanbul were displaying signs reading “No Admittance To Jewish Dogs.”

As MEMRI points out, it is obvious that under the AKP government, anti-Semitism in Turkey has been hitting new high. But these gruesome realities are not the product only of the Islamist AKP, nor are they first in Turkey’s history.

Jews in Turkey were already sent to forced-labor battalions in 1941-1942, required to pay a special tax in 1942-1944, & exposed to forced assimilation in Turkey. They were systematically subjected to hate speech in the Turkish press, which also played a role in the 1934 anti-Jewish pogrom in Eastern Thrace. With the enforcement of the surname law, Jewish children had to change their names & surnames & adopt Turkish sounding names. Ladino, the language of Turkey’s Jews, was also banned by the Turkish regime. Since 1923, when the Turkish Republic was established, Jews have systematically been discriminated against (as well as all other non-Muslim communities), & Jews have been deprived of their freedom of movement at least three times: in 1923, 1925 & 1927.

The Turkish republic had been founded by the so-called “secular” Republican People’s Party [CHP], now the main opposition party in Turkey’s parliament.

Although anti-Semitism during the AKP’s rule has been widely reported by the media, anti-Semitism during & after the establishment period of the Turkish Republic has been largely overlooked.

In Turkey, anti-Semitism has a long history among state authorities, opinion shapers, political circles (both right- & left-wing), Islamist & non-Islamist groups, & particularly in the media. Not a single Turkish university has a Jewish- or Holocaust-studies department. The reestablishment of the Jewish state in 1948 just turned anti-Semitism into anti-Zionism, which seems to be an implicit, disingenuous kind of anti-Semitism.

From the time of the founded of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, until 1950, when the first national elections took place, these practices were carried out by the non-Islamist governments of the Republican People’s Party [CHP], which established the Turkish state.

It is impossible to mention all the anti-Semitic incidents in Turkey in one article, but a short chronology of the most important developments relating to Jews would help one realize what kind of a life Jews were forced to live in Turkey for decades.

Traditional Anti-Semitism in Turkish Media

The historian Ayse Hur, based on the comprehensive writings of independent scholar Rifat Bali, recounted some of the anti-Semitic campaigns of the Turkish press during the first decades of the Turkish Republic.[1]

In January 1923, the Turkish Voice (Türk Sesi) & Burnt Land (Yanik Yurt) newspapers, published in the province of Izmir, called on Turkish traders to struggle against “the immoral & sordid Jewish threat.” The pieces claimed that the Jews were the breeding ground for germs in Turkey & especially in Izmir. Then Akbaba, a satirical magazine, joined the chorus, publishing a series of pieces which featured titles such as “haven’t you heard that you should not do business with the Jews,” & “Shall we allow these germs to live with us?”

In December 1925, after the rumors were spread that at least 300 Jews sent a telegram to the celebrations of the 435th anniversary of Columbus’ discovering America, an anti-Semitic campaign was started in mainstream newspapers. The published pieces referred to Jews as “ungrateful” & as “leeches who cling on the back of the country,” & suggested that they be exiled as a solution. Some people provoked by those writings killed a young Jew & attacked the synagogue in the town of Kuzguncuk.[2] Whether such a telegram was ever sent remains unknown.

In January 1937, the fascistic & national-socialistic waves of Europe arrived in Turkey: A German Information Office was opened in Istanbul. Türkische Post & Cumhuriyet (The Republic) newspapers started to repeat Nazi propaganda.

In August 1938, the government issued decree No.# 2/9498, which read: “The Jews who are exposed to pressures in terms of living conditions & travelling in the states of which they are nationals are forbidden to enter & live in Turkey regardless of their current religion.” Twenty six Jewish employees of the Anatolian News Agency, then the only official news agency of Turkey, were dismissed. There was a massive increase in the number of articles & cartoons in newspapers & magazines that held minorities, especially Jews, responsible for the problems that Turkey was going through.

On December 28,1939, a powerful earthquake hit the province of Erzincan in Turkey, killing tens of thousands of people. Upon hearing that, Jewish communities in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Buenos Aries, New York, Geneva, Cairo & Alexandria collected money & clothes among themselves & sent them to Turkey. Instead of appreciating this act, articles & cartoons ridiculed it & suggested bad intentions.

In 1948, when Jews wanted to go to the newly-founded State of Israel, Turkey’s state & state-directed media, which had done everything in their power to make the Jews flee Turkey, now referred to those wanting to emigrate as “traitors.”

Ancestry Codes of Armenians, Greeks & Jews

Research by the daily newspaper Radikal & interviews with officials has revealed a century-long saga of discrimination in Turkey. According to Radikal’s findings, Turkey has been secretly assigning codes its Armenian, Greek, Jewish, Syriac & other non-Muslim minorities ever since the establishment of the Turkish Republic. The Population Directorate of Turkey codes Greeks using the number 1, Armenians 2 & Jews 3.

“This is obviously a scandal that should shake Turkey to its core, but the country is so busy with its own agenda,” wrote Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a human rights lawyer & columnist in his column on Al Monitor.

“Given Turkey’s history, which is full of unfair practices toward non-Muslims, perhaps the significance of this scandal can best be understood through comparison. For a moment, imagine that Jews in Germany today were secretly being identified through coding by the German government & that this was exposed. It would register as a political earthquake big enough to shake the German political system down to its roots. In contrast, the scandal in Turkey remained in the news only for a few days in a few newspapers.”

Laws that excluded Jews & other non-?Muslims from certain professions

Even in the beginning of 1923 & 1924, foreign companies & banks were required to employ only Turkish-Muslim citizens & to dismiss non-Muslims. Greeks, Jews & Armenians were dismissed in groups without being paid.

On January 24, 1924, “being Turkish” became the requirement for working as a pharmacist in accordance with a new law relating to pharmacists.[3]

On April 3, 1924, in accordance with the law of lawyers, 960 lawyers were evaluated as to whether they had good morals. As a result of the evaluation, work permits of 460 lawyers were cancelled. Thus, 57% of Jewish lawyers, & three out of four Greek & Armenian lawyers, lost their jobs.[4]

In the 4th article of the 1926 law on civil servants, it was stated that only “Turks” could work at public institutions. The law included all employees in public institutions, from tramway drivers to harbor workers. Due to this law, thousands of non-Muslims lost their jobs.

During 1928, new laws about requirements for carrying out certain jobs were enacted. According to these laws, only “Turkish” citizens could be doctors, dentists, midwives, nurses & so on.

The “Turkish citizens” in these laws referred only to “ethnic Turks.” So to carry out these jobs, one had to be not only Muslim but an “ethnic Turk.”

On April 22, 1926, after a law was enacted that made Turkish the only language of commercial correspondence, non-Muslims who were working in administrative bodies & did not have a full command of written Turkish, were dismissed.

On June 11, 1932, the Turkish parliament enacted law #2007, which prohibited foreigners from many jobs. The law read[5]:

The jobs & services mentioned below can be carried out by Turkish citizens alone. It is prohibited for those who are not Turkish citizens to carry out these jobs & services:

A.) being a peddler; musician; photographer; hairdresser; compositor; estate agent; dress, hat & shoe manufacturer; stock trader; seller of products which are under state monopoly; translator; guide; working in construction, iron & wooden works; working permanently or temporarily on public vehicles; working in the fields of water, lighting, central heating, mailing & telecommunication sectors; loading & commissioning [in ships];working as a driver & turnboy; doing assistant works in general; being a watchman, janitor or headwaiter at all kinds of companies, businesses, hotels & firms; working at hotels, motels, public baths, cafes; being a waiter at clubs, dance halls, or pubs, dancer or singer at pubs.

b.) Being a veterinarian & chemist.

This “law of occupations” was the most extreme law of the Kemalist government after the proclamation of the new Republic in 1923.

Employment bans were also big obstacle for refugees exiled from Germany. They were trying to find jobs that had not been banned, or to make use of legal loopholes. Some of them — particularly women — received residence permits for marriages with Turkish men. If Turkish authorities learned that the marriages were “fake,” women were faced with the danger of being deported.[6]

“Citizen, Speak Turkish!” Campaign, Prohibitions against Ladino & Forced Assimilation

On January 13, 1928, the student union at the Law School in the Ottoman University (today’s Istanbul University) launched a campaign to prohibit the use in public of all languages other than Turkish.

The campaigners placed posters in many cities across Turkey with the slogan “Citizen, speak Turkish!” Some other signs proclaimed, “We cannot call a Turk those who do not speak Turkish” or “Speak Turkish or leave the country!” Hundreds of people were harassed in public, given fines or arrested, with full support of the government.[7]

Isil Demirel, a Turkish anthropologist, examined the process by which Turkish replaced Ladino as the mother tongue of Sephardic Jews in Turkey.[8] “The Jews were exposed to great pressures during the attempts of spreading Turkish in 1920s,” Demirel wrote. “Since Turkish was starting to be used among Jews instead of Ladino, cultural differences emerged between the old generation, who used Ladino as their mother tongue, & the young generation who were raised with Turkish. Ladino, which is a dying language in Turkey today, is used only by Jews older than 50, & embodies a rooted & long-running culture.”

Demirel quoted a Sephardic Jew who experienced the “Citizen, Speak Turkish!” campaign: “When you spoke two words of Spanish (Ladino) back then, they immediately raised their hands. ‘Heeeeyyy Madame, Monsieur! Citizen, speak Turkish!,’ they shouted or they had sticks behind them & shook them at you.”

In another forced-assimilation campaign, in November 1932, every Jew in the province of Izmir was made to sign an agreement in which they promised “to embrace the Turkish culture & speak the Turkish language.” This was followed by the Jews in the provinces of Bursa, Kiklareli, Edirne, Adana, Diyarbakir & Ankara. Newspapers were filled with reports of Jewish (and Armenian) girls who were converting to Islam in groups.

1934 Anti-Jewish Pogroms in Eastern Thrace

The pogroms, in June 21- July 4, 1934, occurred in the provinces of Tekirdag, Edirne, Kirklareli, & Canakkale in Eastern Thrace, & were initiated by articles written by Pan-Turkic authors Cevat Rifat Atilhan & Nihal Atsiz. The pogroms began with a boycott of Jewish businesses, & were followed by physical attacks on Jewish-owned buildings, which were first looted, then set on fire. Jews were beaten, attacked & some Jewish women were reportedly raped.

In terror, more than 15,000 Jews fled the region. Anti-Semitic pressures on the Jewish communities at schools, markets & state institutions, even after the pogroms, lingered on. A “confidential” circular sent by the headquarters of the ruling CHP to its local branches in Eastern Thrace also revealed that the government had at least condoned the pogroms.

Turkey during the Holocaust

During the Holocaust, Turkey opened its doors to very few Jewish & political refugees. The attempts of many famous people or Jewish organizations to make Turkey accept more Jewish refugees bore no result. That is the reason Turkey is not in the statistics of countries to which Jewish refugees fled.[9]

In 1937, Turkey took measures to prevent Jewish immigration. When the number of Jewish refugees increased rapidly in 1938, Turkey enacted two laws that prohibited people with no passport or citizenship documents from entering & settling in Turkey. These laws were not openly related to Jews. But behind them was the reality that Germany & other countries had stripped Jews of their citizenship rights. On 29 August 1938, the Turkish government issued a policy letter preventing “Jews whose rights had been limited in their countries” from entering Turkey.[10] Tragedies of Jewish Refugees

The historians Corry Guttstadt & Rifat Bali reported the tragedies of Jewish refugees who were trying to escape Nazi persecution & reach Israel, their historic homeland, during the Holocaust.[11]

On August 8, 1939, the ship, Parita, had to dock in the province of Izmir, due to some problems it had experienced while carrying 800 Jewish refugees from Germany, Poland & Czechoslovakia to the land of Israel (then, under the British mandate, called Palestine). The Jewish refugees sat for a week off the coast of Izmir with no coal, water or food. The ship was denied a berth in the port & the captain was finally forced, after threats from the Turkish police, to sail on.

Turkish satirical magazines such as Karikatür & Akbaba ridiculed the Jewish refugees who sought refuge throughout the world in vain. The caricature on the cover of the Akbaba from August 24, 1939, referred to the Jewish refugees on the Parita. The caption had one of the Jews saying: “We are hungry & out of money. For God’s sake, allow us to disembark for five minutes to get rich.” After the ship had left the coast of Izmir, the semi-official daily Ulus wrote, “The Jews who have been roaming around here have finally left.”

On December 6, 1940, a ship named Salvador, traveling to the land of Israel from Varna, in Bulgaria, arrived in Istanbul with 327 Czech & Bulgarian Jews aboard it. The Salvador was forced out to sea on December 12, despite bad weather, only to sink same day during a heavy storm off the coast of Silivri, on the Sea of Marmara. As a consequence, 204 people drowned, at least 70 of them children.

On December 15, 1941, the Struma ship, in an effort to save 769 Romanian Jews from the German extermination, had left Constanza harbor to carry them to the land of Israel, & tried to dock in Istanbul. Not only was the ship completely overloaded but it was also not seaworthy because of a defective engine. A banner which read “Save Us” was fastened to the ship. For 70 days during the winter months of 1941-1942, Turkey did not allow it to dock; those on the ship struggled against disease & deaths off the coast of Istanbul, near Sarayburnu. The ship’s anchor finally was cut, & the ship fastened to a pilot boat, to be drawn away to the Black Sea.

With no motor, fuel, food, water or medicine, the Struma was abandoned to its fate & was towed into the open sea. On February 24, 1942, it was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine at 2:00 a.m. Only one person survived. After the incident, then Prime Minister Refik Saydam said: “Turkey cannot become the home of those who are not wanted by anyone else.”

Labor Battalions of Non-Muslims (1941-1942)

On April 22, 1941, 12,000 non-Muslims, including Jewish men between the ages of 27 & 40, were sent in extreme hot weather as soldiers to camps with no infrastructure & a shortage of water, which were infested with mosquitoes, dampness, mud — all of which spread malaria. Those soldiers, also known as “the Twenty Classes,” were not given guns. They were forced to wear the clothes of garbagemen & to work endless hours, & were insulted & ridiculed as “infidel soldiers.” Even blind & physically disabled persons were conscripted. They were made to work under terrible conditions at places such as tunnel constructions in Zonguldak & in the construction of the Youth Park in Ankara. There was hard labor, such as rock crushing & road construction in the provinces of Afyon, Karabuk, Konya, & Kutahya. The “Twenty Classes” were discharged on June 27,1942.[12]

“Due to the poor conditions during the service there were deaths & diseases among the conscripts,” reported the Turkologist Ruben H. Melkonyan.

The prevailing & widespread point of view on the matter was that, wishing to participate in World War II, Turkey gathered in advance all unreliable non-Turkish men regarded as a potential “fifth column”, wrote Melkonyan.

The Law of Wealth Tax (1942-1944)

On November 11, 1942, the government, led by then PM Sukru Saracoglu, enacted a Wealth Tax law, with the stated aim of overcoming the economic problems that had emerged during World War II. 87% of tax payers, however, were non-Muslims.

“The real reason for the Wealth Tax was the elimination of non-Muslims from the economy, wrote Basak Ince, an Assistant Professor of political science.[13]

Taxpayers were divided into four separate groups according to their religious background:

• M, for Muslims,
• G, for non-Muslims,
• E, for foreigners,
• D, for converts.

The amount of taxes to be paid by Armenian traders was 232%, by Jewish traders was 179%, by Greek traders was 156%. Only 4.94% of Turkish Muslims had to pay the wealth tax. So those who suffered most severely were non-Muslims such as the Jews, Greeks, Armenians, & Levantines; it was the Armenians who were most heavily taxed.

The Turkish researcher Ridvan Akar refers to the wealth tax as an economic genocide against minorities. [14]

The law was also imposed on poor non-Muslims, such as drivers, workers & even beggars, whereas their Muslim counterparts were not required to pay anything. Non-Muslims had to pay their taxes within 15 days, in cash. People unable to pay were sent to forced labor camps in eastern Anatolia.

“And those unable to pay were packed off to a camp at Askale, near Erzerum — an area cooler than Moscow in the winter — where they were put to work breaking stones,” reported the author Sidney Nowill.[15]

The historian Corry Guttstadt, in her book Turkey, the Jews, & the Holocaust, wrote that “Although the law stipulated that people over 55 years old were exempt from labor service, 75 & 80 year old men & even sick people were dragged to the train station & deported.”

These taxes ruined the lives & finances of many non-Muslim families; there were a number of suicides of non-Muslims in Istanbul. “Some people committed suicide in despair,” Guttstadt wrote.

Of the people who were sent to the labor camps, 21 died there; the Turkish government confiscated their assets & sold them to Turkish Muslims at low prices.[16] “The Wealth Tax was withdrawn in March 1944, under the pressure of criticism from Britain & the United States,” Ince reported.

Murders & Unjust Trials

On August 17, 1927, Elza Niyego, a 22-year-old Jewish woman, was stabbed to death by Osman Ratip Bey, a married man, age 42, who had proposed her but was rejected. The dead body of the young woman was left out for three hours in the street. Elza’s mother was not allowed to cover her daughter’s dead body, an order that aroused a great reaction among the Jewish community. Masses who joined the funeral on 18 August shouted, “We want justice!”. After the funeral, attended by crowd whose number was estimated to range between 10 to 25 thousand, the Cumhuriyet (Republic) newspaper started an intense anti-Semitic campaign. The Cumhuriyet & other newspapers featured headlines which referred to Jews as “the ungrateful” or “the arrogant.”

At the end of the trial, the murderer Osman Ratip Bey was sent to a mental asylum, but not to prison. Nine Jews & a Russian witness of the murder, however, were brought to court for “insulting Turkishness,” & four were imprisoned. & once again, the freedom of movement of Jews across Anatolia was denied by the government, as of 29 August 1927.

On January 30, 1947, all members of a Jewish family, which consisted of seven people, were found dead in the Kendirli neighborhood of the province of Urfa. The Jewish community of Urfa was held responsible for the murder, & all Jewish men in the city were arrested. Throughout the trials, the people of Urfa boycotted Jews. The Jews who were arrested were released after three years but the Jews of Urfa had to leave the city.

Jews in Turkey Today

Jews in Turkey, even under Kemalist, non-Islamic governments, were exposed to severe & systematic discrimination for decades. Today, under an Islamist government, they are feeling unsafe & threatened again. Many people from Turkey’s Jewish community are leaving the country or planning to, a prominent businessman from the community wrote in a December 2014 article for the Istanbul-based Jewish newspaper, Salom. Mois Gabay, a professional in the tourism industry, wrote, referring to the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007: “We face threats, attacks & harassment every day. Hope is fading. Is it necessary for a ‘Hrant among us’ to be shot in order for the government, the opposition, civil society, our neighbors & jurists to see this?”

Gabay added that increasing numbers of Turkish Jews are making plans to move abroad with their families: “Around 37 percent of high school graduates from the Jewish community in Turkey prefer to go abroad for higher education … This number doubled this year compared to the previous years.”

It is not only students who have begun to think about building a life abroad for their families & children, Gabay wrote, but also young business people: “Last week, when I was talking to two of my friends on separate occasions, the conversation turned to our search for another country to move to. That is to say, my generation is also thinking more about leaving this country.”

When anti-Semitism turns into anti-Zionism

If there had been a Jewish state while all this persecution had been taking place, Jews could have gone there in time of need.

Had there been such a state before the Holocaust, European Jews could have sought refuge. Had they had a military, they could have defended themselves from the Nazis.

After all this persecution & discrimination against Jews, the anti-Semitic tradition of Turkey still continues. In 2005, Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, became a best seller in Turkey after it was published by 13 publishing houses.

Jewish homes being built in Israel are not an obstacle to peace. The only obstacle to peace is the hatred from Israel’s neighbors.

Uzay Bulut, born a Muslim, is a Turkish journalist based in Ankara.

[1] Hur, Ayse , 8 February 2009, “Isolated (!) Incidents of Anti-Semitism.” Taraf Newspape r.
Bali, Rifat (1999). Turkish Jews in the Republican Years – An Adventure of Turkification (1923-1945). Iletisim Publishing House.
Bali, Rifat (2001). The Children of Moses, The Citizens of the Republic. Iletisim.
Bali, Rifat (2004). The Jews of the State & the “Other” Jew. Iletisim.

[2] Ibid

[3] Hur, Ayse, 22 January 2012, “The ‘minority report’ of the Republic.” Taraf Newspaper.

[4] Ibid

[5] Yabancilara Çalisma Yasagi

[6] Ibid

[7] Bali, Rifat (1999). Turkish Jews in the Republican Years – An Adventure of Turkification (1923-1945). Iletisim Publishing House. Ince, Basak (2012). Citizenship & Identity in Turkey: From Atatürk’s Republic to the Present Day. I. B. Tauris.

[8] Demirel, Isil (2011). “Ladino: Turkey is Forgetting a Language.” Atlas Magazine.

[9] Türkiye’de Sürgün http://www.annefrank.de/ mensch/tr/dorothea-brander/ schwerpunktthemen/exil-in-der- tuerkei/

[10] Ibid

[11] Guttstadt, Corry (2013). Turkey, the Jews, & the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. Bali, Rifat (2004). The Jews of the State & the “Other” Jew. Iletisim.

[12] Bali, Rifat (2008). The Twenty Classes: The Episode of Military Service of Non-Muslims during the Second World War. Kitabevi Publishing House.

[13] Ince, Basak (2012). Citizenship & Identity in Turkey: From Atatürk’s Republic to the Present Day. I. B. Tauris.

[14] “Report: The law that coveted the ‘wealth’ of minorities,” by Zeynep Ozakat, Milliyet newspaper , 15/12/2009.

[15] Nowill, Sidney E. P. (2011). Constantinople & Istanbul: 72 Years of Life in Turkey. Matador.

[16] Ince, Basak (2012). Citizenship & Identity in Turkey: From Atatürk’s Republic to the Present Day. I. B. Tauris.

Jews in Turkey: Unending Discrimination by Uzay Bulut

8.Arlene Kushner: “Hypocrisy Writ Large” February 8, 2015

Hypocrisy is all around us, but I will focus today on the very significant information that the Israeli NGO Regavim has uncovered regarding the EU:

The Europeans protest long & loud about “illegal Israeli building” in Judea & Samaria. But what it turns out is that they have been supporting illegal Arab building in Area C. The Oslo Accords assigned full control (civil & military) of Area C to Israel. This is apparently irrelevant to the EU, in spite of the fact that the EU was a witness to (and according to international lawyer Alan Baker) a guarantor of the Oslo Accords.

The building is being done in Ma’aleh Adumim & near E1 (a region that stretches between Ma’aleh Adumim & Jerusalem). Clearly, this is intended to establish facts on the ground, by way of supporting a Palestinian state.

As the JPost reported last week (emphasis added):

“According to Regavim, European Union support for the Palestinians has in recent years moved from ‘passive diplomatic & financial assistance to a situation of active cooperation in illegal building which the Palestinian Authority has been advancing unilaterally since 2000, as part of its strategic plan to create a Palestinian state de facto, while avoiding the need for negotiations with Israel.’

”This week, prior to the release of its latest report, Regavim took journalists to look at a number of Bedouin encampments straddling E1 as well as the Jerusalem-Jericho road. They are not temporary tent encampments as they were in years past, but rather clusters that – in addition to tents & tin shacks – also include modular structures with cement floors bearing the EU logo.
”According to Ari Briggs, Regavim’s international relations director, the EU logo is placed on the structures in the belief that this will prevent Israel from demolishing them. Israel is not likely to take down a building with an EU logo, due to concerns over both public relations damage & the harm it could cause to relations with the EU, he said…

“The EU-funded structures, according to Meir Deutsch, the director of Regavim’s policy & government relations department, are being placed illegally on state land, & in some cases in restricted nature reserves.

“When Regavim appealed to the High Court in 2008 to compel the state to demolish illegal buildings in the area, it ruled that this could not be done until an alternative living arrangement was found for the Bedouin living there. Israel then began planning a city – called Ramat Nueima – north of Jericho for some 12,000 people, a plan now adamantly opposed by the Palestinians & the EU.

“In November, a meeting of EU foreign ministers issued a statement that, in addition to their usual condemnations of land expropriation & settlement construction, also slammed plans to ‘displace Bedouin in the West Bank & the continued demolitions, including of EU & member states funded projects.’”

http://www.jpost.com/Arab- Israeli-Conflict/Report-EU- building-hundreds-of-illegal- structures-for-Palestinians- in-Area-C-of-West-Bank-390184

Charges Briggs: “This is great hypocrisy. Any time a building goes up for Jews, they raise an outcry, call it illegal & say it endangers peace. They are building illegal houses for Arabs.”

According to Deutsch, from 2012 to 2014, the EU spent millions of euros in putting up more than 499 structures.

An excellent story on the Regavim report, complete with a large collection of Regavim photos & maps, has also been put out by the Daily Mail (emphasis added).

“Official EU documentation reveals that the building project is intended to ‘pave the way for development & more authority of the PA over Area C’… “Locally, the villages are known as the ‘EU Settlements’, & can be found in 17 locations around the West Bank.”

Because the Daily Mail is in the UK, it has an emphasis that is different from that of the JPost: Concern is expressed about European tax money being spent on this illegal venture.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ news/article-2874883/EU- funding-illegal-building-West- Bank-says-report.html

Notable among the pictures is one of a man in an EU uniform threatening Israeli soldiers with a rock.

A structure in Area C bearing an EU flag:

Credit: Regavim

And the full Regavim Report here: http://regavim.org.il/en/wp- content/uploads/2014/11/ Position-Paper-European- Building-in-Area-C-US.pdf

The staff of Regavim has worked hard to produce this scrupulously researched material. Now, as always, it falls to us to spread this information as broadly as possibly. Truth must be exposed.

Already we have seen one positive outcome to this report.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to move forward with a plan to demolish some 400 Palestinian structures built in the West Bank with European funding, Israeli media reported Friday. “ http://www.timesofisrael.com/ pm-orders-demolition-of-eu- funded-palestinian- settlements-in-west-bank/

© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution. If it is reproduced & emphasis is added, the fact that it has been added must be noted. See my website at www.arlenefromisrael.info Contact Arlene at akushner18@gmail.com

Arlene Kushner: “Hypocrisy Writ Large”