Monday May 05, 2008

The Weekly Portion: Exodus remembered

Posted by MK Dr. Ephraim Sneh
Comments: 8
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Holocaust Remembrance Day left its indelible mark on the whole of last week. At the beginning of the week, Yossi Harel was brought to rest - the commander of the ship carrying 'illegal immigrants' under the British Mandate period called 'Exit Europe' more commonly knows as the 'Exodus'.

This ship set sail in the summer of 1947 with 4,500 Holocaust survivors to the shores of Israel. The British prevented its arrival by force and after commandeering the ship still at sea, a battle broke out between the British forces and the 'illegal immigrants' and these people, after a long and difficult journey in which they wandered at sea for two months, were sent back to Hamburg port in Germany.

The story of the struggle of the 'illegal immigrants' aboard the Exodus is only one of many heroic and magnificent stories of Holocaust survivors' journey to the State of Israel in the years between 1945-1948.

At the time that these survivors were at the French Port-de-Bouc on the decks of the three British deportation ships (the French refused British orders to deport them from France), a small boat sneaked in among the ships. On that boat was my father, Moshe Sneh, who was responsible in the years 1946-1947 for all Aliyah Bet missions - the illegal immigration of Holocaust survivors to the State of Israel. In order to boost their morale , he spoke by megaphone to the 4,500 survivors.

To this day, when people who were there in that French Port, whether the survivors or Palmah personnel who escorted the ships, meet my father they know to quote whole sections from his speech that day. Last week, at a ceremony on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day that took place at Tel Yitzhak honoring that very ship, I was asked to read out the following excerpt from my father's speech to the besieged survivors:

The eyes of the Jewish people turn to you, to the three deportation ships in which you are prisoners. Millions of Jewish hearts all over the world beat as one with yours, full of pain and pride. Pain for your fate, our fate, and pride in your resistance. Thank you for your strong spirits, for your firm decision to seek for yourselves and for us our only homeland - the State of Israel. This is a story that will be written with sweat, blood and tears. But it must end in victory.

In that same ceremony, one of the survivors from that ship - Fruma Galant - lit a torch accompanied by her son, OC Southern Command Maj-Gen. Yoav Galant. This, like the reading of the excerpt, moved me very much. The sight of this survivor with her son the General who has served in the past as the commander of the naval commando unit, also known as Shayetet 13, symbolizes more than one principle. It is a symbol of the strength of the Jewish people, the will to live of those who survived the scenes of horror and who rebuilt their lives and raised their children in this country. It is a testament to the country that rebuilt itself from the ashes of the Holocaust and swore that such a catastrophe would never reoccur.

However, military might alone does not necessarily ensure a future for the State of Israel. Social and moral strengths are also required.

Similarly, this past year, due to certain steps undertaken by the government, the shame of poverty among Holocaust survivors was somewhat alleviated. But it turns out that this governmental bureaucracy knows how to render worthless any show of genuine goodwill.

A perfect example of this was brought to my attention last week. It turns out that Finance Ministry clerks demand from Holocaust survivors from Tunisia, who just recently received recognition for stipend eligibility, to bring a certificate of confirmation from the Tunisian government attesting to their place of residence in Tunis at the time of the war. For one elderly woman aged 82, the demands became more complicated - she was asked to provide statements from witnesses attesting to the fact that she was indeed present at the concentration camp established by the Germans near the city of Sfax.

I hope that government members to whose attention I brought this matter, will remove this display of inflexibility and maliciousness from among us.

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1  |  Niemogha, Abuja Nigeria, Tuesday May 06, 2008
I have followed every story I find and read about the plight of the Jewish people and how they endured through the ages all the pogroms and inhuman treatment meted out on them, yet this attitude has not been able the wipe out their will to survive, survival they have survived and have been able to carve a nich as peole in the midst of the odds.
2  |  neddie, Tuesday May 06, 2008
Because millions of Jews were recently slaughtered in cold blood there is anathema to using strength against the enemy within the Jewish communities. To end WW2 the US used atomic weapons on Japanese cities. They didn't recite Psalms as the anti-zionist Chareidim preach. Only those who are strong are respected, like Russia, China, U.S. Israel must be just as strong but more important it must have leaders that have the resolve to do what must be done and not by words but by strongest deeds. Praise the L-rd and pass the ammunition.
3  |  Vinegar Hill, Madrid, Spain., Tuesday May 06, 2008
neddie you are a fool and have a clouded vision regarding a solution to the problem of the state of Israel and the Palestinian people. Your aggressiveness is repugnant and your solution is a response that has been tried since the setting up of the state of Israel which has failed and, will continue to do so.
4  |  frank campanelli, Wednesday May 07, 2008
the begining of the state of israel for the displaced Jewish population was truely a God sent event. However i think it should be mentioned about the forced exodus and roughshod(understatement) treatment that the Jewish people forced onto the displaced palestenians. I understand that many (palastinians) died of starvation and other means,of which I am not well versed. So let us keep in mind, while one peoples problems were somewhat solved, an other peoples were just begining and continue to this day. PEACE
5  |  Sharona Jerusalem, Wednesday May 07, 2008
To Vinegar Hill Polls show that Spaniards have the most negative view of Israel in Europe. That is because you are being swallowed up bu Muslims that will as Al Qaeda says take back Andalusia. Being strong has worked well for Israel. We are celebrating 60 years of independence and the they are "celebrating" Naqba-catastrope. If they had accepted the UN partition resolution they could have built a state instead of disgusting terrorist hole.
6  |  Harry Carrie, Wednesday May 07, 2008
Well said, Neddie! Vinegar, if you want, you can lay down and die in our place. Thanks for the offer.
7  |  Alan, Anchorage Alaska, Thursday May 08, 2008
Thank you for the article.
8  |  Vinegar Hill, Madrid, Spain., Monday May 12, 2008
To Sharona and Harry. I have an independent mind and am not being swallowed up by the Muslim view of the world. What I do object to is the violent solution that you offer to the situation in the Middle East. War is not the path to peace. In war all sides are losers.
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The Weekly Portion Former Deputy Defense Minister Dr. MK Ephraim Sneh comments on the headlines of the past week.

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Recent Comments

Isaac B: This kind of thinking is the only thing that will allow the Israeli Arab problem to be worked out. However they con only receive the benefits of being part of the stat if they take up full responsibility for the duties of the state. The distrust most people will feel towards them means that this type of thing should come in incrementally, and be pushed forward with the meeting of performance benchmarks.
Ken Besig, Kiryat Arba, Israel: Israeli Jews need a new leadership too, one that is Zionist, proud, and intelligent, unfortunately, Dr. Sneh, his Labor Party, and much of the Kadima misleadership doesn't have any of these qualifications and much of the time can be found financially and politically supporting the most dangerous and radical Israeli Arab leadership. Indeed, an Arab Knesset member from Sneh's own Labor Party refuses to sing or stand up for Israel's national anthem, and has even characterized himself as an Arab and a Moslem first and foremost, and lastly as an Israeli, and a Palestinian Israeli at that.
John Reilly: When Israeli Arabs show the same kind of loyalty to Israel which Druze Arabs and Bedouin Arabs have demonstrated, then, and only then, should they receive a fair portion of Israel's highly advanced political, economic, educational, and social amenities.