Haifa Israel is The City of Peaceful Coexistence

This current round of battling in our South has been depressing in that it had to begin; there has not been any political way of getting the Hamas to stop firing explosives at our civilians. This tragically has been the history of life in Israel since the Jewish people returned to our ancestral homeland in 1948. Many of my friends and neighbors have fought in several wars. Many of them spent their early childhoods sleeping in bomb shelters. Hopefully, by the time it ends, there will be some important changes in the way of life here and in the Palestinian territories. Hopefully, the people who have been enduring such rocket fire will be able to live normal lives. The missile attacks have spread from the south to much of Israel including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. We yearn for the day that our Palestinian friends and neighbors will no longer suffer as the result of our need to defend our nation. We are all saddened by the deaths and injuries of everyone on both sides of this battle. It is a shame that the assassination of the Gaza Chief of Military staff became necessary. He had the blood of Israeli men, women, and children on his hands. He believed in terrorism and mass murder. He called for the destruction of our nation. Defeat in this region is not an option for us Jews, even though clear-cut winning/victory is also often not an option. The greatest hope is for a political settlement. Peace treaties will surely involve compromise. Settling the feuds will feel like a victory of sorts for all sides, and peace will allow our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren to live without fear of being bombed. They will attend their schools safely, without the need for air raid sirens and bomb shelters. Yet, there is hope for peace for the people in our region. I am blessed to live in Haifa, which is the city of peaceful co-existence. There is a popular expression in Israel: “In JERUSALEM people pray, in HAIFA they work, in TEL AVIV they have fun”. Haifa gives the impression of a world light-years away from the religiosity of Jerusalem and the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv.  Here everything is different; the city is positioned on top of a magnificent bay, and although the typical white stone that is characteristic of the whole country prevails, the buildings and skyscrapers have a variety of styles, and the port is busy with bustling commerce. The many industries in the area are mainly concentrated in the so called Krayot, surrounding villages. The city is dotted with gardens. The most prominent is at the world center of the Baha’i religion, with the tombs of the Bab (Mirza Muhammad Ali) and Abbas Efendi, son and successor of the founder of the faith, Bahá’u’lláh. The presence of the Baha’i, for so long persecuted in various Middle East countries, is evidence of the tolerant social fabric of this city. Haifa has a multiethnic and multi-religious population of 260,000, with a Jewish prevalence (91%). The well-integrated Arab minority is Christian (4.5%), Muslim (3.5%) and Druze (1%). Road signs in Cyrillic, alongside Hebrew, Arabic and English, are signs of the extensive Russian community here (25%). In the past, peaceful coexistence, however, could not be taken for granted. Here too, in fact, the birth of the State of Israel was marked by tensions and blood. Haifa’s port became the arrival site of thousands of Jewish immigrants after World War II and the departure port for the Arabs fleeing during the 1947–48 Arab-Israeli war. Clashes between Arabs and Jewish paramilitary groups led to numerous casualties on both sides. Over the years, many worked at rebuilding this social harmony and religious tolerance that has very ancient roots. Haifa, in act, is built on the slopes and foot of Mount Carmel, where according to tradition the prophet Elijah lived. A cave called Elijah’s Grotto is inside a Carmelite monastery and is venerated by Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims. . The effort to integrate social, cultural, and religious identity in an area with a high risk of conflict has warranted the continued commitment of all the groups present in the area to administer it. The civic and religious communities both have a decisive role. I have been blessed to participate in some of the efforts to maintain and even improve the harmony between faiths and cultures in Haifa. Each month for the past five years I have participated in a joint study session promoted by the Catholic Focolare. Rabbi Edgar Nof developed this activity within the Jewish community. The Focolare does a myriad of spiritual, cultural, social, and economic programs worldwide- based on their primary tenet "Unity for All". The members of the Focolare live by the golden rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We study each other's faiths with the goal of understanding not changing each others views and values. We have hosted and promoted an interfaith Choir performance which took part in a four day interfaith spiritual retreat at Kibbutz Nes Ammim in the Galilee. The event was done in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Jews, Christians, and Muslims from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border took part in the retreat took part in a four day interfaith spiritual retreat at Kibbutz Nes Ammim in the Galilee. The event was done in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Jews, Christians, and Muslims from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border took part in the retreat. We studied each others holy books, prayed together, and enjoyed meeting participants from dozens of countries. Our only real source of contention was the nature of the cuisine! We were the first Jewish participants in this convention in the history of Israel-Palestine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaJoxj63Es‎ We also sent a delegation to the world renowned Run4Unity. It was held for the first time ever in Haifa in the year 2008. Youth from Israel-Palestine participated in a variety of sports activities held at Haifa's Carmel Beach. Several hundred youth from Israel and Palestine shared this activity without contention. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim young people participated. The last event was held in Caesarea in May of this year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jhF6oRrbRU‎ My favorite interfaith experience took place in November of 2009. We joined our friends from the local Muslim Ahmadiyya School in Haifa to host a youth "Soccer for Peace" program at their school in the Cababir part of Haifa. Jewish youth from Temple Or Hadash played soccer with the Ahmadi team from Cababir in a tournament of a three game event. The Ahmadiyya are peaceful followers of Islam. They have more than one hundred million followers in the world. Many live in Indonesia, Pakistan and England. . Our team coach was Timothy Crowe, a Southern Baptist envoy to Israel from Dallas Texas. The kids enjoyed the beautiful Haifa fall weather, and a feast of cookies, cakes, pizza and soft drinks that followed the games. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPEumZTPUcI‎ I am writing this post while sitting at The Ego Cafe in the world famous Dan Panorama Hotel and mall. The cafe is owned by Hannah whose family immigrated to Israel from Poland in 1948. The restaurant on the second floor of the center is managed by Muad who is a Muslim and my friend. On my way home I will stop to buy groceries at our local Macolet or quick stop grocery store. The owners are Christian Arabs who were born and raised in Haifa.  I am looking forward to celebrating Hanukkah with my Focolare friends as has been the case for the past five years. Joint celebrations of the holidays are common in Haifa. We will share Christmas together and plan activities for the coming year to bring harmony between the faiths in Haifa and throughout the region.

Hamas- But Yet Hope for Israelis and Palestinians?

This current round of battling in our South has been depressing in the fact that it had to happen. There has not been any political way of getting the Hamas terrorists to stop firing explosives at our civilians. This tragically has been the history of life in Israel since the Jewish people returned to our ancestral homeland in 1948. Many of my friends and neighbors have fought in several wars. Many of them spent their early childhoods sleeping in bomb shelters. Our only real crime is that we have returned to our homeland that began in the days of Abraham and Sarah.

Hopefully by the time it ends there will be some important changes in the "rules of the game" here, so that the people who have been enduring such rocket fire will be able to live normal lives. The missile attacks have spread from the south to much of Israel including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is holy to both Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

If a ground invasion of Gaza could be avoided that would seem much cleaner and less distasteful. However, no one knows which way this engagement will turn, and we are bracing ourselves for the worst yet still hoping for the best.  We are all saddened by the deaths and injuries of everyone on both sides of this battle. It is a shame that the assassination of the Gaza Chief of Military staff became necessary.  He had the blood of Israeli men, women, and children on his hands. He believed in terrorism and mass murder. He called for the destruction of our nation.

Defeat in this region is not an option for us Jews, even though clear-cut winning/victory is also often not an option. The greatest  hope is for a political settlement. Peace treaties will surely involve compromise. Settling the feuds will feel like a victory of sorts for all sides, and peace will allow our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren to live without fear of being bombed. They will attend their schools safely, without the need for air raid sirens and bomb shelters.

Until that day, We in Israel do not despair of the situation, and make the best of what has been, until now, a satisfying and fulfilling life within the shadow and pain of the constant state of military engagement with many enemies on many fronts.

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a resolution adopted on 29 November 1947 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Its title was United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of Palestine. The resolution was passed while the British still controlled Palestine. It was neither a Jewish homeland nor a Palestinian state at the time. The British Mandate for Palestine, or simply the Mandate for Palestine, was a legal commission for the administration of the territory that had formerly constituted part of the Ottoman Empire. The draft of the Mandate was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922. The mandate ended at midnight on 14 May 1948.



The resolution recommended the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the partition of the territory into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area being under special international protection, administered by the United Nations. 

However, war broke out and the partition plan was never implemented by the Security Council. The UN blamed the Arabs for the violence. The UN Palestine Commission was never permitted by the Arabs or British to go to Palestine to implement the resolution. On February 16, 1948, the Commission reported to the Security Council:

"Powerful Arab interests, both inside and outside Palestine, are defying the resolution of the General Assembly and are engaged in a deliberate effort to alter by force the settlement envisaged therein."

The Arabs were blunt in taking responsibility for starting the war. Jamal Husseini told the Security Council on April 16, 1948:

"The representative of the Jewish Agency told us yesterday that they were not the attackers, that the Arabs had begun the fighting. We did not deny this. We told the whole world that we were going to fight."

The proposed plan was accepted by the leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine and many local Christians, Muslims, and Druze. However, the plan was rejected by leaders of the Arab community (the Palestine Arab Higher Committee etc.) who were supported in their rejection by the states of the Arab League. In a communication to the United Nations Palestine Commission dated 19 January 1948, the Arab Higher Committee for Palestine stated that it was "determined [to] persist in rejection [to the] partition and in refusal [to] recognize UN resolution [with] this respect and anything deriving. The Jews accepted partition into a gerrymandered crazy quilt and even accepted the internationalization of Jerusalem. This diminished and indefensible territory was to be the dreamed-of Jewish homeland and the haven for the pitiful remnants of Nazi Holocaust survivors.

The Arab League attacked the new Jewish and Palestinian homelands in 1948 prompting thousands of Jews, Christians, and Muslims to flee their homes. The invading Arab nations captured and confiscated the Palestinian homeland until the 1967 war. The city of Jerusalem was controlled by Jordan. Access of Jews to all holy sites was refused in spite of United Nations resolutions to the contrary.

Today, sixty four years later, Jordan and Egypt are our only neighbors that recognize our right to exist.  Israel, still respects the right of the Palestinians to their own homeland. They now control much of the territory granted to them by The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Twenty per cent of the citizens of pre-1967 Israel are Muslims and Christians who live in the only true democracy in this region. Many if not most Jews, Christians, Druze, and Muslims on both sides of our borders hope to live in peace and with dignity. 

I am convinced as are many Israelis that Hamas does not represent the true nature of our Palestinian friends and neighbors. Many Israelis and Palestinians hope for the day that the fighting will end and that we can be an example to the rest of the world that nations can live together in peace.

Israel, A Mediterranean Sea Nation

I lived much of my life in the beautiful area of western Colorado - west of Denver. The region is known for its beautiful mountains, exotic wildlife, and legendary ski slopes due to the high mountains and dry snowy climate. I am just a bit embarrassed to admit that skiing never appealed to me. My favorite outdoor activities have always involved water. Fishing, swimming, rafting, wading through streams, and simply sitting by the water to meditate and appreciate nature's blessings appeal to me. 

Colorado did offer whitewater rafting, canoeing, motorboats, swimming, fishing and other water activities; I, however, did tire of the snow, wind, and ice and at the age of fifty nine decided to join many other retirees and seek a warm climate. Among the reasons that I chose to spend my golden years in Haifa is the balmy climate and location on the Mediterranean Sea.

Israel is also a small nation that offers many lakes and streams to savor. The Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret in Israel) is the best known of the lakes, and is only an hour or so from my home in Haifa.

Haifa offers many public and private beaches. This is the Hof Ha Carmel which is one of Haifa's veteran beaches. It is located in Haifa's entrance and is one of Haifa's more central beaches. Hof HaCarnel beach is located within a walking distance of the central bus and train stations. This beach holds many surprises, such as: fine eastern restaurants, pubs with ocean side views and Wi-Fi connection, for those who just can't stay disconnected, as well as weekly public dance nights. There is a tayelat or board walk, nice sandy beaches and the water is clear but often (during spring to summer time) filled with meduzot or jelly fish. They are nasty. I enjoy just sitting at the Camel Restaurant, sipping a drink, and "kibbutzing" with the tourists and visitors from our own community. There are visitors from all over the world and many Russian speaking. I often sit at the Camel and listen to several languages being spoken around me at the same time. There is surfing, scuba diving, fishing and of course swimming in the beach area. I often enjoy a leisurely stroll along the promenade except in late July, August, and early September.  In these months the heat and humidity can be stifling except in the very early morning and late evening.

The Bat Galim Promenade is spread along the length of the seashore of the peaceful Bat Galim neighborhood. Bat Galim is a residential area but is also filled with restaurants, coffee shops, a diving center, surfer club and the lower cable car station. The panoramic cable car connects to Stella Maris Church and Monastery, where a spectacular view of the Haifa Bay can be seen.  Stella Maris Church is the home of the Carmelite order and close to the tomb of Elijah the Prophet. The waterfront in the area is serene and usually quiet.

The area near Bat Galim offers two wonderful museums relating to the sea. They are less than a mile apart and close to the ocean and the Tomb of Elijah.

The National Maritime Museum is devoted to the maritime history of the Mediterranean basin, the Red Sea and the Nile, and its collection presents 5,000 years of maritime history.  The Museum collection came into being in 1953 as the private collection of its founder and first director, the late Aryeh Ben-Eli. 

It now belongs to the Haifa Museums Corporation. The building's entrance floor contains the temporary exhibition galleries. The upper and lower display floors are dedicated to the Museum's permanent exhibitions. The permanent exhibition presents man's connection to the sea at different historical moments. The display is dedicated to the following subjects: maritime archaeology; ancient anchors; Greco-Roman coins; fish and dolphins; scientific apparatuses; storage jars for maritime trade (the Collection in Memory of David Kenneth); the Mediterranean: its ports and islands - Phoenician ports and ports in the ancient land of Israel; cartography and graphics (the Carl and Lee Handler Collection); shipping innovations; maritime battles; and maritime construction.

The most prominent objects in the display are ship models; maritime archaeological artifacts: pottery, coins and seals; and a large collection of ancient maps and engravings that is divided among the various sections. In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Museum also features temporary exhibitions from its collections, and exhibitions of works by local and international artists on maritime themes. I tour the museum on my own with the aid of flyers and brochures available at the entrance in several languages. 

The Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum, Haifa

This museum is dedicated to telling the story of the struggle for the right to immigrate to Israel during the years 1934 – 1948 when the British Mandate was in operation. The British controlled the region during the era of Nazi Tyranny. Sadly, they limited the emigration of European Jewry while millions died. Some Jews were permitted to enter Palestine legally while many others entered through clandestine operations. This is a chapter of Israeli history which deals with Jewish clandestine immigration and the right to settle here. It is one of the cornerstones of the establishment of the State of Israel. This story is displayed in the museum and includes: historic documents, newspaper clippings, photos, original models, audio visual materials and films, and clandestine vessels. The most famous of these ships was the Exodus, immortalized in the Leon Uris book and movie of the same name.

A special wing of the museum is devoted to the history of the Israeli navy, whose roots go back to this very clandestine immigration operation at the time of the British Mandate. Also included in this naval display are photos, certificates, sketches of skirmishes with the British authorities, models of the ships, original exhibits, and finally, examples of arms and weaponry which were used in naval warfare during that time.

The clandestine immigration ship, the Af al Pi Chen (in spite of all that) played its own part during the Second World War as a landing craft for tanks. It was then converted into a clandestine immigration ship by the people who were instrumental in organizing the Second Aliyah (the Mossad le-Aliyah Bet). The ship has been preserved in its entirety, both its external structure and its fittings and accessories. Many of the members of Aliya Bet were English speaking volunteers including hundreds of Americans.

The first section of this naval exhibition deals with the early beginnings of Israel's navy. This includes the story of the people who created the navy, as well as how the illegal immigration ships were transformed into war ships. It is hard to believe that these people in these very vessels actually realized their dream, the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. 

The second section depicts the 1950s, when Israel's navy fleet first set sail throughout the length and breadth of the ocean deep, while its commando ships were gradually becoming more and more refined. Israel's navy played its part in the Sinai War, even gaining significant reinforcements from unexpected sources to add to the already-existing number of destroyers.

The third section deals with the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Starting with the stinging naval failures of the Six Day War, which were followed by two disasters in which heavy naval casualties were inflicted. The Israeli navy later implemented dramatic changes which culminated in the truly astounding victories of the Yom Kippur War. The Israeli navy also plays an important part in the war against terrorism by patrolling the nation's coasts.

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