The Scribbler

By Rabbi Jeremy Rosen In the hurly burly of political conflict, abuse is common. Friends fall out and identities are tested. Boundaries of loyalty are stretched and sometimes broken. The current situation in the Middle East is a perfect example of a crisis that tests the strongest of bonds. No Jew of any morality or sensitivity likes to see casualties, innocent or otherwise. Our religion demands that we recognize the suffering even of our enemies. We search around desperately for solutions, for different ways of doing things. We feel helpless bystanders, not always knowing the full story or what other options there are. We are disturbed by seeing hatred, hearing illogical and prejudiced opinions. Propaganda, political posturing, and preconceived positions are the enemy of reasoned debate or possible solutions. We Jews are divided into a number of camps. At two extremes of the spectrum are Jews who are unreservedly and unquestioningly supporters of whatever Israel does, and those who ar...

When I was a teenager, I remember walking around Foyles bookshop in Central London and finding a most intriguing book. It was called "5BX Plan for Physical Fitness" and was produced by the Canadian Government, not surprising, since it was the fitness programme they followed in the air force. The book was remarkable in a number of ways. Firstly, each level of fitness was carefully prescribed (as one would expect from the military). It showed a criminally fit man, who had probably been the genetic result of numerous sperm and eggs experiments using fittest athletes on the 1948 Russian Olympic team (the book was published in 1963, so it's possible, he looks about 14) practising the various moves. More importantly, it detailed exactly what exercise you had to do and how long It should take. My interest having been piqued, I decided to buy the book and see if I could look like Boris (the Russian criminal). I vividly remember getting up each morning for quite a while, working m...

It is no secret that I used to work in a Church school. I can't say that I ever felt comfortable going into a church or for that matter, being in an assembly where prayers were recited. I knew that for me personally, Jesus wasn't my saviour and he hadn't died so that I could live. However, the school were employing me (through the Local Authority) and paying for the house I came home to as well as countless other things and therefore, out of respect, I was very careful to keep my opinions of Church related issues to myself. Over the two years of working at the school, I kept shtum about the hypocrisy of the Church of England preaching peace and at the same time showing a very partisan and one-sided approach to the State of Israel. I didn't say a thing about the new Pope, even though I could see that he wasn't a patch on his predecessor. I said nothing. If anything, I tried to instill in the kids the common beliefs that all three monotheistic religions hold so dear ...

I come from a generation that wears its Judaism with pride for all to see. For as long as I can remember, I've made sure that everyone knows I am a Jew. I do this by wearing my Kippah ( skullcap ), wherever I go (unless I know that doing so would put me in harm's way) irrespective of the kind of comments I am likely to receive from others. When I started teaching, I made a point of showing off my Hebraic allegiances in a school that was about 70% Muslim - and not an inconsiderable number of students had a real problem with my brethren. I reasoned that if they could go around wearing their religious garb, why the hell should I be precluded from doing so. In showing my affiliation in such a manner, I did get some stick from a number of prejudiced students, which included spitting as I walked past them and hearing the delightful "kill the Jew" comment, but I preserved , precisely because I knew that showing these kids who I was and what nation belonged to, was an imp...

Over the entire period when the war in Gaza was taking place, I deliberately avoided obtaining my news from the British Media. On the one occasion that I happened to see the BBC news headlines, when the presenter casually mentioned that "x" number of Palestinians had been killed whilst "x" number of Israelis has also died (as a result of being hit by a Kassam - because people blown by rockets obviously don't get killed, they only die), I knew why I had taken this course of action. That said, CNN wasn't much better, but at least they pretended to care what the Israelis were thinking. I very stupidly let my defenses slip last night whilst watching Channel 4's particularly mendacious programme named "Unseen Gaza". This vicious documentary was basically an excuse for journalists who had been kept out of Gaza during the war, to get their own back on Israel, by showing the precise reasons for Israel's decision to keep them out in the first place...

by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen I am emotionally raw at the moment. The chorus of hatred I see, read, and feel throughout Europe directed at a state struggling, however bluntly, to defend its citizens just reeks of irrational hatred. Yes, there have been tragic errors, failed opportunities, oppressive occupation. And I completely approve of criticism and free speech, even when it hurts. It is the irrational hatred, the use of terms like 'genocide', that convince me beyond doubt that we are not dealing with honesty or logic but deep visceral hatred that has festered for hundreds of years. It constantly finds differing excuses to emerge from its filthy subterranean recesses to inflame and ultimately try to destroy, before burning itself out and returning to hide underground. Genocide takes a plan, design, and system. Even if, as Hannah Arendt claimed, many of the perpetrators of the Holocaust were simply banal, nevertheless the design and the plan grew with public support. Criticism and op...

Unlike many of my contemporaries, I was quite partial to Dubbya. At the end of the day, he proved himself to be a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people and that's good enough for me. Then again, I wasn't living in the country he was presiding over. I was a little sorry to see him fly off in his helicopter, it was as though I was saying goodbye to an old friend. I also know I won't be the only one who will miss his constant supply of quotable quips, some of which will no doubt go down in history, albeit for the wrong reasons. As a way of saying farewell, I'd therefore like to list my favourite quotes. You will no doubt note that I have chosen to do this after he left office as a matter of respect to the 43rd President of the United States of America. This one's for you, Dubbya. Here is a top ten list of my favourite malapropisms (in the Daily Show format, with apologies to Jon Stewart): Our enemies are innovative and resourceful and so are we. They never sto...

I make no secret of the fact that my money was on the other man. I didn't want Obama to win, fair and square. At the end of the day, it's lucky that I'm a teacher and not a bookie, because on November 5th, I would have been bankrupted. Watching the results coming in, it became abundantly clear that America was heading in a very interesting direction and that the the impossible had indeed become reality. Where to go to from there? What could I do to salvage the minuscule crumbs of dignity that I held in my being? I decided to move on and face the facts. I decided to look at the man and give him a chance. Maybe, just a teeny little maybe, he might not be as dreadful an advocate for Israel that I had prejudged him to be. That is where I am today. I acknowledge that he has made some interesting choices, Rahm Emanuel being particularly surprising. Whether or not Hilary Clinton will be any good (in terms of Israel) also remains to be seen. But notwithstanding any of the above, t...

I feel that I should explain why you suddenly find a slew of YouTube videos filling up the Scribbler web space. You might have come to the erroneous conclusion that this blog was being run by an auto bot who decided to get lazy and just sign over his rights to YouTube for the foreseeable future. I'm afraid the reality is a tad more conventional than that! It's quite simple. I am absolutely disgusted with the image of what is happening in Gaza, as presented by the likes of the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, New York Times.....need I go on? So I've decided to do my little bit to jolly along that old boring thing called "the truth", or least something akin to it. Veteran site watchers no doubt know where I stand when it comes to Israel. I am no way an apologist for everything the country does (they've still got Olmert as PM, despite the fact that the man is undoubtedly not up to the job - he should have been kicked out years ago), but I do feel that it comes for some ve...

It's extraodinary to think that forty years ago, Golda Meir made this prophetic statement, which is as tragically true now as it was then.

Please pray for the injured IDF solders Dvir ben Laya - seriously injured; Noam ben Aliza - one leg amputated; doctors fighting to save the other; Li'el Hoshea ben Miriam - serious head injury; Neriya ben Rivka - serious head injury; Yitzchak ben Navah - moderate shoulder injury; Netanel ben Navah - moderate shrapnel wounds to a lower extremity; Maxim ben Olga - light lower extremity injury; Yisrael ben Ilana - light shrapnel injury to an ear; Yo'ad Ido ben Frieda Rivka - light shrapnel injuries; Idan ben Liora - light shrapnel injuries; Nadav ben Miriam - light shrapnel injuries; We also pray for Gilad ben Aviva (Gilad Shalit) A prayer from the Orthodox Union in America: He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of the Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the Aravah, on the land, in the air, an...

I got into heated arguments with two non Jewish colleagues in school today about the situation. What it boiled down to is their failure to understand why I felt so strongly about what was going on in Israel. They reasoned (understandably) that as I am not Israeli, there's no reason why I should feel so strongly about representing Israel's view. As they saw it, I needed to be much more level-headed and unbiased about what was going on. One teacher felt that if Avi Shlaim an Israeli who was writing in the Guardian was being critical about Israel, why couldn't I also be as scathing about Israel's "disppropriate" use of force against the Palestinians. Although I tried to explain that if Avi Shlaim, the author of "Zionism today is a real enemy of the Jews" was writing an article, he could hardly be considered as a friend of Israel, irrespective of his nationality. But he would have none of it and failed to get what I was saying. It's a toughie. How do...

Hamas Moves on Fatah 'Collaborators' By KHALED ABU TOAMEH The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip. The move came amid reports that the Fatah leadership in the West Bank has instructed its followers to be ready to assume power over the Gaza Strip when and if Israel's military operation results in the removal of Hamas rule. Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken. Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas...

Here's a special message for any Hamasniks reading this: If you fire missiles at our people, If you use innocent Palestinians as human shields, If you cynically hide bombs in schools, houses, gardens, hospitals and mosques... We will hit you back. We will kill your leaders. We will find you. We will take you and your families out. We will crush you. We will use whatever force we have at our disposal to get the message across. And the message? Don't screw with the Jews. We beat Hitler. We outlived the Soviets We overcame the millennia of persecution. If the Third Reich, the Crusaders the Roman and Greek Empires couldn't vanquish us, you don't stand a chance. The world can criticise us as much as it wants. The UN can pass as many declarations as it wants. It won't make a difference, because although we may stop for now, we will never go away. Do you get the message? Let me repeat it. DON'T SCREW WITH THE JEWS.

This is a very smart, well read Palestinian protester.

Here is how our soldiers treat the Hamas from the tunnels giving them medical treatment, food and drink. You will not see this on BBC or British television. This is what differentiates the IDF from any other army in the world. They are truly representitive of the the Jewish people. These are OUR boys.

Whilst thousands are marching around the world to protest Israel's campaign and the broadcasters on the BBC, Sky and CNN are doing what they can to promote Hamas's propaganda, I decided to see how Israeli news channels were reporting the war. In today's broadband universe, it is amazing what one can get from the Internet if you know where to look. Aside from getting virtually all my news from Israeli websites, which report what is really going on as opposed to the BBC's fabrication, I have also been watching Israel Channel 10, a news channel that is independent of the Israeli Government. What struck me about the reportage was the emphasis the presenter placed on this whole story being more than just Israel bombing Hamas. After speaking to a reporter in Sderot, the anchor said a simple phrase "tishmor al atzmecha", which translates as "take care of yourself". The anchor actually told the reporter to be safe! I can't ever remember a single BBC or...

By Jeremy Rosen The incursion into Gaza is painful to witness. No human being of any degree of sensitivity can be unmoved in the face of human suffering, even when it is self-inflicted. No I do not approve of much of Israeli policy, but I simply cannot understand why, given its vulnerability, Gaza's masters insist on provoking Israel into retaliation. I can only assume that, to fanatics, human life is so dispensable that they simply put a public relations campaign above suffering. Similarly, I do not understand why Israel claims such incursions stop the rockets, or think they might, when they don't, any more than concessions do. There might have been a time when you could have argued that dissident groups bent on undermining Hamas were firing rockets into Israel. But everyone now knows the Hamas controls the Gaza strip, so that argument cannot wash. Even Abbas, even Egypt asked Hamas to stop firing them. Let us assume that it is entirely Israel's fault that the Gaza strip i...

The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has set up a YouTube channel which exhibits videos detailing the destruction of a significant part (we hope) of Hamas' weapons facilities and capabilities. It's very much in the Boys Own mould and not to everyone's taste but if you feel like watching the Israelis beating the crap out of the Hamas Terrorists, aim your mouse towards Youtube .

We had a lovely evening bringing in the new year with close friends. The families were invited and whilst the adults chewed the fat downstairs, the kids sat, dressed in their pj's in a bedroom watching a plethora of Disney DVDs. At midnight, we saw the jaw-dropping fireworks from the London Eye on TV and then our host treated us to a beautiful display of indoor fireworks. This followed a very scrumptious and appetising three course meal! It was a fabulous way to bring the new year in. Happy 2009 everyone!!