Letters, February 25, 2011

I HAVE been travelling to New Zealand regularly for some 13 years. I love the country  and I love its people.

I am in New Zealand now. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It is a country that has seen the Almighty’s awesome power of creation in volcanic explosions and shuddering earthquakes. One such earthquake has hit NZ in these past few days.

Paradoxically, in the midst of all the devastation has come enormous inspiration. The simple faith of people thanking God for the miracles of their survival and praying for others – without doubting or asking why? The image of a passerby,  built like an All Black prop, finding somehow almost superhuman strength to lift huge blocks of concrete to try and rescue a fellow New Zealander buried under the rubble. The outpouring of care and concern by every New Zealander for every other New Zealander; people worrying less about themselves and more about others. The dean of Christchurch Cathedral, when asked his reaction to the destruction of his church, responding: “It is only a building,  the people are our concern.”

Indeed, it is futile for us to try and comprehend the providence of the Almighty or His awesome power, but  when such an event occurs, we need to remember what New Zealanders (and indeed  Queenslanders) have shown us; it is not the pursuit of the material that is important at all, rather it is matters of the heart and spirit.

Let us put aside our petty differences and embrace our fellow man. Give time to our children who need us more than our office or businesses. Stop and play with our grandchildren and tell your wife or husband you love them and remember at all times “there but for the grace of God go I”.

INCUMBENT Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been questioned about his peace aspirations after reportedly boasting that he stopped the Oslo Accords. Let us not forget that in 1948 Menachem Begin – a Likudnik like Netanyahu – said that the Green Line drawn up after the War of Independence “must disappear”. In 1972, he reiterated this view by proclaiming “that the artificial line [Green Line] which disappeared, never returns.” Inconceivably, seven years later – at Camp David – the same person would give back Sinai in return for a historical peace accord with Egypt. Hopefully, this remarkable concession made by Begin will inspire Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas to achieve a peace deal even in the most unlikeliest of circumstances.

PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak is gone, removed by the military and the people on February 12. The 18-day “people’s revolution” branding him a dictator has ­succeeded.

Mubarak kept a lid on Islamist fundamentalism and extremism, and kept the Muslim Brotherhood in check. Yes, opponents were jailed and tortured, but a rule of law of sorts was in place. The country was under his firm control for 30 years – Mubarak was a son of Egypt who ruled the country under secular lines and an iron fist.

I believe the Muslim Brotherhood may have been involved in his overthrow as there was evidence of their presence in the crowd. Many western nations that welcomed the outcome, including Britain and the United States, may not have thought this through. I don’t believe they understand the dynamics of the situation or the Islamist mindset and where fundamentalism may lead, should it take a hold. It happened in Iran following the overthrow of the Shah.

Who will gain control? Will it be the military, the Muslim Brotherhood or civilian rule taking over Egypt as time progresses. The military has been very quick in assuring the United States and Israel that all agreements will be honoured including the peace treaty with Israel.

A new constitution will need to be drawn up, and behind this backdrop the Muslim Brotherhood has openly stated that it will not field a candidate at the upcoming ­elections.

But what of the other countries in the region? Instability appears to be mounting. It is interesting to note that among the first to hail the removal of Mubarak were Iran, Syria, Hamas and other radical countries or groups.

I believe the Egyptian people do not want their country to sink into turmoil. There is too much at stake. For now the military will remain firmly in control, but with the Middle East being what it is, Israel must remain vigilant.

OPTIMISM seems to abound now that the sand is settling after the Egyptian “Facebook” revolution. But while the relationship of their future government with respect to Israel is yet to unfold, there has been enough talk of severing the peace treaty to be a concern.

If there is a lesson to be learnt from recent events in Egypt, it is that unless the Arab world ceases its incessant demonisation of Israel and Jews, genuine peace will remain elusive. A Pew Research Centre opinion survey of Arab attitudes towards Jews revealed that despite 30 years of cold peace with Israel, 95 per cent of Egyptians expressed hostile views of Jews.

The Arab world has many internal differences, however, a glance around the region easily reveals that crass anti-Semitism is the unifying sentiment that binds it together; examples include the relentless promotion in their media of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Pesach blood libel, and derogatory references to Jews from the pulpit.

Consequently, 30 years of vilification and delegitimisation of Israel in the Egyptian media has resulted in a whole new generation of Egyptians who appear eager to tear up the peace treaty with Israel in the name of Arab nationalism.

The Jewish world has long complained (to no avail) about the duplicity of Arab regimes that espouse peace to the West, but feed their populations a diet of malicious invective that can only result in breeding more generations of Israel haters.

As it should be with the Egyptians, so it must be with the Palestinians. Signing a piece of paper without a genuine intent to reform public opinion may be a good start but it is not real peace; it is just the absence of war.

I’VE now gone through all of last week’s newspapers, Michael Burd, and couldn’t find anything that even remotely suggests “many world leaders are ready to embrace a Brotherhood-based government in Cairo” (AJN 18/2).

And considering the reasons why the Egyptian people removed their secular dictator, they are not likely to accept any Islamist dictators either now or in the ­foreseeable future.

But look on the bright side, Mr Burd; the rate at which freedom and democracy are spreading, as heralded by George W Bush some years ago, it’s possible that Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi will be the next to go.

I READ with interest The AJN’s apology last week (11/02) for the front cover of the Sydney edition (04/02). Had the seemingly negative portrayal of Yiddishkeit been printed in any other newspaper, it would have been deemed anti-Semitism and The AJN would have been the first to condemn it. I was therefore relieved to see The AJN apologise for it.

One of the most important aspects of our tradition is teshuvah – repentance. If the wrong thing has been done, it is appropriate to rectify that with an apology, known in Hebrew as “charatah al ha’avar”.

However, apology is only half of teshuvah. The other half is “kabbalah al ha’atid” – a commitment to the correct behaviour in the future.

I am hopeful that The AJN will in the future do its best to portray Yiddishkeit in the most positive light, making The AJN a newspaper that is a source of pride to the Jewish community and, by extension, the wider Australian community.