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The Negev’s Taste of Resilience
A view of the Negev Desert. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – If you find yourself in the northern Negev during the summer, you will see a scorched landscape of yellow and brown. But each winter, the poppy anemone—the national flower of Israel—returns. You will witness a sea of lush, vibrant, red kalaniyot, a name derived from the Hebrew word for “bride.” Well over 400,000 Israelis make an annual pilgrimage to the area to immerse themselves in its spectacular beauty.
In 2019, I brought a group of student leaders to Israel on a tightly scheduled trip that left no time to see the blooming flowers. We did squeeze in a meaningful stop at the Negev village of Netiv HaAsara. After a moving presentation, we stopped to affix painted ceramic pieces on the “peace wall” that shielded the village from Palestinian sniper fire. The project’s initiators called it a “joint mosaic creation, by thousands of people, towards hope, love and happiness among all people.”
I was shocked that this stop scored lowest on the post-trip survey. I understood why when students shared that they felt unsafe visiting a village so close to Gaza. I thought they were overly anxious.
During the early hours of Oct. 7, Netiv HaAsara had a population of over 900 people. Today, like many villages in the area, the population is zero. The surviving residents are part of the over 200,000 Israelis who have fled their communities following the Oct. 7 massacre, the largest displacement of Jews since the Holocaust.
For some, it wasn’t the first time they were expelled from their homes. Netiv HaAsara was originally in the Sinai, but the 1978 peace treaty with Egypt required their removal. My grandfather covered the event as a journalist. His 1982 article in the Israeli newspaper Davar included a poem by Nativ HaAsara resident David Shemenovitz on the rebuilding of the village.
Translated by Nati Gabbay, it reads:
When we came here for the first time,
We felt at home,
Almost.
The sand is the same sand.
The sea the same sea.
The people are the same people,
And the beginning the same beginning.
Almost.
Less young.
Less innocent.
More polite,
And again we make the desert beautiful.
Anew, fields are sown,
Houses are built,
We try for grass.
With determination, we repeat it all from the beginning,
The daily struggle to succeed,
To profit, like the first time.
This time the beginning is not exactly a beginning,
And not exactly a continuation,
This time Netiv HaAsara is a revival.
After 2005, the residents of Netiv HaAsara were joined by Jews removed from the Gaza Strip.
Just two miles north of Netiv HaAsara is Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, named after the leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt. In 1948, the kibbutz residents found themselves the only obstacle between the terrifying Egyptian army and poorly defended Tel Aviv. Just over 100 male and female Jewish defenders, including Holocaust survivors, armed with little more than World War I rifles, faced thousands of well-armed Egyptians with artillery and tanks. That the situation appeared hopeless is an understatement.
Yet the defenders miraculously held out against the Egyptian army for nearly a week, providing the young Jewish state invaluable time to organize a successful defense line outside Tel Aviv, preventing Egypt from fulfilling its vow to “throw the Jews into the sea.” Yad Mordechai was rebuilt soon after the war. The story of its valiant defenders is told in the page-turner The Six Days of Yad Mordechai.
On Oct. 7, Yad Mordechai not only managed to repel the invaders but did so without a single life lost. At the moment, it too has no residents. Some have found themselves exiled from their homes for the second time in their lives. Among the extensive damage in the attack was a symbol of Jewish resistance to another genocide: A rocket hit the kibbutz’s Holocaust museum, destroying a model of Mila 18, the headquarters of the Warsaw Ghetto fighters.
Residents throughout the Negev use art as a way to cope with the stress of Palestinian terrorism. The region’s music scene has thrived, as shown in the outstanding documentary “Rock in the Red Zone.” Yaron Bob had close calls with multiple rocket attacks, followed by an assault on his village on Oct. 7. He now describes himself as a refugee in his own country. His response was to turn rocket shards into sculptures of flowers. The artists of Netiv HaAsara are still selling the ceramics created to adorn their peace wall. They long to return home.
Like the anemone, I do not doubt that the inhabitants will return. Until then, we must continue to help them, whether through philanthropy, traveling to Israel or buying directly from Israeli artists through various means—including this Facebook group and the JNF.
In the same trenches of Yad Mordechai where Jews once fought the Egyptian army, soldiers are stationed once again. The kibbutz’s apiary remains undamaged. Its bees happily feast on the nectar of the anemones covering the surrounding hills, producing honey that can be delivered to your doorstep, providing the sweet taste of resilience.
The post The Negev’s Taste of Resilience first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Says Israel ‘Will Not Exist Within Two Years’ if Harris Elected President During Heated Debate
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump points towards Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, during a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday night that his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris would prove catastrophic for Israel if she were to win the White House in November.
Trump argued during his first presidential debate with Harris, the current US vice president, that she “hates” Israel and that her election would lead to the Jewish state’s swift demise. He also took a jab at Harris for allegedly snubbing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by not attending his address to a joint session of the US Congress in July.
“If she’s president, I believe Israel will not exist within two years from now. She hates Israel,” asserted Trump, who served as US president from 2017-2021.
Trump went on to claim that Harris also “hates” people of Arabic descent and that her foreign policy approach would result in a destructive regional war in the Middle East.
“At the same time, in her own way, she hates the Arab population, because the whole place is going to get blown up. Arabs, Jewish people, Israel, Israel will be gone,” Trump said.
The Republican nominee also took a swipe at the Biden administration’s approach to Iran, arguing that its policies have resulted in empowering and enriching the Islamist regime in Tehran.
“Iran was broke under Donald Trump,” Trump said. “Now, Iran has three-hundred billion dollars, because they took off all the sanctions that I had. Iran had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah or any of the 28 different spheres of terror.”
Trump was referring to his decision as president to withdraw from the controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose harsh economic sanctions on he regime. The Biden administration sought unsuccessfully to renegotiate the nuclear accord and has offered certain sanctions waivers, which according to critics benefit Tehran and allow it to spend more money on supporting terrorism.
US intelligence agencies have long labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Supporters of Trump’s policies toward Iran argued in part that they gave the regime less resources to give to its terrorist proxies across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Critics countered that the nuclear deal was a better path to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that Washington should work to prevent escalation with Tehran.
“They had no money for terror. They were broke. Now, they’re a rich nation. And now, what they’re doing,” Trump continued.
The former president urged the audience to “look at what’s happening to the Houthis and Yemen. Look at what’s going on in the Middle East.”
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, a US-designated terrorist organization, began disrupting global trade with its attacks on shipping in the busy Red Sea corridor after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, arguing its aggression was a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza. The Iran-backed movement has also said it will target all ships heading to Israeli ports, even if they do not pass through the Red Sea, and claimed responsibility for attempted drone and missile strikes targeting Israel.
Harris on Tuesday night emphatically denied Trump’s assertion that she harbors animosity toward the Jewish state. She argued that the former president was attempting to distract from his own “weak” foreign policy record.
Harris echoed her previous comments on the ongoing war in Gaza, insisting that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
She added that the war in Gaza must “end immediately” and repeated calls for Israel to strike a ceasefire and hostage deal with the Hamas terrorist group. The Democratic nominee also underscored the need for a “two-state solution” to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The post Trump Says Israel ‘Will Not Exist Within Two Years’ if Harris Elected President During Heated Debate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli TV Stars Call for Immediate Release of Hamas Hostages in New Video Message
Gabriel (played by Michael Aloni) and Rochel (played by Yuval Scharf) in “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.” Photo: Yes Studios.
Some of the biggest Israeli television stars are calling for the immediate release of the 101 individuals still held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for almost a year now following the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Actors from “Fauda,” “Shtisel,” “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” “Night Therapy,” “On The Spectrum,” and other popular shows in Israel pleaded for the safe return of the hostages in a video message released on Tuesday by Israel’s Yes TV.
“When we shoot a show, we know the script, we know what the story is, who is against who and we know how the story will end,” they said in the video, with each person stating a different part of the message. “But now, this isn’t a show. These are real people, and their time is running out. This pain is impossible to bear. There’s no air.”
“If they don’t come back, then who are we? Who?” many of them asked. “What does it say about us?”
“How will we look our children in the eyes?” asked Noa Koller, the star and creator of “Rehearsals,” who is also a mother of two. “Our grandchildren?” added “Shtisel” star Sasson Gabay, who is a grandfather.
“There are people alive there,” the actors said repeatedly. “These are their lives, and our lives — all of our lives. We have to bring all of them home, now, now,” they said again and again.
The video also featured “Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” stars Yuval Scharf and Hila Saada, “Fauda” and “The Lesson” star Doron Ben-David, “Fauda” and “Night Therapy” actor Yaakov Zada Daniel, “On the Spectrum” and “Bloody Murray” actress Neomi Levov, Israeli film star Yael Abecassis, “Fire Dance” star Yehuda Levi, “Berlin Blues” actress Shirah Naor, comedian Tom Yaar, comedian and actor Yuval Semo, and others.
The post Israeli TV Stars Call for Immediate Release of Hamas Hostages in New Video Message first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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NYC Art Exhibit With Israeli Artists Commemorating Oct. 7 Attack Focuses on ‘Resilience and Reflection’
A partial view of the canvas painting “Enduring Hope” by Nirit Takele featured in the exhibit “Resilience and Reflection: An Artist Response to October 7th.” Photo: Provided
A new art exhibition opening in New York City on Thursday to honor the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre will showcase a variety of memories, stories, and emotions — including grief, resilience and hope — surrounding the deadly attacks in southern Israel.
“Resilience and Reflection: An Artistic Response to October 7th” will be open to the public at the David Benrimon Fine Art Gallery. The exhibit features 24 works of art from emerging and established Israeli artists, and each piece of art included in the exhibit tells a personal story connected to Oct. 7.
“Art has long been a powerful tool for processing collective trauma and catalyzing communal healing. ‘Resilience and Reflection’ aims not only to remember the lives and stories intertwined with October 7th but also to showcase the incredible capacity of human beings to seek hope and renewal in the face of despair,” according to a released statement about the exhibit.
“Resilience and Reflection” features various mediums, including painting, poems, sculpture, video, and mixed media, “each serving as a personal response and reflection on the events of that day.” A print photo by Benzi Brofman showcasing the Bibas family is a mostly black-and-white image, except for some background color and the bright red hair of the Bibas children Kfir and Ariel.
The entire Bibas family was abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 and remain held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Kfir, the youngest hostage to be abducted by Hamas during its deadly rampage across southern Israel, was 9 months old when he was kidnapped.
One Hebrew language poem is featured in a mixed media piece titled “Handful of Dreams,” by Dede Bandaid and Nitzan Mintz. Its translation reads: “A bed bakes my body like bread/filling it with a handful of dreams/When I open my eyes/How great is the hunger/Woe to the walls.” The artists said that the poem is about “hope, hard reality and big dreams.” The duo also created a collage titled “October” that includes different memories connected to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
A hand-carved wooden sculpture of a solitary individual standing beside a small house with a red roof was created my mixed media artist Yarin Didi and is titled “Cut Apart.” It is part of an Oct. 7 sculpture series and was made from oak, olive, and eucalyptus woods. Didi said the small house with a red roof “stands as a testament to the horrors around Gaza on that fateful October 7th.”
“The earth beneath the figure, crafted from olive wood, symbolizes peace with its olive branch. The entire composition — from the figure to the ground and the house — captures emotions too heavy for most to bear or speak of,” he added. “In silence, I create. I carve memories and experiences of that October from wood, teetering between hardship and hope — that change may come, and we might yet find healing and joy.”
Danielle R’Bibo is the curator of the exhibit, and this is her first solo curated show.
“Art allows us to communicate the inexpressible, to process pain, and to find hope amid sorrow,” R’bibo said. “The artists in this exhibition are deeply moved by the opportunity to share their work in America. Through their art, they aim to honor the memories of those lost, bringing a human face to the war. This exhibition is not about politics; it’s about the people — their stories, their pain, and their resilience.”
“Resilience and Reflection: An Artist Response to October 7th” will be open to the public Sept. 12-26 at the David Benrimon Fine Art Gallery.
The post NYC Art Exhibit With Israeli Artists Commemorating Oct. 7 Attack Focuses on ‘Resilience and Reflection’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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