An Ancient Song

"Postcards from America - Postcards from Israel" ^ | December 5, 2010 | Ari Bussel

[Ari Bussel]

What’s in Store for Us? by Ari Bussel

I am neither naive nor egocentric enough to presume I can forecast the future. I do, however, look at the present with a quizzical look, bewildered.

Naomi Shemer, of blessed memory, one of Israel’s most prolific song writers, composers and singers, used to sing her songs, often sitting in front of a piano. In one of her songs she says: “Open your eyes, look around.” We too need to do that.

It is a wonderful song titled Good People, in which Shemer writes:

Good people in the middle of the road / Very good people / Good people know the way / And with them we can march

As I look around I see very worrisome trends, so I worry about the future, about our very ability to withstand major upheavals, changes in store for us.

When a person is fragile, every shake, as minor as it might look and feel for some, has major consequences. When a person’s immune system is down, complications often arise from a seasonal cold, so the person must be more careful than most about minor things that are usually ignored or of little or no significance.

It was about six months ago, less than a week after the Turkish Terrorist Flotilla of Lies against Israel, also known as the Maritime Incident of May 31, 2010. The Israeli community in Los Angeles, along with Armenians, Iranians and other spectators, gathered for a solidarity rally with Israel.

Although some 2,000 showed up, noticeably absent were the mainstream American Jews – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. Were they preoccupied with Israel’s brutality, needlessly murdering in cold blood peace activists on board a vessel full of expired aid and unnecessary supplies?

Mainstream American Jews have long been critical of Israel. They dwell in the comforts of the American system and give eitzes (advice). “There should be a two-state solution,” say most. “Israel must compromise if she wants to remain Jewish and democratic,” say others. “We are ‘Pro Israel, Pro Peace’” is the new slogan of many. They promote the bylines of the enemy, not really knowing the reality, the road on which Israel dangerously treads.

Open your eyes, look around / Here and there the winter has ended and spring enters / At the field near the road there are already grain-sprouts / Do not tell me that all of this cannot be

They say we can and must be openly critical of Israel. However, this “open criticism” soon revealed what it was all about, a new disguise for old anti-Semitism. Hatred has many ways to surface, and the insistence of American Jews of inflicting pain, finding “solutions,” was nothing but extending a leg to trip a blind person and then saying, “how horrible was her fall.”

Look around at the Jewish community at large, and you will see an entity, made up of varied approaches, one that on the outside resembles a “Jew,” yet internally is falling apart. The connection is no longer there, the children are disconnected and thus not equipped to answer their own questions about Judaism and self, let alone the criticism and outright hatred all around them.

During that gathering to support Israel, the Jewish Federation printed posters with different messages. The lady who was initially distributing the posters did not really want to give them away. She even said, “We may need them again.” I was bemused: If more are needed, print more, but why bother to schlep them out to the rally, if you do not want to give them away?

There is no need for more posters for people may not show up for the next rally; at least not the defenders of Israel.

In the stack of posters, one read “Delegitimization is Wrong.” I remember being stopped several times and asked “what is delegitimization.” In the last few months, the word has gained popularity and its usage increased, but at that time, people were bewildered, not understanding.

One man bought me a hundred year old book / Another man built a violin in which there is a melody / And another good woman gave me her name / And since then, I am in the road singing in her stead

The Jewish community supports Israel in money, also in deeds, but the hundred-year-old song, the book of miracles and Israel’s very meaning, have all been forgotten. In life, the melody and stories of the Jewish people were stolen by the Arabs, when they labeled themselves “’Palestinians,” and they use our very essence ever since.

Rebukes and protests will not help any more. Facts are not interesting and deemed irrelevant. The story is so deeply rooted in our soul, that when someone else has assumed it, we feel connected, even if this connection is our very downfall.

Imagine the creativity and the depths of deceit. Just look around and try to remember what Israel once meant to the Jewish People. Remember Israel before Arafat, Israel before Oslo, Israel before Rabin’s assassination, the Israel of yesterday. Keep this light within as we now listen to the new song, stolen from us, and being paraded as another’s creation.

We hear today of an ancient connection to a land, a craving and praying to return east to Zion, the everlasting hope to be next year in Jerusalem, and the fight of David against Goliath. But we are no longer part of that story, the Promised Land is no longer ours, neither her milk nor her honey, not her swamps (since dried up by Zionist Settlers) and not her deserts (since made to bloom by Israeli determination and innovation).

Once created, all that one aspires to is to assume control and destroy. A rare living flower soon to wither, eaten from within, after surviving the harshest environment for more than three thousand years.

So a young Jewish kid in America looks around, does not hear the Jewish song any more and goes to Palestine to report for Reuters or Al Jazeera. And Israelis who are so sensitive for the plight of others are ready to vacate their homes and jump into the sea because this land is not their land. Peace Now goes around and breaks the law by taking pictures of military installations, excusing their actions as the right thing to do, while other friends-in-arms (Israeli of course) smuggle terrorists into Israel, “to enjoy the sea” or en route to martyrdom missions like homicide bombings.

Israelis who no longer live in Israel go around and tell their story of the brutalities of Israel. They look and sound Israeli, so there is a greater credence given to what they say. They suddenly feel popular, accepted amidst the enemy that hates Israel, and they go on telling stories. Similar stories emanate also from Israel proper, from the pages of Ha’aretz and at times The Jerusalem Post.

Israelis fell into the same trap as the world itself, and public opinion has turned into a tsunami against Israel’s very being. A Jewish State on the ruins of a Muslim-Arab state. A claim to a land not theirs, using the Holocaust as an excuse, reinforced by might-paid-by-America! And so the poison drips fast, and a question must be asked:

Will Israel continue to exist?

I shake myself up and am amazed – even I get entangled with this song that once was ours and is now being used to destroy us. What a powerful song from within, that resonates so well. Now acquired by our very enemies we know not how to distinguish truth from fiction any longer.

Good people … slowly walk along the road, refugees of a time gone by, of creation and labor of love and life, a Paradise deserted.

And exactly like the lone wild plants, / They always stop the wondering sands / The horizon clear, and it is already possible to see / People on the road waiting for a sign

Look around you, look at Israel, take in a deep breath and shut your eyes. Now open them again, and breathe in the sights and sounds of Israel, her very essence, the ancient melody mixed with modern vitality. Let that light guide you deep inside. As the going gets tough, we revert to Naomi Shemer who said,

And another good woman, if it will be difficult / Just point at the horizon and promise that –

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The series “Postcards from America—Postcards from Israel” by Ari Bussel and Norma Zager is a compilation of articles capturing the essence of life in America and Israel during the first two decades of the 21st Century.

The writers invite readers to view and experience an Israel and her politics through their eyes, Israel visitors rarely discover.

This point—and often—counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.

© “Postcards from America — Postcards from Israel,” December, 2010 Contact: aribussel@gmail.com

First Published November 23, 2010

[bareford101]

I do so enjoy these postcards. What has been stolen from Israel by the Arabs (even though they sneak around and call themselves Palestinians, will never destroy Her.

Israel will survive and I will continue to pray that not only will she survive but she will one day be left in peace.

[SunkenCiv]

The Israeli community in Los Angeles, along with Armenians, Iranians and other spectators, gathered for a solidarity rally with Israel. Although some 2,000 showed up, noticeably absent were the mainstream American Jews -- Reform, Conservative and Orthodox.

Thanks Ari Bussel.

[Lancey Howard]

Nicely written. Good stuff.

[Twinkie]

I pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The world is in a turmoil right now; and I’m afraid the only one who can bring peace anywhere is the Prince of Peace. He has already come once to do what he was intended to do (as is prophecied in the book of Daniel, Chapter 9, Verses 24-26; he came the first time BEFORE Jerusalem was destroyed by war and flood); next He will come to reign in righteousness and peace.

[GOPJ]

Great post - thanks.