Opinion - Linor Bar-El - Israel's Channel 20 News
The Arab infatuation with
marking days of defeat and destruction provide an opportunity to add one more
to their list - a forgotten day from the far away days before the Jews
reconstituted their state - the day we beat them
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL -- The modern
Arab world is obsessed with marking failures and defeats. The 'Nakba Day' and
the 'Naksa Day' marking the mortifying defeats of 1948 and 1967 are but two
well known examples.
In contrast, modern Israel
celebrates those particular two days with grandeur and pageantry. The War of Independence
and the Six Day War have become
synonymous with magnificent victories, studied in war colleges throughout the
world. The miraculous elements vs. the human ingenuity and courage have become
intertwined in the effort to explain the inconceivable, or at least until 1992 Israel
Prize laureate Prof. Moshe Lissak of the Hebrew University sociology department
added a third, most intriguing element to the understanding of the conflict.
In the 1990's, when the word
"peace" was still popular in all segments of Israeli society, Prof.
Lissak (who will be celebrating his 90th birthday this year) was invited to
take part in a Jewish-Arab panel dealing with the 1948-49 Israeli War of
Independence. During the panel discussion an Arab historian turned to Prof.
Lissak and asked: "Prof. Lissak, you are considered a world renowned
expert, maybe you can explain to me how you beat us in 1948? 600 thousand Jews
against the entire Arab world?"
Prof. Lissak responded:
"Here my learned friend is your error. We beat you long before 1948. We
defeated you in 1925 when we founded the Hebrew University - many years before
we had a state!"
The Arabs in the room smiled
uncomfortably and were forced to agree. On April 1, 1925, 23 years before the
state of Israel came into being, Chaim Weizmann and Albert Einstein - under the
auspices of the World Zionist Movement, laid the cornerstone for the first
Hebrew speaking university in the Land of Israel.
The Arabs, as they are wont to
do, were furious. They demanded that the British High Commissioner at the time,
Herbert Samuel, cancel the decision. Samuel refused and instead, in an effort
to abate the Arab fury, suggested they create a university of their own.
Two months later, the Arabs of
the Land of Israel began raising funds for the creation of the first Arab
university, and even contracted the services of the greatest Arab architects of
the day to plan the campus. The money poured in, the plans were submitted, but
that is when they were hit with a problem - they could not find any Arab teachers
or professors in the Holy Land with the necessary credentials to staff a modern university faculty. The dream
of an Arab university was shelved.
Sadly, the 'Naksa' and 'Nakba'
days have yet to awaken the Arabs in our midst to the realization the the Jews
are here to stay. My suggestion therefore is for the Hamas and PLO leadership
to add another day of defeat to their calendar - 'Gahl Day' - the day of
ignorance - because maybe then - between burning tires and incendiary kites -
they will begin to digest the fact that they have no chance at really defeating
us.
They never really had one.
PS - In 1934, Chaim Weizmann
founded the 'Ziv Insitute' in Rechovot - later to be world renowned as the
Weizmann Institute of Science.
(Originally posted in Hebrew on Israel 20 News. Translated w/permission by Michael Cohen)
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Linor Barel is an
Israeli hitech pioneer who has transitioned into a life of media and political
commentary. She is a regular on Israel's channel 20 news and is the
founder and chief editor of the 'Israel on Demand' news magazine.
The Arab infatuation with marking days of defeat and destruction provide an opportunity to add one more to their list - a forgotten day from the far away days before the Jews reconstituted their state - the day we beat them
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL -- The modern Arab world is obsessed with marking failures and defeats. The 'Nakba Day' and the 'Naksa Day' marking the mortifying defeats of 1948 and 1967 are but two well known examples.
In contrast, modern Israel celebrates those particular two days with grandeur and pageantry. The War of Independence and the Six Day War have become synonymous with magnificent victories, studied in war colleges throughout the world. The miraculous elements vs. the human ingenuity and courage have become intertwined in the effort to explain the inconceivable, or at least until 1992 Israel Prize laureate Prof. Moshe Lissak of the Hebrew University sociology department added a third, most intriguing element to the understanding of the conflict.
In the 1990's, when the word "peace" was still popular in all segments of Israeli society, Prof. Lissak (who will be celebrating his 90th birthday this year) was invited to take part in a Jewish-Arab panel dealing with the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence. During the panel discussion an Arab historian turned to Prof. Lissak and asked: "Prof. Lissak, you are considered a world renowned expert, maybe you can explain to me how you beat us in 1948? 600 thousand Jews against the entire Arab world?"
Prof. Lissak responded: "Here my learned friend is your error. We beat you long before 1948. We defeated you in 1925 when we founded the Hebrew University - many years before we had a state!"
The Arabs in the room smiled uncomfortably and were forced to agree. On April 1, 1925, 23 years before the state of Israel came into being, Chaim Weizmann and Albert Einstein - under the auspices of the World Zionist Movement, laid the cornerstone for the first Hebrew speaking university in the Land of Israel.
The Arabs, as they are wont to do, were furious. They demanded that the British High Commissioner at the time, Herbert Samuel, cancel the decision. Samuel refused and instead, in an effort to abate the Arab fury, suggested they create a university of their own.
Two months later, the Arabs of the Land of Israel began raising funds for the creation of the first Arab university, and even contracted the services of the greatest Arab architects of the day to plan the campus. The money poured in, the plans were submitted, but that is when they were hit with a problem - they could not find any Arab teachers or professors in the Holy Land with the necessary credentials to staff a modern university faculty. The dream of an Arab university was shelved.
Sadly, the 'Naksa' and 'Nakba' days have yet to awaken the Arabs in our midst to the realization the the Jews are here to stay. My suggestion therefore is for the Hamas and PLO leadership to add another day of defeat to their calendar - 'Gahl Day' - the day of ignorance - because maybe then - between burning tires and incendiary kites - they will begin to digest the fact that they have no chance at really defeating us.
They never really had one.
PS - In 1934, Chaim Weizmann founded the 'Ziv Insitute' in Rechovot - later to be world renowned as the Weizmann Institute of Science.
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