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NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2008
Byron Simmonds writes: I was flattered when asked to write something about my "personal relationship with the Jewish homeland" (see page 4 of LJ Today, March/April issue). But in 350 words? Quite a challenge, not least because of the need to convey a sense of fairness and balance. Now, I fully appreciate that producing a hard copy newsletter can be a bit of a jig-saw puzzle, especially when aiming to achieve the level of professionalism that we have all come to enjoy in LJ Today. But I have to say that this did not lessen the sense of dissapointment felt when reading the printed version of my "article", edited down from 351 to 111 words. Here's the submitted text in full: Just imagine: Tel Aviv, May 14th, 1948. You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife as Israel's first prime minister David Ben-Gurion declared to a rapturous crowd the end of the British Mandate in Palestine and the creation of the State of Israel. Yom Ha'atzmaut. A modern miracle! Born in the United Kingdom, I was just two-and-a-half years old on that day, and so at the time knew nothing of this. Eight-and-a-half years later there was the Suez Crisis, and Israel was very much in the news once again. Even so, I was not yet eleven. Living in England, Suez pretty much passed me by. The Six Day War was different. I was now twenty-one. David slays Goliath. What was going on? For as long as I could remember, I always felt pretty much assimilated. Anti-Semitism was never an issue. But the Six Day War was for me, like so many others of my generation, when I "rediscovered" my Jewish identity, a feeling accompanied and in a way reinforced by the unfolding realization that not everyone felt so positive about "my country's" achievements. Arab student friends were not impressed. It will come as no surprise to learn that the Arab world will not be celebrating with us on May 8th. It is well known that for the Arabs Israeli independence is al Nakba — "the catastrophe". Older and I like to think a little wiser now, in recent years I have tried to understand the sense of injustice felt by the Palestinians. I am keen to support projects in Israel and the Territories which promote dialogue and peaceful coexistence, and to help foster links between Jews and Muslims in my local community. Israel's short history is a history of conflict. Forty years and G-d knows how many wars since June 1967, you have to ask if Israel is any closer than it was sixty years ago to the dream of living in peace both with itself and its neighbours. Let Israel look to the principles enshrined in its Declaration of Independence. Let Israel's next sixty years be a history of peace. Byron Simmonds |
