Looking at Palestine from Zion

The past few weeks I have been on a mission to meet and hear from Palestinian and Jewish voices. The angst, ambivalence, and longings associated with this journey found catharsis and resonance for me in a comment of Rashi to this weeks Parashah. This is from my heart.

An explotation of the backdrop to the Tiberias massacre of Oct. 7 1938 and its similarities to Oct. 7Transcript of my notes for the episode:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YZ-HW_Z_OcGkI0OuYdDEVzKBuM8dOYwpPmKCG6YjhLI/edit?usp=sharingBibliography:1929 Ground Zero by Hilel CohenPalestine 1936 by Kesslerספר תולדות ההגנהOriental Neighbors by Jacobson and NaorHebrew Article in Ha'aretz about the Assasination of Zaki AlhadifSept. 9th 1938 Article in Davar about the assasination of an Arab civil servantSept 7th article in Davar about Tiberias Shooting in a storeRabbi Jacob Beirav's Zimrat Ha'AretzTIberias and Its Arab Residents during the British Mandate by Mustafa AbbasiJTA article about the assasination of Arab city council member

Thus episode revisits the letter Ben Gurion wrote to his son that I addressed in the earlier episode "Cleansing Pappe's Distortions." Here I seek to put that letter into the context of Ben-Gurion's well documented statements on transfer made over the course of decades. I draw conclutions about the motivations of Ben-Gurion's interpreters and the implications for the conflict in general.List of sources cited:The 1918 article that Ben Gurion wrote in the Yiddish organ of the Jewish Socialist Party Poalei Tzion -- Hebrew Version: https://benyehuda.org/read/1469  For the English translation see My Talks with Arab Leaders pg. 7-8 :https://archive.org/details/MyTalksWithArabLeadersDavidBenGurionTranslatedFromTheHebrewByAryehRubinsteinAndMishaLouvish/page/n13/mode/2up)1924,speech given at Kibbutz Ein Charod Ben Gurion:https://benyehuda.org/read/1469Ben-Gurions 1929 Plan for a Bi-National State that was presented in 1930 and published in 1931:For an English Summary of the 1929 plan see My Talks with Arab Leaders by Ben Gurion ppg. 23-24For the partition plan that that Ben Gurion conceived of in early 1937 and his embrace of transfer in a letter to his son Amos see Letters to Paula by Ben Gurion pg. 129 Letter dated July 27, 1937): https://archive.org/details/letterstopaula00davi/page/128/mode/2up For Ben-Gurions embrace of population transfer in his diary entry of July 12, 1937Ben Gurion's testimony for the UNSCOP committeeMarch 23, 1941, Guideline for Zionist Policy, Submitted to the Jewish Agency Executive Meeting, in Jerusalem by Ben Gurion:https://israeled.org/resources/documents/david-ben-gurion-guideline-for-zionist-policy-1941/?utm_source=chatgpt.comExtended Bibliography:The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan PappeThe Birth of the Palestinian Refuge Problem, 1947-1949 by Benny MorrisPalestine 1936 by Oren KesslerBen-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel by Anita ShapiraPalestine Betrayed by Efraim KarshIndustry of Lies by Ben-Dror YeminiJournal of Palestine Studies Compounds its Ben-Gurion ErrorJPS Responds to Camera's Call for AccuracyQuoting Ben-Gurion: An ExchangeBenny Morris' Reign of Terror RevisitedIlan Pappe and CAMERA: How the Zionists are fighting historyThe Concept of "Transfer " in Zionist Thinking and Practice: Historical Roots and Contemporary ChallengesMy Talks with Arab Leaders by David Ben GurionLetters to Paula and to the Children by David Ben Gurion

In the Spring and Summer of 1949 Israel offered repatriation of Gazan refugees. This episode includes that story and a critique of Ilan Pappe's recounting this historic episode. Links Time Magazine story https://time.com/archive/6602801/middle-east-no-talk-no-peace/ Walter Eytan's letter to the chairman of the conciliation committee. https://ecf.org.il/media_items/358?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1fCnUEgTYscYUUhH_5mdUgRRMXb3dsZV1oBsZcyRuVhh6uea0NU5PiNW8_aem_Hh0tTZeobsjwNpnlSvr7hA Survey of Proposals to the Conciliation Committee https://ecf.org.il/media_items/358?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1fCnUEgTYscYUUhH_5mdUgRRMXb3dsZV1oBsZcyRuVhh6uea0NU5PiNW8_aem_Hh0tTZeobsjwNpnlSvr7hA Review of Neil Caplan's work on the Lausanne Conference: https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/view/15205/16274 Lessons of the Failed Gaza Initiative from the Begin-Sadat Center: https://besacenter.org/lessons-from-the-failed-gaza-initiative-of-1949/

Some Responses to Rashid Khalidis's Iron Cage

The Amazing Story of the Jews of Urfa and their place in Israel's story. For a virtual tour of Abraham's cave in Urfa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vz5RGw9H_I For the full interview of Harun Bozo from Centropa's Library of Rescued memories: https://www.centropa.org/en/biography/harun-bozo

A look at one of the Succot liturgy's prayers and its longing for restoration and redemption of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple.

This episode explores an 11th century Western European scholar's take and a 12th century Spanish/North African scholar's understanding of Jewish morning on the four yearly fast days. We see that aspirations for Jewish self-determination and autonomy were ingrained in Jewish discourse a millennium before Zionism. The passage from the Talmud around which this episode revovles is Tractate Rosh Hashanah 18b. Rashi's comments are to that passage. The passage quoted from Maimonides/Rambam is from his commentary to the Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:3.

Critics of Israel are claiming that Ashkenazi Jews are illegitimate and therefore Israel is illegitimate too. But Sefardi Jewish Scholars don't see it that way.

The Letter quoted her comes from Rabbi Messas' three volume collection of his letters known at Otzar HaMichtavim אוצר המכתבים. The letter cited is in volume three, page 163 letter #1,769.