“We [Jews] have been to Hell and back – a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?”
Israel’s letter to the world – 1969
http://cifwatch.com/2010/08/14/israels-letter-to-the-world/
In 2006, at the age of 92, Stanley Goldfoot passed away. Stanley Goldfoot was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1932, at the age of 18, he headed for Palestine where he joined a HaShomer HaTzair kibbutz. After the rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel his main goal, which he eventually realized, was to establish a Zionist English newspaper, “The Times of Israel.” In the first issue of “The Times of Israel”, in 1969, Goldfoot wrote his famous “Letter to the World from Jerusalem.” The article is still remarkably relevant, so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s the thoughts of only one man but, as I read it, it occurred to me that, in many ways it represents the pleas of an entire nation – a people with one small desire:“to be a free people in our land.”
A Letter to the World from Jerusalem
by Eliezer ben Yisrael (Stanley Goldfoot)I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a Jerusalemite – like yourselves a man of flesh and blood. I am citizen of my city, an integral part of my people.
I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you or even persuade you.
I owe you nothing. You did not build this city, you did not live in it, you did not defend it when they came to destroy it. And we will be damned if we will let you take it away.
There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York. When Berlin, Moscow, London, and Paris were miasmal forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish community here. It gave something to the world which you nations have rejected ever since you established yourselves – a humane moral code. Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning.
Here a people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, fought off waves of heathen would-be conquerors, bled and died on the battlements, hurled themselves into the flames of their burning Temple rather than surrender, and when finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers and led away into captivity, swore that before they forgot Jerusalem, they would see their tongues cleave to their palates, their right arms wither.
For two pain-filled millennia, while we were your unwelcome guests, we prayed daily to return to this city. Three times a day we petitioned the Almighty: ”Gather us from the four corners of the world, bring us upright to our land, return in mercy to Jerusalem, Thy City, and swell in it as Thou promised.” On every Yom Kippur and Passover, we fervently voiced the hope that next year would find us in Jerusalem.
Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which you jammed us, your forced baptisms, your quota systems, your genteel anti-Semitism, and the final unspeakable horror, the holocaust (and worse, your terrifying disinterest in it)- all these have not broken us.
They may have sapped what little moral strength you still possessed, but they forged us into steel. Do you think that you can break us now after all we have been through? Do you really believe that after Dachau and Auschwitz we are frightened by your threats of blockades and sanctions?
We have been to Hell and back – a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?
I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination that did the job – British officers, Arab gunners, and American-made cannon. And then the savage sacking of the Old City-the willful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps, even latrines.
And you never said a word.
You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians shut off the holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of the pledges they had made after the war – a war they waged, incidentally, against the decision of the UN. Not a murmur came from you whenever the legionnaires in their spiked helmets casually opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls.
Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your airlift “to save the gallant Berliners.” But you did not send one ounce of food when Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem. You thundered against the wall which the East Germans ran through the middle of the German capital – but not one peep out of you about that other wall, the one that tore through the heart of Jerusalem.
And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs unleashed a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again, did any of you do anything?
The only time you came to life was when the city was at last reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of “justice” and need for the “Christian” quality of turning the other cheek.
The truth – and you know it deep inside your gut – you would prefer the city to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews. No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age-old prejudices seep out of every word.
If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots, perhaps you had better re-examine your catechisms. After what we have been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we accept your savior.
For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem. For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights (You prefer to have some more equal than others.) We loathe the sword – but it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace, but we are not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to.
We are home. It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed to wander over the face of the globe. We are not leaving. We are redeeming the pledge made by our forefathers: Jerusalem is being rebuilt. “Next year” and the year after, and after, and after, until the end of time – “in Jerusalem”!
Stanley Goldfoot
Founder/Editor
The Times of Israel
August 1969
@ loonwatchexposed:
I’am from Texas, What is a loon watch? Is that some crazy Canadian thing?
CuriousAmerican Said:
Just because you claim to support annexation and ‘pay Palestinians to leave’ doesn’t mean you are a supporter of Israel.
The Islamists oppose the two state solution because they think a greater Israel without a Jewish majority can be easily dismantled by later calls of democracy. The BDS movement support a one state solution. Supporting annexation doesnt’ mean you are a supporter of Israel.
You could well be paying lip service to the ‘pay Palestinians to leave’ to legimitise your presence here when in your mind you know it’s not going to happen. This is evident when you say you oppose a Jewish state. If Israel is a democracy then it cannot ‘pay Palestinians to leave’.
On the one hand you oppose a Jewish state by pretending that it would be a theocracy, when most Jews even religious ones don’t want a theocracy. And on the other hand you claim Israel should pay Palestinians to leave. If you really supported the latter postion, then you would support a Jewish state.
CuriousAmerican Said:
You get all of that here too. Yet you post here even though you are accused of all the things you cite for not posting a link.
Your comment doesn’t make sense.
CuriousAmerican Said:
an interesting narrative and as credible as your usual sources of support.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Yes, that’s the phrase I am looking for here
CuriousAmerican Said:
I must object to you dipiction of Yamit82, he has been very kind to me, and I will not permit you to villify him on this site.
I do not have to.
Either accept it or don’t.
However, I have seen enough boards where organized gangs of partisans harass people. I was on one board where strident pro-Israel commenters and competing anti-semitic Neo Nazis attacked everyone who did not agree with them. Between these competing crews, it was possible for a non-aligned poster to be called a Nazi fascist by one group and a stooge of the Jews by the other group for the same comment.
Yes, they did organize in groups. Because of my skill in HTML code I was invited to join by both groups. I told the Jewish group that I was more partial to their side, but I was not going to get involved in Internet harassment.
I did make fun of the Neo-Nazis though.
Yamit is a vulgarian. You and and B. Ross are just vicious slanderers. I am not going to make it easy for you to peddle your nonsense.
I once posted something pro-Israel on a site – only to be called a lackey of the Jews, and simultaneously called the opposite because my support of Israel was not Kach enough.
This is intellectual thuggery; and you are not helping your cause.
All three of you are just vicious, and I do not need the grief.
So no! I will not give you the boards I hang out on.
I am not saying your are lying. I just don’t believe you.
CuriousAmerican Said:
I won’t harass you. And even if I do, I would only discredit myself wouldn’t I? Since others would see me harassing you.
bernard ross Said:
and remember, if he is lying about that then he obviously would obfuscate his religion too, because this way Christinaity would get bashed, thus he would kill two birds with one stone.
Israel deglegitimisers types have a desperate need to creae a rift between Israel and Christian supporters.
CuriousAmerican Said:
the feeble excuse of a fake. You come here everyday whether harassed or not. No address ore phone number is involved. I think you have been lying about defending Israel or the jews. Prove me wrong.
CuriousAmerican Said:
For you my Darlin,hang tough: http://youtu.be/B1QoHgkzkJ8
It will matter to me if you harass me.
CuriousAmerican Said:
It shouldn’t matter to you what I think. Post the links. I’m curious to see how you ‘defend Jews’.
But you do not think I support Israel (even though I do).
So you might harrass me.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Well that’s a strange reply. Why would I ‘harrass’ anyone who supported Jews and Israel? You know your posts will reveal your true character and the lies you present here, which is why you pretend that I asked you for personally identifying information.
I DID NOT ask you for your name and phone. You said you defended Jews on other forums.
I (and I presume others here) would like to see those links. Perfectly reasonable request. I don’t believe you are a Christian. You are an Ali Abunimah type, pretending to be a Christian.
Are you going to oblige or not?
@ Ted Belman:
Unraveling the mystery
Letter from Jerusalem
Jun 14th, 2011 by John Little
Stanley’s last name was Goldfoot and was the South African founder of the aforementioned Times of Israel. And, it appears that Eliezer ben Yisrael ws his pen name.
the syntax of the letter isn’t South African. It’s American, which leads me to believe that the author really is Eliezer Whartman, who might also have published the letter under the pen name Eliezer ben Yisrael. Here’s a bit of a description of the guy:
Eliezer Whartman is a veteran Jerusalem-based journalist. His son Moshe was killed in 1975 while leading a patrol in south Lebanon to interdict terrorists seeking to enter Israel. His “Letter To The World From Jerusalem” originally appeared in the August 1969 edition of The Times of Israel.
Interview: 1947 to 2010 Personal Experience of Journalist Eliezer Whartman in Israel Podcast and text
November 28, 2010
CuriousAmerican Said:
the letter and citation have nothing to do with the criticism of your transparent and repeated MO. It matters not the subject or the facts, you have the same MO every time: denigrate and confound the Jews
CuriousAmerican Said:
Who cares, you intentionally misdirected the post as usual, and now continue with the same ludicrous narrative.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Cease your lying and ludicrous BS. All your “facts” cannot cover the stench of your agenda. You are transparent. Your attempt to post “facts” are just a cover for your transparent agenda and obvious MO. The letter is irrelevant to your behavior.
CuriousAmerican Said:
you are offensive and your continued fraudulent attempts are deserving of ridicule and derision. I will be happy to keep pointing out your fake MO.
Hello you all …. who slandered me.
Here is the JPOST article.
The letter was written after 1975. (it is not clear what the date was)
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/A-letter-to-the-world-from-Jerusalem
The Times of Israel was founded after 1967, but the letter was not written then.
Israel first entered Lebanon in 1978; though there may have been earlier incursions.
The date 1969 struck me as too early for a common use of the word Holocaust. I may have been right.
Since the first invasion of Lebanon occurred in 1978, the letter may have been written AFTER THE MOVIE : THE HOLOCAUST. The term became universal after the movie.
People used the term Holocaust before the movie, but it was NOT commonly known.
What was my motive … Accuracy! That is all.
I was not being offensive, but the responses to me were.
@ CuriousAmerican:
Jew’s are sooooooooo sensitive about Holocaust, and here you come splat! splat! splat! Get a clue,Sugar!
CuriousAmerican Said:
How can any woan be made at Ted,he’s just a “cute as a little bug’s ear”
It has just come out on the thread that the letter’s author was mis-cited.
Was that offensive? Are you made at the guy who emailed Ted? Are you now mad at Ted?
I think the letter is wonderful. The date strikes me as odd.
Now that it has come out that the citation is off, maybe it will explain the date issue.
contactus@cifwatch.com
Or Tweet them
https://twitter.com/CiFWatch
Ted, there are apps which post every post title to Twitter
I have installed them on three sites. Put them on your Twitter/WP site
CuriousAmerican Said:
Why do you step into every “cow pie” in the road. You are deliberatly offencive.
yamit82 Said:
It’s important because whatever the subject, and especially one that empathizes with Jew, he must find a path to degrading the Jewish collective status. This is done by outright questioning of Jewish character , motives; or by focusing attention elsewhere(e.g. pay th epals to leave). In degrading Jews as a collective he will use uncommon rather than common examples for his “evidence”. In this case he needed to cast aspersion on the Jews by attempting to “prove” that the letter was a fake. The point does not lie in the “facts” he touts, which are usually biased sources, but rather in the MO and agenda he prosecutes. It is best demonstrated by observing the bottom line.
CuriousAmerican Said:
He pretends to be a bumbling stumbling fool off on a harmless tangent. However, this comment has no relevance except when evaluated in the light of a pernicious agenda to denigrate the Jewish People or Israel. When viewed in this light, his apparently subtle, innocent, impartial comments become very clear. He will usually throw the jews a bone to get them on his side and to cover his agenda with a fig leaf:E.G. “this letter is moving”. He has quickly here disposed of a Jewish empathetic moment and brought the post into a discussion of his implied denial of its veracity. It is similar to the process of holocaust denial but on a smaller level. Same tactic though.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Why does it matter to you?
Lets go to your motivation.
Why is the date so important to you????
CuriousAmerican Said:
disingenuous reply as it was YOU, who claimed you defend Israel on sites pro Arab and Muslim as your reasons for not condemning and supporting christian victims of Arabs and muslims on this site. I say you are a LIAR and worse and Loon asked you to prove to us you are not a LIAR by submitting links where your defense can be substantiated as true. You don’t have to but then there is no reason to believe you are not a stinking LIAR.
Why would any of us do that?
Are you paranoid as well???
Because I do not post my phone number and address on line either. Do you ?
And if I did link, you would only show up to harrass me there.
Ted, I did NOT challenge its authenticity. I asked for a confirmation of its date.
It is moving.
The date bothered me, not the letter.
Ted Belman Said:
“contact us” section of their website?
I just received this email from David Bedein.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Is your knowledge of the NT better than your nonexistent knowledge of the real one (the Jewish one)? Don’t think so.
Catholics Remove ‘Holocaust’ from Bible
The Catholic church is issuing a new translation of the Bible that removes the word “holocaust.” Survivors pleased by the change.
The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants praised the new language. “Holocaust survivors view this subtle but meaningful change as a sensitive gesture by the Catholic church for which we are grateful,” the group said in a statement. “We understand the intention was to underscore the prevailing use of ‘Holocaust’ as denoting the Jewish tragedy under the Nazis.”
Church leaders have caused tension with the Jewish world in recent years, first by attempting to proclaim Pope Pius XII a saint, and later by allowing a Holocaust denier to remain in the office of Bishop.
Pope Pius XII served as pope during World War II, and remained silent regarding the massacre of European Jewry. Many Jewish groups announced their objections to his beatification.
In 2009, the Vatican lifted an excommunication ban against Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier and anti-Semite who has said that the Nazi gas chambers were a myth and that no more than 300,000 Jews were killed in World War II. Williamson has also accused Jews of plotting to take over the world.
In addition to changing the word “holocaust,” the new Catholic Bibles will also remove the word “cereal offering,” a reference to grains that translators feared modern readers may confuse with breakfast cereal, and “booty,” a word now used as slang with sexual connotations.
This is the sole and only response suitable to the attention of CA :
Do not give dogs what is sacred.
Do not throw your pearls to pigs.
If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. Matthew.
origin of the word holocaust@ CuriousAmerican:
@ Ted Belman:
OED http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=holocaust
CuriousAmerican Said:
the MO in action: throw the Jews a bone, then the knife. Then watch them play with it like a kitty with a string.
why, what does it have to do with anything?
Agree with Bernard Ross. CuriousAmerican Said:
Why havn’t you posted a link to where you defend Jews. One would think you’d be proud to do so unless you have something to hide.
Ted Belman Said:
Unless one recognizes his agenda and modus operandi his behavior remains a mystery. As time goes on more is revealed like petals being pulled from a flower. Trolls desire that Jews spend their time on Jewish forums discussing pal problems and coming up with solutions to deal with the “pal problem”. At the end of the day there is no time for the Jews to deal with their own interests, this is not by accident. You’ve heard of the “knockout game” this is the “confound the Jews game”. Talking ad infinitum about what to do with the Pals is the goal of the game the written subject matter is secondary. It is not that he repeats the same mantras but it is that the mantras have a purpose to refocus jewish attention, like kitty’s chasing a ball of string.
@ CuriousAmerican:I cannot believe you would challange the authenticity of this letter and its date.
Wikidictionary says:
This should be the next speech that Bibi gives when he confronts that jerk Kerry, and preferably in front of an audience.
CuriousAmerican Said:
One stupid ignoramus American.
The term Holocaust did not come into popular vernacular until 1978 with the TV mini-series Holocaust.
The term was not regularly heard before 1978.
The letter is moving, but the 1969 date seems suspect. I would have to know when it came into use inside Israel.
Its timeless. It could have been written in any era.
The truth is those so concerned for Jerusalem today never came to the assistance of the city’s Jewish inhabitants when the city was under siege.
They did not lift a finger when Jews were deprived of their rights.
And today they forbid Jews from the exercise of sovereignty in their ancient capital and they refuse to grant to the Jew his right to determine his capital.
Nothing has changed since Israel was born and I don’t expect that to change as long as I’m alive. Its the way of the world.
Its not Israel that needs to change; its the world but I’m not holding my breath waiting to see it happen.
For better or worse, the age-old prejudices of which Stanley Goldfoot wrote – will always be with us.