Pictures in Riga, Latvia

 There is a small museum of Jewish history in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It is in a beautiful old house, in few spacious rooms, but it is still a very confined space for a museum. 

I have visited it recently. Jewish minority in Latvia, present there for centuries, and taking vital part in this country's establishing after I WW, almost totally perished during Shoah. I have visited also the place where Riga's ghetto used to be, but that is for another time and occasion. 

The place was quiet, the audio-guide excellent and the whole story fascinating.

Yet, before I even entered the museum the exhibition of some art work caught my attention. It was dedicated to the horrible massacre of last October when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis.

Thinking about Western students demanding intifada, shouting for the next Holocaust i watched with tears in my eyes these pieces of art showing empathy and understanding of what really happened. They might not be the best paintings I have seen in my life, but they are striking and full of pain of what happened to men, women and children.

Let me share some with you:

The above one is titled "Something horrible is about to happen" and shows the peaceful kibbutz Kfar Aza right before the attack. The kibbutz where people were concentrated on supporting Palestinian rights and helping those living in Gaza, often times volunteering for them.

Here is the series of another 3 pictures from Kfar Aza, showing massacre, child's bedroom (middle) and those who left in for eternity...
 

 

The Bibas family were not the only children taken hostage. Enough is to remind little Abigail, just 3 year-old, taken hostage after her parents were murdered, her dad while he was holding her in his arms. There were so many children, babies, murdered, wounded, orphaned, kidnapped. Yet we know nothing about the fate of Bibas family kidnapped in entirety: dad, mum and their two small children, Kfir, the younger, not even one year old... If he is alive he spent his first two birthdays as a hostage in Gaza.

 

 

People were hiding in safe rooms hoping for rescue, but safe rooms were designed against rockets, not against terrorists, they were not hidden and rarely allowed for the doors to be locked from inside. Nobody expected what came. Little Abigail's siblings after the murder of their parents hid inside for 14 hours, alone. They were 6 and 9.

People danced and had joy on the Nova event until they had to run for their lives. Over 360 didn't make it. Young, beautiful, diverse, peaceful people...

The dove of peace was murdered that day...

As the last one I wanted to show you the picture that was specially touching for me. It was painted by Merav Shinn Ben-Alon, titled "Bring her home". In the observation point on the Gaza border a group of teenage soldiers were stationed. Female, unarmed. They were observers. Some were murdered in the cold blood, some were taken hostage. I have seen, as probably did you, horrible scenes with terrorist laughing that these are the women they will get pregnant. Horrible. Among captives was Naama Levy showed in the pictures, her hair held by the terrorist, with wounded ankle, hands tied behind her back and bloodstained pants. Bring her home! She was only eighteen!

Many years ago, during Shoah, Latvian Modernist artist, Alexandra Belcova, was one of the very few souls outside of Jewish community, who was horrified by the fate of Latvian Jews in real time, when the ghetto was created. She carried the packs to her music teacher and other friends to the Riga's ghetto and finished drawing tens of sketches depicting horrors of the time, never completely finished, feverish and backed by horror. Nevertheless there are also few of her finished paintings illustrating her emotions. Below find one of the, very moving, that is the personification of shame, guilt, despair, hopelessness and still humanity, deprived, humiliated but humanity when confronted with proud and open cruelty and hate.

Shall we recognize ourselves in this portrait when observing students from cream of the cream Western universities calling for genocide of Jews again?

Christian (?) pastor who gave up Bible for politics

The former pastor of the US president Barack Obama says Jesus was Palestinian!
Apparently he does not know the Bible or does not care about it. Jesus's visits to the Temple, His living as a pious Jew, His statements about coming to the lost sheep of Israel, His citing of Old Testament and rabbis, it is all not worth mentioning and unimportant for this 'pastor'. What counts is political agenda - so, according to him, Jesus was Palestinian, presumably Arab, nothing to do with Judaism or God, I am even inclined to think that for this 'pastor' Jesus was the liberator of Palestinians from Jews, don't you think? (forget the Romans occupying the country, Jewish country!)

So - there are some more things to be learn from this former President's spiritual guide as for example how bad it is for the US and the whole world to be capitalistic, never mind there is feudalism in Arab countries in the gulf - it is better (or is communism? I got lost).
There is freedom of speech and  one may believe Jesus was Palestinian Arab, US is the worst country and Jews are to be blamed for everything (however this is called racism) and say it allowed (well at least in the US, try saying bad things about Islam in Islamic country or criticize Kim or communism in North Korea or communism in China, all your problems will be resolved once and for ever) yet the fact that a person speaking in such a way with such a hatred was spiritual guide to the US president, the fact that such a person, who talks as if he never read Bible calls himself 'pastor' deserves to be known.   

Financing the terrorism by Palestinian Authority

The nearly only income of the Palestinian Autonomy authorities is money received from NGOs, governments and EU. Israel is financing their electricity (I have written about it here), water and medical aid and lots of financing comes from the US and specially EU plus some Islamic countries.

Some of this money (including the one coming from European tax payers) goes to the convicted terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons. It has been long known but here are some new facts and findings.

So, my dear fellow tax payers - like it or not you are paying for things like suicide bombings, explosives or stabbings (as lately) whose innocent civilian victims beg for help and are spat upon.

Do you really support it?

BBC and truth...

Yesterday BBC put this on their official webpage.
Would you recognize observing the title that the two victims were Jews and the shot Palestinian their murderer caught in the act of committing murder? I wouldn't.
So let this picture

stay here to remember BBC's "objectivity" when it comes to the Middle East.

The new wave of terror

Welcome after long break. I will try to come back with more stories so bare with me please...


Yesterday Palestinians attack an Israeli ambulance carrying a patient in critical condition. The patient? A Palestinian stabbed by a Palestinian who thought he was a Jew.
Meanwhile on the West Bank crowds were celebrating the awful murder of a couple of young parents, Eitam and Naama Henkin who were shot dead by Palestinian terrorists. Their 4 children on the back seat miraculously survived. Here is the description of the celebration.

Meanwhile President Abbas after days of silence accused... Israel (who else?) for the situation and given an example of killing two Palestinians by Israeli forces. What he has forgotten to mention was... that they were killed while in the act of trying to murder Jews - they were terrorists in action.

No doubts Goebbels and Stalinist propagandists could learn a lot from Palestinian authorities. The most horrible part  of it is that in Europe this side is being pictured as 'peace partner' and 'non-radical'. I wonder if Europe has learn a thing since Munich treaty where it praised Hitler and Goebbels. Or maybe I shouldn't wonder, it seems certain it did not :(

A perspective I want to share

It is sad when one has to give up on the country one grew up in.
And not because he/ she left this country - we all sometimes do for various reasons, and than sometimes come back, sometimes visit and sometimes just keep in nice memories. Simply because we feel unaccepted in it. We feel we do not belong there any more (though  we used to). That was (and is) the fate of many refugees from countries that underwent radical changes.
It is also sometimes the effect of some political global or regional changes (like the fate of Jewish refugees from Arab countries after 1948).
Yet we usually presume that apart from individual choices these feelings and struggles omit developed, Western countries. After all they are supposed to be democratic, based on civil rights, usually with many minorities (ethnic, religious and so on) so why would anybody felt unwelcome,  not belonging, excluded?
Well, there is a group of people feeling more and more out of place in Western European countries. They are afraid to be recognized, they feel not belonging because of the constant critics of their religion and ethnicity, they feel more and more vulnerable with the most painful and so recent moment of their history being pushed out of schools, with their children attending schools slowly reminiscent of strongholds, with their often taking care not to be recognized, with their feeling of being voiceless as nobody is willing to hear their story.
They are Jewish people.
And the above linked history from Sweden shows how it happens...

Here is a slightly different one from American campus. And it is saddening. If we can't protect small and peaceful minority against accusations, aggression and lack of belonging what is our system worth, is it already an illusion of society based on equal rights of all?

Graet Pat Condell!!!! And not only...

Here is the really great Pat Condell in his
new piece

I couldn't agree more. He is - unfortunately - ABSOLUTELY right. I believe Western patronizing of Arabs (Palestinians in particular) is the leftover after so cursed officially colonialism. And they can and should be hold accountable to the same standard as the rest of the world and treated accordingly. Than maybe we would have the blame put where it belongs - on Palestinian leaders.

Here is another great article on this subject - please have a look.

I really believe these two links are very, very important.