It is Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday. You can read more about this year’s theme here.

On days such as this I am reminded of the words of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel who wrote the following:

‘What cannot help but astound us is that the Hasidim remained the Hasidim inside the ghetto walls, inside the death camps. In the shadow of the executioner, they celebrated life. Startled Germans whispered to each other of Jews dancing in the cattle cars rolling towards Birkenau; Hasidim ushering in Simchat Torah. And there were those who in Block 57 at Auschwitz tried to make me join in their fervent singing. Were these miracles?’

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I had a marvellous time giving my speech at Kenton Synagogue last night. Thanks to everyone who attended and for all your generous comments and blessings. Particular thanks to Sharna for driving out to Windsor to collect me and then drop me off afterwards.

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I will be speaking at Kenton Synagogue on Monday evening at 8.30pm. The theme of my talk will be ‘How I advocate for Israel – and why’.

Come along if you fancy!

Nick Clegg’s description of Israeli settlements as ‘vandalism’ was, even by the standards of his bonkers commentary on Israel, a moment of great farce. Whatever your view of the settlements, no definition of the word ‘vandalism’ fits the motivation or reality of even the most hardline West Bank settlers.

Clegg’s subsequent assertion that new settlements create ‘facts on the ground’ that decrease the prospect of a two-state solution is harder to argue with. Not least because a significant number of Israeli settlers proudly confirm that they are indeed thus motivated.

Ariel Sharon, an original champion of the settlement movement, told the settlers they needed ‘to grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements, because everything we take now will stay ours’. He also described the new neighbourhoods as ‘facts on the ground’.

I have no inherent quarrel with the settlements nor the settlers. I do think, though, that many of us who support Israel can improve the way we explain them to the world.

There are a number of potential justifications for them, including strategic, tactical, cultural and historical ones. More of us need to get off the fence and either enthusiastically make these cases, or come-out and oppose settlements.

At the moment we all too often fudge the issue, merely parroting that it is not the settlements that are the obstacle to peace, but Palestinian rejectionism. This evasive line of argument is not cutting any ice in the court of public opinion.

When we dodge the issue, we effectively present settlements as the embarrassing member of the Israeli family. In which case we cannot be surprised when the world increasingly sees them as a bad thing.

What say you?

‘Hitbodidut-meditation – inner-directed, unstructured, active self-expression before God is the highest path of all. Take it.’
(Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)

(I don’t know Violet, for whose birthday this video was made. I just thought it was a cool video. I hope she had a good birthday though.)

Happy week, everyone!

Some LSE students face disciplinary action after participating in a Nazi-themed drinking game during a student union skiing trip in France last month. The game included swastika playing card formations and ‘salutes and respect’ to ‘the Fuhrer’, all of which continued in the presence of a deeply-offended Jewish student. As tensions soared, a brawl occured which left the Jewish student with a broken nose.

What ghastly, ghastly people. You can read more about this shocking story here and here.

I just been perusing my blog statistics and I’m pleased that so many people come and read my thoughts.

As I expected, most visitors come from England, with Israel a close second and America just behind. I was pleasantly surprised that lots of people from Iran pop-by every day.  It was also interesting to see how much traffic the NaNach website sends my way.

So I’ll attempt an all-encompassing sign-off: shalom, have a nice day, از ملاقات شما خوشوقتم, jolly good show, and – of course – Na, Nach, Nachma, Nachman Me’Uman!

From Brooklyn gangsters to South African prawns. District 9, film number four in my top-five countdown, is a science-fiction thriller that uses extra-terrestrial visitors – known colloquially in the film as ‘prawns’ – to deliver a potent statement about some of history’s injustices and outrages, including apartheid-era South Africa. Its title alludes to the real-life District Six, a Cape Town neighbourhood from which 60,000 inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s.

The hero of  the film, Wikus van de Merwe, is a comical yet admirable government agent who is forced to serve eviction notices on the prawns of District 9, a government camp in Johannesburg. During the evictions he begins to see things from the prawns’ point of view but ends-up paying a hideous price.

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Haha, this is funny. How many of these things have people said to you?

I’m interested and excited to learn that Noam Shalit – Gilad’s father – aims to stand as a Labor Party candidate in the next Knesset elections.  “Following years of a public struggle, during which I got to know Israeli society thoroughly – both its beautiful and ethical sides – I have decided to join public life,” he said.

More power to him. Some of the most significant politicians in Israel’s history have entered politics following extremely challenging experiences. Natan Sharansky and Menachem Begin had been held by the Soviets. So had Yuli Edelstein. Benjamin Netanyahu lost his brother Yoni during Operation Entebbe.

None of these examples exactly match Noam’s, but they each have their similarities and they show that people who have faced some of life’s harshest challenges can offer much on the political stage. Best of luck, Noam, and thanks again for the grapes.

Meanwhile, in 10 days the Zionist Federation will deliver messages to IDF soldiers as part of the ‘Make a soldier smile’ campaign, set-up by Keren Hajioff, an IDF soldier from Finchley. So, if you want to make an Israeli soldier smile, please write a suitable message and email it to: office@zfuk.org

Have you seen The Iron Lady? Chris and I saw it in Oxford yesterday and were both mesmerised.

Meryl Streep plays a blinder as Margaret Thatcher, the story moves smoothly from era to era and the emotional conclusion had me blubbing into my Peanut M&Ms.

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve seen it, and indeed your opinions on Lady Thatcher in general. I know she’s both loved and hated and it’s as intriguing when people admire everything she did as when people hold her in universal contempt. Can it ever be that simple?

(You might also like to read this post from three years ago, in which I discussed her mostly-positive relationship with Israel and the Jewish people in general.)

‘Lovers of this Middle Eastern delicacy take their shawarma very seriously,’ begins a recent Haaretz article. Damn right we do, as this passionate discussion on my blog showed.

The Haaretz article lists what it says are the top five shawarma outlets in Tel Aviv. I was pleased to see the inclusion my global favourite, Hakosem (The Magician). The others listed are Daboush, Kababa, Olei Tzion and Haj Kahil. I’ve not been to any of them – yet – and I’d love to hear from anyone who has. Also, does anyone have any further shawarma recommendations elsewhere in Israel? I’m particularly interested in Jerusalem.

Reading the Haaretz article has left me a) very hungry and b) all the keener to return to Israel soon. I’m thinking of April or May, actually. Meanwhile, myself and a shawarmaphile OyVaGoy reader from Berkshire are making the latest of our now regular road trips to Golders Green today. We have been known to eat two servings of shawarma during such pilgrimages. Oh me, oh my.

The trouble with ‘favourite film’ discussions is that sometimes people are so keen to impress that they choose the film they’d like you to think is their favourite, rather than their actual favourite. I’ve never been one for ‘guilty pleasures’, or pretending I’m more cultured than I am, so you can rest assured that I never pretend to like things I don’t.

Well, apart from one time. At a workplace I frequented some years back I grew so tired of my colleagues’ pretentious discussion of the arts that I opened a ‘What is your favourite film’ discussion purely so when it came to my turn I could pretend mine is The Railway Children.

Now, I do actually quite like The Railway Children. It’s perfect viewing when you’re feeling under the weather, for instance. But that’s not the point. I chose it merely to try and wind-up the snobs – and how successful I was. ‘What did you say?!’ shrieked one, ‘The Railway Children?!’ For weeks afterwards he kept approaching me in the corridor and saying ‘I just can’t get over the fact you like The Railway Children!’ before walking off, sighing in disgust. Haha, what an absolute knob he was.

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So, news reaches me that the kosher McDonalds branch at Ben Gurion Airport has closed. I’m gutted – I used to love a quick nosh there on my way home from an Israel trip!

Can any Israelis reassure me that Burger Ranch – which is replacing McDs at Ben Gurion – is any good?

If not, then may the Ben Gurion McDonalds be rebuilt speedily in our days, amen.