To Celebrate Or Not to Celebrate?

There are other anniversaries that could be / have been discussed. In April, it was 75 years since the boycott of Jewish stores shortly after Hitler was made head of the German government. There were SA brownshirts in front of my father's shoe store, “persuading” people not to buy there; and in the evening some came to pick up my dad; who wasn't there, apparently having been warned by someone.

But many would find it odd, if I didn't say anything on the occasion of sixty years since the State of Israel was proclaimed in May of 1948. All the media seem to be fascinated by it. The mainstream ones celebrate wth mainly Israeli Right wing stuff, now highlighted by the big show starring US president George W. Bush and (meanwhile unindited) Israeli PM Ehud Olmert; with a supporting cast of heads of governments/ states that once used to view themselves as major powers themelves (France, Germany et al) . The alternative dissident media (with e-mail notices) exhibit a similar near monopoly of anti-Israeli propaganda by the StopPeace Left: don't celebrate! It is 60 years of occupation since the Nakba.

I could really make do with just recounting that in a letter sent to the Israeli consulate in San Francisco the (1977) day the first prime minister of the Zionist ultraright (Begin) took office, I wrote a Yizkor for the State of Israel; something that is done for the deceased. This has long no longer been the state I participated in founding. When I refer to their affinity for the fascist movements/regimes of the 1930-40s, I do not have to rely, like most others, on literature, which might reflect phoney propaganda; I still heard them bragging about it in person. In day to day practice, like sending mail there, I could not, of course, pretend that there is no state by that name. But I did not request my campaign medals for the War of Independence when I wrote for the WWII ones; and do not feel duty bound to pay attention to those “former” terrorists.

In Vancouver, the “Organized Jewish Community” got the fancy Queen Elizabeth Theater for its show. Outside, before the start, were pickets by something I hadn't heard of, possibly because of failure to exist: the Vancouver Anarchist Jewish Youth. Although the picketing had been “endorsed by Jews for a Just Peace”, there were only three pickets, possibly including total membership. They handed out a small leaflet, headed “No Time to Celebrate” and “Jews Remember the Nakba”. A few steps on, a burly character (security guard?) took it away saying he'll recycle it, but let me take it away again. The text seems to be copied from a standardized version of what is becoming sold as “the Palestinian narrative”, but with the number of Palestinian villages destroyed (over 500) and refugees created (over 800,000) somewhat higher than the highest I had seen. If the “Community” has to be worried about their people reading such a leaflet, they can't have much faith in their own propaganda.

In San Francisco, twenty Jewish protestors were arrested when they disrupted the celebration of the “Community” at the Jewish Community Center; where in the 1970s a meeting of Breira, the (thoroughly infiltrated) first US Jewish peace outfit held its irst local meeting, and their entrance was obstructed by two characters later identified as Revisionists (but at least one of them also of the JDL). From that report, it would seem that the flip-flopping toward a StopPeace Left that I deplored here earlier is not confined to Vancouver or Canada; and that again a would be ultraleft is not all that different from the ultraright.

From sunsets

Paris: May 1968 + 40

Il est interdit a interdire !... Achtung! Verbieten ist Verboten !

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There are other anniversaries to recall. Especially in view of the French award to Marek Edelman, rapellons Mai 1968! This is the 40th anniversary of the student takeover of the Sorbonne in Paris

To view a larger, more detailed version of this image click on it. If you are using Internet Explorer, click then on the icon at the lower right of the resulting image.

HOW TO VIEW SUCH STEREOSCOPIC IMAGES (click here)

http://3dexpo.com/how.htm

This slide had already been posted; without mentioning what will be obvious to most. It is one of the Maoist groups in front of the statue of Pasteur. There will be other stereo slides I took, mainly in the Sorbonne courtyard , when this gets organized properly. Meanwhile other things, too.

"Servir le Peuple", another Maoist group (or groupuscule as such began to be called by the Right). Taken from the second floor on the other side of the courtyard.

Danton on his pedestal is not directing one way traffic on Boulevard St. Germain, but pointing in. the direction to take to the Sorbonne, cradle of the (potential) 1968 revolution .

Notice in front of the stock exchange for an "anti-communist" meeting at the Mutualite. The Communist party (PCF) at that time was opposed to the student revolt (started at the Nanterre campus)

Fruit stands next to the Mutualite and not far from the Sorbonne.

That wasn't meant to be a smile. It's a grin. She had waited long enough so as not to obscure my photo of the scene behind, while I pretended to still be preparing for the shot. After she finally had enough, she clearly wanted to show that she was wise to my tricks.

Here there were two groupuscules, one Trotzkyist. The other ?

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French students were not the only ones to challenge the status quo. A few slides from 1960s Berkeley, California, from which I had just arrived and where I returned home about a month later.

National Guard troops on Telegraph Avenue

On University of California (UC) Berkeley campus; activity against Dow Chemical Company recruiters while Dow was producing much of the Napalm used in Vietnam

Oakland's finest called in to help Berkeley's for California's Governor Ronald Reagan's attendance at UC Regents meeting

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Students at the University of Mexico negotiatiating with University administrators about the buses (in background) they had taken to the campus in solidarity with striking bus drivers; (1965 +/- 1)

WWII Campaign Medals

65 years ago, Nazi Germany surrendered. We won, believe it or not. Even if believing it is getting to be difficult at times.

At the beginning of the April 30 posting here, I had written: “I am ending a kind of ritual I have observed for the past two decades. Every year, I wore my WWII campaign medals from April 19, the start of the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising, to May 9-10, when Germany surrendered in 1945. (Except for two special occasions,) I wore them on the inside of my outer garment. They were meant for myself, not for show.” It is then explained, part of which is shown below in small print. I had only written to get them about two decades ago, partly an indication of the indifference to awards in the youth outfits who had organized the Warsaw ghetto uprising; to one of which I had belonged when we “retreated” successfully at the start of the Blitzkrieg in 1939.

(“In our USDA laboratory, we had found ways for utilizing solar energy cost effectively, especially in agriculture, which could have contributed not only to alleviating the US “energy crisis” during the 1970s' first oil shock and boycott, but also the threatened imminent widespread starvation of millions in sunny (semi)arid poorer regions of the world. When the (allegedly encouraged) work was first obstructed surreptitiously, and when the hints were not taken, a regime of terror was unleashed, it occurred to me that, while it was nice to have such a pleasant, well paying job, I am still the same person who had not had to submit to the Nazi terror prostrate.

Being the only bachelor of the team, also having been the initiator of the project, I found a strong way to stand up to the obstacles, then the personal harassment unleashed, by pretending to myself that I was carrying out a task assigned by Mordekhai Anielewicz (who had also been to the same Vilna kibbutz while I was there during the !939-40 winter). It must have made easier taking some of the tough decisions, like going on a hunger strike at the lab. (In the S.F. Chronicle's article on that , my boss was quoted as saying something like “putting one's job on the line sometimes helps”). So it was tied to an undertaking (in writing) never to accept any award, as for having done things “beyond the call of duty”; except my campaign medals, which I then requested, and got.”).

From Solarity

Photo taken in The Hague, Netherlands, on this day 15 years ago, the 50^th anniversary of victory over the fascist Axis of evil. The Delft tile (seen behind the window of the Bonistraat apartment where I lived at the time) had been made to commemorate the occasion.

From now on, as I ended the April 30 post, "if I wear the medals, it will be on the outside, for all to see".

It then occurred to me that this is as good an occasion as any to start. Done.

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Vancouver Leapday sunset; February 29, 2008

From Solarity

Sun Day + 30

Thirty years ago, on Wednesday May 3, 1978, Sun Day was celebrated throughout the United States; and beyond (years later I saw a mural for it in Kosice, Slovakia). Sun Day was meant to "usher in the solar age" according to its organizers, Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes; who earlier had organized the first Earth Day. A strong grassroots movement had been developing; beginning even before the first oil shock and boycott. President Jimmy Carter had issued a proclamation in support, and a memo by the Secretary of Agriculture urging researchers to participate in local Sun Day events was supposed to be sent to each of us. At least mine arrived weeks after I had participated without the urging, both in Berkeley and in Ukiah, Mendocino County seat; near which I had bought land where I intended to utilize the methods developed in our federal lab. Below are some stereo slides, not all directly from Sun Day, but at least related.

I expect to reorganize this post with decent captions (et al) and further text. Here only that Sun Day represented the peak of the grassroots movement; but also its end. It may have been too successful. Had it been allowed to continue, we needn't have faced today's energy crisis. I was shown how to commit suicide in Ukiah a few hours after generating the first (very small amount of) solar thermal electricity on a $50 toy generator and a Fresnel lens from the Hallmark Company; by a man who bragged about having been to a Sun Day party of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

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Sun Day Fair in Berkeley; May 3, 1978

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Vive Marek Edelman! Vive la France!

This is real support for my insistence that the anniversary of the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto is not the proper occasion (really the worst possible) for observing a "Holocaust Day"; as it is in the State of Israel and the USA. The government of France evidently recognizes that it is the proper time to commemorate the fight of Jews against the Nazi extermination machine. They chose it to award the title of Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur on Marek Edelman, the last living leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Marek Edelman, the last living leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

File photo shows Marek Edelman, the last living leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in front of the Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes. Ceremonies commemorating the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Nazis takes place in the Polish city every year

Source: AFP - Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp080414054318.rcqdwnaip0&show_article=1&catnum=0&ch=BNImagesAll&image=large

Below is newspaper coverage of the event from Lodz, Edelman's home town:

Marek Edelman receives Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur Marek Edelman otrzymuje Order Legii Honorowej Marek Edelman jest Honorowym Obywatelem Łodzi. Kawalerem Orderu Orła Białego. Urodził się w 1921 roku w Homlu. W czasie wojny był jednym z organizatorów Żydowskiej Organizacji Bojowej w warszawskim getcie. Po śmierci Mordechaja Anielewicza został dowódcą powstania w getcie. Półtora roku później walczył na barykadach powstania warszawskiego. Zawsze uważał, że powstanie Żydów było fragmentem walki Polaków z hitlerowskim najeźdźcą. Po wojnie zamieszkał w Łodzi. Ukończył medycynę i został lekarzem. Nigdy nie zaakceptował komunizmu, ale nie wyjechał z Polski, nawet po marcu 1968 roku. Nie zrezygnował też z aktywności politycznej. Pomagał prześladowanym, podpisywał protesty przeciwko bezprawiu. Był współpracownikiem Komitetu Obrony Robotników i jednym z liderów "Solidarności". Internowany 13 grudnia 1981. Prof. Jan Karski, kurier polskiego państwa podziemnego, powiedział o nim kiedyś: "Marek Edelman jest najszlachetniejszym z najszlachetniejszych. Jest szlachetny i mądry. A to rzadka kombinacja". Edelman jest moralnym głosem w dzisiejszym świecie. Zabiera głos w ważnych sprawach dotyczących nie tylko Polski, ale też innych narodów. I słuchają go najważniejsi. [Joanna Podolska - Gazeta Wyborcza Łódź] Marek Edelman is a Honorary Citizen of Łódź, awarded with the Order of the White Eagle. He was born in 1921 in Homl. During wartime, he was one of the organisers of Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Combat Organization) in the Warsaw ghetto. After Mordechaj Anielewicz's death, he became the leader of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. A year and a half later he fought on the front of the Warsaw uprising. He has always thought that the Jewish uprising was a fragment of the Polish fight against the Nazi agressors. After the war he moved to Łódź. He finished medicine studies and became a doctor. He never accepted communism, but did not leave Poland, even after March 1968. Nor did he give up political activity. He helped the persecuted and signed protests against lawlessness. He was an associate of KOR (Workers' Defence Comittee) and one of the leaders of Solidarity. He was Interned on 13th December 1981. Professor Jan Karski, a messanger of the Polish Underground State, once said about him: "Marek Edelman is the noblest of the noble. He is noble and wise. And that is a rare combination". Edelman is a moral voice in the today's world. He speaks in cases important not only for Poland, but for other nations as well. And he is listened to by the most eminent. [Joanna Podolska - Gazeta Wyborcza Łódź] Read about Marek Przeczytaj o Marku MakoLab Mirek Sopek

http://www.makolab.pl/honours/edelman.htm

What follows is the address of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the Warsaw award ceremony.

Allocution de M. Bernard Kouchner lors de la cérémonie de remise des insignes de Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur à M. Marek Edelman (Varsovie, 15 avril 2008)

Monsieur l’Ambassadeur, Messieurs les Ambassadeurs, Il y a des mots qui apaisent les douleurs et les solitudes, le mot amour et le mot fraternité. Il y a des mots qui claquent comme des oriflammes, le mot combat et le mot camarade. Ajoutons-y Edelman, Marek Edelman. Pour certains d’entre nous, ce mot signifie, à lui tout seul, engagement, fraternité, obstination, liberté et combat. Pour certains d’entre nous, beaucoup qui sont ici, Marek Edelman est notre modèle, notre héros, notre résistant, notre obstiné. Pour nous, pour notre génération, Marek Edelman signifie aussi un regard sur l’Histoire, sur l’Histoire de cette guerre, la dernière Guerre mondiale, sur l’Histoire de l’après guerre, sur l’Histoire du communisme, sur l’Histoire de l’engagement perpétuel au coté des Polonais. Et puis, il y a aussi l’histoire des juifs, l’histoire de la résistance juive. Il y a près de 65 ans, presque jour pour jour, en avril 1943, avec ses compagnons, - dont un est ici encore et que je salue -, Marek prenait la direction de l’Organisation juive de combat et entreprenait l’impensable, l’impossible, l’inachevé, la résistance des juifs et le soulèvement du Ghetto de Varsovie dont nous allons tout à l’heure célébrer la mémoire avec les survivants et avec ce souvenir, qui restera éternellement quand nous-mêmes serons morts, d’un homme qui n’a rien accepté de ce que l’on prêtait aux juifs, d’un homme qui, contre tous et sans doute aussi contre lui-même, lui, l’homme de paix, lui qui sera l’un des plus grands médecins de ce pays, lui qui a entamé le combat, lui qui disait, "nous tirons pour que de l’autre coté du mur on nous entende, nous tirons pour vivre, pour exister, nous tirons parce que nous sommes vivants." Ils étaient cinq et on dit qu’ils n’avaient pas 100 ans à eux cinq. On dit qu’ils étaient une bande de jeunes juifs dépenaillés. On dit qu’il portait un pull-over rouge. Il y avait eu 400.000 déportés à Treblinka, dans les mois précédents, venus du Ghetto de Varsovie. On dira dans les rapports qu’ils étaient 220 pour cette suprême insurrection, la mère de toutes les insurrections. Je ne vais pas vous raconter l’Histoire, c’est Marek qui devrait la raconter et puis, parce que la traduction bride un peu le lyrisme, je vais essayer de résumer mon amour pour lui, ma passion pour lui, mon admiration pour lui. Il a créé des organisations qui ont compté dans l’histoire des juifs. Il était membre du Bund, le refus éternel, c’est-à-dire le refus d’Israël. Il a le droit après tout, et les autres ont le droit de construire Israël. Ils se rencontrent souvent et le Bund, dans l’histoire du mouvement ouvrier des pays de l’Est, c’est capital, c’est central. Il y a eu l’organisation juive de combat, il y a eu le Bund, il y a eu le commandement de l’insurrection du ghetto et puis la mort d’Anielewicz. Marek Edelman est le dernier survivant du commandement du ghetto de Varsovie. Ensuite, il a participé à tous les combats du mouvement ouvrier et des mouvements démocratiques polonais. Lorsque certains d’entre vous l’ont rencontré ici, c’était au moment de Solidarnosc, le mouvement qui nous a tous marqués dans notre histoire nationale, et le retour à l’opposition polonaise en 1975. Mais ce n’était pas le dernier épisode, il y en a eu bien d’autres, à Sarajevo et à propos de l’Irak. Et puis, il a été emprisonné, et puis il a été député, et puis il a continué à militer. Le mot, aussi, qui caractérise Marek, c’est "militant". C’est un éternel militant, c’est un militant sans concession. Parallèlement et en même temps, il était médecin, un grand médecin. Il était cardiologue et chef de service ; et cela aussi nous l’a fait admirer. Il possède à la fois cette humanité profonde, des mains qui touchent le malade, cette technique et une vision politique permanente. Cette vision politique, cette démarche humaine et ces techniques chirurgicales, il les a proposées à ces malades. Je pense qu’ici, pour ce que Marek a créé avec Jacek Kuron, avec Adam Michnik - qui est là -, je voudrais rappeler cet épisode précis de la lutte politique en Pologne. Je voudrais parler, aussi, d’Alina, sa femme, qui fut membre de Médecins du monde, avec qui nous avons travaillé et milité à Paris et qui nous a quittés il y a quelques jours. Je n’ai pas pu être là puisque j’étais en Angleterre à ce moment là pour une visite officielle que Marek sans doute me reprochera. Je pense à Ania qui est là, sa fille, je pense à Alexandre, son fils, qui est à Paris et je ne sépare pas de Marek les membres de sa famille dans son combat permanent, ses enfants et sa femme qui l’ont accompagné. Beaucoup d’entre nous ici sont ses héritiers. C’est très prétentieux de se dire héritier de Marek Edelman, mais pour Médecins sans frontières et Médecins du monde qui sont venus ici, c’était un rêve de lui ressembler et nous avons essayé d’être digne de ses conseils, de ses critiques, de ses colères. Pour moi, Marek est un juif d’épopée, un juif de ténacité, un militant - je l’ai dit -infatigable, un dissident perpétuel, un homme qui n’accepte aucune discipline en dehors de ses convictions, un révolutionnaire fidèle, un social démocrate d’esprit. Au fond, je n’ai jamais rencontré d’homme plus important et je donnerai de lui cette définition qui me vient de mes lectures d’adolescents : Marek Edelman, c’est un "homme véritable". Je sais que beaucoup ici pensent comme moi. Ils auraient voulu lui ressembler. En tout cas, moi, j’aurais voulu lui ressembler. Il me dira que j’ai été trop long. Il me dira que j’ai été prétentieux. Moi, je lui dirai merci. La première fois que je suis revenu ici, j’étais ministre, il m’a dit : "pour un ministre tu n’es pas mal, mais quand même tu es ministre et ça c’est difficile." J’étais avec Jacques Lebas et André Glucksmann et on aimait bien se faire engueuler par Marek. Alors, cela me fait plaisir de lui faire une dernière surprise et une provocation de ma part, mais aussi de la part de la France. Rien, dans ma petite carrière politique - qui n’est pas une carrière - n’est plus important que le geste que je vais faire. Mon admiration et ma fidélité pour lui n’ont jamais été plus grandes, pour personne. Alors, au nom du président de la République française et en vertu des pouvoirs qui me sont conférés, je fais de cet éternel combattant, ce juif suprême, ce rebelle de légende, cet exemple pour le monde, je le fais Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur.

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/article-imprim.php3?id_article=61721

Wouldn't it be nice if Jews in North America could also remember that?


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