DavidWilder.Org

Stand Tall and Proud August 30, 2004 Almost exactly sixty five years ago, Nazi forces conquered and occupied the second largest city in Poland, Lodz. Less than a week after the occupation, Rosh HaShana 1939, the Germans ordered that all businesses remain open and that synagogues be closed. This was only the beginning of the havoc to be wreaked on […]

Honey from a Rock August 23, 2004 Shalom. A couple of days ago I noticed an interesting feature in Ma’ariv newspaper. Headlined “No entrance to settlers,” the article went on to describe attempts being made by 115 countries to prevent Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza from entering their countries. These so-called unaligned nations include almost all of Africa, […]

Chains of Freedom or Chains of Slavery July 26, 2004 Yesterday witnessed two key happenings, both centered around Gush Katif, but whose significances far supercede one land area in Israel. The first of these events stretched out over 90 kilometers, that’s some 56 miles, from Gush Katif in Gaza to the old city of Jerusalem, to the Wall, the Kotel. Somewhere […]

Come On, Rape Me July 19, 2004 Shalom. The week opened with all sorts of wonderful events. New coalition talks: meetings between Peres and Sharon; Labor-Likud negotiators squabbling over economics and cabinet positions; Shas huddling with the Likud demanding: Dump Shinui; Agudat Yisrael toying with an original idea: accepting a ministerial post in the government. Everyone is expected to get […]

Keep Your Spirits UP July 12, 2004 During my Israel National Radio weekly show, “Blessings from Hebron,” (first broadcast every Monday at 5:00 PM Israel time – www.israelnationalradio.com), I interviewed Hebron resident Yifat Alkobi, who spoke about Shalhevet’s father and Uncle, Itzik Pass and Matti Shvu, both of whom are still in jail and are being denied the basic rights […]

Living What You Believe and Believing What you Live July 4, 2004 Shalom. Yesterday afternoon I was guiding two journalists around Hebron, showing them the sites, so to speak. One of them is the bureau chief of the New York Times, James Bennett, together with a columnist for the International Herald Tribune, Roger Cohen. A few interesting things happened during […]

If not totally justified, at least understood June 27, 2004 Shalom. “Stamp Out Islam!” – There, bet that got your attention. If I were to leave it at that, I would more than likely be arrested, indicted, and probably convicted of racism, incitement and other such palatable crimes. But the phrase that begins this commentary is not mine. I’m quoting […]

We Will Not Be Sheep Led to SlaughterJune 20, 2004 Any time the word violence pops up, especially in the context of ‘right wing’ activists, ‘condemnation’ is an automatic byproduct. So it was late last week when Uri Elitzur, editor of the Israeli monthly magazine Nikuda, legitimized limited violence against anyone attempting to expel people from their homes in Yesha. […]

Time to wake up June 20, 2004 Any time the word violence pops up, especially in the context of ‘right wing’ activists, ‘condemnation’ is an automatic byproduct. So it was late last week when Uri Elitzur, editor of the Israeli monthly magazine Nikuda, legitimized limited violence against anyone attempting to expel people from their homes in Yesha. In an interview […]

The Saddamization of IsraelJune 10, 2004 Well, Noam’s back home. Finally, at last, after almost nine months of lockup, originally in the same wing with Shech Obaid and Mustepha Dirani. After a prolonged hunger strike that has left him underweight. After legal battles which climaxed when the State dropped all charges against him in the “Bat Ayin” case. Noam was […]