Next week Jews around the world will celebrate Passover. Passover is a family celebration where friends and even strangers are invited to celebrate the Israelite Exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom in  land of Israel. The holiday of Pesach  has been designed over the centuries so that children as young as five years old, can understand that Pharaoh represents tyranny and the Israelites, freedom. The land of Israel is where the Jewish people first established their nation state -- perhaps the first nation state the world has ever seen -- and where the Jewish people have reconstituted their nation state in 1948.

Israel is surrounded by hostile neighbours, most of whom are still officially at war with Israel. The most militant are the Arabs of Gaza who are governed by Hamas, a radical Islamist group dedicated to the total destruction of the Jews and the State of Israel. The New York Times does not usually cover the near continuous war of the Arabs against Israel with much fairness, but in this article the Times shows us what the Arabs of Gaza are teaching their children, while Jews and Israelis teach their children the songs of freedom that are part of Passover and the Western literary tradition.

Peace will only come to the land of Israel when its Arab neighbours stop teaching their children that they must destroy the Jewish people and the land of Israel. Until then Israel must remain strong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/world/middleeast/to-shape-young-palestinians-hamas-creates-its-own-textbooks.html

May you be blessed with freedom on this Passover year of 5777.

Sincerely,


Goldi Steiner and Irving Weisdorf

Co-chairs
Canadians For Balfour 100