Israeli official to bring news and views to Napa

By Henry Michalski

On Sunday, Jan. 14, Napans will have a rare opportunity to hear from and ask questions of David Akov, the consul general for Israel for the Pacific Northwest region.

He will reiterate what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has often restated and what every Israeli genuinely desires — to live in peace with its Arab neighbors.

Akov will be at Congregation Beth Sholom at 1455 Elm St. on Jan. 14, 4-6 p.m. The public is invited to this important and historic free event. Refreshments will be served.

Akov is a sabra, a native Israeli, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces following high school. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Middle East history and an M.A. in political science and political thought, both from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has served his people in many strategic capacities before being appointed to the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco in August 2004.

Because there are so many myths and misconceptions about Israel, it is important to stress that Israel is a tiny cosmopolitan democracy of 6 million people, 1 million of whom are Arab citizens. Israel was re-established almost 60 years ago by a majority vote of the United Nations, returning Jewish survivors to their ancient “promised land” three years after the Holocaust. Jewish people, indigenous to the Middle East, have lived continuously in Israel for thousands of years, even during the long exile or Diaspora perpetrated by the Romans, who renamed Judea Palestine. Many empires have come and gone, but only one group has, for thousands of years, consistently held Israel as its national home, ending their prayers, “next year in Jerusalem.” Kind David established Jerusalem, a city mentioned in the Jewish Bible more than 700 times (it is not mentioned in the Koran), as the eternal capital of Israel more than a thousand years before the birth of Mohammed. Israeli pioneers literally transformed a barren and neglected desert wilderness into a land “flowing with milk and honey,” stunning the world with breathtaking medical, agricultural and technological achievements like cell phone technology, and all this with their hands tied behind their backs.

It’s important to recount these facts and achievements because collective memories are short, and many who wish Israel ill have produced a mountain of slick extremist propaganda and outright lies about Israel. Terrorists and their oil rich sponsors have deftly portrayed Palestinians as victims of Israeli “aggression” and perverted code words like apartheid, occupation, and “Zionist entity,” especially on college campuses, as a way of gaining sympathy for their cause, which ultimately is the violent elimination of Israel and the Jewish people! Arabs, rather than living in peace with Israel, have created an industry out of Holocaust denial, even managing to legitimize asking the outrageous question, “Does Israel have a right to exist?” The answer is clear because Israel does not exist on any map in Arab schools and “Mein Kampf” is the best-selling book in the Muslim world.

The Honorable David Akov will discuss many of these issues, explaining the reasons that after almost 60 years of statehood, Israel embarked on a costly enterprise of constructing a protective security barrier. He will outline the incredible existential threats Israel is currently facing, such as:

• Iran, the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, continues its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and their leader has threatened “to wipe Israel off the map.”

• Syria is delivering Iranian arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon, a terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s destruction, in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolution that imposes an arms embargo.

• Palestinians, who elected Hamas to represent their national interests, a terrorist group vowed to Israel’s destruction, have fired more than 1,300 rockets into Israel since Israel forcefully moved 8,000 Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip so Palestinians could begin building a nation for themselves.

Despite these continuous threats to Israel’s survival, Olmert has often expressed Israel’s desire and willingness to sacrifice for peace. “The state of Israel is open to any murmur or peace from our neighbors and across our borders. If our enemies genuinely want peace, they will find in us a fair partner, determined to establish relations of peace, friendship and reciprocity,” he has said. Israel has recently taken steps to assist the Palestinians, including releasing frozen tax revenue, facilitating the movement of people and goods in the West Bank and laying out a political horizon for establishing a Palestinian state.

True peace will come to the troubled Middle East when moderate Arab voices bravely speak out and demand an end to suicide bombers, rocket attacks and kidnappings. They will find Israel a willing partner for peace. On Jan. 14, Napans will have an opportunity to learn more about this region and how peace can be attained. See you there!

(Michalski lives in Napa.)

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