MENACHEM BEGIN HERITAGE CENTER BULLETIN Vol. 6, No. 34 | June 17, 2010
Please note:
There will be a temporary substitute bulletin editor while the usual editor is away on vacation.
70 YEARS COMMEMORATION – LECHI
The Menachem Begin Heritage Center served proudly as cosponsor of the 70th anniversary commemoration event of the Lechi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) underground group that waged an urban guerrilla liberation campaign, alongside the Irgun, to free Eretz-Yisrael from the oppressive British mandatory regime which took place this past Sunday, June 13.
The Reuben Hecht Auditorium was filled to overflowing and an additional room was opened to facilitate dozens more who viewed the proceedings via closed-circuit television.
The Lechi, also known as the 'Stern Group', broke away from the Irgun in the summer of 1940 when Avraham “Yair” Stern, a member of the High Command, disagreed with the position taken to enter a ceasefire until after World War II.
Lechi Fighters' Heritage Society chairman, Yair Stern (son of slain leader Avraham Stern), noted that Lechi members included "Ashkenazim and Sephardim, secular and religious, left and right, ultra-Orthodox Jews from Mea Sha'arim and Arabs from Abu-Ghosh.”
Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat (Likud), whose father was in Lechi, spoke as well as Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon. Member of Knesset Professor Arieh Eldad (National Union), son of Lechi Central Committee member and ideologue, Dr. Israel Eldad, remarked, “After 62 years we plainly see that we should have never disbanded Lehi.”
Visual materials were shown and musical entertainment was provided including the singing of underground songs.
Additional report
here.
MENACHEM BEGIN – IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Following
an article by Richard Allen in the New York Times recalling then President Ronald Regan's first response to the bombing of Iraq's Osirak atomic reactor on the orders of then Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin (see here), Thomas Graham Jr., former special representative of President Clinton for arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament, 1994-97, had
a letter published in the paper.Graham claimed that the raid did not deal a fatal blow to Saddam Hussein’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon and recalled Shimon Peres' opposition to the strike. He pointed out that the United States joined in a unanimous Security Council resolution condemning Israel. He nevertheless concludes that "given the nature of the Iraqi regime, Israel’s actions may well have been justified by history", this despite it being "a significant military assault on the territory of a sovereign state".
He suggests that "the 1981 event should not be suggested as a precedent in either direction for the current incidents related to the blockade of Gaza".
He did not, however, deal with the question of Iran's current nuclear development program.
NEW BEGIN BIOGRAPHY
A popular political biography of Menachem Begin has been published by the prestigious printing house, Modan, authored by award-winning author Galila Ron-Feder-Amit. Entitled, in English, "Hadar – The Story of Menachem Begin", the book has appeared only in Hebrew, so far. Each of the 31 chapters in this 431 page book is accompanied by glossary and lexicon entries to aid the reader regarding historical, biographical and institutional matters. The book's dedication is to "the memory of the 12 Gallows' Martyrs".
In an interview, in Hebrew, in the Ha'aretz Book Weekly Supplement, Galila recalls that although the book deals with Begin's heritage – which she defines in the book's forward as "cleaving to the truth, integrity and being responsible for every word he uttered" – she wrote it primarily out of a personal experience.
Her very first novel, out of over 300 (!) she has published, she had sent to Begin when he was a Minister in Levy Eshkol's unity government over 40 years ago. He invited her to meet him and told her:
"If you wish to write to the heart, write for children and the youth for only their hearts are open."
The Center is now planning a future book launch event for the summer.
BEGIN PRESENTED IN CHINESE
As mentioned in the bulletin two weeks ago, the Begin Center had the pleasure of hosting several interns. One of these interns, Xiao (Agnes) Ye of Pepperdine University wrote a short article about Menachem Begin, the Begin Center, its programs and its museum for her internship program's blog. She translated this also into Chinese, so information is now available to Chinese speakers who may be interested in learning more about the Begin Center.
It will be published on the blog soon.
VISITORS
Debbie and Bernard Schwartz of New Jersey, friends of Sindy and Barry Liben, Center Patrons, visited the Center. They toured the museum, were accompanied by Ilana Brown, Development Department officer, and Yisrael Medad, Director of Content & Educational Resources. The Center's programs and facilities were discussed.
Stanley Roth, of Sydney, Australia, visited the museum with his son and his son's friend. It was the first visit to the museum for his son and they took time to review the Roth Family Avenue of the Heritage which describes the ideals that Menachem Begin set forth in his 1952 publication of his Basic Outlines of our World View and Our National Outlook.