Grapevine January 28, 2024: A day of sadness and joy

Until it is rebuilt, the Be’eri Art Gallery on Kibbutz Be’eri, destroyed by Hamas on October 7, is being temporarily housed at the Eretz Israel Museum (MUSA) in Tel Aviv. 

The Be’eri photo exhibition by Daniel Tchetchik is appropriately titled Dust and Tears. The exhibition, which opened recently, was initially scheduled for opening in the gallery on the kibbutz. The opening was attended by museum director Ami Katz, chief curator Raz Samira, curator of the exhibition Sofie Berzon MacKie from the Be’eri Gallery and of course the photographer himself, Daniel Tchechik.

Katz said at the opening that in the hope of healing, change, and growth, everyone at MUSA considers it a duty to create a home for the Be’eri Gallery until its real home is rebuilt.

Gazan in Sweden shares love and tolerance

■ TO THOSE who believe there’s no such thing as a good Gazan, be aware that there are exceptions to everything.

A tweet showed up on my computer this week from Loay al-Sharif, who has moved away from the Middle East and lives in Sweden, but continues to post messages about love, understanding, and tolerance. A recent message signed in English and Arabic stated: “I keep getting messages from Arabs labeling me a ‘traitor’ simply because I am a friend of Jews and Israelis. It seems to imply that to avoid being called a ‘traitor,’ I should harbor hate and subscribe to the same evil dogma that many of them do. ‘Traitor’ is fine by me.” Hopefully, the tweet and others like it are authentic. As we are all the products of our respective environments, Alshareef presumably moved to Europe to prevent the poisoning of his brain.

Jerusalem Post editors-in-chief, past and present

■ WHEN EDITORS leave The Jerusalem Post either to look for new and wider horizons or to engage in a change of professions, the paper’s editorial staff are frequently plied with questions about why they left and what they are doing and where. Yaakov Katz, one of the two editors who left over the past year, continues to write a Friday column in the paper, and spends most of his working day at a think tank – the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), where among other things he hosts a popular podcast, Inside Analysis, with a rotating guest list of experienced Israeli military affairs analysts. The views expressed on US-Israel relationship, Israel’s political system, and the country’s diverse demography help the podcast listeners to discern between what is genuine news and what is fake news,

Avi Mayer, who had a shorter period at the helm, teamed up with the 10/7 Project which is a joint public diplomacy and information venture launched by leading American Jewish organizations with the aim of presenting as complete and accurate as possible a picture of the Israel-Hamas war, with a strong focus on the hostages and the victims. Mayer is frequently heard on various television and radio stations.

Current editor Zvika Klein is gradually introducing changes into the paper, something that subscribers will become more aware of in coming months.

Apropos the 10/7 Project, another speaker is Genesis prize winner and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who has spoken out against Hamas.

Event for attachés

■ RUNI VENTURES, the venture capital fund of Reichman University, in collaboration with Innovation Without Borders, hosted an event for commercial and economic for attachés from more than 25 countries, along with key figures from Israel’s venture capital and hi-tech industries.

Spearheaded by Hila Rom, RUNI Ventures joined forces with Innovation Without Borders (IWB) – an organization headed by Liron Attias that brings together foreign economic and innovation attachés stationed in Israel. Attending attaches were from North America and the UK; Singapore and the Philippines; and Italy, Switzerland, and Denmark, among others,

Crisis situation in Israel

■  WHEN THERE is a crisis situation in Israel, numerous Jewish organizations, institutions, and ad hoc committees take the task of public diplomacy upon themselves, but are not always in line with Israel’s official policy. This can sometimes lead to confusion, or worse still, can do serious damage, as all these groups think they know what’s best for Israel, and for the most part see themselves as civilian defense forces in suits instead of combat uniforms. It’s bad enough when Israeli politicians such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir swim against the tide. Israel does not need well-meaning Jews in the Diaspora to complicate matters even further.

A peace conference for the day after?

■ MANY PEOPLE are talking about the “day after” the war between Israel and Hamas when no-one knows when that day will be, or what geopolitical changes there will be in the world by then. 

But one of the most reasonable ideas in this regard is an international peace conference proposed by Prof. Arie M. Kacowicz, professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University. In a recent policy paper, Kacowicz wrote, “The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip might evolve in the next few weeks into its ‘third stage,’ following the aerial bombardment and the massive ground operation undertaken by the IDF into a low-intensity warfare and the establishment of buffer zones with or without a limited Israeli military presence in the enclave.

“The way the war is being prosecuted will determine the range of political options in its aftermath. Despite the reluctance of the current Israeli government to engage in any substantial long-term political discussion about the “day after” in terms of any significant blueprints or scenarios, it is imperative to draw a coherent road map regarding the feasible diplomatic options for the immediate and long-term perspectives regarding Israel’s exit from Gaza in the aftermath of the war, including the political resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Taking into consideration the lack of political willingness and/or ability of both Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to advance peace after the war, the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, and the international and domestic political repercussions for several key actors (including the United States, Egypt, and Jordan), this paper examines the possible role and functions that an International Peace Conference (IPC) might fulfil in granting domestic and international legitimacy and the drawing of a coherent road map leading to de-escalation, stabilization, demilitarization, reconstruction, and governance of the Gaza Strip in the immediate term. 

“Moreover, any IPC should also address the larger political issue regarding the ultimate diplomatic resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in the form of the fulfillment of UNGA Resolution 181 (1947) and the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian State in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, following UNSC Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973),1515 (2003), 1850 (2008), and 2334 (2016).”

The policy paper draws on historical precedents from other conflicts, as well as reflecting on examples and experiences from the Arab-Israeli conflict, first and foremost the relevant and successful example of the Madrid Conference of October 1991. The major insight to be drawn is that an IPC is a necessary but not sufficient ingredient in the road map leading to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the war in the immediate term – as well as to negotiations toward the peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian State alongside Israel.

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