The Last Exile

Jordan has filed a written request with the Canadian government asking for our government to seize possession of the scrolls to ensure the ancient Hebrew scrolls do not return to Israeli possession. The Globe and Mail:

Jordan has asked Canada to seize the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea scrolls, on display until Sunday at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, invoking international law in a bid to keep the artifacts out of the hands of Israel until their disputed ownership is settled.

Even if Canada ignores the request, it will make other countries think twice before accepting the controversial exhibit. Summoning the Canadian chargé d’affaires in Amman two weeks ago, Jordan cited the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, to which both Jordan and Canada are signatories, in asking Canada to take custody of the scrolls.

Jordan claims Israel acted illegally in 1967 when it took the scrolls from a museum in east Jerusalem, which Israel seized from Jordan during the Six-Day War and subsequently occupied. The Hague Convention, which is concerned with safeguarding cultural property during wartime, requires each signatory “to take into its custody cultural property imported into its territory either directly or indirectly from any occupied territory. This shall either be effected automatically upon the importation of the property or, failing this, at the request of the authorities of that territory.” This means Canada must act, says Jordan. “The Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan would be grateful if the Government of Canada would confirm … whether it is prepared to assume its international legal responsibility, and the means by which it intends to do so,” it wrote.

The Jordanian government must have a sever case of senile dementia as it forgets the only reason the Jordan government had custody of the ancient Jewish scrolls owes more to its own illegal occupation of the disputed territories from 1948-1967. I am not holding my breath but it does look like the Canadian government maybe refuse to be sucked into Pally-lawfare.

While confirming that Canada has received a message from Jordan, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said yesterday that “differences regarding ownership of the Dead Sea scrolls should be addressed by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. It would not be appropriate for Canada to intervene as a third party.”

An eminently sane position but the Jordanians and Palestinians are not suggesting Canada seize the ancient Jewish scrolls from Israeli custodianship per say but act as a neutral third party in retaining the ancient Jewish scrolls until ‘ownership’ of the Dead Sea Scrolls can be ‘legally’ resolved. So the Jordanians want the international community to determine who is legal rightful custodian of ancient Hebrew scrolls documenting the ancient Jewish presence to the land – the Palestinian Authority or Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people.

During the course of the day each of my children called to tell me they would not be able to make it home in time for dinner. I made the usual Momma protests and added a touch of guilt but each of them stood firm. Nothing like a little adolescent rebellion. I tell myself it could be worse, and at least, each teenager sounded a touch shamed face about skipping dinner. There is just something downright unnatural about being all alone in this big old house come Friday night.

I knew there was a scheduled protest against the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the ROM, and freed of family obligations I could easily make it home to change, catch the protest and be back home before the sun set. A funny thing happened on my way out the door. I ran into my youngest son, Isaiah Sender. He said he would go with me if I could wait for him to change. As I was waiting for Isaiah Sender, in comes the Last Amazon like a hurricane from work. She might have been hot, wet and cranky but when she learned we are off to catch the protests at the ROM – she demanded we wait for her to change so she can come too. The Last Amazon was a mite curious to see the kind of people who would claim the Dead Sea Scrolls were a part of Palestinian heritage.

What I was not prepared for when I turned the corner to the front entrance was the sea of blue and white … and I was worried about being alone on Friday night. My very bad. I ran into Right Girl and she smiled and said, “I knew you would come.” No doubt she will have pictures up soon and her unique brand of pithy take on it all. My eyes weren’t what they once were, and with the sun was shining bright on Zion’s side of the street it was hard for me to take pictures, so Isaiah Sender volunteered to do the honours. These are his pictures.

Of course, the reason we were gathered was because of the protests on the other side. Isaiah Sender decided no pictorial would be complete without pictures of the usual mosers. I know, I know, I shouldn’t call them that, but if not moser, then what are they? I don’t understand them, and I suppose I have gotten to an age where I no longer feel compelled to understand every dark turn or twist of their psyches. Instead, I just accept it. We all make our own choices. If there was one thing which stood out clearly it was this – across the street there was a distinct lack of pigment. They might have had the signs denouncing Zionism as racism but it was the Zionists who came in all colours. Zionists are also sensitive to the hearing impaired.

“BAD GUYS” GALLERY





After being roaming across the street snapping pictures and getting flack for hanging out with the ‘Zionists’ Isaiah Sender was more than happy to give Right Girl a break from holding high the Israeli flag.
And may the sun always shine on Zion.

Update: Lots more pictures and video at Lumpy, grumpy & frumpy

Now that I am paying attention to the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit at the Rom it looks like as if it is turning into quite a success. The Globe and Mail:

Attendance at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World exhibition has exceeded even its organizers’ most hopeful projections, attracting an average of more than 2,000 people each day since it opened.

In the nine days after the Toronto exhibition opened on June 27, 18,324 people attended, exceeding the museum’s projections by 52 per cent, the ROM announced yesterday. And the ROM will hope to draw return visitors, as the 16 scrolls to be displayed are split between two three-month stints, the second of which begins in October. Dating as far back as the third century BC, but discovered just 60 years ago, the Scrolls include the oldest known examples of the Hebrew Bible as well as other religious and secular texts.

Attendance at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World exhibition has exceeded even its organizers’ most hopeful projections, attracting an average of more than 2,000 people each day since it opened.

Since one of the writings on display in the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit contains the Tehillim, and it has now been co-opted as an ancient book of Palestinian-Arab prayers, I thought I would give my readers a picture of what said book looks like. Lucky for you, I just happen to have such a book on my desk. In fact, it is rarely out of my reach. Although, someone might want to have a word with the Kehot people for publishing such a book.

I have been eating a Le Select Bistro since the 80’s when it was located on Queen Street West. Not only was it one of my favourite bistros but my favourite restaurant in the city. Apparently, serving some of the finest cuisine and wine is too small a venture for this bistro which has elected to enter into what I would call another very old French tradition… . The Jewish Tribune:

TORONTO – Frederic Geisweiller, owner of downtown restaurant Le Select Bistro, told the Jewish Tribune he didn’t believe his accusations against the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) regarding the current Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit would discourage visitors. Nor did he acknowledge that his comments about Israel were politically one-sided.

Geisweiller also claimed that due to pressure from Palestinian and other groups, the ROM has revised its information regarding ownership of the Scrolls. This was denied categorically by a ROM spokesperson. Until last week, the restaurant’s website, which publicizes local happenings and cultural events, included the following:

“Although we endeavour in this page to bring you the best this city offers, we wish – uncharacteristically – to warn against a show whose artifacts were obtained by force and looting, and which the ROM is – astonishingly – set on featuring. The so called Dead Sea Scrolls…showcases artifacts seized by Israel in its 1967 surprise war, which it waged against its neighbours. The war led to the seizure and the ongoing military occupation of many lands, including the West Bank, from where the scrolls were taken. They had been excavated in the early 50s’ (sic) by the Ecole Biblique Francaise, the Palestine Archaeological Museum, and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. They represent a collection of nearly 900 ancient manuscripts, including portions of the Old Testament written in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. By showcasing these artefacts, the ROM is violating Canada’s responsibilities under the UNESCO Conventions and Protocols relating to cultural objects seized by arms and its own obligations as a principal member of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA).”
The site also connected readers to an anti-Israel petition by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). “I don’t think I was taking any political side,” Geisweiller said. Rather, he was highlighting “the fact that there’s a controversy about it.”

Greisweiller, has since see fit to change the website’s original stance and justified it this way.

“We don’t bow to pressure,” Geisweiller said, insisting that the site was changed only because, according to his information, the ROM had agreed to include the “controversial” facts in its literature, although he had just returned from France and hadn’t yet looked at the changes. According to the ROM, no changes have been made regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls Project, which was “created in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority.”

This controversy, reminds me of the time (circa 2003) when an Egyptian legal scholar proposed a lawsuit should be launched against all the Jews in the world for reparations of Pharaoh’s loot which had been ‘stolen’ when the ancient Hebrews fled Egypt during the Exodus. He even went so far as to calculate the approximate value in modern day terms. Of course, this wasn’t the first time the Jews were sued over the Exodus and the Talmud even details the appropriate defense that carried the day the last time the “Jews” were sued.

The latest manufactured controversy by the Palestinians would be laughable if people like Geisweiller weren’t buying it hook, line and sinker – and actively promoting it. One can argue till the cows come home whether the preemptive action taken by the Israelis in June 1967 against its neighbours was primarily defensive or not but there are some facts which are indisputable. The Jordanians did not have to join in the war between the Egyptians and Israelis but Jordanian King made a conscience decision to enter into the dispute. Furthermore, the Jordanian occupation of East Jerusalem and the so called West Bank was illegal nor did these lands ever represent the original Palestine Mandate given to the formation of Trans Jordan on the East Bank. Consequently, the Dead Sea Scrolls were acquired by the Jordanians during an illegal occupation. And do note – the scrolls were acquired by the Jordanians and not the PLO or the Palestinian Authority.

To suggest the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were the writings of ancient Jews are now an integral part of the Palestinian national heritage, has to be one of the most absurd international positions I have ever heard being actively promoted by the Palestinian Authority. What’s next – Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek are ancient Palestinian languages or that the Tanach is now part of the Palestinian religious tradition? But perhaps Le Select Bristo can post a definitive answer to these questions on the next update of their website.

Next Thursday I had intended to dine with the Last Amazon at Le Select Bistro to celebrate my birthday but it will now be a dark day in hell before I will ever pass through the doors of Le Select Bistro. Geisweiller will have to find some other suckers to fiance his restaurant and promote his political agenda because it sure won’t be on my dime.

One more thing. I realize some will think I am quibbling but there are no such religious writings called the ‘Old Testament’ in Judaism.