From the Desk of Sondra Oster Baras
Stand With Israel...
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| Glenn Beck speaking at the Israeli Knesset |
I have just returned from an amazing experience in the Israeli Knesset. Popular US television and radio commentator, Glen Beck, was a guest of the Knesset and I was invited to participate in the meeting with him. There were a number of Members of Knesset present at the meeting, as well as members of the press. And there were several dozen invitees who, like me, are involved in representing Israel abroad.
The atmosphere was electric as we waited in anticipation for Beck's entrance. MK Danny Danon was chairman of the meeting and ushered Beck into the committee room. He introduced Mr. Beck and then Beck gave a brief talk that was both moving and personal.
He talked about the change that came into his life as a result of 9-11. He recalled his first visit to Israel in 2002 and how it changed his perception of Israel which had been fed until then by a very distorted media picture. He defined the Palestinian - Israeli conflict as being, on the leadership level, about the destruction of Israel and the Western world. But he left room for the fact that ordinary people, Jews and Arabs both, might be more able to resolve differences if removed from the power motivations of their leaders.
On this point, MK Aryeh Eldad noted some horrific incidents that he was personally exposed to - of terrorists and suicide bombers who sought to kill children, who sought to blow up a hospital where their lives had been saved. "Not every human being acts from the same motivation," Eldad pointed out. How true.
Beck also noted how warmly he is received in Israel, by the ordinary people. One man even offered to let Beck move into his home if he was forced to leave the US. He was truly moved by that and so many similar gestures.
Glen Beck had also just returned from Poland, where he visited Auschwitz for the first time and came face to face with the Holocaust. And he understood the message! When MK Zippy Hotobeli requested that he refrain from presenting Israel or the Jewish people as victims, he mentioned the life-changing effect of the visit to Auschwitz on him. And he understood that the message wasn't about the Jewish victim, but about Jewish heroism in carrying on. And not just carrying on, but in creating a paradise out of the wilderness that was Israel before the Jewish State was established. Beck expressed confidence that people all over the world would have a natural inclination to seek the truth and, at the same time, be drawn to those who have courage and strength, who despite unbelievable difficulties, pick themselves up and accomplish positive things. Like Israel. Like the Jewish people.
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| Glenn Beck speaking at the Israeli Knesset |
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