SHIR BETAR
| THE BETAR SONG |
| Betar Migov ri-cavon vay afar Badam uvayeza Yukam lanu geza Gaon venadiv ve aksar Betar ha-nilkada, Yodefet, Masada Taromna beoz ve-Hadar Hadar Ivri gam be oni ben sar Im eved im helech No sarta be melech Beketer David ne etar Baor u-va-seter Zachor et ha-keter Ateret gaon ve-Tagar Tagar Al kol ma-atzur umetzar Im ta-al o-teret Ve lahav ha-meter Sa esh le-hazit "Ein Davar" Ki sheket hu refesh Hafker dam va-nefesh lema-an hahod hanistar La-amut o likbosh et hahar Yodefet Masada Betar | Betar From the pit of decay and dust With blood and sweat Shall arise a race Proud generous and cruel Captured Betar, Yodefet, Masada Shall arise again In all their stregnth and glory Hadar Even in poverty a Jew is a prince Whether slave or tramp You have been created the son of kings Crowned with the diadem of David Whether in light or in darkness Always remember the crown The crown of pride and Tagar Tagar Through all obstacles and enemies Whether you go up or down In the flames of revolt Carry the flame to kindle "Never mind" For silence is filth Worthless is blood and soul For the sake of the hidden glory To die or conquer the hill Yodefet, Masada, Betar |
My Grandfather Chaim ( Hymie) Baker is sitting to the right next to Zeev Jabontinsky. In 1931 Chaim Baker sponsored Jabotinsky's extended trip to South Africa. and founded Betar and The Revisionist Zionist Movement in Israel. He was a delegate to seven Zionist Conferences before the State of Israel was declared . He was a pallbearer in 1964 when Jabotinsky remains was laid to rest on Har Zion. While in New York to build support within the United States for a Jewish Army, Jabotinsky died of a heart attack on 4 August 1940 while visiting a Jewish self-defense camp run by Betar. He was buried in New Montefiore Cemetery in New York in accordance with a clause of his will. A monument to Jabotinsky was erected at his original burial site in New York. In 1964 the remains of Jabotinsky and his wife, in accordance with a second clause of his will, were reburied in Mount Herzl Cemetery in Jerusalem by order of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.The Second Clause asked that his remains be interned in Israel by order of the Government of Israel. The will dates from 1936 when the probability of that happening required considerable vision. Garndpa Chaim for three years referred to carry Jabonsky's remains as the second nicest thing he carried in his life. Two years later in 1966. I was born and claimed top spot. Just as we were burying our dead -- a young girl who was killed in her sleep and a father who was driving with his family, Jews murdered in their ancient homeland, the latest in a long line since we came home as individuals and as a people -- the Quartet report came out. Another report in a long line that addresses the conflict between us and the Arabs in the region and supplies ammunition to the industry that justifies murdering Jews by talking about Israel's "encroachment" on "Palestinian lands," and the "occupation," which as we know justifies armed resistance against "the colonialists." In the first chapter of the report, we can mark a certain progress in Europe's recognition of the Palestinian Authority's culture of incitement and glorification of people who murder children, which is both anti-Israel and anti-Jews. But oh, no -- what the report opposes in the first chapter is hidden in the second one. Because the foundations of Palestinian incitement rest squarely on the false premises in the report that allegedly talks about "expropriated Palestinian lands" and not the ancient ancestral lands of the Jewish people, their only remaining possession after the Middle East was carved up by the leading nations of the world about 100 years ago. In contrast to the report, "Israel is not eroding the viability of the two-state solution." As of today, the Palestinians already have two states: one in the Gaza Strip, in the spirit of the Muslim Brotherhood; and the second -- with a Palestinian majority of over 70% -- located on the eastern side of the Jordan River and under occupation by the Hashemite royal family. The addition of a third Arab state on the hilltop in Judea and Samaria, spitting distance from central Israel, would endanger not only the Jewish state, but also the Arabs throughout the region, because such a state entity would not be sustainable -- it would fall prey to Hamas, the Islamic State, al-Qaida and other sleeper cells that are just waiting for the day when we finally lose our home and abandon the heart of our country to the people who swore to fight against the Jews' return to Zion. The war against a Jewish return to Zion has many faces: diplomatic, political, military, murderous terrorist and -- disgracefully -- academic. The answer to all these tactics of war should be clear to anyone who wants to secure the future of the State of Israel: strengthening our hold on the land of our life. Not only strengthening security, but also strengthening Jewish settlements through budgets, additional construction and expanded populations. That is the approach Zionism has always taken: a dagger in one hand and a spade in the other; ever since the days of the return to Zion under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah in the sixth century B.C.E. Apart from the standard excuses for murdering Jews, there is also a despicable distinction drawn between different types of bloodshed. First, a differentiation between the blood of the pioneers in Judea and the blood of "legitimate civilians" in Tel Aviv and Netanya; and then a distinction between the blood of Jews murdered in Muslim-Palestinian terrorist attacks and the blood of French people in Paris or Americans in Orlando who were also murdered by Islamist terrorism. The truth must be told: Not only is there no difference between bloodshed; there isn't even any difference in the targets. Islamic terrorism is fighting the West and the free world, and seeks to entrench its religious culture of murder. At the same time, as part of global jihad, Israel functions as a primary target -- and first and foremost the Jews in Samaria, Judea and Jerusalem -- in being at the forefront of that global war. Because know this: The war against the return to Zion is a war on the possibility of a different kind of spiritual, national and social existence that the Jewish people offers the world in place of the existence offered by radical Islam. We are the first line of defense of the free world, and the pioneers in Samaria and Judea are shielding us all -- both a security and a moral defense. Anyone who doesn't understand that puts us all in danger. At any rate, if the target of Islamic terrorism seems worthwhile occasionally, the answer must consist not only of an unequivocal security response, but also in consistent activity to deepen the roots in those same lands from which the murderers tried to oust us. As Ze'ev Jabotinsky taught us, only when we have built a moral and national iron wall that the Arabs' consciousness will not be breached, will the murderers' purpose be defeated. This is the ancient biblical rule: "Rejoice, you nations, with His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will take vengeance on His enemies and make atonement for His land and people" (Deuteronomy 32:43). The absolution for the blood spilled by the criminals will come through deepening the people's roots in the land of their ancestors. We've had enough of security responses -- it's time for settlement. |
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