A report from Samuel and Rachelle Landau in New Jersey who attended the Jewish Deaf Congress (JDC) in Rockville, MD on August 13-16th.
“It was different from the past that we did not come together to celebrate the Sabbath. The conference began on Sunday through Tuesday, August 13-15 2017.
“The workshops given were interesting and informative. There were other activities, but the focus here is on one workshop given by Samuel Landau. The title is “Israel Politics”. There is so much to cover so we would encourage you to learn more. There is an excellent book, “The Case for Israel” by Alan Dershowitz (the well-known lawyer).
“The government in Israel is very different from the USA. Israel has many more political parties than the USA (here the main parties are the Democrats and Republicans). It is also crucial to know Israel’s history. Israel had to fight in wars that she did not start. After the Six Day War, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt lost some land. Israel was not looking to occupy land. Israel was willing to return the land for peace and after the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, the Sinai was returned to Egyptian sovereignty (but not Gaza which was considered a Palestinian area). Israel had a peace treaty with Jordan, but Jordan did not want to take land back but insisted Israel deal with the Palestinians. Israel has allowed self-government in this former Jordanian territory (known as the West Bank or Judea and Samaria) and as of 2005 Israel no longer occupies Gaza.
“At the end of the workshop, there were two handouts given to the participants:
This first one gives facts that Palestinians are doing well. Unfortunately there are lies spreading around.
www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/0,2506,L-4970003,00.html
“The second one talks about achievements of the tiny country. Imagine how much Israel has contributed to the world and yet it has been attacked relentlessly.
www.aipac.org/learn/about-israel/israels-achievements
About the Presenter
Samuel Landau was born in Romania but moved to Israel at the age of 6 with his Deaf parents. They lived in tent in the beginning in the new country (Israel).
Here are the two parts of the interview arranged by Cassia Margolis-Greenbaum from Indianapolis. Samuel’s parents were Deaf Holocaust survivors. Click here for Part 1 and 2 interviews below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_lWlnPpapc (interview part one
