By Jack Bernstein
My Farewell to Israel, the Thorn in the Mideast
Pro-American Press (1985 Anno Domini)
Excerpt:
I continued working as a security guard and tour- guide until December, 1976. It was a time of internal turmoil which drained me emotionally. It bothered me to think that most Americans thought of Israel as a holy land, when, in fact, it can only be rightfully described as the “sin-spot of the Mid-east” or “Satan’s Playground.”
It bothered me to try and cope with the racist acts towards me because I had married a Sephardic Jewess. But, the most distressing thing of all was my in- creasing awareness that Israel was a Marxist country with close ties to communist Russia and other communist countries.
One day while horseback riding, I stopped at the kibbutz “Manara” in Galalee to water my horse and I noticed a red flag with hammer and sickle flying from a high pole. I asked one of the kibbutz members, “What is a communist flag doing flying here?” He answered, “We are affiliated with “Matzpen” the Jewish Communist Party of Israel.” He explained it is Moscow oriented. There is a small Arab communist party in Israel called “Rakah” which is Peking oriented.
Now get this: From 1973-1977, Israel’s prime minister was Yitzak Rabin. His sister, I forget her name, was born and raised on Kibbutz Manara. According to a recent issue of the Jerusalem Post, she still lives at Kibbutz Manara, which, I repeat, is affiliated with “Matzpan” the Jewish Communist Party of Israel.
With the exception of a few kibbutzim which are affiliated with the National Religious Party, every one of the 150 kibbutzim in operation in Israel is affiliated with one of the communist or socialist parties.
Many new kibbutzim have been built in Israel and occupied Arab territories. They, too, are affiliated with one of the communist or socialist parties.
Before I found out about Israel’s communist practices and ties to communist countries, I met at a cafe, a Jewish Communist from America who had settled in Israel in 1959. He bad been an engineer in New York, but had lost his job because he was a Communist; so he settled in Israel. After talking for a while, I noticed, on one of his fingers, a ring with hammer and sickle engraved on it. I asked about it. He admitted outright that he was a Communist and a member of “Matzpen”, the Jewish Communist Party of Israel.
I asked, “What is all this Marxist bit in Israel.” He answered, “Evidently, you are very naive.” I asked him to fill me in on what was going on. He, then, called to two of his friends, East European Jews, and he spoke to them in Yiddish.
One of them turned to me and said, “Apparently you need some education. Let me tell you about some facts.” Following is the jist of what he told me:
1. Soviet Russia is our ally and close friend.
2. In 1949, Golda Meir, our first ambassador to Soviet Russia made an agreement with Stalin and Kagonovich. An agreement between Israel and Soviet Russia is only natural since the leadership of both Israel and Soviet Russia are Bolshevik Jews.
The main points of the pact were:
Israel would talk peace, but would never make any agreement to solve the Palestinian problem; and Israel was to continue it’s communist policies.
Soviet Russia would adopt a pro-Arab policy, but it would only be a camouflage hiding its true intentions. Its real intentions were to furnish aid to the Arabs, but never enough to enable the Arabs to destroy Israel. Also, Soviet Russia would allow immigration of Jews to Israel, and of course, the Soviets would guarantee the security of Israel.
3. Following the 1967 War, diplomatic relations between Soviet Russia and Israel were severed. This was merely a screen. Trade relations between Israel and Soviet Russia and other communist countries continued as before. He told me to check Israeli shops and see for myself the different items in those shops from communist countries.
After telling me these things, he asked me to join “Matzpen”. the Jewish Communist Party of Israel. I pretended I was interested but wanted more time to think it over. He said to contact him because he was the Secretary-Treasurer of the communist party cell in North Tel Aviv. This is the ritzy section of the city.
Being one of the anti-communist Jews, I never con- tacted him; but what he said about imports from Communist countries put me on the alert. Every time I would go into a shop, I would check to see which items were from communist countries. Over a period of time, I made a list of the items and the communist countries from which they came. Following is the list:
- Poland: Vodka, cigarettes and winter clothing.
- People’s Republic of China: Beer, rice wine, fire- works, flashlights, linens, pots and pans, transistor radios and sewing machines.
- Cuba: Cigars, rum, wicker furniture and other wood products, sugar, rice, mangoes, shoes and plantains (a small banana).
- Bulgaria: Smoked meat, dried fruit, leather goods, wood products, creme de menthe and other fine liquors.
- East Germany: Optical instruments, household cleaning materials, pharmaceuticals, vitamins and pottery.
- Rumania: Textiles, soap, transistor radios, toothpaste, lamps, kitchen articles, ceramics and pottery.
- Hungary: Woolen articles, rainwear, high fashion garments, leather goods, sleepwear, blankets and pillows.
- Yugoslavia: Carpentry and masonry tools, plumbing fixtures, air conditioners, wine and plum brandy
- Soviet Russia: Winter clothing, blankets and industrial diamonds.
Tractors and other farm machinery are imported from East Germany, Poland and Soviet Russia. Israel does receive some of these items from the “free” countries of France, England and the United States, but most of it comes from communist countries and the percentage is increasing.
There is one other import from communist countries that can be found in abundance in Israel: books and other printed materials about Communism printed in the languages of the communist countries from which they come. This reading material is for those Communists who migrated to Israel from those countries.
By buying goods from communist countries, Israel is helping support the communist regimes in those countries. Israel also helps them by selling critical items.
Exports from Israel to communist countries include phosphate from the Dead Sea, cement products, electronic equipment and other high-tech equipment, fruit vegetables and weapons. Weapons are Israel’s biggest export to communist countries: Artillary pieces, mortars, Galil assault rifles, Uzi sub-machine guns, military uniforms and other field gear.
Israel, also, sells military equipment and supplies to African, Asian and Latin American countries, both democratic and dictatorship. Because Israel’s economy is in such bad shape, it will sell military equipment to any country or guerilla group that has the hard cash.
The sale of military equipment to Red China and the presence of Israeli advisors in Red China has been known for years; but it was only recently that any major newspaper in the United States mentioned anything about it. Even then, it wasn’t one of the large Zionist owned or controlled newspapers, it was the “Washington Times” which revealed that one billion dollars worth of Israeli made military equipment had been sold to Red China. The Washington Post, New York Times and other Zionist dominated news media continued to be silent about Israel’s military aid to communist countries.