Moshe Dyan

Moshe Dayan on born on a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee in 1915. When he was 14, he joined the outlawed Haganah, an underground defense force to protect Jewish settlements from Arab attacks. Although caught and imprisoned by the British for two years, he would fight for them in Lebanon during WWII, losing his eye. In the 1948 War of Independence, he fought on all the fronts, defending Israel; by 1953 he was Chief of Staff of the Israeli Armed Forces. In 1956 he led the Suez Campaign.

In 1967 he was Defense Minister for the Six Day War. He remained in that position through the War of 1973. Although a genuine hero in every sense of the word, he was held responsible for the initial success of Egyptian forces in the surprise attack on Yom Kippur (1973), and would resign from his position.

Israel is too small of a country, and it's enemies too numerous, for any miscalculations regarding it's security.

reprinted from February 2013

The Wailing Wall

Israel had hoped that Jordan would not join the Arab forces against them in 1967. It was not to be; their artillery opened fire on Israel. Israeli paratroopers fought with small arms in the Old City. They were ordered to use no artilley, which could damage Holy Shrines.

Although Israeli Jews and Christians were barred from both the Wall and Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the twenty years of Jordanian rule, Israel immediately opened access to all. Administrative control of the Temple Mount, upon which sits the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, were immediately given to the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic Trust).

The Wailing Wall is the Western Wall of the Mount, which is considered the closest and only remnant of the Second Jewish Temple, and is the holiest site in Judaism. No matter where in the world, all Jews have always prayed facing Jerusalem and the Wall. reprinted from April 2010

Bernie O'Hare's Problem

Tirelessly attending one meeting after another, five nights a week, at the midnight hour he bestows praise upon his favorites, and criticism upon his enemies.  Faster than a speeding Lanta Bus, all opposing comments are dismissed as non sequiturs, personal attacks or off topic... Little changes with Bernie O'Hare, aka here as Jimmy Olsen.

Someone recently asked me what is Bernie's problem? He noticed that for months Bernie had been taking cheap shots at both me and my readers. Several months ago he started deleting the signed comments I occasionally submitted to his blog. Most of the comments he receives are anonymous, and many less than profound. He started calling me mean spirited and petty.  Coming from Bernie, all those insults are beyond ironic. Here's a guy who serves up one victim after another, like red meat,  for his anonymous commenters to feast upon.  In a blog post yesterday,  I wrote that Pawlowski won with the Marion Barry vote. Washington voters re-elected Barry knowing full well that he was involved in unlawful acts. O'Hare seized upon the opportunity on facebook to pronounce my analogy as racist.

He describes himself as a bottom feeding blogger, trying to humorlessly dismiss his aggression toward others.  He really does delight in painting his targets with innuendo and distortion.  While most of Bernie's victims have no recourse or vehicle to defend themselves,  that's not the case here.

Public Note To Mayor Ed

Hi Mayor Ed. I am very disappointed that thousands of Allentown voters do not realize how corrupt you are!! One of your supporters said he didn't care. I think you are a great politician and liar. Ten years ago exactly when I worked for you in your old job as Director of Community and Economic Development I witnessed your corruption firsthand. Which as I told you when I resigned I did not want to part of. You fired Eric Weiss as head of Buildind Standards because he was not corrupt and would not do your dirty work. When Fran Dougherty told a building inspector not to write a citation on a Nat Hyman property I realized that you he and were in bed together. Neither of you should be Mayor!!! I assume that the FBI will eventually expose you. I love how you staged all that road work on major streets over the last months. Even some relatively smart people that that meant you are a great Mayor. You Bamboozled quite a few people. I feel sorry for the people like Mary Ellen Koval who got caught up in your quest for higher office. You ruined many lives and careers. Karma and the wheels of justice may turn slowly but they do turn!!! Betsy Morris Levin

The above note was written by Betsy Levin, a former city employee, and posted on facebook today. Pawlowski's primary victory disappointed many people. He won with what I call the Marion Barry vote. As I had predicted within 38 votes, he cobbled together enough minority votes to win in the crowded field. Had one of the three top runner ups dropped out and endorsed another, Pawlowski would have lost, handily. A real opportunity exists for an independent this fall. The city hasn't elected a Republican for two decades, since 1997. The primary proved that Pawlowski is unattractive to 75% of the Democrats.

Jews In Jerusalem

Except when barred by one conqueror or another, Jews had lived in Jerusalem since King David. Prior to Jordanian rule in 1948, there was a Jewish majority for 150 years. In 1864, eight thousand of the fifteen thousand population was Jewish. By 1914, two thirds of the sixty five thousand residents were Jewish. In 1948 the United Nations Partition Plan divided the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Jerusalem was to be initially an international city, with access guaranteed for all. This plan was rejected by the surrounding Arab nations, which attacked Israel in concert immediately upon the UN vote. When the truce was declared, Israel had survived, but East Jerusalem(walled Old City) was in procession of TransJordan. The Jordanians subsequently destroyed over 50 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, which dated back to the 1400's. For hundreds of years both Christians and Jews were prohibited from building higher than Muslim structures. The few synagogues which survived were the ones built mostly below street level. The oldest surviving synagogue, The Jerusalem Synagogue, was built by the Karaite Jews in around 900. Shown above is the Ben Kakai, a Sephardic Synagogue built in the 16th Century.

Perhaps the most famous synagogue destroyed by the Jordanians was the Ashkenazi Hurva Synagogue built in 1720, it's dome visible in the top center of this photograph from the 1920's. It's replacement was completed in 2010.

This post was first printed in April of 2010, and titled The Synagogues of Jerusalem

Who Owns Allentown's Litter

When I grew up in Allentown and graduated from Allen in the mid 1960's, the sidewalks were clean. Now, I don't mean just free from litter, but they were actually clean. Women would come out of their houses with buckets of water, and wash off their stoops and sidewalks. All that has changed. to say the least.  Today the sidewalks are covered with litter every morning. The following is a facebook dialogue between Jude-Laure Denis and myself.

Michael Molovinsky pawlowski didn't receive the support of any organized black or hispanic group. instead, he cobbled together the few necessary votes to win by handing out trinkets, and promising more if re-elected, all on the city dime. although calling people "littering transients from newark" might sound harsh, if you think the quality of life in center city hasn't radically declined, you're a much more tolerant person than me...(this comment was addressing Robert Trotner)

Jude-Laure Denis Let me just set you straight Michael Molovinsky you did not "offend" me. I personally don't care what you say. I don't know you and in fact I long ago stopped caring about what other people think. What I care about is facts. And blaming non-dominant culture folks for the election of Ed Pawlowski is a serious pile of caca.

Michael Molovinsky Jude-Laure Denis, i'm not BLAMING anyone. truth be told, i accurately predicted both the amount of votes that pawlowski would receive, and where they would come from. those predictions are on my blog for the last several months. today the Morning Call verified the facts.

Jude-Laure Denis For the record blaming, Michael Molovinsky, is exactly what you did. we all make mistakes and you made one. Not the end of the world. Own it and move on. As to the number of votes, anyone who understands how you get to a win number knew it would be this low. You predicted it. So did I and a lot of folks who know a heck of a lot more than both of us. End result is the same.


My issue isn't with Ms. Denis.  As she said,  we never met,  nor do we know each other.  She found some of my statements culturally insensitive,  fair enough.   I'll be glad to own anything I say, but I would like to know when the non-dominant culture is going to own the littering, not to mention the stabbings and shootings.

I Offended Someone About Pawlowski Voters

Yesterday, Jude-Laure Denis commented on my blog post, Blaming this on people who "moved here from Newark.. who litter," is a pile of racist dogwhistle politics. Supervoters who are primarily white voted for the son of a bitch and most of them didn't even bother to come out.  If Ms. Denis meant for her identity to be revealed is questionable, but either way, I disagree. As I noted often during this campaign, Pawlowski worked the unaffiliated blacks and Hispanics. I say unaffiliated, because he did not receive the support of the organized more sophisticated groups, such as the local NAACP.  The detailed ward election results will show that Pawlowski did best in center city and Hispanic areas, where the minority demographics predominate. Pawlowski's Facebook page is a journal of him working the intercity barber shops and beauty parlors.

I believe that the white super voters divided their votes between O'Connell, Thiel and Bennett. The point of my post yesterday was that the election was determined by the most transient among us. The good news is that it only occurred because the field was divided by so many candidates.

If Ms. Denis is offended that I called Pawlowski voters litterers from Newark, I can do worse.  Seven people have pleaded guilty to committing criminal acts on Pawlowski's behalf. Littering might be one of the better traits of those who voted for him yesterday.