Meeting the Enemy in Oxford

Jabotinsky, the leader of the pre-State Zionist Right, was of the opinion that the diplomatic victories achieved in the Versailles Peace Conference were nice but ultimately a homeland is not "given" by imperialists but has to be conquered with blood. The Zionist movement was "given" half of Palestine (this side of the river Jordan) but it was unable to occupy all the land assigned to it. The small yishuv (Jewish population) of some 600,000 lost 10,000 dead in the war of independence and Ben Gurion gave up and signed the Rhodes ceasefire. I asked my uncle Bela Abeles, an IDF Colonel, why they stopped, and he told me that simply, the yishuv was exhausted. The Arab Legion, a Jordanian force financed, trained and led by the British, defended Jerusalem and we could not defeat it. (pic)

Twenty years ago took my daughter Ayala to Paris Disneyland and then hired a car and toured England. Each 5 PM we looked for a B&B to spend the night. Thus we got to knew many real English homes and real people, not only castles (which are also notable, for example the one in Edinburgh). In Oxford we could not find a B&B - we were touring without a plan, without previously secured stops (causing tremendous stress to my wife) - and at last a helpful English soul directed us to a widow living alone in a big house who may take us in for the night. It was the home of a retired career soldier - a former officer of the Jordanian Legion.

The room we received had no beds and the door could not be locked. I was worried for my daughter, and did not sleep all night. In the morning, the big Englishman prepared a generous nice ham and eggs breakfast for us, and told us some innocent stories of Aqaba. Like all Englishmen, he was extremely nice and friendly to his Israeli visitors, dissipating our terror. Thus I got to meet "the enemy". We paid and continued our tour. In Blackpool I tasted the famous fish and chips delicacy, threw up, my girls hated the freezing North Atlantic wind and storm, we moved back to London and the balmy air of Kfar Saba.