This was a brilliant conversation. What a fine mind Yosi has, to listen so carefully. You can’t argue someone out of a heart-held belief: they must first have their own question about the basis for their belief. I love the quip about Syria. I love the short story device of telling a tale told by someone else. I love the clarity and significance of deal-making, and how totally apropos it can be— if only there were people you could make a deal with. Also, if the writer would clarify the setting within the first few sentences, the reader would not be perpetually confused by supposing that the events are taking place in Israel.
Diana, thank you so much for your beautiful response. I agree it would have been great to clarify the location up front. That's the hazard of a guest post -- it was written initially for my own subscribers who know I'm in Portland, Oregon. But I'm honored and thrilled that Future Of Jewish gave it a mini syndication, so to speak.
I don’t know your work, Elissa, and so without Diana’s comment about not specifying the location, I would have actually thought what happened between the Israeli and the Palestinian in this story actually happened in Israel. So, it happened in Portland, Oregon instead?
I think many Palestinians and their supporters honestly believe that the October 7th attack was largely fabricated by Israel as a pretext for an invasion. It's very sad. Yes, the gap is an ocean, not a river, and dialogue seems all but impossible.
Those who have commented regarding the location of the condo are missing both the subtext and the larger text of the interaction.
In some ways, the whole story could be the true or fictionalization of any even when the Jew was without a place and homeland, from a different time and perspective. Stories from Hassidic Masters are told all the time. Read post-Holocaust literature, including Eli Wiesel, as well.
Here we have the “gloss” of the propogandized world we live in. Is it much different from the libels of the past, the slanders, the forced religious trials to defend our faith? This Israeli, in this story was a good listener. But flip that. He was actually on trial. Forced to listen to lies and accusations. He tried to speak truth to an audience that accepted none of his truisms.
We are the People of the Book - a wonderful book of stories. And we are good story tellers. Who did we convince once the deal was struck?
There is something amiss with this story. It is not about glimmer of hope as to conciliation. It is about deception. This buyer never met a Jew before???? Yet he wants to live in Israel? Presuming that is where the condo is. Yet his father had a Jewish lawyer? Presuming there are palestinian lawyers, he chose a Jewish one? Why? Respect? Hah, I think not.
This is called selling out and response to flattery as to the bargaining process - not why peace negotiations fail. I would be worried about the condo being used as a terror cell.
Not stated in your article. Nevertheless does not change my sentiments. The two edged sword of flattery is parabelled in the story about the crow with food in its beak and the fox.
Actually, I should say it is about why peace negotiations fail. Negotiations to date are based largely on trust of which unfortunately the foundation has been deception. In every war with Israel, who started them? (It was not Israel, for those rhetorically challenged.)
I am not being critical of you. The story is interesting in the exchanges but it is unnerving. Just my perspective. Under the world’s circumstances one cannot be too cynical or cautious or stating it the way it is.
Finally! A story like this with zero pretense! You don’t understand, I grew up with such pretentious publications like the New York Times, embellishing any little story just to see if it will help them sell a paper. This is so real, so raw :)
Whether parable or factual, the tale has a disconnect. The reality for the Palestinian, whether fed by UNWAR, Al-Jazerra, Tik Tok, whatever, is actually — as the writer and every reader knows— poisonous BS that has been implacably lodged in his ear canal and every level of consciousness. Yet, this same walled-off brain has heard and accepted at least a little of the Syrian reality. Seemingly the only thing even Syria’s horrors provoke is ‘I want it to stop’ crocodile tears, but not the requisite fears. Well, whether the tears fail to fill the gulf of a river, an ocean or a patch of dry streambed in the author’s imagination, the reality is it should make no difference if the IDF was made up of Israelis, Martians or Musk’s soon to be released humanoid robots. The ‘problem’ remains that there exists a situation that causes one side to not hear the other. I think the story’s point is this: All problem resolution requires a commitment to communicate honestly and to abide by that commitment. There’s no news in the fact that mankind has the capability to communicate — not only all around the planet but into the far reaches of outer space as well. All you need are compatible transmitters and receivers and the commitment to use them honestly. Technically advanced as we are, progress and Abraham Accords and condo sales and gratuitous ass-kissing of Jewish lawyerly skills notwithstanding, we’ve not gotten there yet. Hopefully, Musk is working on it because, Lord knows, right now Washington doesn’t even know how to flip on the switch.
With that, I stopped writing determined to post this later. BUT
During the interval, the story’s punchline actually hit me in the gut. To paraphrase:
“I’ll always hire an Israeli attorney because my father was supposed to serve 25 years in an Israeli prison. After we hired a Jew, he only had to serve one.”
Let that sink in for a second. It’s not funny and it’s not a compliment, it is blatant antisemitism at its most refined. It reflects tropes worse than mere white privilege. Or that Jews are self-serving smart guys who will do anything to earn a buck. It actually hints at Elders of Zion, control of the world crap.
Josh, my friend, the very smart, in tune, keeper of ‘Future of Jewish’ and Elissa Wald,the reteller of the tale, let one slip thru. There’s no shame in it, it happens to the best of us, myself included.
To make it up to you, I post a similar, but definitely untrue - story, originally told to me by an IDF vet.
The West Bank
Many years ago, I was an intern at an Israeli institution we will call The West Bank. There I learned a lesson that I will never forget, especially not today.
An elderly Arab strolled confidently into our lobby, went directly to the desk marked Loans and sat down in front of my manager.
“I need to borrow 1,000 shekels,” the Arab proclaimed.
“Ok,” my boss said as he pulled out a blank form. “First I need to ask some basic questions.”
“Do you have an established account with our bank?”
“Why would I establish an account with an infidel bank before I have to?!?
“So no,” said the manager, checking a box.
“Do you have good credit?”
“Why would I tell you my private business?!”
“So no, again,” checked the manager.
“Can you perhaps pledge any collateral?”
“You mean collateral damage,” asked the confused Arab.
“No, I mean a house or a car you can afford to lose in case you don’t pay,” clarified the manager.
“Sure,” said the applicant, “my Jewish landlord can afford everything. Take his house.”
Checking no, the manager said, “No account, no credit, no collateral. I’m afraid we can’t lend you the 1000 shekels.”
“What!,” exclaimed the surprised Arab, “This is an outrage. I need the money.”
“I’m very sorry, but you don’t qualify!”
“This is discrimination!”
“Absolutely not.”
“Yes it is!” The Arab insisted.
They went back and forth, the Arab getting more and more bellicose and belligerent.
Finally, after a full 10 minutes, the manager calmly rose from his seat, reached across his desk and gave the Arab a swift, sharp smack across the face.
The Arab stared silently, slowly stood up and said ‘Thank you, sir’ to the manager as he strode out of the bank.
I rushed to my manager and asked, “What was that all about? Why’d you hit him?!?”
“I told him we couldn’t help a dozen times. But he didn’t understand. So I explained it to him in the language he speaks.”
I loved reading this. Thank you for taking the time to share it. I have also experienced that the “video” misinformation and confirmation bias are at the root of what many are experiencing as Jewish hate. I just wish I knew how to fix it.
If this is a true story I'd be very suspicious why those Palestinians want the condo so badly. And I'd report them to whatever Israeli agency - Shin Bet?, Mossad? - might think it merits looking into. Doesn't matter which country this supposedly happened in.
Mossad operates in many countries. This event should be reported to them. Why is the Palestinian so desperate for that condo??? Birgit, I live in Montreal, Canada. Millions of Islamists have come to Canada, including Palestinian activists. I saw them take over the student union at Montreal's Concordia University. Taking orders from their Islamo/Leftist superiors, they are told where to live for strategic reasons.
Very confusing in terms of location, hopefully a lesson learned for the future.
Interesting read but of course, very disappointing to constantly see how well our enemies do in the PR war. I am solution oriented and believe obstacles are opportunities. There must be so many ways to improve the situation that I have to assume we are not doing.
I am sure that one of our goals when we win this war is to ensure that the Palestinian education system is fixed to show history for what it is and not to ferment hate. UNRWA has to be replaced or revamped and kids have to learn the truth about Israel.
We always talk about the Palestinians for obvious reasons but I want to take this in another direction. We have a peace treaty with Egypt and Jordan and its been in place for decades. So why is it that Egyptians and Jordanians still after all these decades overwhelmingly hate us? The treaty was in place to prevent war and its worked perfectly in that regard. But the second and just as important reason was to "normalize" the relationship between us and them. We vacation there, they come to Israel, we learn about them, they learn about us and hopefully every year that goes by, they like us more and more.
That has not happened at all. What is it? 80-90% of them hate us? Those numbers are completely unacceptable in my mind. We can blame them but that accomplishes nothing. We have to blame ourselves for this. What have we done, the Israeli govt, to fight that hatred? To change their minds? My goodness, we need experts in delivering that message. Off the top of my head, do we have Student Exchange programs with Jordan and Egypt? Do we have a newspaper outlet in Egypt or Jordan? We have to work on all the countries that have Peace Treaty with us and negotiate with them better ways to educate the average Egyptian and Jordanian and Bahraini etc. that we are not the evil monsters they think we are. Until we accomplish that, all the treaties are very fragile indeed.
This was a brilliant conversation. What a fine mind Yosi has, to listen so carefully. You can’t argue someone out of a heart-held belief: they must first have their own question about the basis for their belief. I love the quip about Syria. I love the short story device of telling a tale told by someone else. I love the clarity and significance of deal-making, and how totally apropos it can be— if only there were people you could make a deal with. Also, if the writer would clarify the setting within the first few sentences, the reader would not be perpetually confused by supposing that the events are taking place in Israel.
Diana, thank you so much for your beautiful response. I agree it would have been great to clarify the location up front. That's the hazard of a guest post -- it was written initially for my own subscribers who know I'm in Portland, Oregon. But I'm honored and thrilled that Future Of Jewish gave it a mini syndication, so to speak.
I don’t know your work, Elissa, and so without Diana’s comment about not specifying the location, I would have actually thought what happened between the Israeli and the Palestinian in this story actually happened in Israel. So, it happened in Portland, Oregon instead?
I think many Palestinians and their supporters honestly believe that the October 7th attack was largely fabricated by Israel as a pretext for an invasion. It's very sad. Yes, the gap is an ocean, not a river, and dialogue seems all but impossible.
Many rabid antisemites also are Oct 7 deniers. They were already Holocaust deniers, of course.
Those who have commented regarding the location of the condo are missing both the subtext and the larger text of the interaction.
In some ways, the whole story could be the true or fictionalization of any even when the Jew was without a place and homeland, from a different time and perspective. Stories from Hassidic Masters are told all the time. Read post-Holocaust literature, including Eli Wiesel, as well.
Here we have the “gloss” of the propogandized world we live in. Is it much different from the libels of the past, the slanders, the forced religious trials to defend our faith? This Israeli, in this story was a good listener. But flip that. He was actually on trial. Forced to listen to lies and accusations. He tried to speak truth to an audience that accepted none of his truisms.
We are the People of the Book - a wonderful book of stories. And we are good story tellers. Who did we convince once the deal was struck?
This! Thank you. ❤️
Also, we have problems in the US with Palestinians living here. Look up Canary Mission everyone please to learn about it.
Thank you for sharing this. It says a lot.
There is something amiss with this story. It is not about glimmer of hope as to conciliation. It is about deception. This buyer never met a Jew before???? Yet he wants to live in Israel? Presuming that is where the condo is. Yet his father had a Jewish lawyer? Presuming there are palestinian lawyers, he chose a Jewish one? Why? Respect? Hah, I think not.
This is called selling out and response to flattery as to the bargaining process - not why peace negotiations fail. I would be worried about the condo being used as a terror cell.
No, the condo was in the Pacific Northwest.
Not stated in your article. Nevertheless does not change my sentiments. The two edged sword of flattery is parabelled in the story about the crow with food in its beak and the fox.
Actually, I should say it is about why peace negotiations fail. Negotiations to date are based largely on trust of which unfortunately the foundation has been deception. In every war with Israel, who started them? (It was not Israel, for those rhetorically challenged.)
It wasn't stated in the article because it was originally written for my own subscribers who know where I live.
I am not being critical of you. The story is interesting in the exchanges but it is unnerving. Just my perspective. Under the world’s circumstances one cannot be too cynical or cautious or stating it the way it is.
The Palestinian’s ignorance is unreal: he likely watches Al Jazeera for his information.
Great story. So revealing. Presumably the sources of the videos were TikTok? Pro-Hamas videos outnumber pro-Israel content 53:1 I read the other day.
This has some very poignant points. Some obvious, some less obvious. Thank you for sharing. 🤍🤍
Finally! A story like this with zero pretense! You don’t understand, I grew up with such pretentious publications like the New York Times, embellishing any little story just to see if it will help them sell a paper. This is so real, so raw :)
Whether parable or factual, the tale has a disconnect. The reality for the Palestinian, whether fed by UNWAR, Al-Jazerra, Tik Tok, whatever, is actually — as the writer and every reader knows— poisonous BS that has been implacably lodged in his ear canal and every level of consciousness. Yet, this same walled-off brain has heard and accepted at least a little of the Syrian reality. Seemingly the only thing even Syria’s horrors provoke is ‘I want it to stop’ crocodile tears, but not the requisite fears. Well, whether the tears fail to fill the gulf of a river, an ocean or a patch of dry streambed in the author’s imagination, the reality is it should make no difference if the IDF was made up of Israelis, Martians or Musk’s soon to be released humanoid robots. The ‘problem’ remains that there exists a situation that causes one side to not hear the other. I think the story’s point is this: All problem resolution requires a commitment to communicate honestly and to abide by that commitment. There’s no news in the fact that mankind has the capability to communicate — not only all around the planet but into the far reaches of outer space as well. All you need are compatible transmitters and receivers and the commitment to use them honestly. Technically advanced as we are, progress and Abraham Accords and condo sales and gratuitous ass-kissing of Jewish lawyerly skills notwithstanding, we’ve not gotten there yet. Hopefully, Musk is working on it because, Lord knows, right now Washington doesn’t even know how to flip on the switch.
With that, I stopped writing determined to post this later. BUT
During the interval, the story’s punchline actually hit me in the gut. To paraphrase:
“I’ll always hire an Israeli attorney because my father was supposed to serve 25 years in an Israeli prison. After we hired a Jew, he only had to serve one.”
Let that sink in for a second. It’s not funny and it’s not a compliment, it is blatant antisemitism at its most refined. It reflects tropes worse than mere white privilege. Or that Jews are self-serving smart guys who will do anything to earn a buck. It actually hints at Elders of Zion, control of the world crap.
Josh, my friend, the very smart, in tune, keeper of ‘Future of Jewish’ and Elissa Wald,the reteller of the tale, let one slip thru. There’s no shame in it, it happens to the best of us, myself included.
To make it up to you, I post a similar, but definitely untrue - story, originally told to me by an IDF vet.
The West Bank
Many years ago, I was an intern at an Israeli institution we will call The West Bank. There I learned a lesson that I will never forget, especially not today.
An elderly Arab strolled confidently into our lobby, went directly to the desk marked Loans and sat down in front of my manager.
“I need to borrow 1,000 shekels,” the Arab proclaimed.
“Ok,” my boss said as he pulled out a blank form. “First I need to ask some basic questions.”
“Do you have an established account with our bank?”
“Why would I establish an account with an infidel bank before I have to?!?
“So no,” said the manager, checking a box.
“Do you have good credit?”
“Why would I tell you my private business?!”
“So no, again,” checked the manager.
“Can you perhaps pledge any collateral?”
“You mean collateral damage,” asked the confused Arab.
“No, I mean a house or a car you can afford to lose in case you don’t pay,” clarified the manager.
“Sure,” said the applicant, “my Jewish landlord can afford everything. Take his house.”
Checking no, the manager said, “No account, no credit, no collateral. I’m afraid we can’t lend you the 1000 shekels.”
“What!,” exclaimed the surprised Arab, “This is an outrage. I need the money.”
“I’m very sorry, but you don’t qualify!”
“This is discrimination!”
“Absolutely not.”
“Yes it is!” The Arab insisted.
They went back and forth, the Arab getting more and more bellicose and belligerent.
Finally, after a full 10 minutes, the manager calmly rose from his seat, reached across his desk and gave the Arab a swift, sharp smack across the face.
The Arab stared silently, slowly stood up and said ‘Thank you, sir’ to the manager as he strode out of the bank.
I rushed to my manager and asked, “What was that all about? Why’d you hit him?!?”
“I told him we couldn’t help a dozen times. But he didn’t understand. So I explained it to him in the language he speaks.”
I loved reading this. Thank you for taking the time to share it. I have also experienced that the “video” misinformation and confirmation bias are at the root of what many are experiencing as Jewish hate. I just wish I knew how to fix it.
If this is a true story I'd be very suspicious why those Palestinians want the condo so badly. And I'd report them to whatever Israeli agency - Shin Bet?, Mossad? - might think it merits looking into. Doesn't matter which country this supposedly happened in.
Elissa Wald, the author of this article on the Substack Future of Jewish, has written in another reply, “no, the condo was in the Pacific Northwest.”
Mossad operates in many countries. This event should be reported to them. Why is the Palestinian so desperate for that condo??? Birgit, I live in Montreal, Canada. Millions of Islamists have come to Canada, including Palestinian activists. I saw them take over the student union at Montreal's Concordia University. Taking orders from their Islamo/Leftist superiors, they are told where to live for strategic reasons.
Very confusing in terms of location, hopefully a lesson learned for the future.
Interesting read but of course, very disappointing to constantly see how well our enemies do in the PR war. I am solution oriented and believe obstacles are opportunities. There must be so many ways to improve the situation that I have to assume we are not doing.
I am sure that one of our goals when we win this war is to ensure that the Palestinian education system is fixed to show history for what it is and not to ferment hate. UNRWA has to be replaced or revamped and kids have to learn the truth about Israel.
We always talk about the Palestinians for obvious reasons but I want to take this in another direction. We have a peace treaty with Egypt and Jordan and its been in place for decades. So why is it that Egyptians and Jordanians still after all these decades overwhelmingly hate us? The treaty was in place to prevent war and its worked perfectly in that regard. But the second and just as important reason was to "normalize" the relationship between us and them. We vacation there, they come to Israel, we learn about them, they learn about us and hopefully every year that goes by, they like us more and more.
That has not happened at all. What is it? 80-90% of them hate us? Those numbers are completely unacceptable in my mind. We can blame them but that accomplishes nothing. We have to blame ourselves for this. What have we done, the Israeli govt, to fight that hatred? To change their minds? My goodness, we need experts in delivering that message. Off the top of my head, do we have Student Exchange programs with Jordan and Egypt? Do we have a newspaper outlet in Egypt or Jordan? We have to work on all the countries that have Peace Treaty with us and negotiate with them better ways to educate the average Egyptian and Jordanian and Bahraini etc. that we are not the evil monsters they think we are. Until we accomplish that, all the treaties are very fragile indeed.
papa j
For an Israeli, there are a few troubling aspects to this story. Can you see what they are?