Category Archives: PeaceWatch ~ Ami Isseroff
Mid-East Viewpoints ~ Ami Isseroff (1998)
About the Logo: The View Points logo shows a gestalt illusion that may be familiar to many readers. Sometimes it looks like a vase, sometimes it looks like two people talking. It all depends on your point of view and expectations. We can all agree that both perceptions are valid. This is what View Points is all about! Peace in the Middle East through Dialogue and Rapprochement Hosted by Ami Isseroff I am proud to be a founding member of MidEast Web for Coexistence Part of the PEACE Mid-East Dialog Group Peace is up to you. It is not enough to give peace a chance. We must make it happen. Without peace, there will be no security and no … Continue reading
PEACE ~ the Story of a Mid-East Dialogue Group in 1998
Ami Isseroff’s story of the Mid-East PEACE dialogue group in 1998, retrieved from http://ash74.tripod.com/story.htm and from peacewatch/Story1.htm This is PEACE – Ami Isseroff, August 1998 Introduction A small measure of hope came into the Middle East when the dialog and peace efforts of many individuals and governments bore first fruits in the signing of peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and the signing of the Oslo treaties between the Israelis and the Palestinians. These events are part of what is known as “the peace process,” a long, arduous and often discouraging journey back from the edge of despair to the beginning of hope. Many have the impression that the ‘peace process’ is just a phrase, or a label for a political … Continue reading
PEACE, a Mid-East Dialogue Group
(logos used by “PEACE”) “PEACE, a Mid-East Dialogue Group” was established in 1998 by Ami Isseroff from Israel and Ameen Hannoun from Jordan. They had a web presence at http://ash74.tripod.com (main site webmastered by Ameen), www.geocities.com/capitolhill/senate/5455/ (Viewpoints by Ami) and www.ariga.com/peacewatch (Ariga being the website of the late Robert Rosenberg, PeaceWatch being the section webmastered by Ami). Read the story about PEACE here. Only Ash74 is still available on the internet, but as an abandoned website. After the death of Robert Rosenberg in 2006, Ami moved his PeaceWatch pages to a site of his own called Yu-Hu.com (middle-east.yu-hu.com/peacewatch/). Sadly, Ami died in 2011, and the contract for Yu-Hu.com expired in the summer of 2012. As caretaker for Ami’s web work, I have decided to save … Continue reading
Deir Yassin: The Red Cross Report
The Red Cross Report Translation of Dr. Jacques DeReynier’s Memorandum on Deir Yassin by Matthew Hogan © 1999 Matthew C. Hogan Translator/Annotator’s Introduction The following is a translation from French of the memorandum sent to the main office of the Red Cross in Geneva by Jacques de Reynier on April 13, 1948. The correspondence concerns his visit to the site of Deir Yassin on April 11, 1948, after it was captured by combined forces of the Irgun and Lehi, assisted by a unit of Palmach. De Reynier was representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem. The memorandum was typewritten with a minor typo here and there and with some handwritten insertions. The translation below … Continue reading
Deir Yassin: Levitza’s Account
Deir Yassin Levitza’s Account from ‘Nine Measures’ by Yitzhak Levi (“Levitza”) published by the ‘Maarachot’ the Israel Defense Army Press Tel Aviv 1986 Presented by the PEACE Middle East Dialog Group Translated by Ami Isseroff Translator’s Introduction Yitzhak Levi was chief of intelligence in Jerusalem for the Haganah at the time of the Deir Yassin massacre. The Jerusalem Intelligence Service (Shai) was credited with some uncanny intelligence feats – not always well used by the Haganah command. Two of the branch chiefs were Chaim Herzog and Yitzhak Navon, both later presidents of Israel. There is no doubt that what Levitza said about the things in which he was in a position to know are accurate. It is probable that … Continue reading
Deir Yassin: Uri Milstein’s Account
Deir Yassin Uri Milstein’s Account Translated by Ami Isseroff Presented by the PEACE Middle East Dialog Group from Uri Milstein ‘The War of Independence Vol. IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision, Zmora – Bitan, Tel-Aviv 1991 Translator’s Introduction Uri Milstein’s history forms much of the basis for the ZOA report denying the Deir Yassin Massacre. However, Milstein himself did not deny the massacre. He simply sought to discredit the left as much as possible, and to place as much blame as possible on the Haganah and Palmach. Milstein’s account includes many partial quotes, set up as if to prove a certain point. This is particularly evident in the quotes taken from Mordehai Gihon, which Milstein brings to show that … Continue reading
Deir Yassin: Letter from Yisrael Galili
Deir Yassin Letter from Yisrael Galili Authenticating Meir Pail’s Testimony Presented by the PEACE Middle East Dialog Group This letter, vouching for the authenticity of Meir Pail’s version of the Deir Yassin massacre, was sent by Yisrael Galili, former head of the Haganah, to the manager of cultural activities at Kibbutz Hulda on 22/4/78. Uri Milstein in his book on the War of Independence cast doubt on Pail’s testimony, as did Morton Klein in the report he prepared for the ZOA. Pail and Raanan (Commander of the Irgun) had given contradictory versions of the Deir Yassin operation in talks at Hulda, and the manager of cultural activities asked Galili who was correct. Translation …photographs of the terrible occurrence. I gave … Continue reading
Deir Yassin: Meir Pail’s Eyewitness Account
Deir Yassin Meir Pail’s Eyewitness Account Meir Pail and Ami Isseroff Presented by the PEACE Middle East Dialog Group Copyright 1998 by Dr. Meir Pail and Dr. Ami Isseroff. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of the authors. Based on an interview conducted October 1, 1998 by Ami Isseroff at the Yad Tabenkin Institute of the United Kibbutz Movement Seminar in Ramat Efal Israel. I was born in Jerusalem. My family moved to Holon in 1936 when I was ten years old. I joined the Palmach in 1943 after graduating from high school. In the Palmach, I participated in numerous operations including the bombing of the B’not Ya’akov Bridge (on the ‘night … Continue reading
Deir Yassin: Map and Battle Plan
Deir Yassin Map and Battle Plan Presented by the PEACE Middle East Dialog Group Following is a map of the attack, apparently from Irgun archives. It is not clear if this is the plan of attack, or the attack as carried out. The map shows the house of the Mukhtar in the West, and the main direction of attack of the Lehi and Irgun. It also shows quarries between Deir Yassin and Givat Shaul. In one of these quarries, according to Meir Pail, about 25 prisoners were shot by the attackers.
Deir Yassin: The Evidence
Deir Yassin The Evidence Ami Isseroff 1999 Presented by the PEACE Middle East Dialog Group Prologue The long struggle between Arabs and Jews has produced a sorry history of inhumanity. Jews can recall violence, massacres and bloody riots beginning in 1920 and even before. Arabs recall numerous incidents of The 1948 War – Israel’s War of Independence, including massacres and forcible exile, that were part of the great exodus, that was the genesis of the refugee problem. Both sides recall and recount the many terror attacks and reprisal raids and acts of violence and repression that have been part of our collective experience. If we are to make peace, then each side must acknowledge the actions committed in its name, … Continue reading