Center Bulletin Vol. 5, No. 33

MENACHEM BEGIN HERITAGE CENTER, JERUSALEM VOLUME 5, ISSUE 33 JUNE 11, 2009

TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 496,160

BOOK LAUNCHING

THE REUBEN HECHT AUDITORIUM WAS, ONCE AGAIN, FILLED TO OVERFLOWING FOR ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL BEGIN CENTER EVENT. ON SUNDAY EVENING, JUNE 7, A BOOK LAUNCHING WAS HELD FOR THE LATEST LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT OF HAGGAI SEGAL. ENTITLED, "NO CIVIL WAR PLEASE", IT RETELLS THE STORY OF THE KILLING OF SEGAL'S UNCLE, YEDIDYAH SEGAL, AN IRGUN MEMBER KIDNAPPED BY THE HAGANA IN EARLY 1948. TORTURED, HIS BODY WAS LEFT NEAR AN ARAB VILLAGE AND THE CLAIM WAS MADE THAT HE HAD ESCAPED DETENTION AND FALLEN AFOUL OF THE ARABS.

THE EVENT WAS MODERATED BY AMIT SEGAL, HAGGAI'S SON, WHO IS THE KNESSET CORRESPONDENT FOR CHANNEL TEN NEWS. CENTER HEAD, HERZI MAKOV, OPENED THE EVENING FOLLOWED BY KNESSET SPEAKER RUBY RIVLIN WHO MADE TWO SPEECHES, ONE PERSONAL AND EMOTIONAL AND THE OTHER AS PART OF HIS OFFICIAL STATE CAPACITY. NEXT, AN EDITOR AT THE MAKOR RISHON NEWSPAPER, WHERE SEGAL WRITES AND WHICH PUBLISHED THE BOOK, TOGETHER WITH SHILOH/BARKATZ, AMNON LORD, CONTRIBUTED HIS APPRECIATIONS. THE MAIN SPEAKER WAS FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER AND CURRENT HEAD OF THE OPPOSITION, MK TZIPI LIVNI. DESPITE ATTEMPTS TO MAINTAIN DECORUM, HER REMARKS WERE INTERRUPTED SEVERAL TIMES, AN INCIDENT WHICH WAS WIDELY BROADCAST IN ISRAEL'S ELECTONIC AND PRINT MEDIA. AS THE JERUSALEM POST REPORTED:

IN A SIGN OF THE EVER-EMOTIONAL TIMES IN ISRAEL, KADIMA OPPOSITION LEADER TZIPI LIVNI WAS REPEATEDLY HECKLED AND BOOED SUNDAY EVENING AT A JERUSALEM EVENT MARKING THE LAUNCH OF A BOOK IRONICALLY ENTITLED "NEVER AGAIN CIVIL WAR" WHICH DEALS WITH THE PRE-STATE ETZEL UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT. THE EVENT AT THE CITY'S BEGIN CENTER, WHICH WAS ALSO ATTENDED BY KNESSET SPEAKER REUVEN RIVLIN OF THE RULING LIKUD PARTY TURNED ROWDY ALMOST AS SOON AS THE FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER, WHOSE PARENTS BELONGED TO THE RIGHT-WING PRE-STATE ZIONIST ORGANIZATION, BEGAN SPEAKING.

"SOME OF YOU ARE LIKELY ANGRY THAT I LEFT THE TRADITION AND BASE WHICH I WAS PERHAPS EDUCATED IN," LIVNI OPENED. "IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT PREVENTS A CIVIL WAR IT IS THE ABILITY TO LISTEN TO EACH OTHER AND TO DIFFERING OPINIONS."

THAT, HOWEVER PROVED TO BE TOO HARD FOR THE AUDITORIUM-PACKED AUDIENCE OF PREDOMINANTLY SENIORS, MANY OF WHOM WERE AFFILIATED WITH THE ORGANIZATION - ESPECIALLY WHEN AN UNREPENTANT LIVNI, WHO SUPPORTED THE 2005 GAZA PULLOUT, QUICKLY FOCUSED HER TALK TO THE PRESENT AND BEGAN TALKING ABOUT THE NEED FOR TERRITORIAL COMPROMISE.

Other participants included Tzvi Barzel, an Irgun fighter who had also been kidnapped by the Hagana during the Saison period and Alizah Forkosh, Yedidya's sister. Leor Yaini provided musical accompaniment. Haggai Segal addressed the crowd at the end and explained why he wrote the book and what were his goals in doing so.


ADDITIONAL EVENTS

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EVENING WAS THE PROGRAM ON SONGS OF THE HALUTZIM, PART OF THE SERIES PRESENTED ON ZIONIST AND ISRAEL SONGS BY ISRAEL PRIZE WINNER NACHUM HEIMAN, WHICH WAS CONDUCTED ON TUESDAY EVENING.

ON THURSDAY EVENING, THE SECOND SHOWING IN THE NEW SERIES, “ZIONIST CINEMA”, WILL BE HELD. THIS TIME, THE DOCUMENTARY, “DUBECK”, ON THE LATE SECURITY CHIEF FOR THE GUSH ETZION DISTRICT, WILL BE SHOWN AND THE DIRECTOR WILL SPEAK.

ALSO ON THURSDAY, THE BEGIN CENTER FACILITIES WERE RENTED BY “ISRAEL’S MEDIA WATCH” FOR ITS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WHICH FEATURED PHILLIPE KARSENTY. MR. KARSENTY INITIATED A LIBEL SUIT IN FRANCE IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFAMOUS MUHAMMED AL-DURA FILM CLIP. MR. KARSENTY HAD ALSO ADDRESSED THE GUESTS OF THE BNAI BRITH WORLD CENTER ON WEDNESDAY WHO RENTED THE EXECUTIVE BOARD ROOM.

GUEST AT THE ARCHIVES

THE ARCHIVES THIS PAST WEEK WAS VISITED BY A WOMAN, Zehava Beiber-lacks, WHO ARRIVED IN ISRAEL ON THE ARMS SHIP, THE ALTALENA IN JUNE 1948. SHE ONLY RECENTLY THOUGHT OF DOING PERSONAL RESEARCH AND, INFORMED BY A RELATIVE OF THE BEGIN CENTER RESEARCH FACILITIES, DECIDED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE. SHE WAS QUITE SURPRISED AND ALSO SATISFIED AT THE ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO HER IN HER PERSONAL QUEST.

HEBREW BOOK WEEK

IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE JABOTINSKY INSTITUTE, THE BEGIN CENTER WILL MAN A BOOK STALL AT THE ANNUAL 10-DAY LONG HEBREW BOOK FESTIVAL. THIS YEAR, THE STALL WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC IN TEL AVIV FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S SUCCESSFUL JERUSALEM STALL. BOOKS RELATING TO ZE'EV JABOTINSKY, MENACHEM BEGIN, THE UNDERGROUNDS AND NATIONAL ZIONISM CAN BE PURCHASED AT DISCOUNT PRICES.

Ilana Brown is on holiday and this bulletin and those of the coming few weeks will be produced by others in the Begin Center. If there are any problems, we expect your gracious consideration.