TOTAL NUMBER OF VISITORS SINCE OCTOBER 2004: 508,109
MARKING TWO MILESTONES:
FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND HALF A MILLION VISITORS
The Menachem Begin Heritage Center will celebrate 5 years since the building on Ketef Hinnom was opened to the public and having welcomed over half a million visitors. The event will be on August 27.
This momentous occasion will be celebrated with a number of activities open to the public. In the Reuben Hecht Auditorium, two lectures will be held by the Begin Center's most popular lecturers. At 7:00pm, Dr. Micha Goodman, of the Parashat HaShavua lecture series, will speak about Philosophical Aspects of Biblical Heroes. At 8:00pm, Dr. Udi Lebel, author of Road to the Pantheon will speak about Coming out of the Underground: The Right Wing in Israeli Memory, Then and Now. At 9:00pm, there will be a screening of the award-winning Israeli film The Band's Visit (subtitles in Hebrew). For more information on this film please see here. On the Simon Family Terrace, the Dondorme Youth Orchestra will play rousing tunes at 9:30pm. Free tours will be available for those who are interested. The Menachem Begin Museum, with tours every half an hour, will be free and will run from 6:00pm until 9:30pm. A special tour outside the Center called Two Blasts that Shook Jerusalem will take place leaving every hour from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. This tour will visit the Old Train Station and the King David Hotel. All events are in Hebrew.
Location Time Event
Reuben Hecht Auditorium 7:00pm Dr. Micha Goodman
Philosophical Aspects of Biblical Heroes
8:00pm Dr. Udi Lebel
Coming out of the Underground: The Right Wing in Israeli Memory, Then and Now
9:00pm Screening of The Band's Visit (Subtitles in Hebrew)
Simon Family Balcony 9:30pm Dondorme Orchestra
External Tour to the Old Train Station and the King David Hotel 6:00pm to 9:00pm, leaving every hour Two Blasts that Shook Jerusalem
Museum Tour 6:00pm to 9:30pm, leaving every half hour The Menachem Begin Heritage Museum
PLEASE NOTE: All events are free and entrance will be on a first come, first served basis EXCEPT museum tours and tours outside the Center. The tours are by RESERVATION ONLY and SPACE IS LIMITED. Reservations will NOT be accepted before August 20.
5TH MOVIE IN THE NATIONAL MOVIE SERIES
Next week, on Thursday, 13 August, the National Film series, co-sponsored by the Begin Center and the 12 Tribe Foundation, will play the film "With the Strength of his Spirit" ("B'Oz Rucho"). The film is a documentary about Colonel Dror Weinberg who was killed in the fighting in Hebron in 2002. The film focuses on Dror's character and courage. The film was directed by his son, Yoav Weinberg, but the lecture after the movie will be conducted by Dror's father, Uri Weinberg. The movie is in Hebrew with subtitles in English. The lecture will be in Hebrew. The event takes place at 8:30pm on 13 August. Tickets are ₪30 and can be reserved at (02) 565-2020.
FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY
This week we quote from Harry Hurwitz's book, Begin: His Life, Words and Deeds:
"On 1 September 1982…the US administration announced a peace plan which became known as the Reagan Plan. It was apparent that while the people in the State Department had consulted various Arab elements before announcing the plan, they presented it to Israel as a fait accompli…
The American plan was, in essence, an endorsement of the principle of Israel giving up territory for peace and of "self-government for the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza in association with Jordan."…
In a letter to Reagan, Menachem Begin explained that the plan contradicted and deviated from the Camp David Accords and he protested "the omission to consult us prior to forwarding your proposals to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the former an outspoken opponent of the Camp David Accords and the latter a complete stranger to, and an adversary of, these accords." Begin continued:
As there was not prior consultation, the United State government could have taken the position that the "West Bank" should be reassociated with Jordan. What some call the "West Bank," Mr. President, is Judea and Samaria; and this simple historic truth will never change. There are cynics who deride history. They may continue their derision as long as they wish, but I will stand by the truth. And the truth is that millennia ago there was a Jewish Kingdom of Judea and Samaria where our Kings knelt to God, where our prophets brought forth the vision of eternal peace, where we developed a rather rich civilization which we took with us, in our hearts and in our minds, on our long global trek for over eighteen centuries and, with it, we came back home.
By aggressive war, by invasion, King Abdullah conquered parts of Judea and Samaria in 1948; and in a war of most legitimate self-defense in 1967, after being attacked by King Hussein, we liberated, with God's help, that portion of our homeland. Judea and Samaria will never again be the "West Bank" of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which was created by British Colonialism after the French army expelled King Feisal from Damascus.
Mr. President, you and I chose for the last two years to call our countries "friends and allies." Such being the case, a friend does not weaken his friend; an ally does not put his ally in jeopardy. This would be the inevitable consequence were the "positions" transmitted to me on August 31, 1982, to become a reality.
I believe they won't.
"For Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest" (Isaiah, Chapter 62)."
