# 336 – Mimouna

Mimouna

Many Jews have something to learn from the North African Jews.

The former celebrate Passover by consuming very symbolic foods, each representing suffering, release from bondage and generally bone-crushing events.

The N. African Jews, led loudly by the Moroccans, celebrate the end of Passover by laying out and feeding on tons of sweets and gooey delicacies. Many of them spread to the open areas where they light thousands of barbecues. Our nearest friendly neighbours, the Cretans, have grown accustomed to the otherwise unseasonal clouds drifting across their beaches.

We have a lot of such minorities in Israel, some of whom have very special holidays which have become so popular, that the country almost changes colour. I can assure you that just about every Israeli politician attends Mimouna celebrations, making sure the cameras are also there

It’s a bit like New York: large percentage of Puerto Ricans, large percentage of Cubans, Italians, Jews, Polish, Chinese etc.. But on St. Patrick’s Day, they all wear green.

And another observation. We have at least 1 million Russians who immigrated here since Gorbachev ‘opened the doors’. In Russia, they were called Jews. Here, they’re called Russians.

And…

This is Hadar Chen’s view of Jaffa. A reminder that Tel Aviv was established only 110 years ago, by Jews moving out of Jaffa. The official name of the city is Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

Hadar is one of a group of talented illustrators who occasionally gather together and display at the popular Nahlat Binyamin craft market.

(Shira Pohlmann is another…).

Here’s Hadar’s image of Haifa’s Carmel Cableway…All of Haifa is either on the top of, along the middle of, or at the base of the Carmel mountains.  Many residents have very beautiful views of the peninsula and/or the bay.

And an illustration of the fun one can have at the Dead Sea…Floating, of course, but when you close your eyes, you see so much more.

And…

Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ (re Middle East peace) is one of the best-kept political secrets around. Not even sure Trump knows what it is. Maybe there IS no deal yet; just a clever hoax. Its intro has been delayed a couple of times. Then it was going to be after the elections here. Now it’s going to be after Ramadan.

Silly thing is, speculation may be one thing, but the Palestinians’ rejection of it, whatever it reveals and suggests, is just plain silly.

My opinion? They 100% do not deserve to, but I’m in favour of the int’l community, especially including some of the powerful and ‘moderate’ Arab nations, investing in Palestine, rebuilding Gaza, creating a port, an airport, direct connection with Egypt – and possibly bringing Jordan back into the picture.

This is the country which should have been Palestine. This is now the country that could be the next to collapse. The Palestinian/Jordanian citizens are the majority, and will be joined by the 1.5 to 2 million refugees from Iraq and Syria. Abdullah must do something soon. Otherwise he’ll be overrun.

A Palestinian-Jordanian entity, strongly supported by the int’l community, could force the Palestinians to take their minds off the destruction of Israel and get on with living.

April 27, 2019