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<font face="tahoma" size=2><br><br>
</font><font size=3><b>Subject:</b> <b><u>Israeli Hate Literature for
Children<br><br>
</u></b></font><font face="arial" size=2>We hear so much about Arab
"hate literature" Here's the Israel version....<br>
</font><font size=3> <br><br>
<br><br>
</font><h1><font face="verdana" size=5><b><a href="http://theunjustmedia.com/Jewish%20Zionists/Israeli%20Hate%20Literature%20for%20Children.htm#bottom">Israeli
Hate Literature for
Children</a></b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><a href="http://theunjustmedia.com/" eudora="autourl">http://theunjustmedia.com/<br><br>
</a></font><font face="verdana" size=3>written by Tamar Meroz<br><br>
first published in Hebrew in Ha'aretz Weekly Supplement, pp. 8, 9
,27.<br>
September 20, 1974 translated and republished in English in<br><br>
<br>
</font><h6><font face="verdana" size=4><b>The Non-Jew in the Jewish
State: A Collection of
Documents</b></font></h6><font face="verdana" size=3>edited and prepared
by Israel Shahak<br>
pages 81-90 1975 with the original title of<br>
<i>The Adventures of Oz Yaus, Tzuptzik and Danidin<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><h3><b>The Adventures of Oz Yaoz, Tzuptzik and
Danidin</b></h3><font size=3><b>Scores of Children's Books Published in
Israel</b> encourage hatred and contempt for the Arabs. The principle is
identical in all these endless serials: the Israeli heroes defeat the
stupid Arabs. There is no control over these books, which are swallowed
indiscriminately. Who are the authors of these books and what motivates
them?<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=3>One of the most shocking phenomena in
the field of children's literature in this country are the books
published every now and then, and which are eagerly grabbed by children,
whose themes are always how the mighty child or children defeat the funny
and thickheaded Arabs who seek to kill us for their personal
pleasure.<br><br>
</font>Once we were alarmed when we discovered anti-Israeli propaganda,
accompanied by racist caricatures, which was included in textbooks used
by refugee children in Gaza. And now it is clear, although only a few
parents know about it, that we, the Israelis, are employing much worse
material of racist hatred which is accompanied by caricatures no less
racist. Parents buy those books for their children, often without knowing
their content; or the children get them in school or municipal libraries.
And what a wonder: those are almost the only books which are never left
on the shelf. At the moment they are returned to the library, a queue of
children is waiting for every book.<br><br>
<font face="verdana" size=3>Recently, some parents have started to
discover the content of these books. A mother of an eight year old girl
says: "I was astounded to find out what children read, and the worst
of it is that I have no way of preventing it. They get those books at the
library, and if I forbid them to read them, they will read them secretly.
I see what they read, but I am helpless. Why is the distribution of these
books not prohibited?"<br><br>
A father says: "It is really astounding to see to what extent these
books hold the children spellbound. In these books there are sadistic
horror descriptions, detailed descriptions of cruel treatment and
offensive caricatures of the Arabs who are described as wretched cowards.
But I can not succeed in preventing the children from reading them. They
are totally hypnotized. Why is there a standard for clothes, for
articles, for food and for everything else and no control over
children's books? Why can anyone earn money by producing this poison, and
even municipal libraries buy it?"<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>Total Anarchy</b></h3><font face="verdana" size=3>A
librarian at a large municipal library says: "They are a disaster,
these books; and however much we recommend classical literature the
children want these books. Parents are glad to see their child sitting
enthralled by a book and it does not cross their mind what he is
actually reading. We are not able to control what every child reads, and
on the part of the Ministry of Education and Culture there is no
control."<br><br>
</font>As far as children's books are concerned, anarchy reigns. Everyone
can publish whatever he wants. Bad translations, mis-educational books.
Children 's books, apparently, are the only product over which there is
no control.<br><br>
<font face="verdana" size=3>But the books which are published in this
country are much worse than bad translations and there are many tens of
books which deal with one topic: the Arabs who murder Jews out of
pleasure, and the pure Jewish boy who defeats "the coward
swine."<br><br>
Such books distributed in thousands and at times in tens of thousands of
copies, are the product of a simple process: every child likes thrillers
and adventure books in which the good guy wins. This is important and
educational, a source of identification and an outlet for fears, as is
well known.<br><br>
Once, children used to read the classical adventure books, from Karl May
to Henryk Sienkiewicz in which heroes fought fights full of tension,
which ended with the triumph of good over evil. At the beginning of the
fifties, a change occurred when an angry young writer discovered the
magic formula. This was Yigal Mosenson, and the magic word was:
"Hasamba." "An absolutely secret band" is a band of
Israeli children who defeat the enemy, having endless adventures, from
the expulsion of the British to electric caves. Then, these books were
considered bad literature, whereas today they are seen almost as
classical in comparison with the wave of children's literature which came
afterwards.<br><br>
All who were interested, started to publish books, written according to
the inexhaustible magic formula: a band of brave Israeli children who
defeat the stupid Arabs. Arnona Gadot writes about "Tchuptchik
Girls" and about "Four Friends and the Gush Etzion
Operation;" Rafael Sahar writes about the children who "Break
through the pyramids;" H. Orgil writes about the "Band of
Friends After the Terrorists;" Haim Eliav writes about "The
Children of the Old City Fight the Infiltrators." One book was
published by "Haim Gibory" ("Gibor" means
"hero.") about a courageous band named "Havuoz"
("Havu-Oz" means "give strength") who obviously
easily defeats all the stupid Arabs. But the real bestsellers, which have
an almost legendary circulation, are the books of two authors, who
themselves, have names of great significance: one is Ido Seter
("Seter" means "secrecy") whose hero is named
"Oz Yaoz" ("Oz" means "strength,"
"yaoz" "will have courage") and the other is On
Sarig ("On" means "potency", "Sarig" means
"grid") whose hero is Danidin the invisible child.<br><br>
These books are published in serials of many volumes; all are about one
subject, with slight variations: a realistic description of a small
heroic Israeli child who arrives at the camp of the cowardly Arabs and
defeats them. The following passage from the book "The Young
Detectives in the Sinai Operation," is an example:<br><br>
"'Who are you?' shouted the Egyptian guard. He came towards me out
of the darkness. The Egyptian, a fellow with a thick dark moustache and
cruel eyes, looked at the boy as a cat looks at a mouse who is in its
claws. 'What is your name?' he asked. . . and a wolf's teeth showed under
his black moustache. 'If you do not tell me your name, at once I will
order ten soldiers to stick ten spears in your eyes!'<br><br>
'If you do that, the commander of the Egyptian army in Sinai will hang
you on the nearest electric pole,' answered Eli calmly.<br><br>
The Egyptian officer became frightened.<br><br>
'Why are you standing there so stupidly? Your house should be destroyed!'
He shouted at the guard who watched Eli. 'Bring a car and I will take him
to the commander of the Egyptian army.' During the drive, he did not stop
threatening Eli that he would cross his fingers, burn his ears, cut his
nose, extract his teeth, make him blind and take out his
brain."<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>Rivers of Blood</b></h3><font face="verdana" size=3>In
these books, the description of the enemy is always accompanied by
appropriate pictures. For example, in Ido Seter's book "Oz Yaoz and
Pharaoh's crocodiles:"<br><br>
"The commander, Ramadan-eagle-nose and the head of the enemy's spies
was sitting, laughing to himself, a devil's laughter. Ramadan-eagle-nose
wiped his eagle nose with a pink handkerchief; then he opened his desk
drawer and took out a glittering Damascene dagger. He stroked the dagger
blade with his fingers, and thought to himself with delight that soon,
when the final massacre would start, Israel would be shaken. In his
imagination, he had already seen how he was travelling in an open car in
Tel-Aviv, and all around him rivers of blood."<br><br>
The children, Ido Seter's enthusiastic readers, receive a lot of
information about the Arabs: for example: the children are informed that
the Arabs have "only one song in their mouths" which starts
with the following words:<br><br>
"We will assault the enemy<br>
Out of the darkness, with all our might<br>
Since we have no other delight<br>
But the delight of murder."<br><br>
If, incidentally, the faithful readers have not had any fears up to now
they will have them from now on. And if they think that we live in times
of tranquility, and perhaps peace might come soon, the mysterious author
Ido Seter brings them up-to-date in educational language:<br><br>
"So it will be, my band. Life does not float with the stream. At
times, it seems as if everything is all-right and there is nothing to
worry about, and no surprise is expected and then all of a sudden,
somebody appears out of the darkness with all kinds of infernal
instruments in his hand, an evil plot in his mind and wicked hatred in
his heart. This is a sign that the war against the enemy spies goes on,
and there is nothing to do but to confront them again with all our might
and destroy them again. And it does not matter, with what we do it a
pistol, a knife, or a pair of hard fists. Everything is part of the game.
And believe me: this is no laughing matter, this is a war of life or
death, and it has only one rule: if anyone comes to kill you, kill him
first."<br><br>
</font>Perhaps, the oddest adventure of all is to find out those who
hides behind these names. Who is, for example, "Ido Seter," the
spiritual father of "Oz Yaoz?" It turns out that once he used
to be the editor of "Bamahane," the Israeli-Army weekly and
his name is Hezi Lopben. During the War of Independence he was in the
Palmah. Later he served on the General Staff, and the things he tells
about his work sound, from afar, like the stories of Oz Yaoz: "After
the Palmah, I worked for a little while on the General Staff as a
specialist in Arab affairs. I used to publish articles, on their behalf,
under the name 'Dr. Sasson Ashriki.' We invented it, as if it was a man
going around the Arab countries and telling what happens everywhere. But,
obviously, it was based upon intelligence information. It was the first
time that the I.D.F. had published information about the Arab countries
and reported what was done on the other side of the hill. The head of the
intelligence at that time was Benjamin Gibly. It was at the time of 'the
Lavon Affair' and so I published, under the guise of Dr. Ashriki,
material about the Syrian army, about the Jordanian National Guard etc.
It was the first time that the intelligence had revealed its information
about the enemy. But, obviously, not overtly.<br><br>
<font face="verdana" size=3>"Afterwards, I moved on to real
literature. I published my first two stories in the literary section of
'Ha'aretz.' At that period, I was appointed the deputy editor of
'Bamahane,' and when the editor was abroad, I edited the magazine. Later,
I edited 'Rimon' a weekly published for a few years. Many argued that
it was financed by the security service, but they could not prove it.
After the weekly was closed, I felt bad. And then, I saw my daughter,
Lili, reading a children's book by Ygal Mosenson. So I decided to write
books of the same type but better."<br><br>
And indeed, already by the beginning of his first book, there is an
educational appeal to the young readers: "listen attentively,
quietly, and do not start trembling from fear like a shaking leaf if in a
moment or two, you face one of the most devilish devices of the enemy
spies. Truly, an evil device. And danger will increase with every moment.
But those who risk their life for their country, will win eternal
praise. That is certain."<br><br>
</font>"All my names" says Hezi Lopben "are powerful.
I invent them with clear intentions. Not like Shmuel or another common
name, but a name that appeals to the ear. It is important, too. Thus,
obviously a hero who is involved in espionage and violence cannot be
named Haim Adini ("Adin" means "delicate."). So I
called the hero Oz Yaoz, which means: here, 'one talks with fists.'"
His Arab names are meaningful, too. The name of the head of the Egyptian
espionage service, for example, is "Lieutenant-Colonel Mastul
Bandura" ("Mastul" means "crazy," and
"Bandura" means "tomato"). Names of other Arabs are:
Mr. Mephisto, Halil Bukra, ("Bukra" means "tomorrow")
etc. So one should be aware the difference.<br><br>
<br>
<h3><font face="verdana" size=4><b>Basic
Hebrew</b></font></h3><font size=3>"My thinking," said Hezi
Lopben, "is based on what I would have liked to read as a child
living in the reality of today. I try to write in simple basic language.
Even a good poem is written in basic and simple language.<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=3>And the following is an example of
basic Hebrew from my book 'Oz Yaoz:'<br><br>
'Have you ever heard, perhaps, about Salim Hagida? If you have not,
listen carefully. He was cruel as a Chinese snake, bold as an Indian
tiger, and cunning as a Syrian fox. And he was a criminal from birth.
Already in his childhood, he was more like a robber than a normal child.
He was born in Jaffa, and when he was two years old, he tore off his
mother's ear with a bite. At the age of seven he threw a chair on his
teacher's head, and told her that two plus two is five, and that she
should not bother him, that idiot. At the age of ten, he pushed his uncle
under a running car since he had nothing else to do at that moment. What
is there to say. This nut developed quickly, and at the age of ten, he
already had a gang of his own, and he himself liked to decide whom to
murder and whom to rob.' And it goes without saying, of course, that the
Egyptian espionage service recruits him."<br><br>
</font>"It is important that the book has humour," says Hezi
Lopben. "I gave a name to everything. I named the knife
Marcel." Here is an example of the humour about Marcel the
knife:<br><br>
<font face="verdana" size=3>"He thought about Marcel. It was a magic
knife. He bought it in the French port Marseille, in a special shop for
battle knives. He thought about Marcel with delight: it was a murderous
weapon. He always carried Marcel, everywhere he went. It was hidden in a
leather case, tied under his armpit. Ha! Good old Marcel! Beautiful
Marcel! Marcel, who knows how to stab deeply! You will hear more about
Marcel. This is certain."<br><br>
"It is important that a book be written half humorously," says
Lopben. "That I learned from my teacher, Peter Cheney, the author of
spy books. He has humour, too. I described, for example, various kinds of
blows. There is a shalom-aleichem blow, a hammer blow, a good-night blow.
There is a blow of good manners, and an end of the world blow, and some
more blows with such names. Every blow has a different influence, and
leaves a special mark. In the course of time, kids, you will learn how to
distinguish between these different blows. For example: the blow called
'shalom-aleichem' is not so terrible, not so crushing. But when it hits
the fight point, it turns the opponent's face from side to side and bends
some of his bones, but it still does not finish him off
totally."<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>Is Deceiving Children
Permissible?</b></h3><font face="verdana" size=3>Hezy Lopben is not just
a writer; he also has a personal philosophy and definite attitudes about
children's books: "I do not support the opinion that a book should
be educational. Someone can read the mildest book and then there might
be a breakdown in his family and he will murder."<br><br>
</font>"And there is something else: we live in a period of
complications with the Arabs, of what is called 'fields full of blood.'
Thus, it is not right to tell children nice stories about flowers and
butterflies and pure olive oil. This can lead to a breakdown: he will
read nice stories about the twittering of birds, and all of a sudden
there is war. There will thus be a breakdown of credibility. Is deceiving
children permissible? Apart from that, there is something else I want to
say: the Arabs are cunning. A difficult enemy, and not a stupid one. I,
myself, hate them. I was brought up on a book which had pictures of the
1936 riots, pictures of killed people. This might contradict what I said
that a book has no influence. But this is how things are, and it was a
trauma, of which one cannot free oneself. According to my viewpoint the
Arabs want to kill me and I do not want to kill them. Thus there is
someone who will avenge the writer's vengeance since hundreds of
thousands of children have already read in his books about Rafi Sardine's
adventures, who is called so 'because of his body which is as lean as a
sardine, or more so. He is lean and dark and quick as a devil and has a
sharp mind and a memory like an African elephant.'" Rafi, a typical
Israeli boy whose parents were killed by an Arab in his presence, says
about his desire: "If I only knew how; if only I had the strength, I
would have wiped him out with my two hands; I would have liked to do
something, to seize him and simply strangle him. . ."<br><br>
<font face="verdana" size=3>The State of Israel, obviously, helps him in
his task with the assistance of the courageous hero Oz Yaoz, and with the
active aid of all the educational libraries which circulate this
literature in thousands of copies.<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>Zeev Bar-Zeev</b></h3><font size=3>Another serial which is
circulated at least as much as "Oz Yaoz" tells about the hero
of On Sarig, Danidin. An Israeli boy an invisible hero. For anyone who
has not bothered reading these books, a summary of one of them
"Danidin On an Impossible Mission" is given below:<br><br>
The book starts by telling that the Israeli broadcasting service
announced by mistake the capture of the Jordanian broadcasting station on
"Gilgal Mountain;" now it must be conquered, or we must pretend
that we conquered it, "so that they will not think that we are
liars." The director of the Israeli broadcasting service timidly
suggests broadcasting an immediate denial, but the General Staff
responds:<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=3>"All we need" roared the
General Staff, "is to start denying our own
statements!"<br><br>
The one with the determined voice was the Deputy Chief of the General
Staff for broadcasting affairs, Lieutenant-Colonel Zeev Bar-Zeev. Across
his desk, sat the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for fighting,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Yizhak Avrahami. "So, the situation is
clear," he said, "we have no other alternative, we have to
conquer the Jordanian Broadcasting station on Gilgal mountain within two
to three hours."<br><br>
Later on, in this sophisticated literary adventure, Danidin is parachuted
straight into the Jordanian broadcasting station, and simply knocks at
the door. When he is asked who it is, he simply answers: "King
Hussein." The director of the station is frightened and shouts at
the "two confused guards: that they are cheeky! asses! eggplants!
stupid! Why do you close the door to our mighty king?!"<br><br>
And what a coincidence! At the very same moment, the real King Hussein
arrives at the gate. But the guards, who think it is Danidin, pour a pot
of boiling tea on Hussein, the King of Jordan. "Oh father,
mother," shouted the King, who was badly burnt.
"Excellent!" cried the director of the station, triumphantly
when he heard the groanings and the shouts. When it became clear that the
boiling tea had been poured on King Hussein, the director of the station
swears, as the masterpiece continues: "What have you done? Asses!
locusts! thorns! swines!"<br><br>
At the end of the book, when King Hussein is admitted into the station,
Danidin enters with him, and delivers a speech in praise of the
"Whole Land of Israel," on the Jordanian broadcasting service:
"All of Eretz Israel is the Land of the Bible, and only the people
of Israel in the land of the Bible can turn it again into a wonderful
land. Therefore, we should free the whole of our homeland from the yoke
of the Arabs, who invaded it, and would like to make the land of the
Bible part of the Arab land. It will return, and the whole of it will
belong to our people, the people of the Bible forever! Soldiers of
Israel, the enslaved homeland is waiting for you, yearning. Go on and
free Judaea and Ephraim."<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>Model People</b></h3><font face="verdana" size=3>Sarig, who
writes under the name of Avner Carmel as the author of the endless series
called "The Young Detectives" and "The Young
Sportsmen" of which more than thirty different books have already
been published, writes also under the name of Yigal Golan.<br><br>
</font>The author of this serial of the adventures of Danidin is
surprisingly, a scholar of military history by profession! And what is
more surprising, he is convinced that his books are very important and
educational.<br><br>
<font face="verdana" size=3>Shraga Gafni, previously a member of Lehi
(Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), says most seriously: "I try to
inculcate love for the homeland in my readers. My writing is aimed
primarily at nurturing in the reader love for the heritage of Eretz
Israel and writing some more glorious pages in the heritage of Israel. It
might sound florid, but this is the way I feel. In my opinion being an
Israeli is a responsibility. We are the people of the prophets who have
to set an example. In my opinion, the books about Danidin are important
since the child identifies himself with the hero and learns from him
loyalty and love for the homeland. Danidin uses his power of being
invisible for his parents, his country, his friends and his community.
Danidin is a model hero. He will never hurt anyone weaker than himself,
and will never abuse or insult the enemy."<br><br>
And what about the abuses and the names he uses for the Arabs in the
book: "cheeky asses eggplants stupid locusts thorns
swines?"<br><br>
Shraga Gafni is really surprised: "Some of these things were said by
Danidin! It is the director of the Arab broadcasting station who talks
that way! We know that an Arab swears at his workers! And actually he
would have said sons of a bitch, to say nothing of other swearwords.
Thus, I wrote only a vegetarian list with a little meat. Swine meat.
But the Israeli in my book? He will never swear! He behaves nobly towards
the enemy, too."<br><br>
<br>
</font><h3><b>Very Educational
Books</b></h3><font face="verdana" size=3>"And I am convinced that
my books are very educational! I have always said to myself: 'You have to
check responsibly, every word you write!' In my opinion, a book is the
most powerful means for moulding values in a child! The early reading is
absorbed by the child and is deeply engraved. Therefore, one should not
do harm by writing, and my heroes are always decent."<br><br>
Shraga Gafni believes wholeheartedly that his books are educational and
important. Here is another example taken from another book of Danidin
which is circulated in thousands of copies:<br><br>
When Danidin enters Egypt he simply plants a box, with a note
"attached to it by a rubber band," on which the following is
written: "The Death Box: when a certain password, known only to the
Chief of the General Staff of the I.D.F., is whispered into the tube, it
will blow up and destroy the whole of the enemy country with all its
inhabitants."<br><br>
The reaction of the cowardly Egyptians in the educational book: "'We
will run away!' shouted Nasser and started running, but he immediately
fell down. Nasser got up immediately, and continued to run, and everyone
ran away too. Ho! You should have seen what a flight it was. 'I properly
fulfilled my duty,' thought Danidin, 'From now on, the Egyptians will not
dare to start waging wars against us.'"<br><br>
Here is an excerpt from a letter from Eli Shahaf, an angry father, who
wrote to the editor of Ha'aretz:<br><br>
Incidentally, I happened to see the latest masterpiece of the terrible
invisible hero, which my son brought home from the municipal
library.<br><br>
When it comes to children's literature, it is necessary in my humble
opinion, that there be something beyond the wish to get rich, when
writing a book. I do not want my son to get his knowledge from anyone who
finds himself a way of expressing his political opinions and his
frustrations. I was shocked, once, when I read how Arab children were
brought up to hate Israel, and now I happen to see books, of which the
contents, the mode of expression and the drawings which accompany them
are full of arrogance and superiority and contribute more than anything
else to the hatred of our neighbours.<br><br>
</font>These books have been read by many children. I invite the Minister
of Education and his advisers, who declare, from sunrise to sunset, that
our children's education is dear to them, to study these
masterpieces.<br><br>
<br><br>
<h6><font face="verdana" size=3><b><a href="http://theunjustmedia.com/Jewish%20Zionists/Israeli%20Hate%20Literature%20for%20Children.htm#contents">Web
Editor's Note</a></b></font></h6><font face="verdana" size=3>This
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