In Memory of Robert F. Kennedy on the 45th Anniversary of his Assassination

http://www.israeldailypicture.com/

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:48 PM PDT

Robert F. Kennedy 

Nov. 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968

- a strong supporter of Israel

We leave our regular historical features to pay tribute to Robert Kennedy who was murdered on this day in 1968.  

Several special features about Kennedy make this posting very appropriate for this site today:

1. Kennedy visited the Holy Land prior to Israel's establishment as a young newspaper correspondent and described Israel's armed struggle and economic development.

2. Several historic photographs of Kennedy's 1948 visit to Israel were provided by the Kennedy family.

Kennedy "firing a slingshot" outside of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, March 1948 (from the Kennedy family)

3. Kennedy, as a young college graduate, wrote several feature articles for The Boston Post on his visit.  The newspaper went out of business in 1956 and for many years the articles were virtually lost.  

Several years ago, The Israel Daily Picture's

Kennedy on King David Street, north of the hotel. Note the armored British vehicle and British checkpoint behind him

publisher, Lenny Ben-David, found the articles, published them, and posted them on the "Robert Kennedy and Israel" website.   

Read the full-length articles by RFK here. 

4. Kennedy's family points out that he was murdered by a 

Bobby Kennedy deplaning from a RAF plane at Lod airport

Palestinian Arab terrorist, Sirhan Sirhan, who was angry about Kennedy's strong support for Israel.  The assassination took place on the first anniversary of Israel's victory in the Six Day War, and the timing was no accident, the family insists.

5. Kennedy visited the Middle East in March 1948 and departed Palestine before Israel's declaration of independence on May 14 and Ben-Gurion’s announcement of the name of the new country. RFK, therefore, does not refer to “Israel” or to “Israelis” in his articles.

Read several excerpts of Robert Kennedy's articles: 

The Jews point with pride to the fact that over 500,000 Arabs in the 12 years between 1932 and 1944, came into Palestine to take advantage of living conditions existing in no other Arab state. This is the only country in the Near and Middle East where an Arab middle class is in existence.

It is an unfortunate fact that because there are such well founded arguments on either side each grows more and more bitter toward the other. Confidence in their right increases in proportion to the hatred and mistrust for the other side for not acknowledging it.

The Jewish people in Palestine who believe in and have been working toward this national state have become an immensely proud and determined people. It is already a truly great modern example of the birth of a nation with the primary ingredients of dignity and self-respect.

Read the full-length articles by RFK here. 

The Zionist Message Hidden within Antique Pictures of the Holy Land

Journal Article Abstract: The Zionist Message Hidden within Antique Pictures of the Holy Land
By Lenny Ben-David

Abstract reprinted from the Jewish Political Studies Review, May 1, 2013

A 110-year-old trove of pictures taken by the Christian photographers of the American Colony in Jerusalem provides dramatic proof of thriving Jewish communities in Israel.





Hundreds of pictures show the ancient Jewish community of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Jewish pioneers and builders of new towns and settlements in the Galilee and along the Mediterranean coastline. The American Colony photographers recorded Jewish holy sites, holiday scenes and customs, and they had a special reason for focusing their lenses on Yemenite Jews.





The collection, housed in the U.S. Library of Congress, also contains photographs from the 1860s, the first years of photography. These photographs provide a window rarely opened by historians—for several unfortunate reasons—to view the life of the Jews in the Holy Land. The photographs’ display and online publication effectively counters the biased narrative claiming that the Jewish state violently emerged ex novo in the mid-twentieth century.

Read the full article and view the photographs here.

Gilboa Mountains in Israel (1920 photo & today)

Mystery Picture -- Where Was This Picture Taken?
A Satellite Photo Helped Find the Location



Is this Kibbutz Tel Yosef? Photo from the "Cigarbox Collection" 

of Dr.Othniel Seidon

The composition of this photo is striking -- a new Jewish settlement 

at the foot of a mountain ridge and at the bottom of a gorge. On the 

back someone wrote "Tel Yosef 1921," apparently the year, the only 

date found on a photo in the Seidon collection. The kibbutz was named

 after Yosef Trumpeldor, a Jewish Zionist hero who died defending 

the Tel Hai settlement in 1920.

The photo is an enigma. Tel Yosef is located in the Jezreel Valley in 

northern Israel, not located at the base of mountain. Research into 

Tel Yosef's history uncovered that the kibbutz was located a few 

kilometers away in its first years, and was located where Kibbutz 

Ein Harod is located today. But it too was not at the foot of a mountain.

Beit Alpha at the foot of the Gilboa Mountains. Note the
gorge (Google Earth)

Modern technology helped us locate the chalutzim's (pioneers) 

settlement 90 years ago.

A Google Earth search of the Jezreel-Gilboa area quickly found a 

possible location of the mystery picture -- the Kibbutz of Beit Alpha. 

The settlement at the foot of the mountain and the gorge appear identical.

We checked Beit Alpha's history and photo archives and confirmed 

that the Cigar Collection photo was Beit Alpha and not Tel Yosef. T

he picture below shows the same tents and buildings.



From Beit Alpha's archives. Note the same tents and cabins 

as the photo on top

Our 888th Post - Thank You Lord!

Ben Gurion airport - I love the place!

A word from Steve: 

In honor of our 888th post (occurring Sunday May 19, 2013) I want to say I am grateful for the over 55,888 page views. It gives me encouragement that this Blog is being seen and read.

888th post and 55,888 views

on May 19, 2013

55,755 page views occurring at 

5:55 pm on 05.18.13

(Can you tell I am an Accountant?!)

Sharing my Ahava Love Letters, photos from 10 previous trips to Israel, and additional historical and current truth, both from those who also stand in support of Israel and myself, has been a true blessing and fulfillment of His purposes and ongoing will.

Most importantly, I am grateful to my Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) who had me begin Love For His People, Inc. in 2010, and this specific Blog site in October of that year. 

It has been quite an interesting and rewarding journey, and I look forward to the many opportunities and open doors He has in store for the work yet ahead. 

As we press on in our support of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide, we look to the One Who put this desire in our hearts. 

And that desire, to pay back our "debt to Israel" and the Jewish people, while serving the King of kings and the Lord of lords, is stronger than ever.

Blessings on ye all!

Ahava and shalom,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Come ride along in this Ahava Adventure journey!

(Ahava - "love" in Hebrew)

Some of our popular postings come from the website "Israel's History - a Picture A Day. Here is a portion of their latest posting.

When I discovered 22,000 newly digitalized antique pictures of Eretz Yisrael in the Library of Congress archives two years ago, I immediately recognized the pictures' hasbara value. The photos showed Jewish life in the land 150 years ago, well before Herzl and the establishment of the State of Israel.  

Lenny Ben-David

Grave of Maimonides (Rambam) in Tiberias (circa 1920). A version of this picture 

also appears in the HarvardLibrary archives attributed to the Central Zionist Archives

 In 1980,  I started an organization called "Doctors To The World" which took medical personnel to various areas in the world to do volunteer work in needy areas.  We sent dentists into villages in Israel to serve mostly Israeli Arabs and anyone else needing help.  That was when I took out Israeli citizenship so I could get a medical license in Israel.



Bedouin Arab family near Lake Hula and their reed huts

My father took only some of the photos.  Many were either post cards or some other stock photos.  Those that had an imprint on the back [some are stamped "Keren Hayesod Photo] I assume is that of the developing and processing individual. 

Picture A Day WEBSITE

More Treasures from the "Cigarbox Collection" -- Part 2

More Treasures from the "Cigarbox Collection" -- Part 2



The cigarbox collection

We continue to scan and research the treasure trove of 
photographs donated to Israel Daily Picture, pictures 
taken by the donor's father in the Land of Israel in the 
first decades of the 20th century. We hope to unveil the 
collection and the donor's account in his own words 
in the near future.

Meanwhile, we present two more special pictures and 
a response to yesterday's picture from Yizraela, an 
octogenarian from Nahalal, who is an expert on the 
early days of the community and its photographs.

Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek in the Jezreel Valley (circa 1926) with 
Mt Tabor in the background.  The community was evacuated
 briefly during the 1929 Arab riots. 
In the 1948 war it was attacked by 
Arab artillery and aircraft.

Young women doing laundry.  A notation on the back of the photo 
says that they are Yemenites.  Are they Jewish? 
The talit prayer shawl in the tub suggests
 that they are. (circa 1920)

Yizraela Bloch (named for the "Jezreel" Valley where she was born) is the 
photo archivist of Nahalal.  The spry octogenarian was shown yesterday's 
photo of the children of Nahalal and asked if one of the boys could be Moshe Dayan.



She responded: "Moshe Dayan couldn't be one of the children in the picture 
because you can see the water tower that was built in 1924 in the background. 

The building in the foreground was the kindergarten and behind it the first
 grade class room. In 1924 Moshe Dayan would have been older then the 
kids in the picture." [Dayan was born in 1915.]

Confirming the unique nature of the "Cigarbox collection," Yizraela was very interested 
in the photograph which she doesn't have in the archive collection. She was also 
surprised that she didn't know the kindergarten teacher in the photo.

   The children of Nahalal and their teacher.

Our special thanks to NSP for interviewing Yizraela.

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