A nice glass of sweat for me please...

No doubt there are those in the Levant that will today be raising a glass to toast the re-election of President Obama - or at least to toast the non-election of Governor Romney - and some of those will be doing so with Arak.  It is after all the traditional alcoholic drink of the Levant.  It's name is derived from the Arabic word for 'sweat'.  Quite a challenge for advertisers, I'd have thought. 

Levantines are not big drinkers, as a rule.  Most who do enjoy a beer or a wine or an Arak are of Jewish or Christian origin - it's unusual but not unknown to find a Muslim who partakes.  Nevertheless, alcohol is easily available across the region, notwithstanding it can be tricky to find in certain places - rural areas for example, or where there is no non-Moslem community - and at certain times of the year: Amman's off licences close for the 40 days of Ramadan, for example, which is a long time to wait if you've forgotten to stock up.  On the plus side, most locally produced alcoholic drinks such as Arak are relatively affordable.  There are many varieties of Arak to choose from.  Lebanon in particular has an impressive range and although I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to tell one brand of Arak from another, I'm sure there are those who can.

It's an anise-flavoured drink, related to the Ouzo of Greece and the Raki of Turkey and can be ferciously powerful.  It is clear, unsweetened and colourless and is usually drunk one-part Arak to two parts water.   When water is added, the Arak turns milky.  A finished glass of Arak will have what some may find a rather distasteful film of milky droplets on the interior of the glass, created by the reaction with the water.  Which is why it is considered untoward by most decent establishments not to supply the customer with several glasses for their bottle of Arak, that they may use a fresh glass for each drink.  The Arak might be drunk on its own or, more traditionally, as an aperitif accompanying mezes. 

If you are fortunate enough to own a vineyard, then prepare Arak by picking the grapes very late.  Then follow these instructions - http://toula-lebanon.blogspot.co.uk/2006/11/making-arak.html

 

95 years ago today - Australian mounted troops overrun Turkish machine guns...



The Charge of the Australian Light Horse 1917
(George Washington Lambert 1873-1930)

Ninety-five years ago today, on 31 October 1917, 800 horsemen of the Australian 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments formed up in three lines facing the Turkish trenches at Beersheva, northern gateway to the Negev.  Their job was crucial to the success of the British Army push to break the Turkish defence line that stretched east from Gaza and so open the road to Jerusalem.

British forces rapidly achieved early objectives.  However, soon word reached British commanders that the Turkish forces within the town were preparing for an orderly retreat.  This meant that the 17 wells of Beersheva (albeit it is written that Isaac the son of Abraham only dug seven wells there, which for some is the origin of the town's name - i.e Be'er = well and Sheva = seven.  There are other interpretations) were at risk of destruction by the retreating Turkish army.  And without those wells, there was no water.  The town would be all but impossible to occupy. 

The  Australian Light Horse were mounted infantry, not cavalrymen.  Horses were used to carry them into battle, not to fight from.  But on this occasion, time was pressing.  They had to reach the wells.  The attack began four miles from the Turkish lines.  As they neared, first at a trot but then at a charge, Turkish artillery opened fire but had little impact on the widely spaced horses.  So too did the Turkish machine guns, which were kept quiet by accurate and intense British artillery fire. 

The Turkish defenders were overwhelmed by the speed of the attack.  The first wave of Australians hurdled the Turkish trenches, dismounted and attacked the Turks from the rear with bayonets.  Successive waves followed.  Turkish resistance collapsed.  The town was taken.  Only two of the 17 wells were destroyed.  The crucial water supply was secured. 

There were 67 Australian casualties, 31 of them fatal.  They and the 1000 other Allied soldiers that died in the battle, rest in the Commonwealth cemetery outside the town's Old City. 

In 2008 a park was opened in memorium to those who died in the charge on the Turkish lines.  Beersheva has a memorial park dedicated to them too.  It's called the Australian Soldier Park.  This is a picture of it:

For more on the Australian Light Horse, go to http://www.lighthorse.org.au/
 

Fantastic footage from Damascus and Jerusalem 1938

The Levant, particularly Palestine, was a favourite destination for travel writers and film makers between the two world wars.  Here's one such film, shot in Damascus and Jerusalem in 1938 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDXhzGbcGLY

Captivating stuff.  There's many more similar films to choose from on YouTube, thanks mainly to the good people at Travel Film Archive, Palestine.

 

Which war ended 39 years ago today?

The Yom Kippur, or October, War began on 6 October 1973 with a simultaneous attack by Syrian forces on the Golan Heights and Egyptian forces on the Suez Canal.  It ended on 25 October, 39 years ago today.  The war involved tank battles of a scale not seen since World War Two and not seen since after.  The costs of the war were heavy.  Nearly 3000 Israelis died and possibly as many as 18000 Egyptians and Syrians.

Yet it could have been worse.  Much worse.  This war took place during the Cold War.  The Soviet Union threatened to intervene militarily in support of Egypt.  It put seven airborne divisions on alert and rushed destroyers to the area.  The United States went to DEFCON 3.  US-Soviet conflict looked likely.  But cooler heads prevailed.  The Cuban Missile Crisis had taken place 11 years to the month beforehand.  Both the US and the Soviets knew the price of escalation.  Neither was prepared to pay.

This war was also the last fought between Israel and Egypt and, a few isolated engagements aside, the last fought between Israel and Syria.  This was because the war allowed both Egypt and Syria to withdraw from the battlefield with honour satisfied.  Because in the early days of the war Israel was hit hard.  The Arab armies, fighting to regain land taken from them in the 1967 War, crossed the Suez Canal and occupied large parts of the Golan Heights.  But they failed to press their advantage.  Israel regrouped.

The war ended with Israeli forces forty miles from Damascus and a similar distance from Cairo. But if it was a victory for Israel, those early gains made it equally so for Egypt and Syria.  War memorials in both countries record their 'victory' of 1973.  Their armies had banished the humiliation of the 1967 War.  This made it possible for Egypt to agree peace with Israel six years later.  And although there is still no peace between Israel and Syria, there's no war either.

1973 war memorial, Egypt

Turkey and the rebirth of an Empire

It's often said that many of the geo-political problems of the Levant today can be traced back to the aftermath of the Great War when the remaining Powers, exhausted but still striving to fulfil colonial ambitions, carved up the area into newly created countries with newly created borders with newly created rulers in order to retain their own influence in the region.  There was no Lebanon as we know it today before 1914; and no Syria; no Palestine either; and no Jordan.  For that matter, there was no Iraq or Saudi Arabia either.

As the late Eqyptian diplomat Tahsin Bashir said, in his wonderful observation: "Egypt is the only nation-state in the Middle East; the rest are just tribes with flags". 

And for nearly five centuries, those tribes and their lands were ruled from Constantinople, capital of the Ottomans. 

After World War One, Turkey damn near ceased to exist.  Only the genius of Ataturk and the stoic obstinancy of the Ottoman soldier saved it.  It then spent nearly 100 years recovering.  And with that recovery has come the gradual re-emergence of the Turk as a big player in Levantine affairs. 

With astute diplomatic positioning that the Ottoman's predecessors the Byzantines would have appreciated, Turkey is the nation that can speak to all.  It's hosts NATO air bases but has cordial relations with Iran; it was for years one of Israel's few friends in the Moslem world and despite a recent very rocky patch, probably still is and yet until this year, was a friend to Syria too.  And it's keen to flex it's muscle when necessary.  It sent the Israeli Ambassador home a couple of years ago.  It shelled Syria last month.  It forced down a Russian plane last week.  Now those are the acts of a confident nation. 

It was only a few years ago that the big question in Europe was whether Germany would allow an apparently desperate-to-join Turkey into the EU.  One can see why at the time Turkey wasn't welcomed joyfully - social repression and human rights  abuses abounded then and many persist today - e.g. there's a free press in Turkey but try accessing YouTube while you're there; also reports of discrimination against minorities such as Christians are rife;  the residue of the virtual war in the East against Turkey's own Kurdish inhabitants persists; and the genocide of the Armenians during the Great War remains denied.   But you don't hear about Turkey wanting to join the EU now.  One can't imagine they'd want to, given the EU's current torments.  And after all, only 3% of Turkey is actually in Europe. 

Instead, Turkey is busy nurturing its own, reconstructed for the modern age, Empire of Influence in the Levant.  And that influence is growing year on year.

 

And in Gaza, something good...

It's not often that the West hears of good things that happen in Gaza.  But good things do happen.  Things that make a positive difference to the lives of the people living there.  Take a look at this from Lebanon's Daily Star, reporting on a restaurant that opened near Gaza port on Tuesday:

 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-18/191892-gaza-deaf-restaurant-a-chance-to-change-perceptions.ashx#axzz29f9iqD1K

Yet another election in Israel...

 Israel's Parliament, the Knesset

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has announced early elections in Israel, to be held on January 22nd.

When so many people in the Levant are denied the opportunity to vote in meaningful elections in which the results make a difference to their lives, it seems churlish to gripe from afar about  how Israel goes about its electoral business.  Lots of Israelis gripe about it, though.  

The fact is that Israel's electoral system looks great on paper - ultimate democracy - but in practice, leads to unstable coalitions that give disproportionate influence to parties that command relatively little support.  The system is called the Party List and it works like this.  I'l be as quick as I can.

Israelis' don't vote for individual candidates.  They vote for a political party.  And seats in the Knesset are allocated according to the proportion of the vote each party gets.  Which party members get to sit in the Knesset depends on where they rank in their party's list of candidates.  That party list is 'closed' - voters can't see it.

So that sounds sort of OK doesn't it?  10% of the vote = 10% of the seats.  However, the percentage of the vote that a party needs to get before it can have a MK (Member of the Knesset) is only 2%.  And this means that a lot of political parties - at the moment, 18 parties - end up in a Parliament that has only 120 seats.  

The parties themselves represent a massive range of opinion.   In the UK for example, most parties more or less agree on the same thing - secular democracy, respect for basic freedom for all, working together for peace, rule of law, protect the vulnerable, etc.  They only disagree on the detail.  That's not the case in Israel.  Several are more or less mainstream left/right political outfits (Likud, Kadima, Labour), others are extreme nationalists (Yisrael Beitenu), others are religious (Shas, United Torah), others represent a distinct national group (e.g. the Israeli Arab parties, Balad and United Arab) and others are very left wing (Meretz).  

What this means is that whoever has the most seats after the election has to cobble together a coalition of not just one extra party, or maybe perhaps two - as in most European countries - but several parties, most of whom will have a lot of political space between each other.  

This means that even if the parties are not particularly good at governing the country then they are very good at maneuvering for power.  And the smaller parties, those that hold the 'balance of power' will all extract a price from the largest party for their support.  And that 'price' might be very high and something that most Israelis don't want and didn't vote for.  And at the very least, each party in the coalition will want the plum Ministry jobs.  

So Netanyahu's Government is propped up by a shaky coalition of his Likud Party, an extreme nationalist party, a few religious parties tending to the right and some odds and sods.  This is why he has ended up with an extremist Foreign Minister whom the US Secretary of State won't even meet and a Defence Minister who is an ex-Labour Party Prime Minister who has since split from Labour to form yet another party (Independence) and who spends a good deal of time briefing against him.  Israeli politics ain't pretty.

Netanyahu believes that he can hold this bunch together to form a similar coalition after January 22nd.  He might be right.  He's done well to keep it together since 2009, after all.  But if a week is a long time in politics, as Harold Wilson said, how long is it to January 22nd?

If after all this you still thirst for more information about the Knesset, try http://knesset.gov.il