There is much to say about the sorry state of “Hebrew” in Israel.  What now passes for “Hebrew” is naught but a garbled pigeon-English that is an insult to the ears, sounds like a comatose Frenchman choking on a (still living) frog and shouldn’t even be called a “language” at all.  Of course there are individuals, in Israel, who are better than that but practically all Israelis under the age of 40 or so, who have been processed by the education system there, speak in the laziest manner possible.  Israeli “Hebrew” as used on radio is certainly better but still a far cry from what it should be.  All said, if every Israeli would just give up “Hebrew” and speak Arabic instead, they’d probably be closer to real Hebrew than what they have now.  Apparently back in 1979 there was still hope and a man by the name of Dr. Abraham Matalon wrote a book about it.  Dr. Matalon was born in Egypt and moved to Israel in 1949, where he was active in promoting the Hebrew language.  I do not know if he is still alive.  As far as I know, this book has never been translated into English.  I’ve translated only the forward (minus the last couple of paragraphs) and here it is:

“The Hebrew Pronunciation in its struggle” by Dr. Abraham Matalon.  Tel Aviv 1979

Forward

This book is an expanded version of a pamphlet that was published in 1965: “The Degeneration of Hebrew in Israel”.  Many were shocked that we chose such a title for the pamphlet.  For those who considered this to be a testimony of contempt for our language, in fact we come to redeem the disgrace of our beloved (language), to demand the return of its crown to its head and the restoration of its lost honor.
Everybody agrees that the situation of our language is steadily deteriorating, in vocabulary and the wonton intrusion of foreign words, and syntax – which is vulnerable to foreign influences without end, and in the realm of pronunciation.  This is all because of a lack of coordination and rules.
Prior to the foundation of the State of Israel, it was common opinion that a struggle for the restoration of the language is a worthy cause, just like activism for the independence of Israel in its land.  From the time that the State of Israel was announced, people became complacent for we had “achieved our goal”.  A few demanded that the Zionist movement be disbanded, for its goal had been met according to them.  Others sought to sever the historic ties between the Jews of Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora, claiming that there is now an “Israeli identity” which is distinct from the dispersed Jewish people.  Others even lost interest in fighting for the continuation of revitalization of Hebrew, since it was announced to be the national language of Israel.  Voices were heard claiming that Hebrew need not be preserved in our mouths for we can expect, and make possible, the emergence of a new language that would replace “traditional” Hebrew.  In order to facilitate the morphological, grammatical and phonetic replacements of Hebrew, they sought to free the people from “outdated” conventions.
Thirty years after the establishment of the State of Israel, there is still difficulty in defining three primary concepts in the life of our people and we ask: Who is a Jew?  What are the boundaries of the State of Israel?  What is the preferable pronunciation of Hebrew?  The lack of historical, and linguistic, norms against these questions brings deep and great confusion to our society and even blemishes the faith of many in (the concepts of our) people, nation and language.
Even though the correct pronunciation was fixed at the beginning of the century, some educators rose up against rules that were contrary to what they were used to and they cast doubt upon the authority of those who had defined the correct pronunciation.  New rules were not set and they argued that a solution not be reached until a later time.  However, since the language was a living one, it required immediate solutions to unprecedented problems that arose.  When people are appointed to teach the rules of a language and to publicize them, we would get expected answers – or, at least, close to those that would be expected.  But when there are no rules, we get answers that are shocking and undesirable, that cripple the language’s ability to develop in ways that are faithful to its past and its foundations.   Without fixed rules, behold “each man does what is right in his own eyes.”  Each teacher teaches as he sees fit… and they all serve as a bad example for the ears of the people.  Hebrew pronunciation is divided by the tribes of Israel and its statuses, according to societal dynamics.  The mix of pronunciations in Israel might bring about a situation where “one man cannot understand the speech of his fellow” as was said about the people of Babylon in ancient times.
Hebrew, in our days, is like a maiden by a fork in the road under a flourishing tree: anybody who wishes has his way with her; but the city leaders see and say nothing.  Verily it is so with Hebrew these days, our age can be called “the generation of chaos.”
Within the thirty years of statehood that have elapsed, groups of Jews have migrated here who have packed, within their baggage, the trappings of non-Western culture.  From the beginning people arrived from different cultural backgrounds.  Since solutions were not found to generally accommodate the social habits of these people, many problems developed and even worsened.
There were educators and public servants, in Israel, who believed that anything that had any hint of non-Western culture – must be considered “primitive”, and anybody who wished to be considered “modern” would hasten to distance himself from those things.  There came to be a negative connotation and wholesale rejection of the family structure, of tradition and religion, of mannerisms, of traditional garb and cuisine.  The fire of criticism spread to the Hebrew pronunciation of these Jews who had come from the lands of Islam.  Their sons were handed over to educators who flooded their ears, as if it were some kind of wonder, a pronunciation that was different from that of their forefathers and that was contrary to the correct pronunciation.  In the hearts of the students was solidified the conviction that they must abandon the pronunciation of their ancestors as if it were a despicable thing, that they must join the procession to become “modern” toward the “new” Hebrew.  Just as they were taught to disdain the traditions of their fathers, so too were they taught to hold the correct pronunciation in contempt, since it was represented as primitive.
We should feel fortunate and say that, within the last few years, there has been a change for the good in Israeli society.  They no longer put off societal problems until “time does what it will”.  Many community leaders are prepared to admit that the path we took in the past, the wholesale throwing into the sea of all aspects of Oriental Jewish culture, is not acceptable.  The drunkenness with “Western” culture is gradually subsiding with the revelation that some evils were gotten from there: drugs, abandonment of moral principles, spiritual destruction and a lack of faith in values.  Will this wave of sobriety reach also to the realm of language, so that we may continue in our efforts to restore Hebrew to its correct pronunciation?
Our generation is troubled with severe physical and political problems: is it possible, within this situation to make heard the cry of Hebrew and its pronunciation?
Every language struggle, amongst peoples, arose and succeeded according to the degree with which it was integrated within their societal struggles.  A language war is not waged on its own.  The Hebrew language rose back to life as an essential vessel for the political rebirth of Israel.  The struggle for the correct pronunciation will rise and succeed when it is seen as a vital force for the political rebirth and when it is strongly connected to Israeli society.  At the same time that hopes of peace are being felt across the sea and over the heavens, so too does the demand for a correct Hebrew pronunciation go hand in hand with the need to bring Hebrew and Arabic cultures closer together.
Like any societal question, pushing it off for another day cannot solve the problem of pronunciation.  On the contrary, every delay only makes the matter worse.  The problem of pronunciation is tied to the question of Hebrew script, for the way to effective communication is double: hearing and seeing, the ear hears and the eye sees.  It is necessary for the methods of script and writing bring about accurate reading, according to the demands of correct pronunciation.  We can find a solution to the problem of Hebrew script without vocalization (vowel marks).  Writing “kethiv maleh” (using some consonants excessively in order to compensate for the lack of vowels) is not the best way.

For some decades the consensus has been that the greatest calamity to befall the Jewish people has been the Nazi Holocaust, in which six million Jews met their cruel demise.  Therefore, if you want to make a Jew happy, tell him that far fewer than six million Jews died in that holocaust.  Surely, once you explain that there are difficulties with the official account of those events, he will eagerly and joyously soak up every word you have to say on the matter.
Alas, this is not likely to be the case.  Instead of paying attention to what you have to say, he will probably mock you and call you a “neo-Nazi”.  Not only will your words not be heard, but you will be persecuted for saying them.  In some countries, you can get thrown in prison for speaking them.  This is because the Nazi Holocaust has morphed into a religion of its own – the vast majority of Jews pay far more credence to the official account of the holocaust than they do to the Torah.  Even if you don’t actually dispute the official version, but suspect less than noble intentions for those who promote it, you can lose your job and become a pariah.  Just ask Norman Finkelstein.
Many years ago, I decided to abstain from reading about the holocaust or watching any movies about it.  To do so would only bring me pain and I saw no benefit in torturing my soul over a past I could do nothing about.  I even refrained from asking the survivors I’ve known about their experiences.  Some of them bore the infamous numbers tattooed onto their arms.  This was testimony enough.  Recently, however, a friend sent me the book “Debating the Holocaust” by Thomas Dalton, ph.D.  I reasoned that reading about how so many Jews did not die would not cause depression – and I was right.
At the beginning of the book, Dalton feigns impartiality and tells us how he is going to present both sides of each issue.  However, as the book progresses, it becomes clear that the author favors the revisionist side.  If his claims about the tactics of the pro-“orthodox” camp are accurate, then we should not blame him for this.  After all, if one side of a debate ignores the most powerful arguments of the other while focusing only on the weakest ones – and doesn’t even do a good job at that – is that side worthy of equal respect?
One of the statistics, cited in the book, that I found most shocking was the sheer number of books about the holocaust that are published each year.  They run into the tens of thousands if we include all languages.  At this rate, it would not be surprising if each holocaust victim ended up having his own book eventually.  A recent visit to the largest book store in the U.S., Powell’s Books, verified this.  There were dozens of holocaust books and, indeed, they seemed to outnumber those on Judaism proper.  Will I make it my life’s mission to disprove the official account of the holocaust?  Will I spend years poring over those countless books in order to gain more insight?  No and no.  I am perfectly content with the knowledge that far fewer Jews may have been victimized than I’d been led to believe until now.  This is a comforting thought.
Even after reading the book, I am not 100% convinced that the revisionists are correct.  But, in my mind, the single most damning piece of evidence against proponents of the traditional view is that they resort to throwing revisionists in prison, assassinating their character, destroying their careers and disrupting their meetings.  To me, this behavior is tantamount to an admission that they are being deceitful.  To them I say, “if you have nothing to hide, then meet the revisionists in open debate, read their books and answer their objections.”  I’ve seen this kind of cowardice before.   It is the default tactic of those whose views are based on emotion rather than reason.  Since they lack solid arguments to use in a debate, they resort to thuggery and book-burning.
I am glad that there are those who fight for the truth.  I applaud people like Thomas Dalton and Norman Finkelstein – because the holocaust continues each day and its victims continue to pile up.  These are the Palestinians who are murdered, tortured and whose houses are demolished.  The Jewish children who are raised to believe the whole world is out to get them and who are made to relive the suffering of those “six million” who perished.  The American and European taxpayers whose money is extorted to perpetuate the racket that the holocaust industry has become.

I have, in my possession, a book called “On Eagle’s Talons”.  It tells the tale of child kidnappings, deceit, theft, cultural genocide and murder of Yemeni Jews by the secular Zionist establishment.  Following is an excerpt (my translation):

On Eagle’s Talons

The Entire Truth About Operation Flying Carpet

INTRODUCTION

Many of those who read this book, when they raise their heads for a short break between one chapter and the next – will ask themselves, in their bewilderment: “Did these things really happen?”  “Could such a crime truly have happened amongst the People of Israel?” and if this really is the case – then it requires a thorough house cleaning and perhaps even a change of values.
Then let me add this: “Indeed this horrible deed was done in Israel”… and much more than what is written here… for it is impossible to find all the material that has been written and printed, the archives and stories about this matter – for it is vast.
Here we have an attempt to present the material in a concise way, partly as a personal story and partly as documentation of events and an outline from the sources.
I strove to cite a source for each claim, so that each reader will be able to clarify, for himself, the details from the sources but even where a source is not cited the narration is still accurate.  I didn’t want to add too many footnotes unnecessarily since the goal of this book is to be read and not as a scholarly source that would be limited academics.

Chapter One

Where is Yosele?

New and instructive details about the disappearances of the children of Yemen

The strategy:
The Bahajli family, from Rosh ha’Ayin, arrived at the transit camp in 1949.  The father relates that, when they got to the camp, his four month old son was taken from him and transferred to the “infant ward” that had been erected in the camp: “One day we came to see him, and we were told that he was at the hospital.  We searched in all the hospitals, but the child was not found…”.  After some time had elapsed, the management of the camp requested the infant’s rations coupon (at that time, food was distributed according to coupons).  The family turned to the officer of internal affairs and to the national president but they were not answered.
(“Al haMishmar” 07/08/1966)
The Marhabi family relates: “We arrived at Camp ‘Ayn Shomer.  It was midnight.  We carried with us a few packages that we’d brought from Yemen, and I held my one year old baby, Shoshana.  They registered us and we went to the tent.  After an hour the nurse came by and told us to give her the baby because it’s forbidden to hold babies in the tent”.  The mother went to nurse her daughter in the infant ward until one day the nurse told her: “Ma’am, your daughter has died”.  To her question: “How and why and what about the funeral?” the nurse replied: “I don’t know; it’s not my job to deal with dead children…”
(letter from Ginzekha haMedina 12/19/1950)

One thread leads to – the health department

In “Al haShomer”, a periodical of Mapam (the Israeli Communist party), which was active with new immigrants, we found a shocking opinion from a writer who had a conscience:
Under the heading: “What is the truth regarding medical treatment for the children of the camps (10/05/1949), writes Yirmiyahu  Shmueli, about the lax medical treatment that was given to children of the camps and to immigrants in general.  He notes that in many cases children died as a result of gross neglect on the part of medical teams and/or mistakes in treatment.  The accusations were so severe that the writer demanded the formation of an investigative committee to investigate the crimes.
The director general of the Health Department – Dr. Y. Meir – who was concerned about the ramifications of this letter, invited the writer in order to “investigate the accusations” (or really to explain the severity of the damage that the publicity caused, or is likely to cause…).  The director of the Health Department at that time, Hayim Moshe Shapira, was apprised of the problem but still supported his people.
In “Ginzekha haMedina” is preserved a letter by the “Unified Confederation of Yemenite Immigrants”, regarding the disappearance of children from hospitals.  The letter was presented to the police commissioner, Bechor Shitreet and to the director of the Health Department.  In one case the police “investigated” even then, the complaint of Yihye Suberi about the disappearance of his son.  In another instance the newspaper “Davar” published an article (19/29/1950) under the headline “Where are the Babies?”  In this article is told the story of a baby by the name of Mosha ban Salim Najar, who was brought to the hospital in Tel-Levinsky (Tel haShomer), and when he recovered – he suddenly disappeared.
The director general of the police at the time, Y. Sahar, appealed to the director of the Health Department with this letter and proclaimed that the police report reveals a serious blight among hospital officials in the transit camps – a situation that requires  fixing.
(letter from 11/03/1950)
Maghuri Cohen, a member of the Knesset of the “Herut” party, who is also the son of Yemeni immigrants, brought this up at the Knesset on 11/20/1950 and claimed: “Children were taken from their parents and the parents don’t know where to!”…  He also asked: “Is this some kind of business or parcel packages!?”  He complained about the director of the Health Department, who ignored his letters and requests on the matter, and the director of the Health Department continued to be silent and to silence others.
In one instance, the Health Department investigated the complaint of Avraham Yosef Yisrael, concerning the disappearance of his daughter, Si’eeda.  The conclusion they gave the father in the end was that his daughter had died, but when the family sought her grave, it turned out that “there is no record of such graves”.
The story of Yosef Si’eed from the transit of Rosh Ha’ayin was published in the newspapers.  The echoes of this incident were destined to reach the ears of government officials who were responsible for various departments and who dealt with immigrants from Yemen.
A thick smoke of silence accompanied stories of the disappearances of the children of Yemen.
(Haboker, Hatsofeh and Ha’aretz all from 03/07/1952)
On the Matter of The Children of Yemen
Here we shall quote a portion of an article that was published in newspapers from this month.
… a conspiracy of silence surrounds, to this day, the issue of the disappearance of hundreds of Yemenite babies who were taken (by force) from their parents as they arrived in Israel and who apparently were given over for adoption to influential families.
(The profit here was double: a] to remove them from their religion and b] monetary gain)
One of these fathers was ‘Ovadia Si’eed from Moshav  Tavuoth.  Today he is 65 years old.  He arrived in Israel with operation “Magic Carpet” in 1950.
His daughter, Zahara, 10 months old, was taken at the airport from her mother’s arms (by force) by a nurse who worked for the (Jewish) Agency.  All traces of her were lost from that day.
For decades her father, ‘Ovadia, tried to trace her whereabouts – in vain!  From time to time he would send pleading letters to tens of Knesset members requesting an investigation into the issue of the disappearance of the children of Yemen – in vain!
“Ha’aretz” continues to tell of the commerce that took place in Brazil with babies who were taken from their parents, and demands, in their naivety, an investigation into the disappearance of the children of Yemen.  (As if the thieves will investigate themselves?!).
“Are we beasts whose children’s fate is up for grabs?” asks the unfortunate father.
Not only did they make no serious effort to find the babies but they also afflicted the parents with false illusions!
In one letter from the director of population registration of the Department of the Interior, which was sent to the poor father, he says that his daughter, Zahara, is registered as somebody who immigrated in April, 1950 and that there is no other information.  However, in a letter from the Immigration and Registration Department in the same office it is recorded that Zahara left Israel in 1963.
What response will the religious officials and Knesset members have?
There was a period when Jewish children were kidnapped by the Russian Tsar Nikolai to serve in his army in 1827 in order to estrange them from their religion.  From that time, for over 120 years such kidnapping have not been known among the nations – the State of Israel renewed the tradition.
The investigator, Dov Levitan, who arranged a comprehensive investigation into the matter, notes in his investigation that each complaint was treated as an isolated incident despite the multitude of cases and their breadth.  No attempt was made to connect the cases or to see them as a wider problem.  This was first made clear at the end of 1952, during an internal investigation of the investigative branch of the police department.  According to this investigation, which examined six cases of children disappearing from Yemeni households, the police were not able to solve even one case!
Yeshurun Shiff of the investigative branch turned, in writing, to the director general of the Department of Health, as he notes: “We shouldn’t be indifferent to this unfortunate situation and I believe that it will cause waves within the public”.  That is to say: The fear was from full revelations to the public and this was what caused him to write the letter.  Among the official reasoning for this communiqué, notes the writer that, if the public finds out and the newspapers report the matter properly, there will be shame and anger”.
Perhaps this communiqué was partly to serve as an official alibi?  For we see, a case such as this necessitates a large police investigation within the Health Department and not just being satisfied with a “warning” and an invitation for “internal clarification” to answer the charges.

News Clips

A Yemeni mother and a Medical Professor
Hundreds of children born to Yemeni mothers have disappeared.  Most of them got death certificates.  However the heart thinks otherwise.
There is a more logical suspicion: that the children did not die but were given over for adoption.
By Eliezer Davidson
This week the newspapers published a very important fact.  It regards Mrs. Sarah Aharon, who turned to the High Court of Israel.
Mrs. Aharon, who emigrated in 1949 from Yemen during operation Magic Carpet, is convinced that the son she bore when she arrived in Israel, did not die – as the government claimed – but rather was given for adoption.
This legal plea focuses the spotlight once more on one of the shameful chapters of the immigration of the Jews of Yemen to Israel.
257 additional Yemeni Children disappeared in the early 50s
It is known that 30 of them are still alive and now efforts are being made to locate them * 170 of them do not appear within Department of Internal Affairs records at all * the number of missing children has now reached 599
–         By Amos Nevo of “Yediot Aharonoth” –
257 new incidents of children who disappeared during the great migration from Yemen to Israel in the early 50s, were revealed over the last few months.  With this, the number of missing Yemeni children reaches 599.
This new information is now being checked by the Public Council for Finding Missing Yemeni Children.  Dov Levitan, from the University of Bar Ilan, who is researching the topic, says that the latest findings have made it clear that 50 children of the 257 new cases have died.  170 have no record within the Department of Internal Affairs and 30 are still alive.  Now efforts will be made to locate them.  Until now it was known that 342 Yemeni children were missing; only four of them were found alive.  In the wake of these new efforts Yehoshua Kahana, manager of registration of citizens at the Department of Internal Affairs, has given an official statement to the head of Internal Affairs and an advisement to set up a governmental investigative council to get to the bottom of these disappearances.  A similar advisement  was tendered about a month and a half ago by the Internal Council of the Knesset to President Shimon Perez.

Report of negligence by the Health Department

From the report composed by Mr. Yahel – manager of the hospital division of the Health Department – it is recognized that he understood the hint and what was expected of him.

The report raises the specter of dedicated doctors working under adverse conditions and attacks those who organized the immigration for “lack of protocol” in registration.  He also attacks the parents for “not understanding what was said to them”, even though the Health Department and those in charge gave the parents “all the information”.   Dr. Yahel also emphasizes two incidents where parents did not demand their children from the WIZO Institute.  It seems that, in those cases, the people of WIZO “granted themselves permission” to give those children over to adoption.  Here we must note that during those difficult times, when the Yemenis lacked modern work skills as mentioned above, there were those who worked far from home and only returned to the camp after months had elapsed.
From the report we can see that Dr. Yahel was aware of the claim that the Ashkenazim sold the Yemenis to Ashkenazi families for adoption.  In response to this he writes: “Had there been an attempt to take children without permission, it would have been by parents seeking to take the children of others because of the chaos that reigned”…
The researcher Levitan adds his notes to the report:
A)               If it is true that the Health Department was not responsible for negligence and crimes at all – then why were the requests for information, of 1949-1952, not answered?!
B)               Not only this, but why was “TOP SECRET” written on the report?
C)              From the letter, it is implied that the Health Department was aware of the claims.  If so – why did it not counter them, and disprove them, at that time?!
The researcher Levitan agrees that the questions remain unanswered, however there are explanations to these questions, and they are: the chaos that reigned, at the time, within government offices where there was a free for all.  Not only this but – the general attitude that prevailed in certain corridors that Yemeni Jews are their own private property.

The “deceased” who refuses to be forgotten

500 missing aged 35-40.  Their 400 families were told that they had “died”.  Most were even told how they were buried, but this “deceased” refuses to be forgotten.  In one week those 400 Yemeni Families, whose children disappeared through mysterious circumstances, are to gather together and demand that interest in this matter be renewed publicly.  “Firstly we shall find those lost children, then we shall take care of whoever needs to be taken care of” – says Yosef Yighal –head of the local council of Rosh ha’Ayin who is responsible for the gathering.  Whoever is involved with these things and recognizes the new circumstances has what to be worried about –  an old/new “A social bomb” is about to explode in Israel.