Author: David Mark

David Mark is the founder and editor of Israel Rising. Besides Israel Rising, he heads up outreach for Ateret Cohanim in Jerusalem's Old City and acts as the Managing Director for Pulse of Israel. On the side he teaches classes that blend minimalism, mindfulness, and ecology with the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.
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From Kenya to Rwanda Israel’s Partnership is about More than Just Money

Israel’s interest in becoming one of the leading partners in Sub Saharan Africa is no secret. From both a common interest in fighting against radical Islam  as well as infrastructure development specifically in the field of agritech.

“I call upon Israeli businessmen and women to head to Kenya and take advantage of the conducive investment climate prevailing,” Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said during this week’s visit in Israel. “Kenya and Israel have learned much, and have much to share in these experiences. In this regard, we look forward to forging even stronger relations and cooperation in ensuring safety and security of our peoples.”


Although we see growing cooperation with leading forces in Africa like Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia,  Rwanda has become perhaps the most integral to Israel’s overall connection to the continent. Small, but influential, Rwandans see their genocide in 1990’s as comparable to the Holocaust. The country has emerged from the destruction to be one of the leading voices in modernization and innovation.

One example of cooperation and Israel’s ability to massively improve Rwanda, is Energiya Global’s massive solar field in Rwanda.  The field’s construction started in 2014 and will power 8% of Rwanda.

Yosef Abramowitz, CEO of Energiya Global and Gigawatt Global said at the time, “It’s phenomenal for Rwanda because our energy is much cheaper than diesel. And then obviously we will get support from the youth village in charitable fundraising to give them the benefit of training. This way, graduates of the village will be able to spread the knowledge of bringing solar power all over Rwanda and then East Africa.”

Energiya’s project’s are just one example.  This month, Rwanda has given the green light to Israeli investors to establish an agricultural training center.  Besides that, increased interaction between hitech hubs in both countries are beginning to happen.

Besides technology, Rwandans believe in and feel very connected to Israel. Most Watutsis (the main tribal group in Rwanda) believe they in fact originate from Israel.  Whether that can be substantiated or not, is almost secondary.  

At the core of Rwanda’s closeness to Israel, is a shared biblical ethos that solidifies the growing camaraderie.  Rwanda like much of Sub Saharan Africa feels connected to the miraculous return of the Jewish people to their land and in many ways are inspired by Israel’s example. Will this provide the basis for a long lasting partnership?

Yes, it clearly already has.

 

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[Podcast] Here Come the Anousim

In this podcast, I speak with Ashley Perry of the Knesset Caucus on Bnei Anousim [Marranos] and his work through Reconectar. There are so many facets this podcast touches on and shows why this movement is perhaps one of most important causes in the broader Jewish world today. There are literally millions of descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish origin. Ashley’s work is already having a tremendous impact.

Learn more at Reconectar.

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Kurdistan Rising from the Chaos of War

First the Background

The Kurds, who have been itching for a sovereign state of their own, now find themselves in the unenviable position of being the chief agitators to Erdogan’s Turkey.  In the beginning of the turmoil in the Middle East Erdogan made a deal with the devil, ISIS.  The thought there was that Erdogan would be able to create a fundamentalist Sunni caliphate as a stop gap measure against the growing Iranian hegemony in the region.  Furthermore, the new caliphate would keep his arch enemies the Kurds in check.

Erdogan went about doing this by being the main corridor for ISIS bound fighters as well as the middle man for ISIS oil.  Of course Erdogan sold Kurdish oil on top of that. The Kurdish oil kept the Kurdish leadership in Northern Iraq beholden to Ankara.  This strategy is still in play, however Russia’s increasing intervention and Syria’s new found might against its Western backed foes has put a serious wrinkle in Turkey’s strategy.

Two Autonomous Kurdish Regions Are Too Many for Erdogan

As long as the Kurds relegated themselves to an autonomous province in Northern Iraq, Erdogan and Turkey’s military felt they had strategic strength.  Russia’s arming of the Syrian Kurdish Militia otherwise known as the YPG has alarmed Turkey.  Although the Kurdish population in Syria amounts to a small 1.6 million, the territory it has gained among the chaos has been significant.

The border between the Syrian Kurdish region and Iraqi Kurdish region, which has 6.6 million Kurds  has melted away, effectively giving the Kurds one long autonomous area stretching along the Southern border of Turkey.  With Turkey’s 15 million strong Kurdish population just to the North, Turkey is rapidly heading for destabilization.

After the Kurdish bombing in Ankara, the Turkish Prime Minister Davutoğlu said:

“We collected intelligence all night,” Davutoğlu told reporters in Ankara. “The perpetrators have been fully identified. The attack was carried out by YPG member Salih Necer, who came in from Syria.”

Of course the YPG has denied involvement.  Truth matters not though to Ankara, who needs some reason to put a stop to the de facto creation of a Kurdish republic to the South and perhaps even within Turkey.  The fear is compounded even more by Russia’s backing for Kurdish military operations.

If Turkey uses the pretense to attack Syria in order to push back Kurdish expansion, the die will be cast for an intense explosion in war activity throughout the Middle East.  The Kurds are seen by even America as in the right in relation to Turkey.  Erdogan may feel he has no choice, but his decision may end up taking him down one way or the other.

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[podcast] Interview with Remy Ilona, an Igbo Jewish Leader

Have a listen to my interview with our very own Remy Ilona, leader and activist of what can only be called an awakening movement among the Igbo population in Nigeria.

I discuss with Remi the following:

  • His own awakening
  • Comparisons between some of the parallel customs among the Igbo and Jews
  • How the Israelites got to Igboland
  • Igbo persecution
  • How many Igbo are there and do they want to return to their Israelite roots
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The Knife War that has Turned Into Something More

“When there’s a 13-year-old girl holding scissors or a knife and there is some distance between her and the soldiers, I don’t want to see a soldier open fire and empty his magazine at a girl like that, even if she is committing a very serious act. Rather he should use the force necessary to fulfill the objective.”

The above statement from Gabi Eisenkot, Israel’s top general essentially sums up the disconnect that Israel’s security heads have from the current round of violence. By treating actions like stabbing innocent civilians as criminal acts the heads of Israel’s security forces are working with a different set of assumptions than the Arab leaders of Israel are.

Knifings, stone throwings, and shootings are not happening because of some sort of criminal offense, but because the Arab leadership insists on fighting a war this way. In war, the fastest way to win is to use maximum force.  This does two things.  Firstly it saves lives of both warring parties and second it ensures victory. The longer a war goes on more civilians on both sides run the risk of death and victory becomes less certain.

The current violence has been carefully orchestrated to rise in severity as to constantly keep the security forces guessing.  The knives have now been replaced by guns and if Hamas can be believed, the guns will be replaced by bombs.  In fact Hamas has recently issued a music video hinting it is about to return to suicide bombs.

“Oh Martyrdom-seeker, make them cry. Make the fire engulf them. Turn them into body parts, roast them, bringing joy to the hearts of the steadfast [Palestinian] people.”

It may seem cruel to shoot a 13 year old girl waving a knife and attempting to hurt innocents, but by using maximum force against her, the enemy will learn that it is better to stop than use anything stronger.

Israel’s security agencies, despite their many successes still function in accordance with a false perception of what it means to deal with an unrepentant enemy.  This is an enemy who has taught its children to hate blindly.  In war, an enemy like that should not be spared and can only be stopped when it realizes it cannot win…ever.