Israeli-Americans Rise Above Scapegoaters, Reviving History of Independence through Songs

Sam Firstenberg teaches about Jewish life in Gaza in
1946. Kfar Darom remembered in song, uprooted in 2005

Inside the guarded walls of Congregation Beth Jacob in Beverly Hills, over 100 Israeli-Americans gathered on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) 2024 - not just to celebrate, but to reaffirm a history increasingly under attack. The traditional public celebrations were absent this year, replaced by this more private gathering where participants sang the soundtrack of Israel's legitimate birth and development—songs they know not from textbooks but from lived experience.

In the hostile climate that has emerged since October 8th, 2023, following Hamas's attack on Israel, these aging pioneers of the Israeli state find themselves in an unimaginable position: having to defend the very legitimacy of their history against a coordinated Islamo-Marxist campaign that has successfully rewritten the narrative in much of the public consciousness.

Sing-alongs (shira b'tzibur) have long been a part of the
culture of Jewish Palestine. These musicians entertained
during the Palmach defenders era in the early 1940's

These Hebrew songs—ranging from pre-statehood anthems to ballads commemorating the development of cities, infrastructure, and social cohesion—form a cultural archive that directly contradicts the portrayal of Israel as a colonial project. The elderly participants singing these songs are not reading history—they lived it. They cleared malarial swamps, built irrigation systems, established democratic institutions, developed arts and sciences, and created a thriving multicultural society, all with international legal recognition.

Singers: Cantor Arik Wollheim, Dr. Judea Pearl, Ms. Anat Sadan, pianist Amit Sternberg. (Helpers not pictured: Orly Lavi-Travish, Vered Hopenstand, Nirit Brand, and Ilana Green). Watch and hear the sing-along in the video playlist at the end of this article.

Living Witnesses to Contested History: Dr. Judea Pearl

Helping leading the singing (especially helpful with the songs of early Israel) was Dr. Judea Pearl, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at UCLA, who was born in Tel Aviv in 1936 during the British Mandate for Palestine— a living witness to pre-state Jewish life in the region and Israel's legitimate founding.

"Most of us here are Israeli-Americans. Most of us speak Hebrew. Most of us were born in Israel. Some of us like me are old enough to remember 1948 and the songs that preceded it,"

explains Dr. Pearl. For him and many others present, these songs aren't merely nostalgic—they are documentary evidence of a history now being systematically erased in public discourse.

The cruel irony isn't lost on those familiar with Pearl's story. His son Daniel, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, was murdered in 2002 by terrorists partly because of his Jewish identity. Now, on the very campus where Dr. Pearl taught his entire career, Islamo-Marxist encampments and protests have created an environment where Jewish students and supporters of Israel's right to exist face harassment and intimidation.

When asked if he ever imagined having to explain the legitimacy of Israel 76 years after its UN ratification, Dr. Pearl reflected:

"Yes and no, because for 20 years now I see the erosion of legitimacy going on increasing, and I warned against it, but we didn't take care of it at the time, and now we have to carry the consequences."

Cultural Resistance Through Song: Anat Sadan

Ms. Anat Sadan, who has organized these sing-along events for 14 years, explains how what began as community-building has transformed into cultural resistance.

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"After October 7th, we felt that we cannot sing anymore. We were deeply disturbed and sad," Sadan explains. "But we decided that it's such an important time to bring the community together because the songs tell the story of the establishment of Israel and the history of Israel."

As a Holocaust educator and docent at the Holocaust Museum Los Angeles, Sadan draws disturbing parallels between historical patterns and current events.

"We've seen the Islamo-Left reviving the techniques of the Communists and German National Socialists - vilifying the Jews through propagandized media reporting - but the liberal press hasn't pointed it out - and social-media makes for more malicious  propagandizing."

The Israeli participants' intimate knowledge of these songs—their ability to recall lyrics that detail specific historical moments in Israel's development—stands as powerful testimony against revisionist narratives that portray Israel's founding as an act of colonization rather than the legitimate return and nation-building that these seniors personally witnessed and participated in. 

Preserving an Embattled Truth: Sam Firstenberg

Hollywood filmmaker Sam Firstenberg, who selects the songs and prepares the multimedia presentation, sees his role as not just preserving culture but safeguarding historical truth.

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"We are people who preserve the nostalgic culture and taste and sound of Israel,"

Firstenberg explains. But in today's political climate, this preservation work has taken on greater urgency. Each song in the carefully curated program serves as a time marker in the legitimate development of the state—from pre-1948 compositions through the various struggles, wars, and aspirations for peace.

Firstenberg guides the audience through a chronological journey of Israel's history, projecting photographs and historical context that directly challenge the false narratives that have gained traction in media, academia, and activist circles. These aren't abstract talking points for the attendees—they are the soundtrack of their youth, their military service, their nation-building efforts.

"Jews lived in Palestine of course in the Biblical times and but even after the Diaspora after the destruction of the Second Temple there were still here and there Jews in the land of Israel... mainly in Jerusalem in Safed, in Tiberius in Hebron in the holy cities ..."

explains Mr. Firstenberg, countering the revisionist claim that Jewish presence in the region is a modern European transplant.

"The Qatari - Led World Order" by Seth Mandel

by Seth Mandel  

Let it never be said that the president is a cheap date. May 12, 2025 in Commentary Magazine

On the heels of reports that Donald Trump—sorry, the “United States Air Force”—will be gifted a new presidential airplane from the Qataris, American-born Edan Alexander was released from his captivity in a Hamas dungeon funded and enabled by Qatar. All of this coincides with Trump’s visit this week to the Gulf, the goal of which is “to return home with $1 trillion worth of deals and investment pledges,” according to Axios.

Doha has expanded its portfolio far beyond European soccer teams.

Pres. Trump greeted by Qatar's emir, Sheikh al-Thani
(photo courtesy: The Guardian) 

Qatar is expected to ink deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. investments while also buying military hardware totaling $2 billion. The Saudis are joining the party, too: In Trump’s own words, he told the Saudis: “I will go [to Riyadh] if you pay $1 trillion to American companies over four years.” And voila, off he goes.

Let’s not lose sight of the excellent news about Edan Alexander. He deserves his freedom and his parents deserve to have their son home, and his return is something to celebrate.

But Hamas did not publicly parade Alexander before jeering crowds in Gaza, as it has done with other hostages, because Qatar has asked for the privilege of hosting that humiliation instead. “Edan Alexander’s family told [Israel’s Channel 12] that the plan is for Edan to fly to Qatar and meet with Trump and the Emir of Qatar on Wednesday or Thursday,” reported Amit Segal. The family later clarified that such a trip would depend on Alexander’s condition, and that he would ultimately make the choice.

The backlash to the Qatar trip was swift. It was not directed at the family, of course, but at Trump, who reportedly wants it. That means the Qataris requested it. That way they can try to humiliate an Israeli hostage and the president of the United States in one fell swoop.

It’s important to remember here the genesis of Qatar’s financial relationship with Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy and main hostage negotiator. In 2018, Qatar essentially bailed Witkoff out of a real-estate deal that was quickly going sour. Witkoff and a partner were seeking to convert Manhattan’s Park Lane hotel into condos, but the business partner found himself in legal hot water and Witkoff needed a replacement investor or a way to offload the property. Qatar gave him $623 million to take the problem off his hands.

It’s either a real-estate deal or a bailout, depending on how you’d like to spin it. But it was reportedly part of what attracted Trump to hiring Witkoff as a senior adviser, though the two go back further.

So genuflecting to the Qataris has been good for Witkoff’s career. His son, Alex, visited a Qatari government real-estate forum on the eve of the 2024 election. Alex is CEO of the family real-estate company and was appointed by Trump to the board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Eric Trump, the president’s son, was also recently in Qatar—this time to finalize a Trump Organization deal to build a golf course and villa complex there.

Once upon a time Trump had not-so-nice things to say about his new friends the Qataris. They have, he correctly noted in 2017, “historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” This was during Trump’s first term as president, and he backed a plan by regional Gulf allies to impose a blockade on Qatar. “I decided, along with secretary of state Rex Tillerson, our great generals and military people, the time had come to call on Qatar to end its funding, they have to end that funding and its extremist ideology.”

A mere ten months later, however, the Qatari emir was in the Oval Office with the president for a friendly chat and some smiley photos. “You’ve now become a very big advocate” of stopping terrorism financing, Trump told the emir, “and we appreciate that.”

Of course, Edan Alexander’s case offers a reality check. Qatar’s support for Hamas has been crucial to the terror group’s survival. Israeli (and American) officials were under the impression that Qatari cash to Hamas would at least have the effect of keeping a lid on Hamas’s terror activity. But that was a ruse, and Hamas used its cash and clout to plan and carry out Oct. 7.

It was at that moment that Qatar had an obligation to intervene and either get the hostages home or cut Hamas loose. Instead, if floundered and dragged its feet.

Edan Alexander is free. But as the scheme to drag him to Qatar for a photo op with the emir and Trump shows, he isn’t yet free of Qatar’s malign influence. And neither, apparently, is the United States.

Beleaguered Los Angelenos find solace in Holocaust commemoration - courtesy of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

For longer than 500 days since Hamas massacred Israelis and abducted hostages, Jewish Los Angelenos have been plagued by anti-Zionist antagonists, amplified by mainstream media. For the Jews (and gentiles) of Los Angeles seeking to mourn the genocide which affected our people (and the entire civilized world) the most prominent public ceremony for Yom ha Shoah ("Catastrophe Day") during the business day of April 24th was presented, of all places, by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in West Los Angeles. 

This has been a tradition which began 41-years ago, according to Dr. Leo Gordon of Surgery Group L.A.  In 1933, Jewish physicians, he explained, were among the first professions to be excluded from professional life by Germany National Socialist government. In some areas, like Munich, Jewish doctors were prohibited from treating non-Jewish patients.   

L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center presented a Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration on April 24, 2025

These restrictions were part of a broader wave of over 400 anti-Jewish laws and decrees between 1933 and 1939, which progressively isolated people with Jewish bloodlines from public and professional life. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 further entrenched these exclusions, but the 1933 laws specifically targeted civil servants, lawyers, and doctors as the first occupations to be restricted.

The educational and cultural ceremony was
officiated by Rabbi Jason Weiner, executive
director of the Spiritual Care Department
 

Nazis worked and starved Jews and
other inmates to death, as revealed
in documentary film of liberation
of Bergen-Belsen Nazi Camp

Rabbi Jason Weiner, executive director of the Spiritual Care Department, provides contextual overview of this year's ceremony:

Robert Spencer discussed new "Antisemitism" book at David Horowitz Freedom Center - Watch it here now or on C-Span Sat 3rd May 9am ET

Renowned author and scholar Robert Spencer recently spoke about his latest book, Anti-Semitism: History and Myth, at an event recorded on March 27th by JooTube and C-Span (whom, for living room viewing of this chronicle below, you might share news about for others to record their telecast tomorrow, May 3rd at 9am ET / 6am PT).

Robert Spencer addresses new book
"Antisemitism:History & Myth"at
David Horowitz Freedom Center event

The book, Mr. Spencer's 29th publication, explores the deep-rooted causes of anti-Semitism and its resurgence, particularly after the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. Spencer, director of Jihad Watch and a prolific writer on terrorism and Islamic extremism, discussed how anti-Semitic narratives persist due to societal conformity and historical misconceptions. He emphasized that Jewish identity, rooted in religious and cultural distinction, has often made Jewish communities targets of persecution. Highlighting historical Christian anti-Semitism, Spencer noted its contradictions with core Christian theology. He pointed out that modern Christian leaders, including the Pope and Orthodox patriarchs, have repudiated such views.

Mr. Spencer also addressed growing hostility towards pro-Israel voices in academia, citing the cancellation of his scheduled talk at UCLA due to campus opposition. Despite facing threats and criticism, he remains committed to exposing anti-Semitic rhetoric and advocating for historical accuracy. His new book seeks to counter misinformation and provide a factual basis for understanding anti-Semitism’s historical and ideological origins. Spencer’s work continues to challenge mainstream narratives and offer insights into contemporary global conflicts. Spencer further examined the historical and ideological underpinnings of anti-Semitism within Islam, highlighting the Quranic depiction of Jews as enemies of Muslims. He pointed out that Islamic texts and traditions have long fostered hostility toward Jews, refuting claims that anti-Semitism in the Muslim world only emerged due to Nazi influence.

Additionally, Mr. Spencer detailed the role of National Socialism - and International Socialism - in perpetuating anti-Semitism. He noted that both ideologies—despite their differences—framed Jews as an obstacle to their political visions, whether through racial or economic narratives. National Socialism targeted Jews as an "impure race," while Marxist doctrines associated them with capitalism, demanding their assimilation or elimination.

Philo-semitic, Christian scholar of Islamic and Christian bigotry, Robert Spencer, addresses an audience of David Horowitz' Freedom Center in Los Angeles.

 

Mr. Spencer warned that all four forms of anti-Semitism—Christian, Islamic, National Socialist, and Marxist—are resurging today. He cited the rising influence of anti-Semitic voices across social and political spectrums, including Orthodox Christian circles, Islamist protests, neo-Nazi rhetoric, and leftist movements that conflate Jewish identity with political agendas.

Ultimately, Spencer's book underscores that anti-Semitism is not merely a historical phenomenon but an enduring ideological force that continues to threaten Jewish communities worldwide. He emphasizes the need to confront these narratives head-on and recognize the broader societal dangers they pose.