Monday, August 25, 2008

just back from a trip to mars

Just back from a trip to Mars

By David Verveer

I am just back from a round trip to Mars, (on the way we visited also the moon, and some other outer space regions). My travel companion, my grandson Tom, still on vacation from school, was so kind to hold my hand in frightening moments, but in general, I must say, the trip was wonderful and enlightening. I would have preferred a newer model of space ship, as the one we traveled in was a rather shaky affair, but for the low fees, we should not complain. I thought, however, they would serve some drinks, half way, but no, we went directly up, but wasted some time on the moon, which is really a pity of your time, nobody there, dry like hell and such a silence, the only thing we heard was the guide, telling us what we saw.

Of course, you understood by now that we visited the planetarium in Tel Aviv, and participated in a simulated flight upwards. But this made me think, my grandson is now 9 years old (9 and a half to be precise), and he, most likely, will participate in such trips when he gets to my venerable age (passed 50 years, a long time ago).

When I was a kid of his age now, we did not have TV, or transistor radios, or mobile phones, and if you wanted to phone, you had to go to the sole public phone in the neighborhood, but of course, to whom would you call, nobody had a phone those days. We had a huge radio, standing in our living room, with a station indicator, on which local (one) and foreign stations were written, I don't think it broadcasted the entire day.

Still, we never got bored, like the kids of today, we played, read and enjoyed ourselves with primitive equipment but time available was always too short. Today, my grandkids continuously get new electronic equipment, from play station to hi-fi, what ever that might be, but surprisingly, they get bored, with more than 5 TV stations for kids alone, with DVD (video is already out, not to mention tape recorders, or gramophone players), and their own computer, with non limited sources of sites for kids, and still I hear Saba (Granny in Hebrew) I am bored!

I feel like a prophet, when I imaging my grandson, with his grandchildren go for a weekend to Jupiter, where he rented a solarium for the weekend (included of course a rented rocket for visits to the surrounding moons). There, grandmother prepared for them a take away breakfast) and their favorite entertainment program, injected through their toes, when the youngest child tell his granny, that this antique manner of traveling bores him, his friends from school flown with his parents on robototic plasma waves. Sound wild, remember that if somebody in those days, would have prophesized that you would be able to talk and see each other through the computer (what is a computer in heavens name?), and that it won't cost you a cent (if you don't take into account that your equipment and your connection to internet cost lots of money, and that you have to replace after a year your equipment, because it is not anymore capable to cope with the basic requirements).

O.K, I have to stop now, because my daughter has just sent me by email, pictures of their trip with their kids to Canada, and I have to figure out, how to open them and view them, together with my wife.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

the web night mare we live in

The Web nightmare we live in

By David Verveer

This letter should be seen as a complaint, the problem is, I do not know to whom to address it, who is the sick mind and Internet bandit, that makes my and many other's life a hell, and who causes that I sit until midnight to try to get rid of an other attempt to infect my computers. Who is the person that in actual fact enjoys it that suckers like me desperately looking for help, knowing that there is nobody out there, and every one is fighting for him self.

When in the fifties I got infected by "Cyberitus" a contagious disease which is incurable and has many side effects, which I will not discuss here, as I will not give the enemy their satisfaction of having succeeded in pestering me, day and night.

Of course, there also times, the disease is in a lull (a calm and inactive period), the computers are working without any problems, telling me that all antivirus, registering and security programs are up to date, and my compute is working satisfactory. I know, that is just before a new attack of hackers, of spyware and viruses thought out by young freaks that do this for the fun of it.

Who, in his sound mind, writes Trojan virus software, which has only one target, ruining our computers? Do they do it in order to increase the sale of ineffective antivirus software, or are they at war with the civilization, showing that they are capable to cause enormous damage to anybody courageous enough to operate computers. Or could it be that the antivirus software manufactures write there own viruses, which can be removed only by their own particular antivirus programs, but no, that wouldn't be nice, people do not on purpose harm people in order to make a buck, don't be funny, we do not live in a free for all society, there are responsible people who control fair business, or am I mistaken to think nobody makes malware on purpose.

I am not worried about big companies, which can afford to take in account software damage to their computer systems, this is an item which can be taken in account in the yearly budget, and they always have sufficient backups and computer experts who know what and how to deal with an attack. But what about the private man, using the computer as his main connector to the world, already for ages he did not use the postal services, or go to the bank to check his account, he stopped with expensive abroad phone calls, using Skype or similar VOIP programs. He has taken his office home, his source for information, is reference material, and even, how to make a cake. The computer is an essential equipment in a normal household, which when it breaks down, has tremendous effect on the sanity of the users.

The antivirus software companies are blood suckers, which require continuous renewal (updating) and at least a yearly payment, but don't think you solved the problem, after installing an antivirus program, you need as well anti adware, a driver checker (drivers are software that operate hardware but don't do anything for cookware), register controller (as software registers itself on your operation system, and not always work nicely together with other software registering, so called conflicting with each other. So let us assume you agreed in your desperation to install a program that promises to deal with all your expected and un expected failures in operating your computer, and you agree paying yearly their fees, 2 days after installing the anti-everything program, your computer tells you something like, you do not have sufficient ram, or simply gives up and does not work anymore, and your technician or lab will tell you a story which you can not check if true, so he will reformate your hard disk, put in new parts, and your lovely computer is reduced to an old model, ready to be replaced with a newer model computer who does everything much better, much faster, has a memory of x mega -/ no chica bites, which you can use also for making coffee and also for operating the washing machine and can be operated with remote control or with your mobile, the only thing you need is money.

What, don't you have a mobile, are you from the Stone Age? School kids take a mobile to school, and the elementary school teachers request the children to present their homework with the help of a computer. I remember, in my time in school, we were not allowed to use a ball pen, only a crown pen, which you had to dip in the inkpot, or a sharpened pencil (which was checked by the teacher).

I know, I need now a closing argument, a point making the entire writing relevant, but to tell you the truth, I really don't see a solution, the world is for the youngsters, I don't have the patience to fight with it anymore, mister virus producer, you won, but I hope that you will invent a virus that will explode in your bloody, (excuse me for my vile language) own face.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

god zij dank ben ik een israeli en leef ik in israel

Gods zij dank ben ik Israeli en leef ik in Israel!

Geschreven door David Verveer

Introductie
Dit commentaar hat ik orgineel in het Engels geschreven, en toen naar een paar vrienden van mij gezonden. Hun reactie was, dat ik deze brief direct naar de krant moest schrijven, en niet aan hun. Ik weet niet of mijn verroesten kennis van de Nederlandse taal goed genoeg is om mijn mening duidelijk te maken, maar wie niet probeert, weet nooit wat hij is in staat om te doen.

Mijn brief, vrij vertaald.
Ik heb net 200 reacties gelezen op een artikel bij de Nederlandse Journalist Jaap Hamburger, die zichzelf als objectieve beschouwd over Israel en de Israeli politieke situatie, vooral over de Israeli behandeling van de Palestijnen (Arabieren) die in en om de grenzen van Israel leven. Het artikel was gedrukt in de Nederlandse krant Volkskrant, en kreeg meer dan 200 reacties en opinies van mensen die voor of tegen Israel waren, meestal met ideeën die kwamen uit geloof overtuigingen, geschiedenis en rasism maar de meeste, geschreven door mensen die onvoldoende kennis hebben en door de propaganda media halve waarheden herhaalden die van beide zijden van het konflikt geuit worden.

Natuurlijk begrijp ik dat dit een intellectuele oefening is, die geen enkele invloed heeft op wat er werkelijk in de regio gebeurd, en mogelijk is gemaakt door de aanwezigheid van de Internet, die iedereen vrij kan gebruiken, om de misdaden van die slechte Israelis of Arabieren te bespreken.

Maak U absoluut geen zorgen, ik ga nu niet mijn kant (de Israelische)van het argument schrijven, en uitleggen waarom wij ons zo gedragen, en tamelijk veel sukses hebben, met wat en hoe wij het doen. Mijn brief heef een geheel andere bedoeling, ik probeer U uit te leggen waarom ik een Israëli en Zionist ben geworden, zeker niet omdat ik mijzelf superior voel ten opzichte van andere volken, maar door wat ik heb doorgemaakt gedurende mijn leven, waarvan ik heb geleerd dat de enige mensen die ik kan vertrouwen, zijn de mensen van mijn eigen volk, en dat ik altijd een vreemdeling (en vluchteling) zal zijn in mijn geboorte land Nederland.

Ik ben geboren, een jaar voor de tweede wereld oorlog en de Duitse bezetting, en op drie jarige leeftijd (en een dag) ben ik ondergedoken, en gedurende 3 jaar van adres naar adres over gebracht, daar het vorige adres te gevaarlijk werd (roddelende buren en NSB ers) in de omgeving. Mijn leven was gered door goede Christenen, die hun eigen leven in gevaar brachten door mij in huis te nemen.
De laatste anderhalf jaar was ik onder gedoken in Oegstgeest, vlakbij Leiden, bij een Gereformeerde naast de kerk wonende Kerk leider, in het midden van een buurt geheel over genomen door het Duitse leger, als regionaal hoofd kwartier, met de officieren die de huizen om ons heen hadden op gevorderd. Een van de redenen dat ik de oorlog heb overleeft, was vooral omdat ik in het midde van het spinnenweb woonde, waar de Duitse Officieren zich niet bemoeiden met vragen zoals, hoeveel kinderen er naast hun woonden, en waar de SS niet durfde te opereren.

De bevrijdingsdag kwam, en Nederland werd nu beheert door de Geallieerde, met een van de eerste maatregelen, reis verbot. Iedereen die buiten zijn gemeente wilde gaan, moest dus een reis vergunning krijgen, die werd uitgereikt door de plaatselijke gemeente, door ambtenaren die tijdens de moffen, de vijand dienden, en nu weer goede Nederlanders waren, maar ja, Anti semitisme is iets dat je kan leren, maar niet vlug kan verliezen of vergeten.

Mijn vader, een bouwkundig Ingenieur en Architect was gearresteerd bij de SS en gefusilleerd in Oktober 1944, toen hij voor de ondergrondse,de beroemde IJssel Linie in kaart probeerde te brengen, zodat in Londen men zou weten welke dijken te bombarderen, zodat een gedeel van het land onder water zou komen staan, en het Duitse leger zich niet vlug zou kunnen terug trekken met hun zware cavalerie terug over de Duitse grens. Ik ben een van vier kinderen, drie jongens en een meisje, mijn zus, de jongste, had niet ons geluk en was verraden (ze was toen 2 jaar oud) zij werd naar de concentratie kampen gezonden die ze overleefde. Een documentare film is hiervan gemaakt, het heet de onbekende kinderen. Na de oorlog over was, werd zij naar Holland gestuurd door het Rode Kruis, en na een weekend samen met mijn moeder in Maastricht Mei '45, is zij naar Zwitserland gestuurd om aan te sterken.

Mijn oudere broers hebben de oorlog ook overleeft, en direct na de oorlog naar Denemarken gezonden om aan te sterken.

Ik had niet zo'n geluk, daar de Rode Kruis mij niet wou mee nemen, om dat ik een huid ziekte had, dus mijn moeder en ik bleven over en de burger vaderen van het dorp van waar wij gevlucht waren 3 jaar eerder, besloot dat een vrouw alleen met een kind, geen recht had op ons huurhuis dat sinds we het verlaten hadden, gesloten stond, met alle onze spullen, die door gezonden werden naar de Nood gebieden. In plaats van ons huis, kregen we een lek zomer huisje (in de midde van de strenge winter van 1945 / 46).

Uiteindelijk was de familie (behalve mijn vader) weer compleet toen mij moeder de positie van Directrice van het Haags Joodse Ouder tehuis op zich nam. Het tehuis fungeerde als Ontvangst Centrum voor Joden die terug kwamen uit de kampen, en ik hoef natuurlijk niet uit teleggen dat dit was geen ideale plaats voor het opvoeden van kleine kinderen, de oudste 11 jaar oud en de jongste amper 4.

Pas in 1947 werd mijn vermoorde vader erkent als ondergrondse strijder, (niet als Jood maar als een Nederlander) met gevolg dat wij een staats pensioen kregen, en eindelijk mijn moeder kon beginnen met haar kinderen op te voeden in een tamelijk normale omgeving.

7 jaar later viel de familie uiteen, mijn oudste broer immigreerde naar Israel, mijn tweede broer ging naar Suriname voor het leger, en ik ging studeren in Engeland. Mijn zus en moeder zijn nog drie jaar gebleven.

Uiteindelijk zijn we allemaal, een voor een naar Israel geïmmigreerd, daar we niet in Holland wouden blijven, niet omdat er Anti semitisme was, maar omdat, hoe dan ook, wij werden beschouwd als “anders” en de weinige Joden die gebleven zijn in Holland, houden hun zelf voor de gek, met het denken dat ze ten eerste Nederlanders zijn.

En nu kom ik eindelijk aan de reden voor mij dit veel te lange verhaal te schrijven. Israel geeft mij het gevoel van behoren, ik ben hier omdat mijn volk hier leeft, hier word ik niet gejaagd voor ras of geloof. Natuurlijk ben ik niet eens met alle beslissingen van de Israelische regering, en nog minder, met daden van extremisten van beide zijden, maar ik ben thuis, dit is mijn land, waar we voor hebben gevochten en zeker niet voor niets, maar wij zijn er in geslaagd om een land op te bouwen, waar we trots op kunnen zijn.

Hoe stom klinken die argumenten in de internationale pers, van alle zijden, tegen en voor de Joden / Arabieren, Palestijnen, terroristen, discriminatie, apartheid, die heeft gezecht, daar stond geschreven, allemaal niet belangrijk en nutteloos, Israel is een democratisch eiland in het midde van dictatorische en autocratische landen, wij proberen zo menselijk mogelijk te zijn, en soms onze acties niet erg logish in jullie ogen, maar herinner, wij zijn hier en blijven hier, en hebben wij geen andere mogelijkheid dan be sterkste te zijn, want wij kunnen ons geen nederlaag permitteren.
Jullie moeten herinneren dat Europa heeft ons verbannen, niet bij de verbanning wet van de Spaanse vorsten 1492, maar door het toelaten van de moord van 6 miljoen joden bij het Duitse Nazi beest.

De enige manier om nooit meer vernietiging van het Joodse volk, is door een sterke vestiging te bouwen, die niet perfekt is, maar onafhankelijk, sterk en in staat te zijn om terug te slaan. We hoeven niet meer onder te duiken, en ze kunnen ons niet meer jagen als beesten. De Europese community kan ons dit niet garanderen, maar niet alleen Europa, nergens op de wereld kan men zo iets waar maken, zeker niet nu, dat jullie eigen vrijheid in gevaar is door de groeiende macht van de Islam, die voor niets stuit, en geen democratie aanvaard. Kritiek op ons kan jullie niet redden.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Thank God I am an Israeli, living in Israel!

Thank God, I am an Israeli, living in Israel!

By David Verveer

I just finished to read 200 reactions on an article by a Dutch Journalist, Jaap Hamburger, who consider himself in having objective opinions on Israel and Israeli policies, specially concerning Israeli treatment of the Palestinians (Arabs) living in and around Israel. The article was published in the Dutch daily, de Volkskrant, and received more than 200 reactions, opinions of extremists against and pro Israeli, with arguments based on religion, history, racism and mostly, insufficient data based on propaganda media proclaimed by all sides involved in the conflict.

Clearly, this discussion is an intellectual exercise which has no influence, what so ever on the situation, but today, with the existence of the Internet, people are free to try to convince others of their insight on the crimes and behavior of those terrible Israelis / Arabs, etc.

Don't worry, I am not going to add to this my one-sided opinion on our rights (Israeli) and why we do what we do, and are rather successful in doing it. This letter has an entire different purpose, I am trying to show you that I became Israeli and Zionist, not because of having a feeling of superiority on other people, but due to what happened to me, during my life-time, I can put my trust only in people of my kind, as I was a stranger (and fugitive) in my native country, "the Netherlands".

I was born one year before the German invasion of Holland, and being only three years old (and one day), I was taken into hiding, and during 3 years, I was moved from one place to the other, when the last place became unsafe (neighbors talking and traitors living near by). I was saved by good Dutchmen, who risked their own life in order to save mine. The last 1 and half years I lived in a village near Leiden, in the house of a Protestant church alder, in the middle of the German Army Division Head quarter, which had taken over the neighborhood. The fact that I survived was mainly because we lived in the middle of the spider web, a place were they did not count the number of children next door, and the SS hesitated in entering.

The war ended, and the war-worn country was run by the Allies, who put restriction on traveling. My mother, who had been hiding in the north of the country, in order to find her family, had to fight to get travel permits put upon her by the Allies, but mostly fight the Dutch civil administration, who during the war served the German, and now again carried on as loyal civil servants. Letters and permits issued by these Dutch clerks showed that anti-Semitism is something you can learn, but not lose.

My father, an civil engineer and architect was caught by the SS and murdered in October 1944, when in service of the résistance, tried to prepare drawings of the famous Ijsel Line, a design of critical dikes systems, which if bombarded, would put half of Holland underwater, and complicate the Germans from retreating with their tanks, back over the German border.

I am one of four children, three boys and one girl. My sister who is the youngest, was not as lucky as me, and was arrested by the Germans (she was nearly two years old at that time), and transported to the concentration camps, which she survived. A documentary was made of this called "the unknown children".
After liberation, she was send back to Holland by the Red Cross, and after uniting for a weekend with my mother, sent to Switzerland to recover and strengthen.
My older brothers also survived, and were sent for recuperation to Denmark.
I was nor so lucky, suffering from a skin disease, the Red cross did not accept me, and my mother and me received a temporary home in the village from where we fled 3 and a half years earlier. Our previous prewar (rented) house was still standing empty with our own furniture inside, but the wise civil administration decided that a woman with one child does not have to live in a big house, and should live in a leaking wooden summer house, in the middle of the woods, during a severe winters (1945 / 6)

The family was united in 1946, when my mother was appointed director of a Jewish parent home, which served at the time as first stage collection center for Jews surviving camps and returning to Holland. I don't have to explain that this was not an ideal place to bring up children, having them selves suffered sufficient traumas to last a lifetime.

Only in 1947, my murdered father was recognized as War hero and resistance fighter, and we were allotted a pension that enabled my mother to move to a flat and start rebuilding the family. We never became a normal family, and about 8 years later, the family fall apart, when one brother immigrating to Israel, the other brother in the Dutch Army sent to Suriname (S.A), and me, going to England to study Agriculture. My mother and sister remained together in Holland.

None of us remained in Holland, as we felt not belonging, not trusting anybody and un-equal with our neighbors. Not that we suffered anti Semitism, but we were and are treated as "outsiders", and the few Jews who remained in Holland know either that I am right in this observation, or try to deny this and remain an outsider for life.

And now, I finally reach the reason of writing all this, Israel provides me with a feeling of belonging, I am here because this are my people, here I can do something against being hunted as animal because religion and race. Of course I do not agree with every political move of the Israeli Government, of course I don’t agree with any extremist from either side, but I am home, this is my country, which we fought for and succeeded in creating against all odds. We did not get the country as present from anybody, just the opposite; nobody made it easy for us.

How irrelevant and stupid are arguments from all sides in the Dutch, English or US papers, "promised land", Arab Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, discrimination, this one said, that one wrote, all bull-shit, Israel is a relative democratic society, existing in the middle of a sea of dictatorial and autocratic regimes, trying to be human, even though sometimes our behavior sounds illogical, remember we are here, we stay here and we have no other choice in being always the strongest, as we don't have the luxury of losing. Remember, the Europeans ousted us, not by a decision of the Spanish Monarch in 1492, but by allowing the Nazi beast to kill 7 million of my people.

We made true the phrase "never again" by creating our own fortress, not perfect, but independent, our current enemy fights us and tries to terrorizes us, but we are able to defend ourselves, we hit back, we do not have to go into hiding, we are not hunted as animals. The Europeans, or anybody else in the Diaspora, can not give us such assurance, the Islam is invading you and slowly but surely, you are losing your democracies, your freedom and right to live, and you will have to fight to regain your freedom, just as we did and do, and the sooner the better you need to realize that your criticism of our policies will not save you, nor spare you.