11/11 Links Pt2: Vote for the Dishonest Reporter of 2016; Leonard Cohen Dies at 82 ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Celebrating One Hundred Years of the Balfour Declaration

John Howell is MP for Henley and Vice-Chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel.
Today marks the start of the year-long celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, when the UK and Israel will unite to commemorate one of the most defining moments in our shared history.
Over the past century the world has witnessed a country rise out of the desert and flourish, against all odds, to become the ‘Start-Up Nation’ – a world leader in technological innovation, cyber security, academia, and medicine.
The Balfour Declaration was instrumental in the creation of the State of Israel, adding the official British voice to the chorus that wanted to give “a land without a people to a people without a land”.
The document served, in effect, as a legal birth certificate, in the form of a letter from Conservative Foreign Secretary Arthur J Balfour to Lord Rothschild dated 2nd November 1917. It conveyed Lord Balfour’s support of His Majesty’s Government for Zionist aspirations for Jewish self-determination in Israel, the land of the Hebrew Old Testament, following centuries of persecution.
Lord Balfour wrote, “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.

Daniel Pipes: America’s know-nothing diplomacy

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, recently said something astonishing in defense of his foreign policy ignorance: “The fact that somebody can dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a foreign leader or a geographic location then allows them to put our military in harm’s way.” In other words, not knowing where a place is a good thing because, in Alice Ollstein’s witty summary, “You can’t get into a war with a country you can’t find.”
As a student of U.S. foreign policy this struck a chord — not because it’s an outlandishly whacky statement but precisely because it is mainstream. Really. Here are three notable precedents from the last century:
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson dispatched the International Commission of Inquiry (commonly known as the King-Crane Commission) to Palestine and Syria to ascertain the political wishes of their residents. The leaders of this potentially influential commission monumentally lacked qualifications for the undertaking. Henry C. King was a philosopher and president of Oberlin College; Charles R. Crane was a busybody, anti-Semite, and heir to the fortune from his family’s plumbing fixture company. Strikingly, their ignorance was seen as an advantage; a presidential aide explained that Wilson “felt these two men were particularly qualified to go to Syria because they knew nothing about it.”
Secretary of State Robert Lansing, who thought Wilson wrong on this, explained that the president did not want to appoint “persons who are familiar with the subject” of political and territorial questions. Instead, Wilson thought that “an empty mind is more receptive of the truth than one affected by experience and study.” Indeed, ignorance is an “essential qualification for an investigator.”
The King-Crane Commission report, not surprisingly, was (in the words of the historian Elie Kedourie) “as ill-informed as its influence on policy was negligible.”
In 2003, the Bush administration announced John S. Wolf as the new U.S. presidential Middle East envoy (more formally, “chief, U.S. Coordinating and Monitoring Mission for the Middle East peace process”). The Washington Post (in an admiring article titled “For Mideast Envoy, Rookie Status May Be an Advantage”) quoted a senior administration official saying that “It’s a good thing that he has exceptional negotiating skills and very little direct experience in the area.”

Honest Reporting: Vote for the Dishonest Reporter of 2016

Now’s the time to vote for the Dishonest Reporter of 2016. It’s our annual recognition of the year’s most skewed and biased coverage of Israel and the Mideast conflict. Make your voice heard and we’ll announce the ignoble winners by the end of the year.
Vote for one reporter or news service, along with a brief reason for your choice. This year’s nominees — in no particular order — are:
1. Luke Baker: The Reuters Jerusalem bureau chief and (then) head of the Foreign Press Association told a Knesset panel discussing news bias that media watchdogs like HonestReporting make government oversight unnecessary. Within days, Baker baselessly attacked HR.
2. Leila Hatoum: An editor at Newsweek Middle East, whose anti-Semitic tweets demonstrate that she’s not fit for her position.
3. Headline writers: Throughout the year, headline fails repeatedly twisted the stories of Palestinian stabbings, shootings, and car-ramming attacks.
4. AFP: For maliciously using World Press Freedom Day and International Women’s Day to bash Israel.
5. The Independent: While we secured plenty of corrections from The Independent, the sheer volume of negative stories demonstrated a near-obsession by the editors. One especially nasty story never amended spun a survey to claim “Nearly half of Israeli Jews believe in ethnic cleansing.”

‘Kristallnacht’: The Legal Status of the Bystander

I am child of the Holocaust. Both of my parents are Holocaust survivors. This essay seeks to answer three questions essential to my understanding of the Holocaust, the bystander, and my understanding of duty owed to another individual.
Those questions are: What do we learn from the Holocaust in general, in particular from Kristallnacht, regarding the bystander? What is the responsibility of the individual in the face of unmitigated racism and hatred? What is the most appropriate application of the painful lessons that can be learned from the tragic events of Nov. 9-10, 1938?
On November 7, 1938, a Jewish youth named Herschel Grynszpan shot the German diplomat Ernst Vom Rath in Paris. Grynszpan’s family, Polish Jews living in Germany, were ordered to be expelled by the Nazi regime and transferred to refugee camps whose conditions were dire. Vom Rath died of his wounds on Nov. 9; word reached Hitler shortly thereafter while attending a dinner commemorating the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. Upon hearing the news, Hitler left the dinner; speaking on his behalf Goebbels, in essence, called for a pogrom directed against Jews. The expression “spontaneously planned” has been used by historians to describe the unfolding of the events of the next two days.
Within hours of Goebbels’ words, more than 1,000 synagogues were set on fire or destroyed; in 24 hours 91 Jews were killed; and over 30,000 Jewish men aged 16 to 60 were sent to concentration camps where they were tormented and tortured for a number of months. More than 1,000 of those arrested met their deaths in the camps. Rampant looting and extreme violence in a hateful atmosphere marked Kristallnacht, along with arrests, destruction of physical property, physical abuse, and humiliation in more than 1,000 cities, towns, and villages in Germany and Austria.
According to the London Times, “No Foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings … assaults on defenceless and innocent people which disgraced that country yesterday.” As “hundreds of thousands danced in wild frenzy while millions watched approvingly,” Church leaders remained similarly silent.

Ryan Bellerose: Pure Hypocrisy

I get banned from Facebook for responding to someone calling someone else a liar by saying “No you are the liar” and receive a 30-day ban. I challenge someone to post a source for something and get told I’m “gas-lighting.” I say that someone who is advocating Holocaust denial and lying about Israeli involvement in 9-11 is spreading hate speech and I am called “Thought police.” And you wonder why people like me are done with pretending to be nice?
But I will say that there is a real concern here: simply put, when you silence someone for a long time, when they finally do re-find their voice, they often are not able to use their inside voice, they forget that there is a time to yell and a time to whisper and everything in between. If you deny someone the ability to express themselves and you shut them down whenever they speak, you cannot be shocked when they cannot use their inside voice.
The people rebelling against PC culture are often not the spokespeople for the rest of us, not any more than the lefty SJW asshats were. In fact, I am pretty certain that while I often use strong colorful language, I very rarely use offensive statements that personally attack anyone – when I am mean or harsh, it’s in general. People need to understand the difference.
The reason Trump won was simple — he tapped into the frustration against the system. The frustration against the language police, the anger at the whiny crybullies who try to shut down any opinion that they don’t share. And I truly hope the pendulum doesn’t swing too far because there is value in some of PC culture, there is value in creating places where people feel safe and included. But frankly it went too far with everyone and their dog demanding safe spaces from everything and trigger warnings, but then acting like fascists when they don’t get their own way.
The simple fact is that the Left only believes in a democracy that does what IT wants, and it only believes in freedom of speech when that speech agrees with it. I never thought I would see the day when the Right became the defenders of freedom and the Left became the deniers of it.

Muslim-Zionist Activist: ‘Antisemitism Is the Norm in the Islamic Community, But the World Will Come to Realize Its Mistake About Israel’

Antisemitism and Israel-hatred is the norm among Muslims, including in the United States, even though the Koran can be read as a “Zionist text,” a devout American Muslim told The Algemeiner this week, explaining how she came to work to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding and how she thinks the world will come to see the Jewish state in a different light.
Nadiya Al-Noor — a graduate of Maryland’s Goucher College studying for her master’s degree at Binghamton University in upstate New York — was explaining her evolution into a person who warmly embraces both Jews and the Jewish state. On and off campus, Al-Noor said she constantly finds hypocrisy about antisemitism and Israel, and she has made a mission of letting the world know about these incidents through social media.
Recently, Al-Noor posted a picture on Facebook of a drop-down menu on an online Binghamton emergency contact form that listed “Occupied Palestinian Territories” as a location option. She told The Algemeiner, “Israel was also included, so that was a relief, but no other location was labeled ‘occupied.’ Not Northern Cyprus, Kosovo or Crimea [all under military occupation by various countries]. Just the Palestinian territories.”
Raised in Stony Brook, Long Island, Al-Noor had many Jewish friends, but said antisemitism was still imbued in her at an early age. In an hour-long interview, she spoke of the journey that led to her change in outlook and why she started blogging about being a Muslim Zionist. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Israel's national theater performs in Kiryat Arba for first time

Following weeks of controversy, Israel's Habima national theater performed its production of Israeli Nobel Laureate S. Y. Agnon's "A Simple Story" at a cultural center in Kiryat Arba, on the outskirts of Hebron, Thursday.
Habima's decision to perform in Kiryat Arba was met with calls on the Left for the theater's management to cancel the performance. On the Right, supporters sent letters commending the move.
Around 350 people attended the performance, including Culture Minister Miri Regev and MK Yehuda Glick, both of the Likud party. Prior to the performance, Regev congratulated the actors and the audience.
"I am happy that tonight we will see here in Hebron four actors who did not give in to pressure from the organization Breaking the Silence, which tried, until the last minute, to prevent them from performing here," she said. "I am ashamed every time I see how human rights organizations, who extol equality and respect for others ... systematically trample on the rights of the residents of Judea and Samaria and work to revoke their right to be cultural consumers. No one here is a second-class citizen," she said.
According to Regev, "Revoking the right of our dear residents of Judea and Samaria from enjoying Israeli culture and creativity -- that is a violation of equality."
Habima actress Yevgenia Dudina, who was invited by the left-wing group Breaking the Silence on a tour of the area, arrived in Hebron early. Members of the advocacy group, dedicated to exposing alleged wrongdoings by the IDF, tried to explain their position to her, but they were repeatedly interrupted by right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

BDS and Radioactivity: Alumni Confront Anti-Israel Rhetoric on Campus

You may remember the story of Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-KGB officer who fled Russia for asylum in Great Britain. In 2006, while living in England, Litvinenko was hospitalized with acute radiation syndrome and died shortly afterwards, murdered from polonium-210 poisoning.
Litvinenko was silenced for his political views.
The power of labels
Most American college campuses are not places of politically based violence, at least not yet. Nevertheless, students are being effectively silenced by poisoned language.
Anti-Israel activists employ a simple diversionary tactic: they often use inflammatory adjectives and terms to make the reputations of Israel and its supporters radioactive. It is a way to silence critics and avoid civil academic debate.
After all, if the opposition is too terrible to talk to, there’s no need for conversation. The proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement call this approach “anti-normalization,” a tactic that is both self-serving and undermines the essence of the academy.

Despite Meeting Aimed at Repairing Relations With ‘Antisemitic’ UK Student Leader, British-Jewish Union Still Dissatisfied Over Lack of Apology

Despite a recent meeting aimed at mending soured relations with the allegedly antisemitic leader of the country’s largest student union, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) released a statement to announce that it was not satisfied.
Though talks with National Union of Students (NUS) President Malia Bouattia were “constructive” and “provided an opportunity to directly address the issues that have been raised since her election,” the UJS said, the meeting by itself is “not proof that we are working together, far from it.”
The group said that it had been clear about agreeing to such a meeting only if its purpose was “to discuss the concerns of Jewish students regarding her past rhetoric, and her inability to address them.”
As this outcome was apparently not achieved, the UJS reaffirmed its commitment not to work Bouattia “until she issues an apology to Jewish students and demonstrates a genuine willingness to listen to their concerns and work towards addressing them.”
In October, as the The Algemeiner reported, a parliamentary report on the state of antisemitism in the UK criticized Bouattia for continually dismissing and even undermining efforts to combat antisemitism on campus. The report spurred calls for her immediate resignation.

The BBC’s Haneen Zoabi show

In mid-October the BBC World News channel aired a documentary by Jane Corbin titled “Israel’s Arab Warriors” and on November 8th, 9th and 10th the same programme was shown on BBC Arabic TV. A written article by Corbin on the same topic (which includes the video) was promoted on the BBC News website’s Middle East page on November 8th under the title “Israel’s Arab soldiers who fight for the Jewish state“. The same article was translated into Arabic and promoted on the same day on the BBC Arabic website.
It is of course good to see the BBC finally getting round to reporting on a topic which has long been off its radar and Jane Corbin is to be commended for enabling BBC audiences to see beyond the standard BBC narrative in her unusually nuanced presentation of Israeli society.
A distinctly less laudable aspect of Corbin’s filmed and written reports is their generous amplification of unqualified and unchallenged propaganda from the inadequately presented Haneen Zoabi.

Jewish Students at U of New Mexico, Already ‘Intimidated’ Into Keeping Low Profile, ‘Anxious’ Over Appearance of Nazi-Style Anti-Trump Graffiti, Sources Say

Jewish students at the University of New Mexico (UNM) are anxious about graffiti that appeared on campus denouncing US President-elect Donald Trump next to a swastika, the head of the school’s Hillel chapter told The Algemeiner — highlighting what one anonymous source claimed was among many reasons that Jews at the school “are intimidated into keeping a low profile.”
Referring to the defacement. discovered on Wednesday, of a famous sculpture with the slogan that accompanied the Nazi salute to Adolph Hitler (“Sieg Heil”), but addressed to Trump — next to the infamous symbol of the Third Reich — Sara Koplik said Jewish students “consider it an act of antisemitism.”
The above incident, she said, is but one example of anti-Trump vandalism that has been carried out on the UNM campus since Tuesday’s presidential election, including the message “I (heart image) fascism” — with the word “Trump” over the heart. However, she said, the one with the swastika had a distinctly antisemitic flavor.
However, she said, what distinguishes it from previous antisemitic graffiti, which has been rare, is that “most of what we have seen in the past has come from the Left, and is generally connected to anti-Israel sentiment.”

German Police Open Investigation After Neo-Nazi Group Publishes Addresses of Berlin Jewish Institutions on Facebook on Kristallnacht Anniversary

German police have opened an investigation after a neo-Nazi group published online the addresses of dozens of Berlin Jewish institutions — including schools, stores, restaurants and cemeteries — on the 78th anniversary of Kristallnacht (the infamous November 1938 “Night of Broken Glass” Nazi-led pogrom commonly viewed as the start of the Holocaust).
“A criminal complaint was filed over suspicion of incitement,” a German police spokeswoman was quoted as telling AFP.
According to media reports, a Facebook post with the caption “Jews among us!” included a map showing the locations of around 70 Jewish establishments in the German capital.
“This is an attack on us all, on our open society,” German MP Volker Beck — a member of the Green Party — was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. “It is a deliberate and indefensible provocation.”

New Israeli machine set to standardize diamond grading

An Israeli high-tech company has invented a machine that it says can instantly grade the clarity of polished diamonds — a development the company said Thursday will bring new standards to a painstaking process that has long been susceptible to the subjectivity of appraisers.
Sarine Technologies Ltd. said its system, currently in advanced large-scale testing in India and expected to be marketed toward mid-2017, will revolutionize the global diamond industry by enhancing consumer trust in each diamond’s valuation.
The system will simplify the clarity grading process and provide accurate and objective mapping of the polished diamond, said chief executive and executive director Uzi Levami.
“Instead of a human looking at the diamond from various angles, maybe the light is not so good, maybe he drank too much coffee, so he is making a mistake,” he said. The machine can “make the final decision for the grade of the diamond,” he said.

The first black Miss Israel shared her immigrant story at UMD during her U.S. tour

The 2013 Miss Israel spoke about her personal struggles and the joy she found as an immigrant in Israel at the University of Maryland on Wednesday as part of a five-campus tour to raise awareness about the country.
Born and raised in Ethiopia, Yityish "Titi" Aynaw immigrated to Israel when she was 12 and went on to serve as a commander in the Israeli Defense Forces. Aynaw made history in 2013 when she became the first black woman to win an Israeli pageant.
"People don't know too much about Israel and they see this black girl model Miss Israel speaking — I like to see the surprise on their faces," Aynaw said in a Diamondback interview. "[The students] are really interested in what I have to say, and that they got to learn about Israel in different ways."
The Jewish National Fund brought Aynaw to campus, said Jacob Orbach, a campus fellow for the Jewish National Fund. She spoke to students on immigration, military life in Israel and women's rights in the country in Stamp Student Union's Colony Ballroom on Wednesday evening.
"A lot times, the media doesn't get the right story, and bringing someone, like Titi, who isn't in politics, but just a good role model of a person to have speak to multiple audiences and cater to many people at once is very beneficial for a place like a university," said Orbach, a sophomore enrolled in letters and sciences.

IsraellyCool: Natalie Portman And Sharon Stone Honored At 30th Anniversary Israel Film Festival

Last night, the 30th Anniversary Israel Film Festival opened with its Gala Awards Dinner at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
A pregnant Natalie Portman and Sharon Stone were both awarded Achievement Awards.
The festival runs from November 9-23. Among the 30 recent Israeli movies at the festival will be Elite Zexer’s Sand Storm (which I blogged about here), Asaph Polonsky’s One Week and a Day, Eran Kolirin’s Beyond the Mountains and Hills, Dani Menkin’s On the Map, Ido Haar’s Presenting Princess Shaw and the Heymann brothers’ Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?.

Israeli Achievements Honored at New York Stock Exchange

“Israel Day” was held at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, comprising a series of events highlighting Israel’s technological advancements and its outsize impact on Wall Street.
The programming was organized by the America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL). “AIFL is honored that the NYSE recognizes Israel’s accomplishments as a start-up nation, not only in commerce, science and technology, but also in the creation of a society, which advances the cause of freedom, liberty and human rights,” AIFL president and CEO Kenneth Bialkin said in a statement. “Israel stands as a partner with the United States in the common defense of the values we share.”
“The level of Israeli equities listed on Wall Street is yet another example of Israeli innovation and the strong US-Israel relationship,” added AIFL executive director Daniella Riliv. Israel has the third-largest representation on Wall Street behind China and Canada.
One panel featured female Israeli entrepreneurs, including Karen Haruvi, a senior vice president for Teva Pharmaceuticals, the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs; Tzameret Fuerst, co-founder of Circ MedTech, a company that makes adult circumcision devices; Liat Mordechay Hertanu, co-founder of the virtual assistant specialists 24me; and fashion designer and artist Noa Raviv.

Investments in Israeli Firms Reached $3.26 Billion Through September—Surpassing All of 2015

Israeli private equity deal-making in the first nine months of 2016 hit $3.26 billion, exceeding the $3.22 billion raised in all of 2015, according to a new report from the IVC Research Center, which tracks venture capital and startup activity.
In the third quarter of this year, $1.7 billion was spent on 18 deals involving Israeli firms, the highest quarterly amount in the past two years. The amount was 32 percent above the $1.3 billion reached in the previous quarter and over four times the $358 million achieved in the third quarter of 2015.
The most valuable transaction was the buyout of Keter Plastic by BC Partners for $1.4 billion.
“We are experiencing an annual volume increase even before year-end. This figure is highly influenced by single oversized deals, like the Keter buyout, but this is always the case in private equity markets – there are always few very large deals alongside much smaller ones. Rather than a one-off deal, we regard the Keter transaction as a credibility reaffirmation of the local market by the international PE industry,” said Omer Ben-Zvi, Partner at the Shibolet law firm, which contributed to the IVC report. “Despite the instability in world economy and concerns for a potential slowdown, we believe that the local [private equity] market is healthy and still benefits from a growth potential.”

Iconic Canadian-Jewish Songwriter Leonard Cohen Dead at 82

Famed Jewish singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen died on Thursday night aged 82, according to a post on his official Facebook page.
“We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries,” said the statement. “A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief.”
Known for his stirring and soulful poetry, Cohen was born in Canada and later moved to Los Angeles. Throughout his career of more than four decades he released 12 studio albums and wrote dozens of songs including his most famous “Hallelujah.”
His most recent release, “You Want it Darker,” included the lyrics, “Hineni (here I am), I’m ready my Lord.”

Goodbye, Leonard

In the years I’ve spent closely listening to him, Leonard Cohen has taught me many things: how to think about history, how to read a poem, how to chase God. But the greatest gift he gave me, maybe, is showing me how to be kind.
I caught my first glimpse of it some years ago, having just finished writing a book about him. Leonard had read it, and he invited me to join him and his band at an intimate gathering at his hotel in New York following one of his concerts here. I said I’d be there and, light-headed, rushed to my closet to figure out what one wore to a night out with Leonard Cohen. I wanted to impress him, and so I put on what I thought was my most discerning outfit and spent an hour circling the block and practicing the clever speech I’d give when I first met my hero.
I ran into him as soon as my wife and I walked into the hotel’s lobby. I dipped into my act, but he interrupted me with his warm smile and took me by the hand, walking me around and introducing me to friends and bandmates, praising me and my writing with the earnest joy of a grandfather taking pleasure in a dear child. I was elated, of course, and more than a little bit awed. I didn’t really understand why this famous and desired man would spend so much time with me, a jittery stranger. It was only after I’d finished my last whisky and said my goodbyes that night that I understood: Leonard had bothered with me precisely because he knew I was jittery, because he understood that I was a stranger in this room thick with friends and colleagues, because he wanted to make me feel at ease and encourage me to abandon my attempts at impressing him and instead speak freely and enjoy the evening. Of his many and considerable talents, this gift for healing was, perhaps, his finest, and in the days and weeks and months that followed our meeting I found myself emulating him, opening my heart and inviting others to unburden theirs.

Israel’s president pays personal tribute to Leonard Cohen: ‘A giant of a creator, open to all people’

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama paid a warm and personal tribute to Canadian Jewish singer and poet Leonard Cohen on Friday, honoring him as an artist who had deeply touched them on a personal level and as an important contributor to Jewish culture.
“This morning we looked at each other and thought the same thoughts: ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ was the soundtrack to so many moments in our life as a couple and as a family,” Israel’s first couple wrote on Rivlin’s Facebook page.
“It added, like so many of his songs, a spirit and depth of emotion into our everyday lives,” they wrote.
Cohen, the storied musician and poet hailed as one of the most visionary artists of his generation, died at age 82, his publicist announced on Thursday.

Netanyahu recalls Leonard Cohen's Yom Kippur War contribution

Israeli politicians joined the world in mourning Jewish singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen, who died late Thursday night.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared his thoughts on Twitter speaking of Cohen's love of Israel.
"I'll never forget how he arrived to sing to soldiers during the Yom Kippur War, out of a sense of solidarity," Netanyahu tweeted.
Though the prime minister had originally finished his army service in 1972, Netanyahu served in the Yom Kippur War.

IsraellyCool: When Leonard Cohen Performed For Israeli Troops During The Yom Kippur War

2016 continues to be the year G-d recruits for the band of the century, with legendary Jewish singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen passing away at the age of 82.
For many Israelis, it is perhaps this iconic image they think of most when they think of Leonard Cohen.
What is the story behind it?
When the Yom Kippur War began, Aharon (Yalo) Shavit, the commander of the Etzion Airbase in Sinai, telephoned his close friend, the singer Oshik Levi. “You have to come here and perform,” Shavit told him. “This isn’t anything like what we know. It’s not like the Six-Day War at all. It’s something completely different.”
Levi did not hesitate. The next day he and his partner in the show, Mordechai Arnon, came to perform for the troops just before they entered the war.
At the same time, not far from the chaos in Israel, Leonard Cohen was in the midst of a performance tour on the island of Hydra in Greece. His wife Suzanne and his son Adam were with him. When Cohen heard on the news that the war had begun, he felt he had to drop everything and head for Israel from Athens to help in the national effort in any way he could. And so he did.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah

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