Courtesy of retired Marine Maj. Fred T. Lash.
French legionnaires and U.S. Marines provide protection as PLO forces evacuate Beirut in 1982
Aug. 21, 1982 — Troops Arrive to Oversee PLO Withdrawal
American, French and Italian troops arrive in Beirut to supervise the evacuation of 14,000 PLO fighters through Sept. 1. Yasser Arafat leaves Lebanon’s capital Aug. 30. Eight countries agree to offer asylum to the PLO: Syria, Jordan, Iraq, South Yemen, North Yemen, Sudan, Algeria and Tunisia, the last of which becomes Arafat’s headquarters. Driving terrorists from Beirut is one of Israel’s principal goals in the 1982 war.
Photo credit: zeevveez, CC BY 2.0
Jacques Lipchitz’s “Tree of Life” stands at Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus
Aug. 22, 1891 — Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz Is Born
Jacques Lipchitz, whose final sculpture, “The Tree of Life,” stands outside Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, is born in Lithuania. He studies art in Paris, where he joins a group that includes Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris. He works with abstract forms. He flees France for the United States in 1941. In his later years, he draws inspiration from Judaism and becomes more religiously observant.
Theodor Herzl opens the Sixth Zionist Congress by making the case for the Uganda Plan as a step toward a homeland in the Land of Israel
Aug. 23, 1903 — Herzl’s Last Zionist Congress Opens
The Sixth Zionist Congress, the last led by Theodor Herzl, convenes in Basel, Switzerland. It is the largest so far, with approximately 600 delegates, and explores a proposal for a Jewish homeland in Uganda. A 295-178 vote with 98 abstentions approves sending a commission to investigate setting up a Jewish home in East Africa as an interim step toward the Land of Israel. The Seventh Zionist Congress rejects the idea in 1905.
Photo credit: Fritz Cohen, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The first governor of the Bank of Israel, David Horowitz (right), welcomes to his office David Rockefeller, the president of Chase Manhattan Bank, in March 1971
Aug. 24, 1926 — Playwright Nissim Aloni Is Born
Playwright and translator Nissim Aloni is born in a poor neighborhood in the south of Tel Aviv that inspires his work. The Habima Theatre produces the first of his 12 plays, “Most Cruel the King,” about King Jeroboam I, in 1953. His next play, “The King’s Clothes,” establishes him as one of Israel’s leading playwrights and a stage revolutionary. He earns the Bialik Prize in 1983 and the Israel Prize in 1996.
Photo credit: Hugo Mendelson, National Photo Collection of Israel.
Leonard Bernstein conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Beersheba in November 1948
Aug. 25, 1918 — Conductor Leonard Bernstein Is Born
Leonard Bernstein, one of America’s most prolific composers and conductors, is born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His music is deeply influenced by his Boston synagogue, where he is introduced to Zionism. He makes the first of several trips to the Land of Israel to conduct what becomes the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1947. His appearances include the famous Mount Scopus concert after the June 1967 war.
A 1934 edition of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” was published in Chicago
Aug. 26, 1903 — Russian Newspaper Publishes “Protocols”
“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the most widely distributed antisemitic publication in history, is first published in Znamya, a Russian newspaper. Plagiarizing the dialogue from an 1864 French political satire, the pamphlet most likely was written in the late 19th century in Paris. It gains attention and is widely distributed after World War I, including by Henry Ford. The Times of London proves it is a fraud in 1921.
Photo credit: abualimustafa.org
A soccer tournament, an elementary school and the military wing of the PFLP are among the Palestinian institutions that carry Abu Ali Mustafa’s name
Aug. 27, 2001 — PFLP Commander Is Assassinated
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa is killed when helicopter-fired missiles strike his office in Ramallah. Israel takes responsibility for the assassination after a weekend of violence that killed 11 Israelis and Palestinians. Mustafa is the highest-ranking Palestinian official killed so far in the Second Intifada. The Palestinian Authority calls for three days of mourning.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.