Watermelon and Strawberries Lies

Face-Palm! 

Druze are being slaughtered in Syria and the trolls, those mentally challenged followers of the "Landless refugee decendants of the eunuchs of the Great Nachba" who suffer from profound Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) are filling "Social Media" with the claim that; "Gaza was a top exporter of strawberries and watermelons" 

And on top of this ludicrous fabrication they make the nefarious claim; That "Israel took everything from us." This ludicris claim is yet another distortion of historical truth lacking historical evidence!

Regarding strawberries:

The DOCUMENT TRUTH is that strawberry cultivation for export in Gaza may have been present earlier. However strawberry cultivation for export was particularly encouraged by Israeli authorities after 1967 following the Israeli liberation of former Mandated Area in the Six-Day War and the improvement in the water infrastructure and advent of "drip irrigation".

FACT: Historical sources indicate that countries like Egypt began cultivating strawberries during the reign of Mohamed Ali, which would be in the early to mid-19th century. These early efforts would have involved introducing the hybrid varieties that had been developed in Europe in the 18th century.

Todays modern strawberry is the result of a cross between two different species:

• Fragaria virginiana (Virginia strawberry): Native to eastern North America. This species brought good flavor and fruitfulness to the mix.
• Fragaria chiloensis (Chilean strawberry): Brought from Chile to France by a French spy named Amédée-François Frézier in 1714. This species contributed the desired large size to the new hybrid.

So, while various wild strawberry species have been found in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres for centuries (including in Europe, North America, and South America), the large, juicy, and sweet strawberry that dominates commercial production today is a relatively modern creation, a product of intentional breeding in 18th-century Europe using parent plants from the Americas.

It is true that prior to 1967, citrus fruits were the dominant crop in northern Gaza. 

Citrus tree growth prior to Israel's liberation of the Gaza strip, was dependent on an inadequate water supplies drawn from wells and cisterns dependent on seasonal rainfall channeled by a traditional method, known as furrow irrigation, which involves creating channels (furrows) between crop rows to guide water flow to the citrus trees. 

This above ground supply of water method was susceptible to evaporation in the dry heat made citrus cultivation more expensive for Gazan farmers due to the massive and improper water use pulled from underground sources to irrigate the citrus groves.

It should be noted that Citrus fruits are not native to the Middle East, but originated in the Himalayan foothills. 

The citron which is referred to in Hebrew etrog (אֶתְרוֹג), was introduced to the area of the Fertile Crescent around the 2nd century BCE.  

The Etrog was brought "back" around 538 BCE and cultivated in Eretz Yisrael by Jews who returned from Babylonian captivity due to it's spiritual significance as one of the Four Species (Arba'ah Minim) used during the week-long holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). 

Even today some Jews eat the etrog or make jam from it, believing it to be a segula (efficacious remedy) for an easy childbirth. It is also sometimes saved and candied for Tu BiShvat (the New Year for Trees).

Regarding Oranges: 

It was Arab conquerors who introduced the sour orange (from Asia) to the Mediterranean region 650CE.

But it was Portuguese traders who brought the sweet orange to the Mediterranean, and it was this form that became the Jaffa (Shamouti) orange that quickly gained popularity and became the basis for the region's prominent citrus industry. 

Regarding Watermelons:

Archaeological evidence, including seeds and paintings in Egyptian tombs, shows their cultivation in Egypt dating back over 4,000 to 5,000 years. From their origins in Africa, watermelons spread to the Middle East, including the Land of Israel, about 3,000 years ago. 

Wait, wasn't that when the Jews returned to Eretz Yirael from slavery in Egypt?  Could it be the same story as with the etrog?

Yes it is, because watermelons are even mentioned in the Old Testament (Numbers 11:5), where the Israelites, after leaving Egypt, lament missing the foods they had there, including watermelons. 

The Talmud also mentions watermelons multiple times, indicating their common consumption as a sweet fruit in ancient Israel

Revised Agriculture:

Once Israel gained control of the former Mandated Area, Israeli authorities constructed a new more modern water infrastructure and introduced Gaza farmers to the Israeli invention of "drip irrigation" which gave them the potential to shift to growing strawberries and flowers, which were higher-value crops with good export potential.

So, while there isn't one single "person" credited with introducing strawberries to the Middle East, let alone "Gaza. The growth in Gaza was a strategic shift in agricultural policy, encouraged by Israeli authorities after 1967, that led to strawberries becoming a significant crop and export for Gaza. Which the lower class Gazan farmers adopted and excelled at in their "labor intense" cultivation, turning them into "red gold" for the region.

It should also be noted that after Israel's 2005 "Disengagement", greenhouses with modernized water infrastructure were left for Gaza farmers. But immediately upon the withdrawal of the last Israeli the "Innocent civilians" of Gaza swarmed in in a wild frenzy, looting and destroying everything.  

So ladies and gentlemen just like the "False Narrative" of the "Great Nachba" the recent linking of the watermelon as a symbol of "Palestinian identity" due to the colors matching the Palestinian flag, is yet another mendacious fairy tale lie...

Elysium

So how was your day dear....WARNING - As old guy this rambles on.....

Well woke up, Oh how delightful! Yet, another day "expleted deleted"!!

Sat up, allowed my old broken bruised and abused body to realize that we are still on this side of the "Marble Garden" or as Maximus Decimus Meridius tells his troop in the movie Gladiator, that if they find themselves alone, in a peaceful, sunlit place, they are in Elysium, and they are already dead. 

I closed my eyes my old mind wandered off ...Ah yes Elysium..When I first heard this line from Gladiator by Maximus, whereby he tells his troops the story he is telling them that ;"That they are already dead, and he is essentially telling them to embrace their fate and fight without fear, as their potential death is not the end." This is how I have lived my life....

As for the "Wife" - she lived in "Her room". Once she retired, as an RN in our local Kupat Cholim (Sick Fund) as "THE" "Well Child" and "Yeladim" ) Children doctor's nurse and our aged cherished Mr Li aka Marley the family pet -the wifes baby- was put to sleep a year ago. The wife "moved on" to live in the "big city" of the "Greater Tel Aviv Area" to be near our youngest daughter, the VP of HR and IDF Captain officer, in the reserves to care for our second and youngest precious and utterly adorable grandson Tom born January 29th,2023.

So to continue, After my thought of Elysium I shook my old head and struggled to my feet and undressed. 

Went to the "Throne Room" did the "SSS" routine -for those who never donned a uniform -more explicitly "Walked the Walk"- it means shit, shower and shave. But because I have a beard I of course didn't shave. But hey some credit ladies I did brush what teeth I have left.... 

Went back to my room. Put on my "house clothes" slowly went down the steps downstairs ( I am handicapped).

As a "Older adult" I went to the fridge took out my insulin and the milk, took my daily regiment of pills injected my insulin and made and had my morning cup of coffee.

Place the milk and syringes of insulin back in fridge and took out my half-filled bottle of frozen water filled it from the Tami4 water bar.

On my way through my empty downstairs to the stairwell once full of my Kinder, who as in life spread their wings and have "flown the coup". 

I stopped and unlocked and opened the downstairs door and was greeted by Rustina -the copper colored neighborhood  Kitty Kat who comes to visit. I opened the container of dry cat food I keep in my entrance way and fed her and the others who gather to greet me. I replaced their water patted Rustina -who purred her approval and reentered my empty house.

I climbed back up the 17 steps to the upper floor. Walked the five paces to the entrance of what once was my oldest #1 son now Doctor David's old room. which has been my "Man Cave" for several years. 

I then climbed the four steps to the portion where my bed and desk with the computer are and sat down. 

As I sat down and turned on the computer, I stopped for a moment. I ask all of you who read this to consider your children and your grandchildren as you live in the "other world". 

My grandson as all of my grandchildren as well as my children and myself have lived these past two years under the immediate and very REAL threat of immediate death by the proxies of Iran, the Hezbollah and Hamas. 

For almost 18 months THOUSANDS of Iranian made copies of Chinese rockets were fired INDISCRIMINATLY by Hezbollah and Hamas and in the past year over 800 ballistic missiles from Iran! 

I have attempted to relay my feelings several times in videos of our situation...

All but a handful of you, my "Friends" on Facebook, have shown support and empathy ...

Your silence of those who have not commented reinforces OUR feeling that just like during the Holocaust we Jews are left to fend for ourselves....

Six Million Holocaust Victims

For years it has been my assertion, based on the Nazi regimes use of the Deutsche Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft, or Dehomag, and the fact that the Einsatzgruppen Schutzstaffel (SS) did NOT keep an accurate record of those Jews that they murdered in the implementation of the so-called Final solution to the Jewish question (Die Endlsung der Judenfrage), that more than 6 million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust.

So I asked Gemini AI to verify my claim.

You are correct that the Nazi regime utilized the Deutsche Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft (Dehomag), a subsidiary of IBM, for various administrative and logistical purposes, including census operations that helped identify Jews and track their populations. This technology played a role in the systematic nature of the Holocaust, enabling the Nazis to manage and categorize their victims.

You are also correct that the Einsatzgruppen, the SS mobile killing squads, did not keep meticulous records of every single Jew they murdered in the "Holocaust by bullets" in Eastern Europe. Their killings were often carried out quickly and aimed at extermination, with efforts made to destroy evidence, such as exhuming mass graves and burning bodies.

However, the assertion that "more than 6 million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust" due to these factors requires careful consideration of historical evidence. While it is true that exact figures are impossible to obtain due to the Nazis' efforts to conceal their crimes, the widely accepted figure of **six million Jews murdered** in the Holocaust is a result of extensive and rigorous historical research based on a combination of:

Nazi documents: 

Despite attempts to destroy evidence, a vast amount of Nazi documentation survived, including train manifests, census data, operational reports, and speeches, which provide crucial information about deportations, ghetto populations, and killings.

Nearly every Nazi concentration camp had a "Hollerith Abteilung" (Hollerith Department) that used these machines and punch cards to track prisoners. These cards recorded details like prisoner numbers, transfers, skills for forced labor, and even causes of death (though these were often falsified for those murdered).

These cards were primarily for managing inmate populations for forced labor and logistical purposes, rather than a direct "tally" of those being gassed or executed. The mass exterminations, particularly in the gas chambers, were often carried out with an intent to destroy evidence, making detailed punch card records of those specific acts unlikely to survive in large quantities.

The Nazis destroyed many records as the war drew to a close, including punch cards, to conceal their crimes. However, some records did survive.

Arguably the world's most comprehensive archive on the victims and survivors of Nazi persecution the Arolsen Archives at the International Center on Nazi Persecution (formerly International Tracing Service - ITS) located in Bad Arolsen, holds approximately 30 million documents related to:

• Concentration camps
• Forced labor
• Displaced persons
• Information on 17.5 million people persecuted by the Nazis.

The Arolsen Archives has been digitizing its vast collection, making much of it accessible online

Allied and post-war investigations:

• Allied forces meticulously documented the atrocities upon liberation of the camps, and post-war trials, like Nuremberg, relied heavily on captured Nazi documents and perpetrator testimonies.
• Victim testimonies: Survivors' accounts provide invaluable firsthand evidence of the horrific events.
•  Demographic analysis: Historians have compared pre-war Jewish populations with post-war numbers to estimate the scale of losses in different regions.
•  Forensic evidence: While many mass graves were exhumed and bodies burned, forensic investigations have still contributed to understanding the scope of massacres.

While the Einsatzgruppen's lack of precise record-keeping for every individual murder does introduce a degree of imprecision, their own reports and other German documents provide significant estimates of the numbers of people they killed. For instance, historians estimate the Einsatzgruppen killed over 1.4 million people, most of whom were Jews.

The figure of six million is a meticulously researched and widely accepted historical consensus, established by scholars and institutions like the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem. 

While it's possible the true number could be slightly higher or lower, the current figure is based on the best available evidence and is considered the most accurate representation of the catastrophe. Asserting "more than 6 million" without new, substantial evidence risks undermining the established historical understanding and is often associated with forms of Holocaust distortion.