"The "True Story" of Exodus"

fall 2013

Previous issues

E-mail

Facebook

SPOTLIGHTS
New Chancellor: From the Supreme Court to the Open University
A New President for the Open University
A Celebration: Lord Woolf's 80th Birthday

GRADUATES
Graduation Ceremonies
A Fighter Pilot and Researcher of Nanometer Threads
27 Years Old and Co-Founder of a Multi-Million Dollar Company

INNOVATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
OUI Now MOOCs
Digital MBA
Once App on a Time
The Eighth Chais Conference
Caregivers, Caregiving and Emotional Intelligence
Exodus: The Real Story

ACCESS
Practical Solutions for Students with Disabilities
Project 100: A Program for Arab Minorities
Enriching Immams

EVENTS
A Taste of Academia: Coffee, Beer and Professors
OUI Students Argue Best
Inauguration of Academia in High School
American Friends of Open University

HIGHLIGHTS & MILESTONES
US Ambassador Visits OUI
Prof. Sara Guri-Rosenblit
Prof. Miri Soroujoun
Prof. Bat-Zion Iraqi-Klorman
Dr. Yuval Eylon
Prof. Yagil Levy
Dr. Tzahi Weiss
OUI in National Survey
OUI Grads
Co-editors: Elissa Allerhand, Ilene Bloch-Levy Photographer: Gideon Markowitz Graphic Designer: Laura Grinberg Web Manager: Batsheva Engelberg-Behr Web Master: Sonia Pechersky, Royi Gumprich

INNOVATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
Exodus: The Real Story Erase just about whatever you remember from the Leon Uris book, "Exodus" and the eponymous movie made by Otto Preminger with handsome Paul Newman as the hero. Just about none of it is true. Sure, there was a boat by the name, and yes there were Jewish refugees aboard it, who eventually made their way to Palestine, but the rest has little to do with historical facts. Historian and Prof. Aviva Halamish of Open University of Israel's Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies was on hand to explain the actual facts -- no less thrilling than the novel or movie -- all based on her in-depth research. Prof. Aviva Halamish of the Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, opened her lecture on "The True Story of Exodus" by asking if anyone in the audience had any personal connection with the Exodus. Two people raised their hands; one who had a birth certificate indicating that he was one of tens of babies born on the very same embattled ship of Jewish refugees. "The real story of Exodus " Prof. Halamish explained "is not reenacted in the Otto Preminger film based on Leon Uris' book. And, there is no Paul Newman either. The real story of the Exodus also played no part in influencing the UN decision for partition, nor did it influence the recommendations of the UNSCOP commission, "which according to Halamish "just happened to coincide with the arrival of the Exodus in Haifa's port." The real story of the boat known as Exodus is no less astounding and epic in nature than the story portrayed in the 1960 film, by the same name. The Exodus, which departed from France on July 11, 1947, was filled to capacity with 4,500 Jewish refugees, making it the most populous boat to bear refugees to Palestine since the end of the Holocaust. For nearly the entire journey, the Exodus was followed by 6 British ships which, in spite of the Honduras flag which flew from its mast, had early on identified the Exodus as belonging to the struggling Jewish government in Palestine. In addition to the refugees, the Exodus carried 36 American volunteers and a cadre of Israeli Jewish volunteers largely despatched from the Jewish Agency, the official governing body of the Jewish population in Palestine. The timing, unlike the portrayal in the film, "had more to do with the Tour de France than the UNSCOP -- The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine -- which was then visiting Palestine and was chartered to bring its recommendations for resolving the issue of the warring Arab and Jewish populations in Palestine" Prof. Halamish revealed. Why the Tour de France? The Jewish leadership felt that world attention would be riveted more to the Tour de France, than a sole boat chugging its way from France to Haifa. Page: 1 2

INNOVATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY

Exodus: The Real Story

Erase just about whatever you remember from the Leon Uris book, "Exodus" and the eponymous movie made by Otto Preminger with handsome Paul Newman as the hero. Just about none of it is true. Sure, there was a boat by the name, and yes there were Jewish refugees aboard it, who eventually made their way to Palestine, but the rest has little to do with historical facts. Historian and Prof. Aviva Halamish of Open University of Israel's Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies was on hand to explain the actual facts -- no less thrilling than the novel or movie -- all based on her in-depth research.

Prof. Aviva Halamish of the Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, opened her lecture on "The True Story of Exodus" by asking if anyone in the audience had any personal connection with the Exodus. Two people raised their hands; one who had a birth certificate indicating that he was one of tens of babies born on the very same embattled ship of Jewish refugees.

"The real story of Exodus " Prof. Halamish explained "is not reenacted in the Otto Preminger film based on Leon Uris' book. And, there is no Paul Newman either. The real story of the Exodus also played no part in influencing the UN decision for partition, nor did it influence the recommendations of the UNSCOP commission, "which according to Halamish "just happened to coincide with the arrival of the Exodus in Haifa's port."

The real story of the boat known as Exodus is no less astounding and epic in nature than the story portrayed in the 1960 film, by the same name. The Exodus, which departed from France on July 11, 1947, was filled to capacity with 4,500 Jewish refugees, making it the most populous boat to bear refugees to Palestine since the end of the Holocaust. For nearly the entire journey, the Exodus was followed by 6 British ships which, in spite of the Honduras flag which flew from its mast, had early on identified the Exodus as belonging to the struggling Jewish government in Palestine. In addition to the refugees, the Exodus carried 36 American volunteers and a cadre of Israeli Jewish volunteers largely despatched from the Jewish Agency, the official governing body of the Jewish population in Palestine.

The timing, unlike the portrayal in the film, "had more to do with the Tour de France than the UNSCOP -- The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine -- which was then visiting Palestine and was chartered to bring its recommendations for resolving the issue of the warring Arab and Jewish populations in Palestine" Prof. Halamish revealed.

Why the Tour de France? The Jewish leadership felt that world attention would be riveted more to the Tour de France, than a sole boat chugging its way from France to Haifa.

Page: 1 2