EC2Fleuves

Date: 29 April 2009

Israel was created in November 29 1947 by the majority of its members in the United Nations forum located in New York !

So gone are those 2,000 years of bitter herbs , food the chosen people had eaten in its misery..

Now , following his forefathers, following the same call as Abraham ,Moses and David..Israel returned home for good!

And so it is with a joy in my heart..

A joy deep, spiritual and fulfilled by my belief in destiny..

A  joy of thanksgiving to my Almighty G.od, the G.od of my father and his fathers,

That I am here, well and alive, to witness my personal miracle, the one we waited 2,0000 very long and terrible years,

The miracle to celebrate, enjoy and be extremely happy  to have a country for us , Jews!

A land with its blue and white flag to worship, to love, to care for, with whom we are now , finally.. complete!

To celebrate the day of Independence for the State of Israel is a miracle, a veracity of our promise, a day when the entire history of the Jews is one with the history of their G.od!

We , Jews, as a people cannot be whole without the land where we came from, without the land where our forefathers met their call , their divinity, their essence as human beings!

The Jewish people without their Erets Israel is an orphan , a people wandering without any focus!

Our destiny is the destiny of the entire earth peoples..a destiny put forward by forces beyond us, to meet the challenges of life itself; to show the better way to live a human life..

And so Israel , 61 years ago today, was declared by all his people , free , new from his past, founded by the will of all great nations, to begin a new page of human history..

We wish the State of Israel a very long journey , eternal voyage with the other nations , filled with harmony, happiness and goodwill.

e.c.

Aujourd’hui Yom Revihi “Hei Be Iyar”!

Aujourd’hui Mercredi le 5 du mois de Iyar..

Il y a soixante et une annees, des fois longues, des fois tragiques, des fois miraculeuses, des fois ou l’on pense que nous vivons encore un fabuleux reve.., a debute la phase nouvelle du peuple juif.

L’Etat moderne d’Israel existe, il est vibrant, il respire toute la vie de la planete entiere; presque toutes les differentes parties du monde y sont representees..
En un mot, la decision des Nations Unies de creer un Etat Juif pour les Juifs en ce jour extraordinaire du 29 Novemvre 1947 a ete pour les Israelites en exil depuis le temps des temps, disperses sur deux mille ans de diaspora et de galoute amere, la journee divine!
Le jour ou finalement D.ieu s’est souvenu de son peuple et l’a ramene chez lui..pour y vivre en paix avec toutes les autres nations..

Nous , aujourd’hui , celebrons cet evenement!

Nous souhaitons a Israel et a tous ses habitants, un joyeux anniversaire, un jour de celebration longuement meritee !

Commemoration de la Journee d’une Independance Nationale puissante et remplie d’espoir et de bonne route..

Le trajet d’Israel est comme la mer et sa houle..souvent calme, souvent pleine de hautes vagues, souvent bleue et magnifique, souvent haute et grise..mais toujours pleine de vie..!

Israel, cet ocean de peuples, Israel mer profonde et riche, d’azur et de couleurs, spirituelle et laique, belle , fermee mais ouverte au monde..Israel pour la Terre entiere a decouvrir et aimer..

61 ans qui nous ont ouvert une porte vers un avenir sain, nouveau ..

L’homme juif rencontre sa destinee, l’homme suit le chemin de ses peres, l’homme rentre chez lui.

Amour, prosperite, bonheur et harmonie avec tous les peuples qui t’entourent ..Israel nous te le souhaitons.

elie cohen

President Obama 100 days..

Well apparently since FDR , this mark has to be acknowledged somehow..

First 100 days presiding over 330 millions Americans in the USA is a date for reflection.

Today , thinking of president Obama one cannot stop remembering all those many trillions dollars in his budgets and stimulus packages!

The first big one was to prevent AIG , that monster of insurance company, to go belly out..Why? Simply because that smart company did in fact insured all big western countries against any losses in their sub-prime and real estate investments!

After the huge collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , basically all banks went bankrupt!

So America has to give to the major banks of Germany, France and so on..billions and billions of US Dollars, that was the deal , that was what AIG had to pay from its empty coffers!

President Obama second agenda after so much money wasted was to cover all Americans by his own Health Care insurance!

Where does he find that colossal mountain of dollars to pay for it?

He does not have it ! the USA does not have it! So let’s print it..but that will be forbidden by any rule of good governing..

What then?

According to some analysts..President Obama said last week that some adjustments have to be made in correcting some expenditures! And basically the savings in Health Care spending in an universal coverage has to come from the removal of proper medical care to OLD PATIENTS. In other words since the most expensive medical bills a person had to pay for his or her survival is in their last six months of life, the idea is to prevent or reduce those expenditures. How? Simply by extending indefinitely the waiting list for crucial tests, MRI, Scans, and preventing “unnecessary” procedures such heart, kidneys, hip transplants..type of surgery usually very costly..

In other words , and it does make accounting profitable, since old men and women lifespans are short , what is the benefit to prolong it? WHY CARING FOR SICK OLD PEOPLE?

Why adding such tremendous expenses to the universal health care system? Is it “logical” for the good of the many young and healthier citizens to pay big premiums for their old people medical expenses?

Is that thinking morally acceptable?

And ..here we are ..!

A lot of old taxpayers having paid 65% of their incomes in various taxes to the State throughout their active lives, will be denied good care when they will be the most vulnerable, during their retired years!

Hope and Morality are excellent virtues!

Balancing budgets are also great virtues!

Giving hope to millions of people and not having the money to pay..that is a great problem to reconcile!

So ..100 days of change..100 days of ambiguity ..100 days that seem so long and so costly…!

Let’s hope that the next ones will be more..realistic!

Let’s the dream of the first American to settle in the USA carry on..

Let’s the freedom of choice to the American be secured.

Let’s the USA and its Allies enjoy democracy in secured borders and harmony!

e.c.

photo: General Patton, architect of Operation Torch

Hello to all my friends,

this is a chapter in the history of WWII, which is called “Operation Torch”. Its consequences starting in November 1942, were extremely important to the Victory of the allied forces:

-the combined armies of the USA, UK and Commonwealth, Forces Francaises Libres of General de Gaulle -

in 1944 at the beaches of Sicily, Italy and Normandy!

L’operation US nom de code “Torche” a ete l’un des evenements militaires les plus cruciaux de la Deuxieme Guerre Mondiale: Novembre 1942.

Nous allons lui dedier tout un chapitre a cause des ramifications enormes qui en a decoule par la suite et ce jusqu’a la fin des annees 1970 et au dela , lors de la fin de la Guerre Froide!

So it is the consequences of “Operation Torch”, ie: the establishment of very important US Air Force Bases dependant on the US Strategic Air Command throughout the late 1940′s, all the 1950′s, 60′s, 70′s and later years  on Moroccan soil , that we are going to contemplate here and develop.

Barges for the Invasion of Morocco beaches, North Africa  during Operation Torch .

Invasion of American troops  on Morocco beaches ,November 08, 1942.

Year 1933, my dear parents Aaron and Rachel Cohen wedding

Mes Grands-Parents , Chimone et Esther Azencot, mon grand-pere paternel de Rabat Raphael Cohen et mes parents Aaron et Rachel Cohen durant leur mariage a Alcazarquivir en 1933.
Sur la photo en premier plan se trouve ma tante Rabuena, soeur ainee de ma mere et je pense que mon oncle David Azencot, son frere s’y trouve aussi .

My Grand Parents from my mother side:

Shimon and Esther Azencot

from my father side:

Raphael and Renee Cohen

This is a picture with both my grand-parents at my father and mother Aaron and Rachel Cohen wedding in 1933, Morocco

My parents and grand-parents are in the background whereas in the front sit my aunts Tia Rabuena and tia Messody.

Actually my dad was born in French Morocco in the city of Rabat. Back in those days his father cousin arranged a date for my father to meet Messody Azencot in Alcazarquivir , Spanish Morocco.

When the date arrived in the beautiful Spanish garden of Alcazar Messody came with a chaperon who was her younger sister Rachel.

My dad fell in love right away with Rachel and the rest is history..

Elie cohen, montreal

Rabat 1961, Raphael Cohen was helping his young brother in his school projects

Some of Dairac , my brother, help for high school projects!

Raphael Cohen m’aida a mes dessins de travaux pratiques en cours de Geologie, classe de 4eme au Lycee Gouraud de Rabat!

Raphy m’aidait , tout comme grand et responsable frere qu’il etait, a mes devoirs de lycee et ce qui paraissait tres difficile pour moi a accomplir tel que dessiner des roches comme devoirs de travaux pratiques en classe de Geologie et bien pour mon doue de frere ce n’etait que deux , trois coups de crayons de couleur et l’affaire etait reglee et je parvenais a avoir la meilleure note en sus du non-effort de ma part, vraiment un chic type mon frere .Il faut quand meme souligner qu’il avait des prises de conscience au niveau de l’ethique et donc ne m’aidait qu’en cas d’extreme urgence de ma part…

Voici un exemple que j’ai encore conserve precieusement dans mes archives, malgre tous les nombreux voyages que la destinee m’a fait faire.

I was pretty weak in Drawing as exhibited by Jean Gaston Mantel , the great artist, mentor of Dairac and my High Scool teacher

JG Mantel m’avait donne mention Passable en 1961 en classe de Dessin!

Back in in my young years as a College student I happened to be kind of ” blocked” when my artistic skills were required. So having a great artist sharing my room back in my parents Rabat house, needless to say that I begged my older brother to help me in my assignments. Of course Raphael was a man with strong principles and his code of Ethics dictated that I must try first to accomplish my college tasks without any external help..

After watching me for a very long time while he was busy painting in his canvasses  and having some feeling towards me ( plus my promises  for a month of  helping him in various errands ) Raphy did make the sketches for my homework..

It only took him three minutes, I swear!

Here, I was agonising as how to draw rocks for my Geology courses and my beautiful stones in front of me were just sitting there and looking at me!

..Please Raphy help me! I begged him!

..Raphy with three strikes of a pencil did a fantastic job!

So great it was.. that my teacher refused first to release my assignment and after strong questioning I submitted to her that the job was beyond my capacity so my older brother “did in fact help me”!

And so my mark was exceptionally high but it was addressed to ” 18/20 for your brother!”

Anyhow it was great and until today I cherished this book from school!

Here some of those  “helps” from Raphael Cohen

Bien pour votre frere!

Very Good for your Brother, so wrote my teacher in “my projects” back in 1961 during my Science classes of Geology!

J’ai essaye de faire un gros plan de cette oeuvre, peut etre qu’un de mes freres ou soeurs en a herite d’une copie car Raphy etait tres fort en lithos et plein de ses oeuvres ont ete reproduites en moule qui , bien sur, a ete brise apres les quelques exemplaires qu’il a engendres.

Cette composition representait une synthese de la vie, tristement breve il s’avera par la suite, de mon frere Raphy au Maroc , en France et tous ces personnages qui l’ont marque , si c’etait lorsqu’il etait dirigeant de la jeunesse juive de Rabat, alors Ben Gourion et les themes Juifs et Israeliens..les dix commandements,Theodore Herzl l’avaient beaucoup interesse. Ou bien la politique exterieure qui nous a tous influences, De Gaulle et le 18 juin 1940, S.M.Mohammed V et l’Independance du Maroc…

Well,

I am trying to focus on that subject and enlarge it. I am doing so because I do not own that litho! Perhaps one my siblings have it on their walls because I do know my late brother did spread his works all around France, Israel, United States, Canada and also Morocco. So I would not be surprised that some copies of that litho are owned by my sisters. Anyhow one fact is sure, the die, the mold from where numbered copies had been processed is broken! for ever lost due to the fact that Dairac always destroyed them once the amount of lithos were produced and signed by him!

In that composition Raphael did make a synthesis of his brief life, not knowing that he will depart from us so soon!

In it we can see some of the most important people that had an impact on his life and on the Jewish people.

Some examples that can be seen are :

Ben Gurion because Raphael Cohen worked actively and intensively for the building of the new State of Israel by being one of the most outspoken leader of young Jewish men and women in Rabat and Morocco throughout his stay in that country..So we can see in that lithography the popular faces of David Ben Gurion, Theodore Herzl and some Israeli and Jewish themes.

France and its culture and struggle are represented by general de Gaulle and his famous appeal of 18 June 1940 to fight the nazi enemy in France and in her colonies. In that respect we can also discover the face of her majesty the late Mohammed V , king and liberator of modern Morocco, the father of its Independence from colonial rule

Aspects of Raphael Cohen “Dairac” life recorded by his brother,

elie cohen

Mon fils Stephen a droite sur la photo et ma premiere epouse Sheila lors d’une visite de famille chez Raphy a Paris,

Sheila adorait tout ce que Raphy faisait et etait une de ses plus grandes admiratrices.Avec notre enfant Stephen qui lui aussi d’apres Raphy a herite des dons artistiques des Cohen, tous deux etaient en contemplation devant les dernieres oeuvres que Raphy ne s’arretait pas de produire dans son atelier situe au dernier etage de cet immeuble a Paris, la ou il demeurait..pas loin de la butte Montmartre.

Paris May 1985,

my son Stephen with his mother Sheila during a family  visit at my brother’s Raphy house

Sheila always loved Raphael’s compositions and art, therefore she was one of his utmost and fervent admirers.

In this photo our son Stephen who has inherited some of the family artistic talents  contemplate with his mother one  of Dairac’s , his uncle, creations.

His art studio was located above their appartment in Rue de Tretaigne, Paris XVIIIeme arrondissement, not far from La Butte Montmarte and Place du Tertre , where Dairac used to sell some of his paintings..

Une huile par Dairac: “la bataille de Verdun”

Oil by DAIRAC : “The Battle of Verdun”