[Part one of this article can be read at http://www.israelnn.com/article.php3?id=4614.]
On December 26, Yediot Acharanot, in an article entitled "Police Prepare for Forced Evacuation", revealed:
"The police would like to purchase equipment that will be used by the Israel Police and Border Police troops who take part in the evacuation of the settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.... The equipment in question includes hundreds of new batons, dozens of horses and a number of vehicles fitted with water cannons."
Do we not understand the nightmare that is hidden in the words "specially trained for evacuation" and "forced evacuation"? What had happened to our hearts? How did we manage to reach the day that the Israeli press is writing matter-of-factly that Jews will be "specially trained" to brutally deal with other Jews, and a deafening silence meets these pronouncements? This is especially questionable since the Israeli soldiers are instructed to walk on eggshells when they deal with their enemies.
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, in his speech given at Berkeley University on April 29, 2004, told about a hearing of the Ethics Committee of the Israeli army that he recently attended:
"The ethics professor, a member of the Committee, said the Israeli government has the right to balance and to value the life of its own soldiers over enemy civilians. However, the Israeli general participating in the hearing disagreed and said the Israeli soldiers must die to save the lives of civilians even if they are enemy civilians."
Does it mean that the soldiers in special units that will be trained to forcefully expel their brethren will be taught to die if the Jewish civilians employ force for defense of their homes, family members and their own protection?
Did we forget the dark pages of our history when other Jews under other circumstances were also trained to "resettle" their brethren? Actually, the situation in Israel today is eerily reminiscent of the last months of Warsaw ghetto, as they are described in the diary of Emmanuel Ringelblum. Even Sharon's policy of exploiting the divide among Israelis is not new. Ringenblum wrote about it:
"'Divide and rule'- [the German strategy] poisons relations between Jews and Poles, and makes any help from that [Polish quarter] impossible. [The Germans] fooled the populace about [the meaning of] resettlement. ...[The Germans] set the Warsawers against the refugees. Supposedly, the resettlement was to free Warsaw of its 'nonproductive elements."
Disturbingly, the word "resettlement" used by Ringenblum is exactly the word that Sharon uses today in order to describe his intended eviction of the Jews. Moreover, Sharon's strategy leads towards poisoning relations between the "settlers" and the rest of Israeli society.
At the same time, the Israeli press tends to present the "settlers" as unproductive parasites. Gideon Levy asked in Ha'aretz, "For what exactly should we be compensating the settlers who will be evacuated from Gaza? For the damage they caused the state for decades? For the scandalous economic price of their living in Gaza? For the blood needlessly spilled over them?"
The parallels with the Warsaw Ghetto are frightening. Ringenblum wrote in his diary that the Germans "closed the ghetto borders, stopped anyone from bringing in produce, and thus starved the Jews out - brought the Ghetto to the point where for a loaf of bread, thousands reported voluntarily for resettlement." Sharon's policy is also directed towards stifling the normal life of Gaza's Jews. He also wants the Jews to leave their homes voluntarily and shamelessly promises them hundreds of thousands of dollars if they abandon their houses of their own volition.
Regarding the forceful evacuation of those who intend to remain in their houses, in the hope that Jews will not expel Jews from Jewish land, the Israeli press writes that it "will be declared a 'closed military zone'" two weeks before the last "time window in order to make it easier for the army to remove any settlers still remaining." And the laws are prepared according to which the settlers refusing voluntary evacuation and resisting security forces will not only forfeit the right to compensation, but will go to jail, as well.
One can rest assured that the special forces used to evict the Jews will not demonstrate mercy to those they will be instructed to evict. We should recall how brutal the Jewish police was to their brethren in the Warsaw ghetto, when they sent them to death camps, in order to understand that the similar expulsion of different Jews from "only" their homes will be a mere nuisance. Ringenblum wrote about the abominable behavior of the Jewish police:
"They reached the height of viciousness during the resettlement. They said not a single word of protest against this revolting assignment to lead their own brothers to the slaughter. The police were psychologically prepared for the dirty work and executed it thoroughly. ...Merciless and violent, they beat those who tried to resist. They weren't content simply to overcome the resistance, but with the utmost severity punished the 'criminals' who refused to go to their death voluntarily."
One might argue that it is wrong to compare the eviction of Jews from Gaza communities with the eviction of Warsaw Jews to death camps. True, in the present case, Gazan Jews will be deprived not of their lives, but only of their property, livelihood and lifestyle. Thus, only their souls will be killed and not their bodies. However, this is not the point. What must be emphasized here is the catastrophic absence of unity and kindness among the Jews toward their own, at a critical junction of their history.
By condemning Gaza Jews to expulsion, the Israeli prime minister not only widens the divide among the Jews and shuts the door to kindness within Israeli society, but also invites unnecessary enmity and hatred.
It is hard to be a prime minister of any country; it is one hundred times harder to be a prime minister in a Jewish state. The burden of several thousand years of history makes it a must for any Jewish leader to take into account the lessons of the past. Knowing that unity for the Jews is the most precious treasure, one must be especially careful in not destroying it. If eviction of Gaza Jews could lead towards an unbridgeable rift and unforgivable enmity between the Jews, then it must not happen. What good will it be to strive for an ephemeral peace with the Arabs if the price for this will be war between the Jews?
[Part 2 of 2]
On December 26, Yediot Acharanot, in an article entitled "Police Prepare for Forced Evacuation", revealed:
"The police would like to purchase equipment that will be used by the Israel Police and Border Police troops who take part in the evacuation of the settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.... The equipment in question includes hundreds of new batons, dozens of horses and a number of vehicles fitted with water cannons."
Do we not understand the nightmare that is hidden in the words "specially trained for evacuation" and "forced evacuation"? What had happened to our hearts? How did we manage to reach the day that the Israeli press is writing matter-of-factly that Jews will be "specially trained" to brutally deal with other Jews, and a deafening silence meets these pronouncements? This is especially questionable since the Israeli soldiers are instructed to walk on eggshells when they deal with their enemies.
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, in his speech given at Berkeley University on April 29, 2004, told about a hearing of the Ethics Committee of the Israeli army that he recently attended:
"The ethics professor, a member of the Committee, said the Israeli government has the right to balance and to value the life of its own soldiers over enemy civilians. However, the Israeli general participating in the hearing disagreed and said the Israeli soldiers must die to save the lives of civilians even if they are enemy civilians."
Does it mean that the soldiers in special units that will be trained to forcefully expel their brethren will be taught to die if the Jewish civilians employ force for defense of their homes, family members and their own protection?
Did we forget the dark pages of our history when other Jews under other circumstances were also trained to "resettle" their brethren? Actually, the situation in Israel today is eerily reminiscent of the last months of Warsaw ghetto, as they are described in the diary of Emmanuel Ringelblum. Even Sharon's policy of exploiting the divide among Israelis is not new. Ringenblum wrote about it:
"'Divide and rule'- [the German strategy] poisons relations between Jews and Poles, and makes any help from that [Polish quarter] impossible. [The Germans] fooled the populace about [the meaning of] resettlement. ...[The Germans] set the Warsawers against the refugees. Supposedly, the resettlement was to free Warsaw of its 'nonproductive elements."
Disturbingly, the word "resettlement" used by Ringenblum is exactly the word that Sharon uses today in order to describe his intended eviction of the Jews. Moreover, Sharon's strategy leads towards poisoning relations between the "settlers" and the rest of Israeli society.
At the same time, the Israeli press tends to present the "settlers" as unproductive parasites. Gideon Levy asked in Ha'aretz, "For what exactly should we be compensating the settlers who will be evacuated from Gaza? For the damage they caused the state for decades? For the scandalous economic price of their living in Gaza? For the blood needlessly spilled over them?"
The parallels with the Warsaw Ghetto are frightening. Ringenblum wrote in his diary that the Germans "closed the ghetto borders, stopped anyone from bringing in produce, and thus starved the Jews out - brought the Ghetto to the point where for a loaf of bread, thousands reported voluntarily for resettlement." Sharon's policy is also directed towards stifling the normal life of Gaza's Jews. He also wants the Jews to leave their homes voluntarily and shamelessly promises them hundreds of thousands of dollars if they abandon their houses of their own volition.
Regarding the forceful evacuation of those who intend to remain in their houses, in the hope that Jews will not expel Jews from Jewish land, the Israeli press writes that it "will be declared a 'closed military zone'" two weeks before the last "time window in order to make it easier for the army to remove any settlers still remaining." And the laws are prepared according to which the settlers refusing voluntary evacuation and resisting security forces will not only forfeit the right to compensation, but will go to jail, as well.
One can rest assured that the special forces used to evict the Jews will not demonstrate mercy to those they will be instructed to evict. We should recall how brutal the Jewish police was to their brethren in the Warsaw ghetto, when they sent them to death camps, in order to understand that the similar expulsion of different Jews from "only" their homes will be a mere nuisance. Ringenblum wrote about the abominable behavior of the Jewish police:
"They reached the height of viciousness during the resettlement. They said not a single word of protest against this revolting assignment to lead their own brothers to the slaughter. The police were psychologically prepared for the dirty work and executed it thoroughly. ...Merciless and violent, they beat those who tried to resist. They weren't content simply to overcome the resistance, but with the utmost severity punished the 'criminals' who refused to go to their death voluntarily."
One might argue that it is wrong to compare the eviction of Jews from Gaza communities with the eviction of Warsaw Jews to death camps. True, in the present case, Gazan Jews will be deprived not of their lives, but only of their property, livelihood and lifestyle. Thus, only their souls will be killed and not their bodies. However, this is not the point. What must be emphasized here is the catastrophic absence of unity and kindness among the Jews toward their own, at a critical junction of their history.
By condemning Gaza Jews to expulsion, the Israeli prime minister not only widens the divide among the Jews and shuts the door to kindness within Israeli society, but also invites unnecessary enmity and hatred.
It is hard to be a prime minister of any country; it is one hundred times harder to be a prime minister in a Jewish state. The burden of several thousand years of history makes it a must for any Jewish leader to take into account the lessons of the past. Knowing that unity for the Jews is the most precious treasure, one must be especially careful in not destroying it. If eviction of Gaza Jews could lead towards an unbridgeable rift and unforgivable enmity between the Jews, then it must not happen. What good will it be to strive for an ephemeral peace with the Arabs if the price for this will be war between the Jews?
[Part 2 of 2]