Great news! Haven't you heard? The international public protests were successful.
Here's proof that the world has a heart. The campaign to save Anne Frank's tree, the one she saw from the window of her hideout, was a success.
It reminds me of the hysteria of the idealistic Left in Israel after they discovered that some of the Jews who had been forcibly evicted from their homes in Gush Katif and northern Samaria - due to the Left-supported Disengagement - had "cruelly and irresponsibly 
Why is that diseased tree in Amsterdam more valuable than the ones lovingly planted by Jews in N'vei Dekalim?
abandoned their pet dogs." Of course, those very same "humanists" didn't think it cruel that the government had evicted those same innocent Jews from their homes, destroyed their businesses, farms, trees and gardens. Minor details, like the dog owners' being homeless - most temporarily housed in small, no-animals-allowed hotel rooms - didn't excuse them.
Why is that diseased tree in Amsterdam more valuable than the ones lovingly planted by Jews in N'vei Dekalim?
abandoned their pet dogs." Of course, those very same "humanists" didn't think it cruel that the government had evicted those same innocent Jews from their homes, destroyed their businesses, farms, trees and gardens. Minor details, like the dog owners' being homeless - most temporarily housed in small, no-animals-allowed hotel rooms - didn't excuse them. There were beautiful trees and gardens in the communities Ehud Olmert, Ariel Sharon and the cheering world destroyed in the name of Disengagement.
There were excellent schools in the communities that Olmert, Sharon and the cheering world destroyed in the name of Disengagement.
There were successful businesses in the communities Olmert, Sharon and the cheering world destroyed in the name of Disengagement.
Where were the international protests?
Why is that diseased tree in Amsterdam more valuable than the ones lovingly planted by Jews in N'vei Dekalim, Homesh and Atzmona II*?
Before Disengagement, I was in New York for family reasons, kibbud av v'em, and I spent Shabbat in a couple of active and prominent Orthodox communities. My various hosts, whom I have known well for decades, were all 100% against Disengagement, so I was shocked that the issue and its danger to the security and existence of the State of Israel was ignored in their rabbis' sermons.
I must tell you what really hurt the most. There we were during the Three Weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av, when we're mourning the destruction of our Holy Temples due to the sins between man and his fellow man, and the theme of the sermons was Darfur. The poor unfortunate Darfurians.
The only acts of charity these Orthodox rabbis could think of concerned some African refugees. They weren't concerned that thousands of innocent fellow Jews in Israel were soon to be made homeless, unemployed refugees. The plight of those Africans was more important. It wasn't even an issue of equality. In those two Modern Orthodox synagogues, on the eve of destruction, on the eve of both Disengagement and Tisha B'Av, Jews were told by their Orthodox rabbis to worry about others, not about fellow Jews.
That summer, I was also a speaker at the only rally at the time in New York against Disengagement. It was sponsored by a coalition of concerned Jews, including AFSI and Chabad. Both the OU and Young Israel stayed away. Only afterwards, months after Disengagement, did they decide to "support" the refugees, but neither had used their potentially massive influence on their members, public opinion and the American government against Disengagement. If they had, I would have noticed it for sure. The 
American Jews I spoke to knew nothing of any protests.
American Jews I spoke to knew nothing of any protests outside of the small groups I was in touch with.
American Jews I spoke to knew nothing of any protests.
American Jews I spoke to knew nothing of any protests outside of the small groups I was in touch with. And now, Israeli politicians and media and the world's moral standard bearers are going blithely ahead with their plans to exile - G-d forbid! - well over 100,000 innocent Jews from their homes. They are totally disengaged from the dangers they will be bringing upon the entire State of Israel.
Instead of defending and strengthening our State of Israel, the Israeli government is at the forefront of the international movement to establish an Arab terror state in our historic homeland - in the heartland, an easy rocket-launch away from all Israeli cities.
Why doesn't anyone care? The world protested about the possible destruction of a diseased tree in Holland, once admired by an "imprisoned" Jew. Why doesn't anyone care about preserving our country? An Arab terror state that unabashedly proclaims its aim to destroy the Jewish State is bad news for the entire world. Why doesn't anyone care? Where are the protests?
Why does that tree mean more to people than all the vibrant Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria? Why do people ignore the dangers to the State of Israel?
People ask me how to protest and if it pays at this time. The answer is that it is never too late. We must never give up. We must do everything possible, like our forefather Yaakov.
In this week's parsha, Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4-36:43), Yaakov used every tactic. He prepared for war by dividing his family, so that they wouldn't be concentrated in one ghetto-like grouping. He organized gifts to placate Esau. And he prayed to G-d.
The Israeli government is doing two things. It is planning on concentrating the population in as small a territory as possible. And it is planning on giving valuable gifts to those who want to destroy us.
We must do everything possible, like our forefather Yaakov.
Olmert is no Jacob. US President George Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are not friends of Israel. They have their own agendas. They want to be credited with the establishment of an Arab state in the heart of the Land of Israel. That's their priority. They think that it will be good for America. They are wrong. History will show them as evil and foolish leaders. History will show Olmert as a corrupt politician who endangered the very existence of his country.
It is not too late. Protest!
If some media protests could save a tree, then imagine what we could do to save Israel and the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
Note
* The first Atzmona was destroyed by Menachem Begin, Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon when they gave the Sinai to Egypt twenty-five years ago. Most of the Gush Katif communities destroyed in the name of Disengagement were built as permanent compensation for the Camp David destruction.
Begin's rationale for agreeing to the Sinai withdrawal was to guarantee that Jews could live in Judea and Samaria. He saw it as an "exchange," as in, "you take the Sinai and we take Judea-Samaria." Unfortunately, and very easily predictably, all his concession did was establish the precedent of Israel's voluntary destruction of vibrant communities and exile of peaceful, innocent citizens. Personally, I have no idea why the moneyed-official anti-Disengagement organizations, like the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council, didn't emphasize the relevant history.