Arutz Sheva spoke with Helen Freedman, executive director of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI). Freedman attended an event on Wednesday hosted by First Lady Nechama Rivlin marking ten years since the Disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria, in which almost 10,000 Jews were expelled from their homes.
AFSI, said Freedman “was with Gush Katif for many many years before the expulsion. We were watching the communities grow and flourish, we enjoyed eating the tomatoes from the greenhouses, we got to know the people and really bond with them.”
Freedman said that she was in the community of Neve Dekalim during the expulsion, and that it left “a pain in my heart that even today, 10 years later, when I think about it, I am filled with tears because of the horror of what happened.”
“Ironically, I ended up being [in Israel], just like when I went to be part of the expulsion, I am also here now for the Iranian [destruction],” she added, describing the deal reached between Iran and the West as a “terrible deal”.
“I blame President Obama, I blame Secretary of State Kerry,” said Freedman. “As an American, I am ashamed and angry that these leaders - they’re not my leaders - should conduct such a traitorous activity as to make this deal.”
“We’ve learned from the Gush Katif people that we don’t give up, that we don’t succumb,” she added.
Jewish groups are now organizing a rally at Times Square in New York, to take place next Wednesday, July 22, and which Freedman said would hopefully attract 20,000 people.
“The mainstream Jewish leadership has betrayed us,” she said. “They do not come forward, they do not defend the Jewish people, but we have enough groups like AFSI and others, and individuals, who care enough.”
“We’re hoping that Congress will hear this message and that they will do what they have to do and stop this travesty.”