These very days, as we mark the 10th yahrzeit of the Oslo fiasco, the Israeli cabinet finally decided to expel Arafat. This is the funniest decision I have heard of in a long time. How exactly are we going to do this? Are we going to put a bowl of humus outside of Arafat?s compound and lure him to come out? And suppose he does, do we then throw a big fisherman?s-type net over his head, or simply handcuff him quickly before he notices us? Or perhaps we will ask the pathetic Koffi Annan to come to the seized Mukata compound and ask Arafat to peacefully surrender to the Israeli commandos waiting anxiously outside?
Israel can be a funny country. Only the realities of our lives are not so funny.
Next week, Jews all over the world will wrap themselves in prayer shawls as we embrace in receiving the new year, 5764. ?Let a year and its curses end, Let a year and its blessings begin? - we shall all prayerfully whisper.
A lot of quiet crying will be done under those prayer shawls; crying for the hundreds who were shredded on our buses and in our cafes; crying for the hundreds of orphans, who ask why was daddy shot inside his own car; crying for our devastated economy; crying for our beloved city Jerusalem, and how much Jewish grief her breathtaking walls are silently witnessing since the days of King Solomon; crying for the world, which is watching daily on television the ugliness of our region, rather than the deep beauty of our history and the miracles of our achievements.
If I were more naive, I would have hoped for a series of more serious decisions from our cabinet than last week?s joke of deciding to expel Arafat.
I could have hoped for a decision to stop the construction of this crazy fence we are building. Everyone knows it is good for nothing, and it will not save one life. But we keep building this monstrous project as the new Golden Calf, ?for the people?. As Mr. Sharon says quietly, ?They want a fence, give them a fence.? After the death of the Oslo promise, those who live on promises need a fence to hold on to. When the fence will be cut and penetrated, shot through, jumped over or dug under, they will ask for a wall of bricks; high and tall, to reach the sky....
I could have hoped our government would decide to send the Jerusalem police straight into the Temple Mount and once and for all and throw all those Waqf?Hamas activists to hell. If the world cares for them, we can export them to Brussels or to the UN building in New York, where they can supervise religious activities. The Temple Mount is Jewish property, and no Arab (or European Foreign Minister) will tell me otherwise.
I could have hoped our government would decide to stop all talks with any Palestinian ?leadership? that is asking for an inch in Jerusalem, or to bring millions of Arabs into my country from all over the Middle East. Israel is the land of the Jewish people. Arabs who want to live in the only Jewish State ? Israel ? in peace and good friendship, are welcome to do so. But Palestinians wanting a piece of Jerusalem, or to flood our country with millions of Arabs from other countries, should never be negotiated with. Even if they are ?Palestinian leaders? or any other type of Jew-haters.
The point is simple. The Israeli government made a big drama for nothing. Any country on earth would have blown Arafat away many years ago. And then done it again, just to make sure.
The members of our cabinet could have reached many other more important decisions than the one they chose. But, if they already decided to deal with Arafat personally, don?t play the ridiculous and technically impossible ?expel and deport? game.
Kill the dog.
Israel can be a funny country. Only the realities of our lives are not so funny.
Next week, Jews all over the world will wrap themselves in prayer shawls as we embrace in receiving the new year, 5764. ?Let a year and its curses end, Let a year and its blessings begin? - we shall all prayerfully whisper.
A lot of quiet crying will be done under those prayer shawls; crying for the hundreds who were shredded on our buses and in our cafes; crying for the hundreds of orphans, who ask why was daddy shot inside his own car; crying for our devastated economy; crying for our beloved city Jerusalem, and how much Jewish grief her breathtaking walls are silently witnessing since the days of King Solomon; crying for the world, which is watching daily on television the ugliness of our region, rather than the deep beauty of our history and the miracles of our achievements.
If I were more naive, I would have hoped for a series of more serious decisions from our cabinet than last week?s joke of deciding to expel Arafat.
I could have hoped for a decision to stop the construction of this crazy fence we are building. Everyone knows it is good for nothing, and it will not save one life. But we keep building this monstrous project as the new Golden Calf, ?for the people?. As Mr. Sharon says quietly, ?They want a fence, give them a fence.? After the death of the Oslo promise, those who live on promises need a fence to hold on to. When the fence will be cut and penetrated, shot through, jumped over or dug under, they will ask for a wall of bricks; high and tall, to reach the sky....
I could have hoped our government would decide to send the Jerusalem police straight into the Temple Mount and once and for all and throw all those Waqf?Hamas activists to hell. If the world cares for them, we can export them to Brussels or to the UN building in New York, where they can supervise religious activities. The Temple Mount is Jewish property, and no Arab (or European Foreign Minister) will tell me otherwise.
I could have hoped our government would decide to stop all talks with any Palestinian ?leadership? that is asking for an inch in Jerusalem, or to bring millions of Arabs into my country from all over the Middle East. Israel is the land of the Jewish people. Arabs who want to live in the only Jewish State ? Israel ? in peace and good friendship, are welcome to do so. But Palestinians wanting a piece of Jerusalem, or to flood our country with millions of Arabs from other countries, should never be negotiated with. Even if they are ?Palestinian leaders? or any other type of Jew-haters.
The point is simple. The Israeli government made a big drama for nothing. Any country on earth would have blown Arafat away many years ago. And then done it again, just to make sure.
The members of our cabinet could have reached many other more important decisions than the one they chose. But, if they already decided to deal with Arafat personally, don?t play the ridiculous and technically impossible ?expel and deport? game.
Kill the dog.