We are standing at a political crossroads. Soon there will be a referendum posed to members of the Likud Party. The question standing in front of the voter is not ordinary, but a divisive one: "Shall settlements of Israelis be abandoned and their houses be given over to the Arabs - Yes or No?"
The places in immediate question are 21 settlements in the area of Gush Katif, to the south-west of pre-1967 Israel. The plan in question affects 8,000 persons. Who would ever dream that the Prime Minister, a past army general, could make such a mistaken proposal?
On the front-page of Yediot Acharonot, it was noted that this concession is "only the beginning." The intention is to give away practically all of the post-1967 territories. They contain over 200,000 people. These are not just numbers, but real people: men, women and children. Their houses are not "just eight caravans", as the media portray them, they are thousands and thousands of homes, synagogues, businesses and hothouses growing vegetables.
To give away even one settlement is unthinkable to any person who has feelings for life. Real life means fighting against enemies when necessary. To have peace means to keep your home and country.
To the settlers, and to at least half of the Israelis, there is no question at all that each one of these settlements is crucially important; part and parcel of Israel. Many in the other half of Israel are not so sure. The reason for their indecision is the effect of clever mass media techniques. At the higher levels, it is also thanks to telephone calls by government officials to Likud influentials. Many simply believe the illusion that if the Arabs get our homes, then they will stop trying to kill us. Yet, the opposite is true - the stronger we are, the fewer losses we will have.
Obviously, we do not want to encourage terror. Any person in their right mind can see that whatever was given over to the Arabs only increased their attacks and murders all over Israel. Giving them anything is a brutal act that will surely result in more deaths. We know this from the bitter experience of having given them some six main cities and weapons. Whoever did this was not naive; they should be held responsible for abetting the killing and maiming of several thousand Israelis, accomplished with those very arms.
On the other hand, Israelis are been submitted to a propaganda barrage in the media that encourages giving up settlements. Thus, they hesitate. A number of government ministers connected to the Prime Minister are engaged in this effort, as well. Yet, even they will agree that there is nothing to be gotten in giving up territories. "We have no choice" is the slogan; but a person who wants to live will do his best, by thinking of better solutions.
The Prime Minister himself says that there will be no practical results of this unilateral retreat. Why did he change his mind, after he proclaimed in the past that giving in to terrorists is a tragedy? Nobody knows and it does not matter, in any case. The point is that to retreat means to make a new frontier with the enemy, even closer to Ashkelon than before. Ashkelon is ten minutes from Gaza.
So far, one hundred underground tunnels have been uncovered between Egypt and the terrorists' territories. The fact that our troops are there means that these tunnels have been found and exploded. If we would not be there, the passing of arms between Egypt and the Arabs of Gaza would be changed to a most dangerous stream. These are just some details of the reality that exists, not of the theoretical peace and Arab gratitude for giving them our homes.
The main point is to make an effort; from among the people themselves, for the people, to convince Likud voters everywhere that they should vote against the giving up of settlements. We do not abandon Jews in one place to protect others elsewhere. This is Jewish law. We try our best to help Jews everywhere. This is even more logically obvious if there is going to be no protection whatsoever, only closer Arab terrorist activity against the centers of Israel. The closer Arab terrorists are to us, without the checks of settlements and soldiers as a frontier, the easier it will be for them to kill us, and with greater impunity.
Even more fundamental, however, is the basic idea that this is our own country, our people, our homes.
The standard line presented in the media is, "They chose to live there." The answer is clear: "Yes, they did." Just as many good, young people choose to go to fighting units. Should we abandon them in the field of battle because they defend us with all their might? Just as pioneers fought in the frontier against Arabs and helped to make Eretz Yisrael a country. We all praise those original pioneers, and with good reason. They made the backbone in building up our land.
This week, we went to people's houses. It is an effort that many hundreds of volunteers are doing. The vital idea is to re-kindle in them the feeling that they do count; that the people, the regular rank-and-file voter, can still have an influence. There is a referendum and every single vote against the retreat from our homes is important.
It was not an easy job. Physically, the buildings are dispersed and not in numerical order. There are places without enough light. The mail-boxes do not have all the names. Some people may refuse to open their door. They mentioned that they were busy or that they were not interested. In other neighborhoods, with one-floor houses, the situation was better. We can understand that in city buildings, some people simply do not open to strangers. Many apartment dwellers simply were not at home or had changed address. In about half of the houses, it was possible to enter and speak. The smiles were genuine; the warmth was there in most of them. A few flatly expressed their feelings that there were in favor of cutting off the yishuvim. The great majority were in favor of keeping them, that is to say, were against the plan of separation.
We went up and down stairs. We asked neighbors whether they knew where someone lived, in case the person was not spotted in the outside list of names and so on. On the way, we also talked to other persons to go and vote, to exercise their right to let their opinion count. Most listened with interest. Some did not speak Hebrew so well. Their children at times helped in the talking. We made an attempt to ask them to tell their friends and family that the voting was truly crucial.
We have hope. We are a strong people. G-d is giving us this land. We have passed many crises and with His help we'll surmount this one as well. More than this, we'll be stronger than before. I believe with complete faith that we are moving towards the ultimate redemption. Not at fast as we would like, but who knows what's speed in matters of redemption? We recognize G-d's miracles. All around us we are surviving. Look and see the people, the country, flourishing in spite of enemies. Most people work and live, have families and our children go to school. Overall, we are a society that is truly alive, helping one another in thousands of practical ways.
Be strong and of good courage.
Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved.
The places in immediate question are 21 settlements in the area of Gush Katif, to the south-west of pre-1967 Israel. The plan in question affects 8,000 persons. Who would ever dream that the Prime Minister, a past army general, could make such a mistaken proposal?
On the front-page of Yediot Acharonot, it was noted that this concession is "only the beginning." The intention is to give away practically all of the post-1967 territories. They contain over 200,000 people. These are not just numbers, but real people: men, women and children. Their houses are not "just eight caravans", as the media portray them, they are thousands and thousands of homes, synagogues, businesses and hothouses growing vegetables.
To give away even one settlement is unthinkable to any person who has feelings for life. Real life means fighting against enemies when necessary. To have peace means to keep your home and country.
To the settlers, and to at least half of the Israelis, there is no question at all that each one of these settlements is crucially important; part and parcel of Israel. Many in the other half of Israel are not so sure. The reason for their indecision is the effect of clever mass media techniques. At the higher levels, it is also thanks to telephone calls by government officials to Likud influentials. Many simply believe the illusion that if the Arabs get our homes, then they will stop trying to kill us. Yet, the opposite is true - the stronger we are, the fewer losses we will have.
Obviously, we do not want to encourage terror. Any person in their right mind can see that whatever was given over to the Arabs only increased their attacks and murders all over Israel. Giving them anything is a brutal act that will surely result in more deaths. We know this from the bitter experience of having given them some six main cities and weapons. Whoever did this was not naive; they should be held responsible for abetting the killing and maiming of several thousand Israelis, accomplished with those very arms.
On the other hand, Israelis are been submitted to a propaganda barrage in the media that encourages giving up settlements. Thus, they hesitate. A number of government ministers connected to the Prime Minister are engaged in this effort, as well. Yet, even they will agree that there is nothing to be gotten in giving up territories. "We have no choice" is the slogan; but a person who wants to live will do his best, by thinking of better solutions.
The Prime Minister himself says that there will be no practical results of this unilateral retreat. Why did he change his mind, after he proclaimed in the past that giving in to terrorists is a tragedy? Nobody knows and it does not matter, in any case. The point is that to retreat means to make a new frontier with the enemy, even closer to Ashkelon than before. Ashkelon is ten minutes from Gaza.
So far, one hundred underground tunnels have been uncovered between Egypt and the terrorists' territories. The fact that our troops are there means that these tunnels have been found and exploded. If we would not be there, the passing of arms between Egypt and the Arabs of Gaza would be changed to a most dangerous stream. These are just some details of the reality that exists, not of the theoretical peace and Arab gratitude for giving them our homes.
The main point is to make an effort; from among the people themselves, for the people, to convince Likud voters everywhere that they should vote against the giving up of settlements. We do not abandon Jews in one place to protect others elsewhere. This is Jewish law. We try our best to help Jews everywhere. This is even more logically obvious if there is going to be no protection whatsoever, only closer Arab terrorist activity against the centers of Israel. The closer Arab terrorists are to us, without the checks of settlements and soldiers as a frontier, the easier it will be for them to kill us, and with greater impunity.
Even more fundamental, however, is the basic idea that this is our own country, our people, our homes.
The standard line presented in the media is, "They chose to live there." The answer is clear: "Yes, they did." Just as many good, young people choose to go to fighting units. Should we abandon them in the field of battle because they defend us with all their might? Just as pioneers fought in the frontier against Arabs and helped to make Eretz Yisrael a country. We all praise those original pioneers, and with good reason. They made the backbone in building up our land.
This week, we went to people's houses. It is an effort that many hundreds of volunteers are doing. The vital idea is to re-kindle in them the feeling that they do count; that the people, the regular rank-and-file voter, can still have an influence. There is a referendum and every single vote against the retreat from our homes is important.
It was not an easy job. Physically, the buildings are dispersed and not in numerical order. There are places without enough light. The mail-boxes do not have all the names. Some people may refuse to open their door. They mentioned that they were busy or that they were not interested. In other neighborhoods, with one-floor houses, the situation was better. We can understand that in city buildings, some people simply do not open to strangers. Many apartment dwellers simply were not at home or had changed address. In about half of the houses, it was possible to enter and speak. The smiles were genuine; the warmth was there in most of them. A few flatly expressed their feelings that there were in favor of cutting off the yishuvim. The great majority were in favor of keeping them, that is to say, were against the plan of separation.
We went up and down stairs. We asked neighbors whether they knew where someone lived, in case the person was not spotted in the outside list of names and so on. On the way, we also talked to other persons to go and vote, to exercise their right to let their opinion count. Most listened with interest. Some did not speak Hebrew so well. Their children at times helped in the talking. We made an attempt to ask them to tell their friends and family that the voting was truly crucial.
We have hope. We are a strong people. G-d is giving us this land. We have passed many crises and with His help we'll surmount this one as well. More than this, we'll be stronger than before. I believe with complete faith that we are moving towards the ultimate redemption. Not at fast as we would like, but who knows what's speed in matters of redemption? We recognize G-d's miracles. All around us we are surviving. Look and see the people, the country, flourishing in spite of enemies. Most people work and live, have families and our children go to school. Overall, we are a society that is truly alive, helping one another in thousands of practical ways.
Be strong and of good courage.
Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved.