A few weeks ago, I got up very early in the morning, somewhere around 4:30am, and made my way down to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Many were there already, many more arrived within minutes. Those who do this very often, recognize and greet one another. For the occasional dawn-waiter like me, it was a little bit confusing. It is a special honor to recite the morning prayers at the earliest possible moment. For those who do not accomplish this every day, what moment is the right time to begin? Now? a few more seconds or minutes? Who will lead us? How will we know when to begin?
From one second to the next, the sky does not suddenly brighten. I looked up and saw that it was still very dark. The immediate area was lit by strong lights and most people were just waiting. Suddenly, a murmur began on the other side of the divide. One man stepped forward and began. Further across the plaza, another man began leading his group, and another and another. Beside the divider, nearer to the women's section, another voice began, and the women followed. All this took place within seconds. Each prayer that I heard was echoed a few seconds later somewhere in the distance. It was still very dark, but I looked down and began saying the words of the morning service. They are words of gratitude for our lives, for the sleep that rejuvenates us, and the gift of awaking to a new day. We say our thanks for our families, our country and the dawn that is but moments away.
The area surrounding the Western Wall is always illuminated, with many lamps burning through the night and into the first moments of dawn. These were man-made lights, soon to pale against the strength of the sunshine just waiting to break through the night. The Western Wall lamps can hold off the darkness, but cannot defeat it. Only the sun can do that. Like the darkness of terror, I thought, and the promise of peace.
Peace will bring light to the Middle East. But, until it is a true light, we are merely holding off the darkness. Standing with my head bowed in prayer, I focused on the words. I closed my eyes and thought about my young children, still asleep in their beds, and of my two older sons, standing across the plaza reciting their own prayers. The next time I looked up, I noticed the faintest lightening of the sky. Dawn had begun. A new day, a new opportunity for me, my children, for my country.
It is always darkest before the dawn. So goes the old saying and it is true. A darkness settled over Israel more than 4 years ago when the Palestinians chose hatred and violence over negotiation and compromise. Thousands of deaths later, the darkness still reigns. The disengagement plan that the government claims will illuminate the Middle East is man-made and destined to fail, because it relies on people who feed off the darkness. It will not defeat the darkness of evil and terror.
The Palestinians will use the withdrawal and destruction of Jewish communities in Gaza as a victory siren. They have pushed the evil Zionists from Lebanon and now they run from Gaza. Soon, they reason, Jerusalem will be theirs.
Just as the dawn over the Western Wall proclaimed the beginning of a new day, the time has come for the dawning of a new party. If Likud cannot return to the values of Menachem Begin and abandon the folly of surrender, negotiation under fire, capitulation and endless compromises that open our cities and our children to danger, then a new party must be formed and those who recognize the Sharon plan for what it is must choose this moment to be brave. If those Knesset members and ministers want to be true to those who voted for them, they will leave the party now. There is no longer any benefit to having Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister if the road he paves is the same or worse than Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin, or Ehud Barak.
There are those who say that Sharon is doing now what Begin did almost 30 years ago. While it is true that Begin evacuated Yamit and other Sinai settlements, Begin negotiated with a partner interested in peace, willing not only to take the land, but offer recognition, compromise, exchange of ambassadors and a cessation of violence. The peace with Egypt is a cold one, but we do not fear Egyptians blowing up our buses. We do not expect Egyptian soldiers to attack at any moment, nor does Mubarak regularly call for jihad and the recruiting of martyrs. We already know that Yasser Arafat and Hamas will not honor the disengagement.
No one says Israelis are unwilling to pay the price for peace. We have done so in the past and will likely do it again in the future. But the dawn that Sharon claims to see is a figment of his imagination. After more than three years of unrelenting violence, we are confused and tired and so we think that our desperation will end if we act desperately. Nothing in Sharon's plan of unilateral surrender will bring the dawn closer. And so today, we must quit the Likud party because it quit its beliefs. From member to minister, Sharon must hear the same words. We will not be fooled by the light you created to mask the darkness. Terror is as much a threat today as it was yesterday. There is no peace around the corner, no promise that the Palestinians will accept Gaza only. The Likud of Ariel Sharon has deserted the dream of security and betrayed the promise that they would not reward the terrorists for committing murder.
Who will lead us into the true dawn? What leader will step forth and start the process and who will join in? In the darkest hours, before the dawn, that is as yet unknown to us. But when the dawn comes, it will be so bright, so clear, we will all wonder how we were so blinded into mistaking the lesser light of unilateral disengagement with the true magnificence of a negotiated peace cherished by two peoples who want their children to live more than they want their enemies to die.
It the meantime, it is time for those who disagree with Likud's actions to take their votes and their support away from Likud. It is time for the dawning of a new party. A party dedicated to peace within our land, one willing to make sacrifices when the sacrifices are logical and in the best interests of our people. We need a leader who understands what Sharon has forgotten, that we deal with an enemy who sees compassion as a weakness, who sees capitulation as an opportunity, who is willing to blow up a school or a bus or a restaurant without second thoughts for the lives lost or the pain caused.
If we Likudniks cannot take the Likud from Sharon, we must take ourselves from the Likud. Without our support, the Likud is only a name, a shell run by a man who cannot see the dawn because he is blinded by the light of exhaustion and surrender. The Middle East is still in its darkest hours awaiting dawn. But dawn is not discerning of those who want it and those who do not. It does not differentiate between those who are armed and those who want peace. There is no unilateral dawn, no way that one people can experience the wonder of the new day while others remain in darkness. Dawn arrives for all, or it arrives for none.
From one second to the next, the sky does not suddenly brighten. I looked up and saw that it was still very dark. The immediate area was lit by strong lights and most people were just waiting. Suddenly, a murmur began on the other side of the divide. One man stepped forward and began. Further across the plaza, another man began leading his group, and another and another. Beside the divider, nearer to the women's section, another voice began, and the women followed. All this took place within seconds. Each prayer that I heard was echoed a few seconds later somewhere in the distance. It was still very dark, but I looked down and began saying the words of the morning service. They are words of gratitude for our lives, for the sleep that rejuvenates us, and the gift of awaking to a new day. We say our thanks for our families, our country and the dawn that is but moments away.
The area surrounding the Western Wall is always illuminated, with many lamps burning through the night and into the first moments of dawn. These were man-made lights, soon to pale against the strength of the sunshine just waiting to break through the night. The Western Wall lamps can hold off the darkness, but cannot defeat it. Only the sun can do that. Like the darkness of terror, I thought, and the promise of peace.
Peace will bring light to the Middle East. But, until it is a true light, we are merely holding off the darkness. Standing with my head bowed in prayer, I focused on the words. I closed my eyes and thought about my young children, still asleep in their beds, and of my two older sons, standing across the plaza reciting their own prayers. The next time I looked up, I noticed the faintest lightening of the sky. Dawn had begun. A new day, a new opportunity for me, my children, for my country.
It is always darkest before the dawn. So goes the old saying and it is true. A darkness settled over Israel more than 4 years ago when the Palestinians chose hatred and violence over negotiation and compromise. Thousands of deaths later, the darkness still reigns. The disengagement plan that the government claims will illuminate the Middle East is man-made and destined to fail, because it relies on people who feed off the darkness. It will not defeat the darkness of evil and terror.
The Palestinians will use the withdrawal and destruction of Jewish communities in Gaza as a victory siren. They have pushed the evil Zionists from Lebanon and now they run from Gaza. Soon, they reason, Jerusalem will be theirs.
Just as the dawn over the Western Wall proclaimed the beginning of a new day, the time has come for the dawning of a new party. If Likud cannot return to the values of Menachem Begin and abandon the folly of surrender, negotiation under fire, capitulation and endless compromises that open our cities and our children to danger, then a new party must be formed and those who recognize the Sharon plan for what it is must choose this moment to be brave. If those Knesset members and ministers want to be true to those who voted for them, they will leave the party now. There is no longer any benefit to having Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister if the road he paves is the same or worse than Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin, or Ehud Barak.
There are those who say that Sharon is doing now what Begin did almost 30 years ago. While it is true that Begin evacuated Yamit and other Sinai settlements, Begin negotiated with a partner interested in peace, willing not only to take the land, but offer recognition, compromise, exchange of ambassadors and a cessation of violence. The peace with Egypt is a cold one, but we do not fear Egyptians blowing up our buses. We do not expect Egyptian soldiers to attack at any moment, nor does Mubarak regularly call for jihad and the recruiting of martyrs. We already know that Yasser Arafat and Hamas will not honor the disengagement.
No one says Israelis are unwilling to pay the price for peace. We have done so in the past and will likely do it again in the future. But the dawn that Sharon claims to see is a figment of his imagination. After more than three years of unrelenting violence, we are confused and tired and so we think that our desperation will end if we act desperately. Nothing in Sharon's plan of unilateral surrender will bring the dawn closer. And so today, we must quit the Likud party because it quit its beliefs. From member to minister, Sharon must hear the same words. We will not be fooled by the light you created to mask the darkness. Terror is as much a threat today as it was yesterday. There is no peace around the corner, no promise that the Palestinians will accept Gaza only. The Likud of Ariel Sharon has deserted the dream of security and betrayed the promise that they would not reward the terrorists for committing murder.
Who will lead us into the true dawn? What leader will step forth and start the process and who will join in? In the darkest hours, before the dawn, that is as yet unknown to us. But when the dawn comes, it will be so bright, so clear, we will all wonder how we were so blinded into mistaking the lesser light of unilateral disengagement with the true magnificence of a negotiated peace cherished by two peoples who want their children to live more than they want their enemies to die.
It the meantime, it is time for those who disagree with Likud's actions to take their votes and their support away from Likud. It is time for the dawning of a new party. A party dedicated to peace within our land, one willing to make sacrifices when the sacrifices are logical and in the best interests of our people. We need a leader who understands what Sharon has forgotten, that we deal with an enemy who sees compassion as a weakness, who sees capitulation as an opportunity, who is willing to blow up a school or a bus or a restaurant without second thoughts for the lives lost or the pain caused.
If we Likudniks cannot take the Likud from Sharon, we must take ourselves from the Likud. Without our support, the Likud is only a name, a shell run by a man who cannot see the dawn because he is blinded by the light of exhaustion and surrender. The Middle East is still in its darkest hours awaiting dawn. But dawn is not discerning of those who want it and those who do not. It does not differentiate between those who are armed and those who want peace. There is no unilateral dawn, no way that one people can experience the wonder of the new day while others remain in darkness. Dawn arrives for all, or it arrives for none.