A recent conversation I had with a friend brought home, again, the successes and the failures of modern-day Israel. As a secular Jew living in the center of the country, he explained, he has absolutely nothing in common with the Jews who live in Hebron, Beit Haggai, the Gaza Strip, etc. When pressed, he agreed that they shared a use of common words, not even a language, really. Simply that they used the same words to form sentences.
This is an Israeli-born, highly-educated man who has served, again and again, in the Israeli army, has traveled all over the country, loving to camp out alone among the stars, walk through crowded markets and simply be in Israel. There is nothing "wrong" with this man, and so there must be something wrong with those of us who call ourselves "right-wing" and "non-secular".
There is the American phrase, "United we stand, divided we fall." This is something our enemies understand and something we continue to ignore. Jews have, almost from the beginning of our nation thousands of years ago, had an intense sense of the collective. We are one people, no matter where we are, and so it is natural that the Israeli team in Asia searched for Jews from Belgium, France, the United States, and helped find and bring home a little 18-month-old baby for burial in Jerusalem. He is one of ours, no matter where he was born. The collective Jewish heart mourns for him and seeks to comfort his parents.
But when a Jew from Tel Aviv feels that he has nothing in common with a Jew in Hebron, so long as one Israeli in Netanya can say he shares nothing with an Israeli from Gush Katif, we all fall. And when the Jew in Hebron and the Israeli in Gush Katif becomes something foreign, something expendable, the entire nation suffers.
This separation is largely the success of the "Rabin camp", who long ago pointed their fingers in disdain at "those settlers." They were so effective, the terminology became part of everyday conversation. International media loved it. No longer did they have to talk about dead Jews, or even murdered Israelis. Now it was "the settlers". When a woman and her teenage son were murdered, CNN referred to the deaths of "two settlers."
So clean, so easy to fail to identify with those who are different. They weren't murdered, only "killed". They weren't Israelis, only "settlers". We didn't lose one of ours, the Israeli heart consoles itself, we lost "a settler", which, by definition, suddenly became someone who chose to live in a place and get themselves murdered - I mean killed, of course. Sure, the Palestinians exploded the bomb, but who told "those people" to live there?
The current government is no less at fault, though they often replace "settler" with "those Feiglinites," and those "on the fringe," or "extreme right". So clean, so much easier for the Israeli heart. This is the success of the Palestinians, who understand better than we do, that a divided Israel is an easier target. Attack a bus in Afula and the entire nation mourns. Target a bus in Kfar Darom, even a school bus, and people say, "Well, why were they there?" This is the failure of Israeli society.
This is how we have arrived at a situation in which a Jew living in the center of the country feels anger when an Israeli in Gush Katif is murdered - but that anger is directed as much (if not more) at the Israeli, rather than the terrorists. United we stand, divided we fall. We must reacquaint ourselves with them, until "they" return to be "us."
To those on the Right:
If you are a settler in Gaza, it is time to understand the thinking of the Jews in Tel Aviv. You must make him understand why it is right for you to stay and wrong for you to go. You cannot afford to dismiss them as secular, or say they don't have a strong enough connection with this land. They love Israel, just as you do and just as I do. From that mutual love, you must make them understand why you should not be uprooted in exchange for guarantees of continued attacks, more rockets, more attempted infiltrations. It is your job to explain why your homes are just as much a part of Israel as those in Ramat Aviv Gimmel and elsewhere, and why our soldiers should be defending you to the maximum of their ability. You must accept that they are a part of you and you are a part of them.
To those on the Left:
If you are an Israeli living in Tel Aviv, you must understand that you are a settler, too. We all came to settle the land of Israel, in this generation, in the last one, or in some generation thousands of years ago. You must accept in your mind and in your heart that when a Jew chooses to live in Hebron, despite the dangers, that does not mean he deserves, expects, or will accept this as a death sentence for himself or for his children. You must feel the pain of the Jews in Gaza, who have sacrificed so much to live in a place they believe helps defend your home, as well as theirs. You must accept that they love Israel, just as you do. And you must know that they love their children, just as you do. There is nothing that they will not do to save their children and for the sake of their children.
It is not wrong to live in Gaza, and they do not deserve to have their children murdered because that is where they have chosen to live. Our government put them there, encouraged them, supported them and now seeks to abandon them. You must accept that they are a part of you and you are a part of them.
To all of us:
Palestinians do not have the right to terrorize. They do not have the right to launch rockets at our homes, blow up buses on which our children ride. It is a morally, ethically, religiously despicable action. It is murder in its most callous form and until they stop, we must tell them, they will not be rewarded. We cannot control what they do, so says Ariel Sharon, but we can control what we do, and what we can do is understand the feelings and thinking of those who live there (and here).
It is our people in Gush Katif and in Hebron. It is our homes, our children, our lives under fire and under attack. The Palestinians have squandered peace offering after peace offering, and they will soon squander another. To withdraw in the face of rocket attacks is lunacy in the extreme. To surrender land so that the Palestinians can attack from that much closer is absurd.
Would you give up your home to save your children? The Jews of Gaza, Judea and the Samaria would. But stop for a moment and look at your home, wherever you live. How long have you lived there? Two years? Five years? Some Israelis have lived in Gush Katif for more than 30 years. Would you leave your home simply because the government says, "Let's try this experiment today?"
Will the Israelis living in Gaza and Shomron agree to leave the communities they have built, the neighbors they love, the only home most of their children have ever known? The question is not will they, the question is for what? For their children? Yes, they will voluntarily leave their homes and all that they have built to ensure the safety of their children.
But will their children be safe if they move them to Jerusalem, to Afula, to Netanya? Do you believe your children are really safe? Do you send your children on buses without any concerns? To a cafe? To the mall? Hundreds of children in these "safe" places have been murdered and orphaned. So long as the Palestinians are determined to use violence, their children, our children, your children are not safe in Tel Aviv or in Gaza.
The Palestinian terror groups have promised to continue shooting rockets. The incoming government has already stated that it would not disarm militants, nor actively work against terror organizations. More than 5,000 rockets have already been launched against us, and this too will not stop.
As we seek to force the transfer of Jews out of Gaza, uproot thousands of people from their homes and bring Kassam rockets that much closer, we would do well to understand the other side. We are not giving Gaza up for peace and security, as Sharon once promised. We would be wise to listen to Abu Mazen's post-election promise, in which he predicted that the "little jihad had ended, and now the big jihad is beginning." The only question is from where that big jihad will be launched.
This is an Israeli-born, highly-educated man who has served, again and again, in the Israeli army, has traveled all over the country, loving to camp out alone among the stars, walk through crowded markets and simply be in Israel. There is nothing "wrong" with this man, and so there must be something wrong with those of us who call ourselves "right-wing" and "non-secular".
There is the American phrase, "United we stand, divided we fall." This is something our enemies understand and something we continue to ignore. Jews have, almost from the beginning of our nation thousands of years ago, had an intense sense of the collective. We are one people, no matter where we are, and so it is natural that the Israeli team in Asia searched for Jews from Belgium, France, the United States, and helped find and bring home a little 18-month-old baby for burial in Jerusalem. He is one of ours, no matter where he was born. The collective Jewish heart mourns for him and seeks to comfort his parents.
But when a Jew from Tel Aviv feels that he has nothing in common with a Jew in Hebron, so long as one Israeli in Netanya can say he shares nothing with an Israeli from Gush Katif, we all fall. And when the Jew in Hebron and the Israeli in Gush Katif becomes something foreign, something expendable, the entire nation suffers.
This separation is largely the success of the "Rabin camp", who long ago pointed their fingers in disdain at "those settlers." They were so effective, the terminology became part of everyday conversation. International media loved it. No longer did they have to talk about dead Jews, or even murdered Israelis. Now it was "the settlers". When a woman and her teenage son were murdered, CNN referred to the deaths of "two settlers."
So clean, so easy to fail to identify with those who are different. They weren't murdered, only "killed". They weren't Israelis, only "settlers". We didn't lose one of ours, the Israeli heart consoles itself, we lost "a settler", which, by definition, suddenly became someone who chose to live in a place and get themselves murdered - I mean killed, of course. Sure, the Palestinians exploded the bomb, but who told "those people" to live there?
The current government is no less at fault, though they often replace "settler" with "those Feiglinites," and those "on the fringe," or "extreme right". So clean, so much easier for the Israeli heart. This is the success of the Palestinians, who understand better than we do, that a divided Israel is an easier target. Attack a bus in Afula and the entire nation mourns. Target a bus in Kfar Darom, even a school bus, and people say, "Well, why were they there?" This is the failure of Israeli society.
This is how we have arrived at a situation in which a Jew living in the center of the country feels anger when an Israeli in Gush Katif is murdered - but that anger is directed as much (if not more) at the Israeli, rather than the terrorists. United we stand, divided we fall. We must reacquaint ourselves with them, until "they" return to be "us."
To those on the Right:
If you are a settler in Gaza, it is time to understand the thinking of the Jews in Tel Aviv. You must make him understand why it is right for you to stay and wrong for you to go. You cannot afford to dismiss them as secular, or say they don't have a strong enough connection with this land. They love Israel, just as you do and just as I do. From that mutual love, you must make them understand why you should not be uprooted in exchange for guarantees of continued attacks, more rockets, more attempted infiltrations. It is your job to explain why your homes are just as much a part of Israel as those in Ramat Aviv Gimmel and elsewhere, and why our soldiers should be defending you to the maximum of their ability. You must accept that they are a part of you and you are a part of them.
To those on the Left:
If you are an Israeli living in Tel Aviv, you must understand that you are a settler, too. We all came to settle the land of Israel, in this generation, in the last one, or in some generation thousands of years ago. You must accept in your mind and in your heart that when a Jew chooses to live in Hebron, despite the dangers, that does not mean he deserves, expects, or will accept this as a death sentence for himself or for his children. You must feel the pain of the Jews in Gaza, who have sacrificed so much to live in a place they believe helps defend your home, as well as theirs. You must accept that they love Israel, just as you do. And you must know that they love their children, just as you do. There is nothing that they will not do to save their children and for the sake of their children.
It is not wrong to live in Gaza, and they do not deserve to have their children murdered because that is where they have chosen to live. Our government put them there, encouraged them, supported them and now seeks to abandon them. You must accept that they are a part of you and you are a part of them.
To all of us:
Palestinians do not have the right to terrorize. They do not have the right to launch rockets at our homes, blow up buses on which our children ride. It is a morally, ethically, religiously despicable action. It is murder in its most callous form and until they stop, we must tell them, they will not be rewarded. We cannot control what they do, so says Ariel Sharon, but we can control what we do, and what we can do is understand the feelings and thinking of those who live there (and here).
It is our people in Gush Katif and in Hebron. It is our homes, our children, our lives under fire and under attack. The Palestinians have squandered peace offering after peace offering, and they will soon squander another. To withdraw in the face of rocket attacks is lunacy in the extreme. To surrender land so that the Palestinians can attack from that much closer is absurd.
Would you give up your home to save your children? The Jews of Gaza, Judea and the Samaria would. But stop for a moment and look at your home, wherever you live. How long have you lived there? Two years? Five years? Some Israelis have lived in Gush Katif for more than 30 years. Would you leave your home simply because the government says, "Let's try this experiment today?"
Will the Israelis living in Gaza and Shomron agree to leave the communities they have built, the neighbors they love, the only home most of their children have ever known? The question is not will they, the question is for what? For their children? Yes, they will voluntarily leave their homes and all that they have built to ensure the safety of their children.
But will their children be safe if they move them to Jerusalem, to Afula, to Netanya? Do you believe your children are really safe? Do you send your children on buses without any concerns? To a cafe? To the mall? Hundreds of children in these "safe" places have been murdered and orphaned. So long as the Palestinians are determined to use violence, their children, our children, your children are not safe in Tel Aviv or in Gaza.
The Palestinian terror groups have promised to continue shooting rockets. The incoming government has already stated that it would not disarm militants, nor actively work against terror organizations. More than 5,000 rockets have already been launched against us, and this too will not stop.
As we seek to force the transfer of Jews out of Gaza, uproot thousands of people from their homes and bring Kassam rockets that much closer, we would do well to understand the other side. We are not giving Gaza up for peace and security, as Sharon once promised. We would be wise to listen to Abu Mazen's post-election promise, in which he predicted that the "little jihad had ended, and now the big jihad is beginning." The only question is from where that big jihad will be launched.