The pro-disengagement camp failed in their latest effort to show that the "majority supports Sharon." A group known as the Committee of the Majority, which is well-funded by various leftist Israeli parties and businessmen, is having a miserable time convincing anybody that they represent the "silent majority of Israelis."
At a protest held in Tel Aviv last Saturday night, the organizers were only able to muster up about 5,000 supporters. In spite of 100 private buses rented to transport people from kibbutzim around the country and from leftist youth groups across Israel, and in spite of huge ads taken in every major newspaper, and long commercials on every radio and TV station in Israel, and in spite of the central Tel Aviv location of the event - the estimates of the actual number of participants ranged from 4,000 to 8,000.
Last Thursday, March 17, Gush Katif residents held a prayer vigil in a remote Gaza village, bringing out more than 10,000 people. This was one of the smaller protests held against the planned disengagement plan.
It is time to put an end to the myth that the silent majority supports the expulsion of Jews from their homes in Gaza and Samaria. The fact is that if the majority of Israelis were given the opportunity to choose between Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan and a Jewish alternative plan, then Sharon would be put to shame and defeated. The time has come to form a counter group known as the "True Majority".
Sharon made the mistake of his life when he announced his plan to surrender Gaza and parts of Samaria and to expel the Jews from their homes. Sharon effectively legalized "transfer". Until now, the mere mention of transferring the Arabs has been outlawed. Rabbi Meir Kahane was banned from politics for proposing "transfer" of the Arabs. Now, after Sharon's plan has surfaced, finally, the counter, Jewish plan can be proposed. Finally, the people of Israel can openly debate: Who shall be transferred? Finally, the only proposal that can save Israel can be injected into the national debate.
If only the right-wing, nationalist camp in Israel would be wise enough to understand this historic opportunity to table the alternative counterproposal. Calling for a referendum that would spotlight this debate and legitimately introduce the Jewish alternative plan to the Israeli public would be a no-lose equation. Even if the public did not embrace the alternative proposal at this time, the issue would be where it belongs - on the national agenda, for future implementation when all else fails. We can't expect the idea to ever be implemented when it is not even being considered and debated.
There is one group in Israel that has taken advantage of this unique opportunity and has launched an independent national referendum (at ReferendumForIsrael.com), offering Jews worldwide the choice and offering a podium for the alternative Jewish "disengagement plan". This may be the only plan that can save Israel.
The above independent referendum will, G-d willing, succeed in proving once and for all that the Ariel Sharon/Shimon Peres plan is supported by no more than a minute, extreme, fringe element within Israeli society. This extremist camp may control the press and the courts, but they have not yet succeeded in controlling the minds and the hearts of the majority of Jews in Israel.
At a protest held in Tel Aviv last Saturday night, the organizers were only able to muster up about 5,000 supporters. In spite of 100 private buses rented to transport people from kibbutzim around the country and from leftist youth groups across Israel, and in spite of huge ads taken in every major newspaper, and long commercials on every radio and TV station in Israel, and in spite of the central Tel Aviv location of the event - the estimates of the actual number of participants ranged from 4,000 to 8,000.
Last Thursday, March 17, Gush Katif residents held a prayer vigil in a remote Gaza village, bringing out more than 10,000 people. This was one of the smaller protests held against the planned disengagement plan.
It is time to put an end to the myth that the silent majority supports the expulsion of Jews from their homes in Gaza and Samaria. The fact is that if the majority of Israelis were given the opportunity to choose between Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan and a Jewish alternative plan, then Sharon would be put to shame and defeated. The time has come to form a counter group known as the "True Majority".
Sharon made the mistake of his life when he announced his plan to surrender Gaza and parts of Samaria and to expel the Jews from their homes. Sharon effectively legalized "transfer". Until now, the mere mention of transferring the Arabs has been outlawed. Rabbi Meir Kahane was banned from politics for proposing "transfer" of the Arabs. Now, after Sharon's plan has surfaced, finally, the counter, Jewish plan can be proposed. Finally, the people of Israel can openly debate: Who shall be transferred? Finally, the only proposal that can save Israel can be injected into the national debate.
If only the right-wing, nationalist camp in Israel would be wise enough to understand this historic opportunity to table the alternative counterproposal. Calling for a referendum that would spotlight this debate and legitimately introduce the Jewish alternative plan to the Israeli public would be a no-lose equation. Even if the public did not embrace the alternative proposal at this time, the issue would be where it belongs - on the national agenda, for future implementation when all else fails. We can't expect the idea to ever be implemented when it is not even being considered and debated.
There is one group in Israel that has taken advantage of this unique opportunity and has launched an independent national referendum (at ReferendumForIsrael.com), offering Jews worldwide the choice and offering a podium for the alternative Jewish "disengagement plan". This may be the only plan that can save Israel.
The above independent referendum will, G-d willing, succeed in proving once and for all that the Ariel Sharon/Shimon Peres plan is supported by no more than a minute, extreme, fringe element within Israeli society. This extremist camp may control the press and the courts, but they have not yet succeeded in controlling the minds and the hearts of the majority of Jews in Israel.