It's a puzzle. Why is it that religious Zionists have no trouble understanding that what happens in Gaza will happen to all of us, and the rest of the country doesn't get it? In fact, they don't even get that this is what unites us. Sure, we may believe in Zionism as God's mission, but what scares us all is common sense worry about improving our enemy's ability to attack us.
Unfortunately, the prime minister and the media find it easier to paint us as religious zealots than to deal with the substantive issues of national security. But that is no reason to give up on the common sense of the masses. Deep down, your average Israeli knows that the Arabs don't hate Israel for its treatment of Arabs ? even they know why their education, political power, health benefits, infant mortality rates and life expectancy are better in Israel than in any Arab country. No, they hate Israel for one thing only -- it disputes what the Islamofascists consider their God-given right to murder Jews. They hate the IDF because it interferes with their ability to kill Jews.
Obviously, we know there is good reason to oppose the Ariel Sharon-George Bush plan for a Palestinian state. Our demonstrations, protests and civil disobedience are effective in expressing our disagreement. But it is never enough just to disagree. We need to educate, to sharpen the message that appeasement of terrorists endangers everyone, that it handicaps the IDF while making it easier for the terrorists to function.
Shutting down roads and interfering with the IDF ourselves does nothing to advance our strategy. It will convince the public of the strength of our convictions and our political organization, but it will not show them just how dangerous the Disengagement Plan is.
We can make the real risks tangible. Now that it is an open secret that Sharon and Bush plan to evict Jews from all of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, we can intelligently and indisputably plot where the potential risks are greatest. We know the current range of their missiles - the Kassam's range has recently been increased to nine kilometers - and we can guess where the new international borders of Israel are intended to be.
So, we take a map and draw a line that parallels that border at a distance of nine kilometers into our heartland. Any school, playground, shopping center, or major road that falls within that perimeter is a place where we should be standing with a big sign that says "BOOM". No more, no less. Just a shocking reminder to passers-by that a moment hence, their lives might have been ended or tragically changed forever.
Boom.
Any individual who can read a map can do this whenever a free hour presents itself. It requires no printing or organizational strategy. We can make our point clear without blocking roads and interfering in ways that will inflame the population against us, and we can reserve our physical opposition for the end of the fight. All it takes is a marker and piece of poster board. Just do it. There isn't much time left.
Unfortunately, the prime minister and the media find it easier to paint us as religious zealots than to deal with the substantive issues of national security. But that is no reason to give up on the common sense of the masses. Deep down, your average Israeli knows that the Arabs don't hate Israel for its treatment of Arabs ? even they know why their education, political power, health benefits, infant mortality rates and life expectancy are better in Israel than in any Arab country. No, they hate Israel for one thing only -- it disputes what the Islamofascists consider their God-given right to murder Jews. They hate the IDF because it interferes with their ability to kill Jews.
Obviously, we know there is good reason to oppose the Ariel Sharon-George Bush plan for a Palestinian state. Our demonstrations, protests and civil disobedience are effective in expressing our disagreement. But it is never enough just to disagree. We need to educate, to sharpen the message that appeasement of terrorists endangers everyone, that it handicaps the IDF while making it easier for the terrorists to function.
Shutting down roads and interfering with the IDF ourselves does nothing to advance our strategy. It will convince the public of the strength of our convictions and our political organization, but it will not show them just how dangerous the Disengagement Plan is.
We can make the real risks tangible. Now that it is an open secret that Sharon and Bush plan to evict Jews from all of Gaza, Judea and Samaria, we can intelligently and indisputably plot where the potential risks are greatest. We know the current range of their missiles - the Kassam's range has recently been increased to nine kilometers - and we can guess where the new international borders of Israel are intended to be.
So, we take a map and draw a line that parallels that border at a distance of nine kilometers into our heartland. Any school, playground, shopping center, or major road that falls within that perimeter is a place where we should be standing with a big sign that says "BOOM". No more, no less. Just a shocking reminder to passers-by that a moment hence, their lives might have been ended or tragically changed forever.
Boom.
Any individual who can read a map can do this whenever a free hour presents itself. It requires no printing or organizational strategy. We can make our point clear without blocking roads and interfering in ways that will inflame the population against us, and we can reserve our physical opposition for the end of the fight. All it takes is a marker and piece of poster board. Just do it. There isn't much time left.