Feeling against Yonatan Bassi continues to run high in much of the religious-Zionist public. Bassi, a member of the religious Kibbutz Sdeh Eliyahu in the Jordan Valley, recently assumed the position of head of the Disengagement Evacuation Authority, responsible for relocating the residents who will be uprooted from their homes. He and his wife were planning to attend their nephew's Bar Mitzvah celebration in the community of Ofrah, in southern Samaria, this coming Sabbath - but were asked not to, for fear that the planned protests against him would mar the joy.
Ofrah's Rabbi Avi Gisser and the town secretary (mayor), Yitzchak Meir, wrote a letter to Bassi, explaining why he would not be welcome:
"Ever since Ofrah was established some 30 years ago, we have always made sure, and will make sure, to greet every guest cheerfully. Now, too, our members' guests are welcome, and especially on days of happiness.
"As people of faith, it is our obligation to protest before you in the clearest way possible, without blurring the facts. As Maimonides writes (in Laws of Deot) [which include laws such as loving one's fellow, not to cause embarrassment to others, and not to take revenge - ed.], "One who sees his friend having sinned or taking a path that is not good is bidden to return him to the good path..."
"Your consent to work to uproot Jews from their homes and farmers from their lands, to bring about the destruction of institutions of Torah education and to tear children and their mothers from their sources of nourishment, while bringing Arab terror to our inheritance - even though we pray that this will never happen - will be remembered in infamy. The mechanism you head works to do these grave things to the residents of Gaza and northern Shomron - and in the next stage, also to us here in Ofrah. These include the destruction of our synagogue, that in which you wish to pray this coming Sabbath. It is therefore clear that your stay amongst us could be very painful and difficult for all of us! It's clear that the way to solve this conflict lies in your hands. Retract this step! - and then, we will be ever so happy to have you amongst us. In any event, our position is that any protest by individuals or a group regarding you is legitimate, and it is our responsibility to prevent forbidden acts or anything that could mar the joy of our members."
Bassi responded, "I regret ... this aura that is becoming increasingly prevalent in our circles, that whoever doesn't think like you becomes your enemy. This requires a moral stock-taking of the entire religious-Zionist public."
Nadia Matar of Women in Green responded to this charge in an exchange with Bassi this week when she said, "You don't just represent 'another opinion.' ... You have moved on to the next stage - the execution stage, the one at which you cooperate with the government which is planning to force upon an entire public an extreme-left policy of uprooting and expulsion..."
Ofrah's Rabbi Avi Gisser and the town secretary (mayor), Yitzchak Meir, wrote a letter to Bassi, explaining why he would not be welcome:
"Ever since Ofrah was established some 30 years ago, we have always made sure, and will make sure, to greet every guest cheerfully. Now, too, our members' guests are welcome, and especially on days of happiness.
"As people of faith, it is our obligation to protest before you in the clearest way possible, without blurring the facts. As Maimonides writes (in Laws of Deot) [which include laws such as loving one's fellow, not to cause embarrassment to others, and not to take revenge - ed.], "One who sees his friend having sinned or taking a path that is not good is bidden to return him to the good path..."
"Your consent to work to uproot Jews from their homes and farmers from their lands, to bring about the destruction of institutions of Torah education and to tear children and their mothers from their sources of nourishment, while bringing Arab terror to our inheritance - even though we pray that this will never happen - will be remembered in infamy. The mechanism you head works to do these grave things to the residents of Gaza and northern Shomron - and in the next stage, also to us here in Ofrah. These include the destruction of our synagogue, that in which you wish to pray this coming Sabbath. It is therefore clear that your stay amongst us could be very painful and difficult for all of us! It's clear that the way to solve this conflict lies in your hands. Retract this step! - and then, we will be ever so happy to have you amongst us. In any event, our position is that any protest by individuals or a group regarding you is legitimate, and it is our responsibility to prevent forbidden acts or anything that could mar the joy of our members."
Bassi responded, "I regret ... this aura that is becoming increasingly prevalent in our circles, that whoever doesn't think like you becomes your enemy. This requires a moral stock-taking of the entire religious-Zionist public."
Nadia Matar of Women in Green responded to this charge in an exchange with Bassi this week when she said, "You don't just represent 'another opinion.' ... You have moved on to the next stage - the execution stage, the one at which you cooperate with the government which is planning to force upon an entire public an extreme-left policy of uprooting and expulsion..."