The Conference is set for Monday night in Moshav Nahalal in the Galilee.
The conference's explanatory literature continues, "We, members of Kibbutzim and Moshavim throughout Israel of the pioneering settlement movements that brought about the miracle of Zionist revival of our people returning to its land and soil, call on every person with a human and national conscience to come and raise a Zionist national voice of sanity against the illegal and immoral attempt to uproot and destroy the Gush Katif region and the settlements of northern Samaria."
They quote Simon the Maccabee in a letter to Syrian-Greek King Antiochus, who wrote, “It is not a foreign country that we took for ourselves, nor do we rule what belongs to others. No, it is the land of our forefathers that was conquered unjustly by our enemies some time ago, and we, when the opportunity came, took back our fathers’ land.”
Click here to read the entire statement, replete with Zionist values and astute political analysis.
IsraelNationalRadio's Eli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher spoke yesterday with one of the Nahalal Conference organizers, media personality and historian Tzafrir Ronen. A founder of Kibbutz Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, Ronen now resides in Moshav Moledet, roughly between Beit She'an and Afula. The interview appears below in paraphrased form, with additions from a follow-up conversation:
Ronen:
"For a long time now, thousands of people have been feeling that something terribly wrong has been happening to Israel. We, the supporters of Gush Katif, have won three important political battles: The first was the election of two years ago, when Labor candidate Amram Mitzna said that Gush Katif should be uprooted, while Sharon said the opposite, that Tel Aviv and Netzarim would have the same future. And that's why Sharon won; how can he now take my vote and turn it around 180 degrees? He must rather go back to the people with new elections...
"Later, when he realized his Likud party might revolt against him, he decided to call a referendum within the party on the issue of disengagement. He lost this vote, winning the support of only 40% of the party - and he ignored it. The reason why this is so dangerous is because party decisions are legal decisions, and they determine the candidates in national elections; tomorrow, if the Likud chooses someone else to head the party, will Sharon ignore that too? This is dictatorship.
"Our third victory was within the Cabinet. He did not have a majority in the Cabinet for his plan, so he fired two ministers, Eitam and Elon. What do we need a government for, if the majority doesn't count? This is dictatorship!
"From my point of view, therefore, this government has no legitimacy to continue even one more day. Ariel Sharon lost three major battles: He cheated the voters, he stole their [votes], he cheated his own party, and he broke Israel's democratic system by firing the ministers. He therefore cannot continue without going back to the voters..."
Q. "Why is it that the only people who see this as being dictatorship are those who are against the disengagement?"
A. "Because the left – and I know the left, because that's where I come from – is corrupt and hypocritical. Before the election, they used to condemn Sharon as a murderer and the like, but now, they applaud him and think he's great, no matter what evil he does. Why? Because he fights against their enemies. And who are their enemies – Arafat, the PLO, Hamas? No. It's the settlers. Do you realize what's going on here? Straight-out antisemitism against the religious people. And I'm not religious – I'm a kibbutznik/moshvanik. We have to really pay attention to what's going on here. Listen to the media, read the newspapers – it's an antisemitic campaign against the pioneers of this country, most of whom are religious."
Q. "Tzafrir, how many people see what you see?"
A. "I think a lot of people see it, but the problem is that they feel they're alone, especially in the non-religious areas. I speak to a lot of people, as I'm a media person myself, and I hear many people say this is wrong, but many are afraid – of losing their job, or of being left out of the herd...
"We are going to raise a clear and brave voice to say this is wrong, this is dictatorship, and we won't let it go. I served in the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal unit [when Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz was the unit's deputy commander – ed.], and we have people who have done a lot for this country; I was wounded twice, and so on – and if a person like me comes and says we are not going to obey any order to evacuate and destroy people's homes, [emphasis added] this is something that the government has to listen to very carefully."
Q. "Sometimes we wonder, where has the basic Love of Land gone? What's happened to it?"
A. "In truth, I have no answer. I see the non-religious youth, and I'm honestly worried about the future of this country. Something with the education – there's a learning system, but there's no education. On the kibbutz, too (sigh), it's not good, it's practically gone. We have to rebuild it. The only ones who teach love of the country are the religious people."
Ronen has been quoted in the past as saying, "I come from a place that is as far as possible from the religious public, but I miss the days when the kibbutz youth was like the religious public is now. Until a year ago, I sat in the review committee for the Sayeret Matkal, and I say categorically: the religious public is the highest quality public there is."
"When I give lectures [Ronen continued yesterday], I often ask: What does it mean to be part of a nation? It means to have a collective memory. What does it mean to be a Jew? If I'm not religious, and you are religious, what unites us? – that we have a mutual collective memory. Whether you are from Ethiopia or Russia, or eat pig, we all know that we come from Abraham and Moses, and this is what makes us a nation. [Though the scholarly Rabbi Saadia Gaon posited that 'Israel is not a nation other than by its Torah,' on the other hand, the Torah states, 'You are sons unto G-d' – and the Sages explain that this is so even when they sin. –ed.]
"We have a collective memory, and the symbols thereof are Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hevron... Now, if our government signs an agreement to give away these symbols of our collective memory – Jerusalem, Rachel's Tomb, Hevron, the Temple Mount, whatever – after 2,000 years that we have never forgotten these places, and it happens when we're already in Israel – this is the worst thing that can happen, because that will be the end of our nation. When I speak to non-religious people, I tell them that the danger [of the disengagement] is not just in losing one part of the land, but of losing our entire nation. These are things [places] that don't belong just to us, today, but rather to the entire Jewish nation. That's the reason that Eretz Yisrael HaShleimah [Greater Land of Israel] is part of my life. If we give parts of it away, that's the end of us – and I don't mean just physically, that they'll create a terror state and all the rest; it will be a tragedy for many generations to come. And that's why the Oslo [agreements] have to be erased, and the people who brought us Oslo have to be punished, put to trial. The nation must know that this was a crime."
Q. "You talk about collective memory, and that this will destroy our nation. But I wonder if this will be sufficient for a typical Israeli teenager, who might not have such a strong historic connection to the Jewish people... For myself, although I agree with you, the other side of the coin is religious: G-d came to the Jewish people and commanded us to live here."
A. "You're right. I feel – I'm a religious person. I don't wear a yarmulke or tzizit [ritual fringes], but I am religious. I believe in G-d, I feel that I have a mission. You know, Zionism is a revolution, because for 2000 years Jews made peace with the fact that they had no national home - and now there has been a return to the home, and it has come about as a joint effort with the religious people. Not the hareidi public, I have to say, because they never made peace with the secular nationalist return... But I am part of this Jewish culture – and there is no humanistic culture without religion."
Q. "Where did you come to the idea that you believe in G-d, given the fact that your environment did not quite encourage this?"
A. "Everyone has an innate belief in G-d; it's just external labels and trappings that divide us into different camps. But human culture without G-d doesn't exist; we all celebrate religious holidays, and get married in religious ceremonies, etc. I, too, have a natural belief.
"...My grandparents came here in 1921 from Russia. They were attached to this land, and fought for it; people died here for it. There are graves all over of teenagers who came here at those ages to live and die for the land. And now look what's happening to the 3rd and 4th generations. That's why I believe that the only educational system that will preserve us is the national-religious system. And we, the so-called non-religious, we have to learn from you guys. We have to learn and we have to adopt the way you educate your young generation."
Q. "So maybe we should concentrate our efforts on education, and not on Gush Katif?"
A. "Education is for the long-run, while Gush Katif is now, for the next few months. The fight for Gush Katif is not just for that area, but for Jerusalem. You remember the coin they found in Gamla, which says, 'From Gamla to Jerusalem?' Why did the people in Gamla, all the way up in the Golan, fight the Romans? They explained on the coin: Because they knew that the fight for Gamla is a fight for Jerusalem. They knew that if they lose Gamla, they would lose Jerusalem. Today too, the fight for Gush Katif is the fight for Jerusalem; if we lose Gush Katif, we'll lose the Jordan Valley, we'll lose the Golan Heights, we'll lose Judea and Samaria - and we're going to lose Jerusalem! And I believe that we're going to lose it, if we don't stop it now."
The gathering on Monday night at Moshav Nahalal will include many people of the old-time pioneer kibbutz and moshav movements from all over the country. Tzafrir explained that "farmers and simple people will all gather together to raise a loud voice and tell this government: 'You're not going to do it – because we're going to be there, and we will help Gush Katif, morally and in other ways.'"
Asked if thought that the Israeli media would cover the event, Ronen said, "Don't count on the Israeli media. They serve just one master, who is our enemy. What can I tell you? Listen to the news every night, they talk about what Abu Mazen did and what the other Abu did, [but not] about our nation... In any event, our conference will not be a one-time event; each week we plan to have another one around the country. The Nahalal Conference will continue!"
The conference's explanatory literature continues, "We, members of Kibbutzim and Moshavim throughout Israel of the pioneering settlement movements that brought about the miracle of Zionist revival of our people returning to its land and soil, call on every person with a human and national conscience to come and raise a Zionist national voice of sanity against the illegal and immoral attempt to uproot and destroy the Gush Katif region and the settlements of northern Samaria."
They quote Simon the Maccabee in a letter to Syrian-Greek King Antiochus, who wrote, “It is not a foreign country that we took for ourselves, nor do we rule what belongs to others. No, it is the land of our forefathers that was conquered unjustly by our enemies some time ago, and we, when the opportunity came, took back our fathers’ land.”
Click here to read the entire statement, replete with Zionist values and astute political analysis.
IsraelNationalRadio's Eli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher spoke yesterday with one of the Nahalal Conference organizers, media personality and historian Tzafrir Ronen. A founder of Kibbutz Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, Ronen now resides in Moshav Moledet, roughly between Beit She'an and Afula. The interview appears below in paraphrased form, with additions from a follow-up conversation:
Ronen:
"For a long time now, thousands of people have been feeling that something terribly wrong has been happening to Israel. We, the supporters of Gush Katif, have won three important political battles: The first was the election of two years ago, when Labor candidate Amram Mitzna said that Gush Katif should be uprooted, while Sharon said the opposite, that Tel Aviv and Netzarim would have the same future. And that's why Sharon won; how can he now take my vote and turn it around 180 degrees? He must rather go back to the people with new elections...
"Later, when he realized his Likud party might revolt against him, he decided to call a referendum within the party on the issue of disengagement. He lost this vote, winning the support of only 40% of the party - and he ignored it. The reason why this is so dangerous is because party decisions are legal decisions, and they determine the candidates in national elections; tomorrow, if the Likud chooses someone else to head the party, will Sharon ignore that too? This is dictatorship.
"Our third victory was within the Cabinet. He did not have a majority in the Cabinet for his plan, so he fired two ministers, Eitam and Elon. What do we need a government for, if the majority doesn't count? This is dictatorship!
"From my point of view, therefore, this government has no legitimacy to continue even one more day. Ariel Sharon lost three major battles: He cheated the voters, he stole their [votes], he cheated his own party, and he broke Israel's democratic system by firing the ministers. He therefore cannot continue without going back to the voters..."
Q. "Why is it that the only people who see this as being dictatorship are those who are against the disengagement?"
A. "Because the left – and I know the left, because that's where I come from – is corrupt and hypocritical. Before the election, they used to condemn Sharon as a murderer and the like, but now, they applaud him and think he's great, no matter what evil he does. Why? Because he fights against their enemies. And who are their enemies – Arafat, the PLO, Hamas? No. It's the settlers. Do you realize what's going on here? Straight-out antisemitism against the religious people. And I'm not religious – I'm a kibbutznik/moshvanik. We have to really pay attention to what's going on here. Listen to the media, read the newspapers – it's an antisemitic campaign against the pioneers of this country, most of whom are religious."
Q. "Tzafrir, how many people see what you see?"
A. "I think a lot of people see it, but the problem is that they feel they're alone, especially in the non-religious areas. I speak to a lot of people, as I'm a media person myself, and I hear many people say this is wrong, but many are afraid – of losing their job, or of being left out of the herd...
"We are going to raise a clear and brave voice to say this is wrong, this is dictatorship, and we won't let it go. I served in the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal unit [when Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz was the unit's deputy commander – ed.], and we have people who have done a lot for this country; I was wounded twice, and so on – and if a person like me comes and says we are not going to obey any order to evacuate and destroy people's homes, [emphasis added] this is something that the government has to listen to very carefully."
Q. "Sometimes we wonder, where has the basic Love of Land gone? What's happened to it?"
A. "In truth, I have no answer. I see the non-religious youth, and I'm honestly worried about the future of this country. Something with the education – there's a learning system, but there's no education. On the kibbutz, too (sigh), it's not good, it's practically gone. We have to rebuild it. The only ones who teach love of the country are the religious people."
Ronen has been quoted in the past as saying, "I come from a place that is as far as possible from the religious public, but I miss the days when the kibbutz youth was like the religious public is now. Until a year ago, I sat in the review committee for the Sayeret Matkal, and I say categorically: the religious public is the highest quality public there is."
"When I give lectures [Ronen continued yesterday], I often ask: What does it mean to be part of a nation? It means to have a collective memory. What does it mean to be a Jew? If I'm not religious, and you are religious, what unites us? – that we have a mutual collective memory. Whether you are from Ethiopia or Russia, or eat pig, we all know that we come from Abraham and Moses, and this is what makes us a nation. [Though the scholarly Rabbi Saadia Gaon posited that 'Israel is not a nation other than by its Torah,' on the other hand, the Torah states, 'You are sons unto G-d' – and the Sages explain that this is so even when they sin. –ed.]
"We have a collective memory, and the symbols thereof are Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hevron... Now, if our government signs an agreement to give away these symbols of our collective memory – Jerusalem, Rachel's Tomb, Hevron, the Temple Mount, whatever – after 2,000 years that we have never forgotten these places, and it happens when we're already in Israel – this is the worst thing that can happen, because that will be the end of our nation. When I speak to non-religious people, I tell them that the danger [of the disengagement] is not just in losing one part of the land, but of losing our entire nation. These are things [places] that don't belong just to us, today, but rather to the entire Jewish nation. That's the reason that Eretz Yisrael HaShleimah [Greater Land of Israel] is part of my life. If we give parts of it away, that's the end of us – and I don't mean just physically, that they'll create a terror state and all the rest; it will be a tragedy for many generations to come. And that's why the Oslo [agreements] have to be erased, and the people who brought us Oslo have to be punished, put to trial. The nation must know that this was a crime."
Q. "You talk about collective memory, and that this will destroy our nation. But I wonder if this will be sufficient for a typical Israeli teenager, who might not have such a strong historic connection to the Jewish people... For myself, although I agree with you, the other side of the coin is religious: G-d came to the Jewish people and commanded us to live here."
A. "You're right. I feel – I'm a religious person. I don't wear a yarmulke or tzizit [ritual fringes], but I am religious. I believe in G-d, I feel that I have a mission. You know, Zionism is a revolution, because for 2000 years Jews made peace with the fact that they had no national home - and now there has been a return to the home, and it has come about as a joint effort with the religious people. Not the hareidi public, I have to say, because they never made peace with the secular nationalist return... But I am part of this Jewish culture – and there is no humanistic culture without religion."
Q. "Where did you come to the idea that you believe in G-d, given the fact that your environment did not quite encourage this?"
A. "Everyone has an innate belief in G-d; it's just external labels and trappings that divide us into different camps. But human culture without G-d doesn't exist; we all celebrate religious holidays, and get married in religious ceremonies, etc. I, too, have a natural belief.
"...My grandparents came here in 1921 from Russia. They were attached to this land, and fought for it; people died here for it. There are graves all over of teenagers who came here at those ages to live and die for the land. And now look what's happening to the 3rd and 4th generations. That's why I believe that the only educational system that will preserve us is the national-religious system. And we, the so-called non-religious, we have to learn from you guys. We have to learn and we have to adopt the way you educate your young generation."
Q. "So maybe we should concentrate our efforts on education, and not on Gush Katif?"
A. "Education is for the long-run, while Gush Katif is now, for the next few months. The fight for Gush Katif is not just for that area, but for Jerusalem. You remember the coin they found in Gamla, which says, 'From Gamla to Jerusalem?' Why did the people in Gamla, all the way up in the Golan, fight the Romans? They explained on the coin: Because they knew that the fight for Gamla is a fight for Jerusalem. They knew that if they lose Gamla, they would lose Jerusalem. Today too, the fight for Gush Katif is the fight for Jerusalem; if we lose Gush Katif, we'll lose the Jordan Valley, we'll lose the Golan Heights, we'll lose Judea and Samaria - and we're going to lose Jerusalem! And I believe that we're going to lose it, if we don't stop it now."
The gathering on Monday night at Moshav Nahalal will include many people of the old-time pioneer kibbutz and moshav movements from all over the country. Tzafrir explained that "farmers and simple people will all gather together to raise a loud voice and tell this government: 'You're not going to do it – because we're going to be there, and we will help Gush Katif, morally and in other ways.'"
Asked if thought that the Israeli media would cover the event, Ronen said, "Don't count on the Israeli media. They serve just one master, who is our enemy. What can I tell you? Listen to the news every night, they talk about what Abu Mazen did and what the other Abu did, [but not] about our nation... In any event, our conference will not be a one-time event; each week we plan to have another one around the country. The Nahalal Conference will continue!"