Personal thoughts on current events, cultural events, Israel, Judaism, Jewish/Israel innovations and life from a Jewish perspective - read into that what you may.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

The Fence, The Pigua in Gush Etzion Today and the Establishment

Unfortunately, we all (most of us) knew this killing would start up
again in our area. We all hoped otherwise, but they were false hopes.
I still hope and pray that this is the end, but I have no false hopes.

Unfortunately today, settlers blood is not as red as those belonging
to Israeli citizens within the Green Line.

Which brings us to the fence - as the army has already told our
leaders, the purpose of the fence is ONLY to stop terrorists from
entering Israel (so as to not kill those Israeli citizens with really
red blood). The fact that it places our homes and cars in the
gunsights of the enemy is not important, because the fence is not
supposed to think of how best to defend us.

We also all know that the fence is not a security fence, it is a
Bagatz (High Court of Justice) fence, a route that will hopefully
stand up to the criteria of the Bagatz.

Which brings us to our reality - Israel is no longer a democracy. The
Knesset, the voice of the people, does not make the final decisions
in this country, the High Court of Justice does.

stice Barak's judicial activism means that everything is up to
Judicial judgement, the Knesset does not have a final voice in
deciding policy, the High Court of Justice does.

The laws, the ministers, the Knesset Members all have to make their
decisions based on what the High Court of Justice would approve.

It really does not seem like a bad idea, except for the fact that the
High Court of Justice is made up of a select few individuals who
appoint themselves!!

They mostly all have the same outlook on issues, even if there is the
token religioius Jews, the token Arab etc. All in all, most High
Court decisions regarding religious issues, or Land of Israel issues
are known even before they are discussed.

So, the fence issue....

What can we do to fight the Gush Etzion fence that even cuts out
Jewish owned land in order to consider the needs of the Arabs over
those of the Jews (forget about our security).

I have heard that the Moetza heads want to go to the Bagatz.

BIG MISTAKE, they are the ones who don't care about us to begin with.
Why would they change the route to "their" fence? maybe they'd make a
minor change here or there to at least come out looking like they
care about us. But change it to actually make us safe - does anybody
really think that will happen?

NO, we must protest against the Bagatz fence and protest the
illegitimacy of the Bagatz, the establishment of the establishment,
who are the real policy makers in Israel today.

We must return the country to the people and out of the hands of
Bagatz who are turning Israel into a country of all its citizens back
to the '49 borders.

We must make our voices heard and we must make our actions seen so
that everyone will know that we won't comly with the Bagatz or the
Bagatz fence because they have lost legitimacy in our eyes.

Opening a tik in the Bagatz against the fence just continues to show
that we are poodles to the establishment that are responsible for
ruining this country.

Only when the establishment sees that we no longer view them as
legititmate will we have a chance of returning the country to the
people. So long as we honor their decisions, and respect their
legitmacy, we will continue to be second class citizens in this
country, because the establishment cares more about liberal, Western
values and the lives of our enemies, than Jewish values and our own
lives.

Practical steps to follow...
Avi

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Has anyone heard the Shofar?

Hearing the shofar during the Yamim Noraim is supposed to be a sort of wake up call. Have you heard the shofar this year? I mean have you really heard it?

Today Yechezkel Chazani from Netzer Hazani, GK, passed away suddenly in his car while his wife jumped out to buy some food to prepare for the seudah hamafseket. Yechezkel was 52 years old and a father of 6. His oldest is married and was also just expelled from his home in Kfar Yam, GK, and his youngest is 9. All 6 are now fatherless.

After speaking with people from Netzer Hazani and Gush Katif today I heard the same message over and over again - "Sharon killed Yechezkel".

Yechezkel was a healthy man, no known health or psychological issues. He and his family were not on the "special list" for social workers to look after. He was one of the pillars of the Netzer Hazani community and a hard working man who went from being a proud bread earner to unemployed. He and his wife just decided to rent a home in Hispin, as part of their efforts to take control of their lives.

Noone will know the real reasons why Yechezkel passed away. But becoming homeless, jobless and helpless without being abe to trust any official insitution to help, probably didn't assist in keeping Yechezkel healthy.

I think the people of Gush Katif are being too generous when they blame his death on Sharon. The truth is that the Israeli establishment killed Yechezkel, not Sharon. The court system, the judges, the heads of police, the press, the heads of the army etc.

The establishment of Isreal allowed Yechezkel and 8,000 other "salt of the earth" Israeli Jews come to this reality - not only did they allow these people to be expelled from their homes, but they took part in a process that leaves all these expellees with no "solution" of housing or employment one month after being expelled from their homes.

And what about us? Where do we fit in all of this?

8,000 Jews - grandparents, parents, children, teachers, doctors, farmers etc. - are homeless for a month, becoming more and more depressed and helpless as each day passes, and we go on with our regular lives as if nothing has happened. Is that really good?

Many of us are doing chesed to help these families, but few of us are doing anything to make the guilty establishment feel guilty for what its done. Few of us are doing anything to make sure that this picture doesn't repeat itself.

Have you really heard the shofar this year?

To anyone who has has really heard the shofar and realizes that something must be done to change all this - please contact me. There is plenty to do, even after you come home from your daily work.

Through messages we hear day in and day out we are made to feel as if we are powerless, and that everything is inevitable. Well, that is exactly against what the Yamim Noraim come to teach us!

The power of teshuva is the message that G-d tells us we have the power to make changes and make a difference in this world. We are not powerless, and everything is not inevitable.

The shofar will be blown Motzei Yom Kippur. Will you really hear it this year?

Gmar Chatima Tova,
Avi Abelow
"Expelled from Netzer Hazani by the Israeli Establishment"