Blocking traffic is classic civil disobedience
Here is part of a definition from answers.com:
Civil disobedience - refusal to obey a law or follow a policy believed to be unjust. Practitioners of civil disobediance basing their actions on moral right and usually employ the nonviolent technique of passive resistance in order to bring wider attention to the injustice. Risking punishment, such as violent retaliatory acts or imprisonment, they attempt to bring about changes in the law. In the modern era, civil disobedience has been used in such events as street demonstrations, marches, the occupying of buildings, and strikes and other forms of economic resistance.
Here is an article written by someone I know who very eloquently explained the rationale of civil disobedience in Israel today and the road blockings.
Democracy and Civil Disobedience
Written on May 26, 2005
by Dr. Yitzhak Klein
(Dr. Yitzhak Klein is a political scientist who received his doctorate from Harvard University)
On May 16 a wave of nonviolent civil disobedience swept Israel’s main highways. Thousands of demonstrators against the Sharon government’s disengagement plan blocked roads and went willingly to jail. The police confessed their helplessness to keep the roads open. Pundits and legal authorities, in worried tones, said what you would expect them to say about the need to punish miscreants and uphold the law. Does nonviolent civil disobedience against disengagement threaten Israel’s democracy? Quite the contrary. It is potentially the most positive development since the Knesset passed the disengagement law, and gives one hope that Israel may actually emerge from the disengagement crisis with a chance to repair its shattered civil compact.
The most serious fact about disengagement is not the impending destruction of Gush Katif and the communities of Northern Samaria, grave as that may be, but the fact that the disengagement law could be passed at all. Until the law’s passage, Israel’s deep ideological divisions had yet to affect the country’s essential political unity. Every Israeli citizen was an acknowledged member of the political community, his rights accorded equal protection, at least in principle. Disengagement took that political unity and broke it. On the basis of a political dispute, a majority of the Knesset decided to nullify the fundamental rights of a minority.
Israelis are now divided into two classes: Those whose rights are inalienable, and those whose rights are negotiable. Of course, this means everyone’s rights are under threat, even those of political supporters of disengagement. Tomorrow a different majority coalition may decide to tear up somebody else’s fundamental rights: Arabs’, or Haredim’s, or kibbutzniks’.
Disengagement is the act of a society that has lost its moral compass. That’s even more frightening than the threatened destruction of Gush Katif. Some supporters of disengagement argue that civil disobedience against disengagement is illegitimate because the disengagement decision was “democratic;” it was passed by a majority.
That’s disingenuous.As students of John Locke, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King know, it takes more than majority rule to make a law legitimate. Governments are supposed to respect everyone’s rights. If one takes Locke and Jefferson seriously, a government that knowingly and deliberately violates people’s rights loses the moral authority to demand obedience. That’s the real threat to Israel’s democracy.
After the disengagement law was passed, some people started worrying out loud that Israel’s “religious Zionists” (many of them prefer the term “faith-oriented Jews,” Yehudim emuniim), hitherto regarded as the community most active and dedicated to the Zionist enterprise, would withdraw into themselves and lose interest in supporting the State of Israel. The danger is real, and “religious Zionists’” future attitude to the state is a subject of intense debate within that community. Writing in the most recent issue of Azure, Yossi Klein Halevi argues with some heat that “religious Zionists” must continue to support Israel because it remains, in his opinion, a Zionist state. His article has not a word to say about the moral implications of disengagement.
Representatives of the left-liberal Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) took the trouble to come out to the settlement of Kedumim in Samaria and spent several hours arguing that the people of Kedumim ought to retain a sense of obligation to the State of Israel. Their arguments were punctured by a single decisive question from Moshe Feiglin: Did the IDI’s representatives believe settlers’ rights deserved equal protection with those of, say, Arabs? Somewhat abashed, the IDI people confessed that their answer was “no.”
Disengagement’s threat to Israel’s internal cohesion is real. The threat doesn’t have to arise from civil disobedience or open rebellion. It’s sufficient if enough residents of Israel lose faith in the state or interest in its survival. Historians tell us that the fate of Germany’s Weimar Republic was sealed years before it actually collapsed, when a majority of Germans, of both right and left, lost faith in it.
Most Israeli Arabs reject Zionism. So do many Haredim. If “religious Zionists” lose faith in the state, will there still remain a majority of Israeli citizens who feel they have a stake in the Zionist enterprise’s survival? Will they retain the moral conviction needed to sustain it in the face of continued adversity? Even supporters of disengagement may have their doubts, and that is why some of them plead with “religious Zionists” not to disengage from the State of Israel—a demand they do not, of course, have the moral standing to make.
Fortunately for supporters of disengagement, and for the silent majority of Israelis who are told they support disengagement but aren’t sure, faith-oriented Jews don’t conceive of their relations with other Jews in terms of social contract theory. Even if the Zionist state has betrayed them, they feel obligated to uphold the moral and political integrity of the Jewish people, an obligation mere mortals cannot release them from.
And that is why nonviolent civil disobedience may really be good news for Israel. Israel’s faith-oriented community will continue to be engaged with the Israeli mainstream. That doesn’t necessarily mean accepting the Israeli establishment’s view of the justice of its policies, or of its moral authority to demand obedience to them. Many faith-oriented Jews cannot concede that authority and will continue to express a fundamental ethical critique of their society.
This critique goes beyond protest against the current disengagement plan; it demands a fundamental change in Israeli society’s ethics, so that nothing like the destruction of Gush Katif can ever again be contemplated. They will insist that Israeli society is morally deranged and needs to heal itself. One sign of healing might be the adoption of a Basic Law (Israel’s version of constitutional legislation) outlawing the destruction of law-abiding communities. You wouldn’t think a liberal democracy needed such a law, but Israel obviously does.
Principled civil disobedience may be the best service Israel’s faith-oriented Jews can now perform for their country. It represents the best chance for eventually repairing the breach disengagement has created in Israel’s civil compact. Protest movements like the one that took to Israel’s highways this month possess immense moral power and, if persisted in, seldom fail to move public opinion. Chances are that Israel’s faith-oriented protest movement will achieve significant things. In the end even its opponents may be forced to concede that it was all for the best.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Changing Israels political system for the benefit of the people!
I firmly believe that the sectoral party system in Israel is wrong. Religious parties fight for their own agendas, secular parties fight for their own agendas etc. But no one fights for the agenda of Am Yisrael!
The time has come for this type of government system to come to an end. I want to be part of a party that looks out for the interest of Am Yisrael, with an understanding that Am Yisrael has various needs, wants and moral responsabilities (towards its own and towards the "others" that live within its boundaries).
For example, I don't want funding for a certain educational system dependant upon a certain party making threats. It actually means that the smaller secroral parties are always dependant upon the ruling party. The smaller party is alwasy a pawn for the ruling party to play with in order to achieve it's own agenda, which does not represent Am Yisrael. Otherwise it would not take threats to get funding for school systems!
That is why I joined Manhigut Yehudit and that is why I joined the Likud. The Likud party has religoius, charedi, secular and traditional Jews as members. I want Israel to be led by a party that has all these people together leading the country, with the outlook of what is best for Am Yisrael.
Manhigut Yehudit is in the process of molding the Likud party into one that gives more room for the "people" to rule the party and the country. The currect political culture of the ruling elite doing what they please, even within the Likud, will be coming to an end....with our influence.
Much work has to be done to get rid of the political corruption within the Israeli political system and from within the Likud, but the work is getting easier over time as the ruling elite of the Likud are feeling threated by our success in developing power within the party.
The following article below further explains the importance of leaving the sectoral political system in Israel and joining forces with the Jewishly oriented Jews of the Likud to get that party back on track to represent and lead Am Yisrael in the right direction.
Leadership of the Likud
By Moshe Feiglin
26 Kislev 5763 (Dec 1, 02)
The leader of the religious Mizrachi movement, David Pinkas, once asked David Ben Gurion: "Why don't you visit my splendid synagogue? I understand that you are not religious, but once a year -- why not?" Ben Gurion replied: "As a member of the Mapai party, I cannot allow myself to be identified with an institution of the Mizrachi."
In fact, from the very beginning, Ben Gurion drove the religious public into the party structure and the religious legislation with which we are so familiar today, in order to transform the synagogue into an institution of the Mizrachi, and G-d into a dues paying member of the religious party. A new immigrant arriving in Israel would receive from the Jewish Agency a bed and mattress, a kind of basic absorption package. If he was religious, he would also receive a prayer book. The inside cover was stamped: "The Jewish Agency -- the Department for Supply of Religious Needs." The Mapainiks took care to meet the needs of the natives. "Religion is the opium of the masses," Lenin said, and his spiritual descendants in Mapai (including Ariel Sharon, who started as a Mapainik) took care to meet all our needs – a bed, a mattress, religion -- even the opium is included.
The religious camp naturally fell into the trap – they entered the Indian reservation set up for them by the Mapai regime and even today their politicians boast of the wonderful achievements they have succeeded in obtaining for their Indians in the reservation: Yeshivot (schools for advanced Torah studies), religious girls' high schools, mikvahs (ritualariums) and more.
The truth is that in contrast to the Indians in the US, our "Indians" actually get on very well in their reservation. Their numbers are increasing, religious institutions are springing up like mushrooms after the rain -- it's simply marvelous. In fact, for those who have gotten used to the reservation, it's very good. The religious preachers look out of their cage at the miserable secular people wandering about on the outside. "How disgusting!" the preachers say to their happy congregants, "Look how miserable they are outside – families with one child and two dogs, nose-rings, drugs, etc.
From time to time the religious camp succeeds in bringing back to the fold a few of these miserable people still at liberty, and with cheers takes them into the reservation. These people themselves then become preachers, and bring back a few more returnees.
In fact, the number of religious people is on the rise. The secular people, who are not linked to the source of life, our Holy Torah, are decreasing in number. At one time, there were about ten religious Knesset Members, now there are more than thirty. Yet, while there are now far more religious people, religious Knesset Members and religious institutions, stores and malls are open on Shabbat as never before! Furthermore, all of the world's most filthy culture fills our streets far more than in the past, every gentile who wishes to be registered as a Jew can do so and a kosher restaurant is still hard to find in Tel Aviv.
All the great achievements (and they truly are great) remain within the reservation, and the country is going to the dogs. "Alright," say the cynics, "In the end only the religious will remain, the secular will disappear, and we will have a real Jewish State."
The truth of the matter is that without the secular Jews, the State of Israel would never have been established, and if all the secular Jews were to disappear overnight, and only the religious were to remain in the country, Israel would not continue to exist for even a moment! Some of the religious would become secular in order to run the country, and the others would quickly run into a new reservation.
An insufferable situation has arisen in which our Holy Torah has become totally irrelevant for the running of the new Jewish State. It is as if the Torah belonged to the institutions of the religious political parties. This terrible situation is entirely due to the religious camp! The religious camp is demonstrating day after day that the Torah is, G-d forbid, falsehood.
Manhigut Yehudit wants to bring about nothing less than a revolution. Not just another institution for the reservation, or another repenting Jew for the reservation, not even another religious general within the reservation. No more! We want to break down the walls of the reservation. We are not afraid. We don't need religious parties since we know that the Torah is the Truth. We really believe in it. So why should we be afraid? If you believe that you have the perfect tool, why should you be afraid to use it? Why are you afraid to propose that others use it? Perhaps it is because you don't really believe in it? What good is an ultra-sophisticated tank if you leave it parked?
The Jewish majority lies outside the reservation. The majority is liked to its Jewish identity and thirsts for a real message. The majority thirsts for leadership that will come to it, not in order to imprison it in a reservation, but to lead it to its great aims -- its true Jewish national aims. This majority is the Jewish camp -- the national camp. And the national camp is the Likud.
Yes, this is the same Likud with its ugly infighting. This is the same Likud that signed the Camp David agreements and destroyed the Yamit settlements. "Only Sharon can bring peace," and only the Likud can destroy the settlements! This is the Likud of the Tel Aviv open market and of the Jerusalem Beitar Soccer Team fans. This is the Jewish people. It is infected with all the afflictions of the Left, but this is the Jewish people, and only with it is it possible to go forward. To go forward in reality, not in the reservation.
So what are we looking for in the Likud? We want to find those Jews who want to remain Jews. The Left is led by a hard core that denies its Jewish identity. They want a new Middle East, without nations. They want to wipe out the Jewish People. As long as we remain in the reservation, no one will stop them.
The Jews who want to remain Jews are incapable of stopping the disintegration. But they are in the realm of responsibility and action. The Jews who have the secret code -- the Torah -- for stopping the disintegration stubbornly cling to the reservation.
Our #1 priority is to bring down the walls of the reservation and integrate the two.
More Articles by Moshe Feiglin
I firmly believe that the sectoral party system in Israel is wrong. Religious parties fight for their own agendas, secular parties fight for their own agendas etc. But no one fights for the agenda of Am Yisrael!
The time has come for this type of government system to come to an end. I want to be part of a party that looks out for the interest of Am Yisrael, with an understanding that Am Yisrael has various needs, wants and moral responsabilities (towards its own and towards the "others" that live within its boundaries).
For example, I don't want funding for a certain educational system dependant upon a certain party making threats. It actually means that the smaller secroral parties are always dependant upon the ruling party. The smaller party is alwasy a pawn for the ruling party to play with in order to achieve it's own agenda, which does not represent Am Yisrael. Otherwise it would not take threats to get funding for school systems!
That is why I joined Manhigut Yehudit and that is why I joined the Likud. The Likud party has religoius, charedi, secular and traditional Jews as members. I want Israel to be led by a party that has all these people together leading the country, with the outlook of what is best for Am Yisrael.
Manhigut Yehudit is in the process of molding the Likud party into one that gives more room for the "people" to rule the party and the country. The currect political culture of the ruling elite doing what they please, even within the Likud, will be coming to an end....with our influence.
Much work has to be done to get rid of the political corruption within the Israeli political system and from within the Likud, but the work is getting easier over time as the ruling elite of the Likud are feeling threated by our success in developing power within the party.
The following article below further explains the importance of leaving the sectoral political system in Israel and joining forces with the Jewishly oriented Jews of the Likud to get that party back on track to represent and lead Am Yisrael in the right direction.
Leadership of the Likud
By Moshe Feiglin
26 Kislev 5763 (Dec 1, 02)
The leader of the religious Mizrachi movement, David Pinkas, once asked David Ben Gurion: "Why don't you visit my splendid synagogue? I understand that you are not religious, but once a year -- why not?" Ben Gurion replied: "As a member of the Mapai party, I cannot allow myself to be identified with an institution of the Mizrachi."
In fact, from the very beginning, Ben Gurion drove the religious public into the party structure and the religious legislation with which we are so familiar today, in order to transform the synagogue into an institution of the Mizrachi, and G-d into a dues paying member of the religious party. A new immigrant arriving in Israel would receive from the Jewish Agency a bed and mattress, a kind of basic absorption package. If he was religious, he would also receive a prayer book. The inside cover was stamped: "The Jewish Agency -- the Department for Supply of Religious Needs." The Mapainiks took care to meet the needs of the natives. "Religion is the opium of the masses," Lenin said, and his spiritual descendants in Mapai (including Ariel Sharon, who started as a Mapainik) took care to meet all our needs – a bed, a mattress, religion -- even the opium is included.
The religious camp naturally fell into the trap – they entered the Indian reservation set up for them by the Mapai regime and even today their politicians boast of the wonderful achievements they have succeeded in obtaining for their Indians in the reservation: Yeshivot (schools for advanced Torah studies), religious girls' high schools, mikvahs (ritualariums) and more.
The truth is that in contrast to the Indians in the US, our "Indians" actually get on very well in their reservation. Their numbers are increasing, religious institutions are springing up like mushrooms after the rain -- it's simply marvelous. In fact, for those who have gotten used to the reservation, it's very good. The religious preachers look out of their cage at the miserable secular people wandering about on the outside. "How disgusting!" the preachers say to their happy congregants, "Look how miserable they are outside – families with one child and two dogs, nose-rings, drugs, etc.
From time to time the religious camp succeeds in bringing back to the fold a few of these miserable people still at liberty, and with cheers takes them into the reservation. These people themselves then become preachers, and bring back a few more returnees.
In fact, the number of religious people is on the rise. The secular people, who are not linked to the source of life, our Holy Torah, are decreasing in number. At one time, there were about ten religious Knesset Members, now there are more than thirty. Yet, while there are now far more religious people, religious Knesset Members and religious institutions, stores and malls are open on Shabbat as never before! Furthermore, all of the world's most filthy culture fills our streets far more than in the past, every gentile who wishes to be registered as a Jew can do so and a kosher restaurant is still hard to find in Tel Aviv.
All the great achievements (and they truly are great) remain within the reservation, and the country is going to the dogs. "Alright," say the cynics, "In the end only the religious will remain, the secular will disappear, and we will have a real Jewish State."
The truth of the matter is that without the secular Jews, the State of Israel would never have been established, and if all the secular Jews were to disappear overnight, and only the religious were to remain in the country, Israel would not continue to exist for even a moment! Some of the religious would become secular in order to run the country, and the others would quickly run into a new reservation.
An insufferable situation has arisen in which our Holy Torah has become totally irrelevant for the running of the new Jewish State. It is as if the Torah belonged to the institutions of the religious political parties. This terrible situation is entirely due to the religious camp! The religious camp is demonstrating day after day that the Torah is, G-d forbid, falsehood.
Manhigut Yehudit wants to bring about nothing less than a revolution. Not just another institution for the reservation, or another repenting Jew for the reservation, not even another religious general within the reservation. No more! We want to break down the walls of the reservation. We are not afraid. We don't need religious parties since we know that the Torah is the Truth. We really believe in it. So why should we be afraid? If you believe that you have the perfect tool, why should you be afraid to use it? Why are you afraid to propose that others use it? Perhaps it is because you don't really believe in it? What good is an ultra-sophisticated tank if you leave it parked?
The Jewish majority lies outside the reservation. The majority is liked to its Jewish identity and thirsts for a real message. The majority thirsts for leadership that will come to it, not in order to imprison it in a reservation, but to lead it to its great aims -- its true Jewish national aims. This majority is the Jewish camp -- the national camp. And the national camp is the Likud.
Yes, this is the same Likud with its ugly infighting. This is the same Likud that signed the Camp David agreements and destroyed the Yamit settlements. "Only Sharon can bring peace," and only the Likud can destroy the settlements! This is the Likud of the Tel Aviv open market and of the Jerusalem Beitar Soccer Team fans. This is the Jewish people. It is infected with all the afflictions of the Left, but this is the Jewish people, and only with it is it possible to go forward. To go forward in reality, not in the reservation.
So what are we looking for in the Likud? We want to find those Jews who want to remain Jews. The Left is led by a hard core that denies its Jewish identity. They want a new Middle East, without nations. They want to wipe out the Jewish People. As long as we remain in the reservation, no one will stop them.
The Jews who want to remain Jews are incapable of stopping the disintegration. But they are in the realm of responsibility and action. The Jews who have the secret code -- the Torah -- for stopping the disintegration stubbornly cling to the reservation.
Our #1 priority is to bring down the walls of the reservation and integrate the two.
More Articles by Moshe Feiglin
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Manhigut Yehudit Weekly Update
The Jewish Leadership Movement
Visit our new updated Manhigut Yehudit English Website at:www.jewishisrael.org
Weekly Email Update
for the 17th of Iyar 5765 (May 26)This update can also be read online at: www.jewishisrael.org/news/updates.htm
In this week's update:
Wild Flowers Grew in the Garden
Moshe Feiglin Warns: Beware of Provocateurs
A Visit to the AIPAC Convention in Wash. D.C.Announcements
New Articles
New Audio Uploads
New Torah Sparks
This Weeks Special Features
Wild Flowers Grew in the Garden
David was six years old when Rabin shook hands with Arafat. He didn't understand very much, but only remembered the _expression of helplessness on the face of his father, Yehuda.
After completing his service in the Israeli army, Yehuda married Tamar who had at the same time received a BA from Bar Ilan University. The loving couple built their home in a well-established settlement located 25 minutes from Jerusalem. This was during Shamir's period as prime minister, when it seemed that the Likud would rule forever. Although the Left continued to apply pressure, nothing seemed to threaten the future of the settlements. Government publicity on TV encouraged Israeli citizens to buy houses beyond the Green Line. The publicity slogan was "a place in the heart" (of the country).
Everything was wonderful. David was their first child, followed by a sister and two brothers. Then Shamir gave in to the pressure of the Left and went to the Madrid Conference. There in Madrid it was already clear that Arafat was returning to the scene, and when the Israelis realized that this was the name of the game, they handed over the reins of the government from Shamir, who had waged a fighting retreat, to Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin, the CGS in the Six Day War, was regarded as Mr. Security and, furthermore, promised a peace agreement within six months.
Yehuda and Tamar saw their secure world crumbling around then. Rabin (followed by Peres and Netanyahu) handed over the heart of the country to Arafat, armed his murderous organization with great quantities of weapons, and awarded international legitimacy and extensive economic aid to the enemy, while at the same time suppressing the sounds of protest that began to be heard amongst the Israeli public.
We could perhaps have swallowed all these troubles, but worst of all was the loss of the basis of national justice. We were no longer the good guys and our enemies were no longer the bad guys. "It's not us against them", explained Rabin, "but peace lovers against the enemies of peace from both nations".
Yehuda and Tamar were born a short time after the Six Day War and experienced the feelings of that victory. They remembered Operation Entebbe, and the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq. For them the State of Israel represented justice, readiness to fight for it, and the capability of achieving it. Suddenly everything changed -- the new equation detached Yehuda and Tamar from their just State of Israel, and turned them into enemies of the State and the nation. Their prime minister placed them together with the Hamas and the Hizballah (that were also opposed to Oslo). From now on they would no longer be pioneers in the forefront of Zionism, but its enemies.
Yehuda began participating in various protest activities. They didn't change anything, but at least helped him to relieve his frustration. When the Zo Artzeinu movement blocked the roads in the country, little David had just celebrated his seventh birthday. His mother told him to look after his brothers because she had to go and bring Daddy home from jail.
Ariel Sharon lay at that time in a protest tent and maintained a hunger strike against the government's policy. Afterwards Rabin was murdered, all the protests were stopped, and Peres took his place. Peres was given a golden opportunity to hand over to the terrorists all the towns in Yesha (Judea and Samaria), without any opposition, and he exploited it fully.
Later there were elections, which Netanyahu won, and then continued in exactly the same direction. Now Yehuda was in total despair. At that time the Arab terrorism increased in intensity: buses were blown up and horrors we had never previously experienced became routine events. The lives of the settlers became cheap, and in some isolated settlements they buried almost 10% of their men-folk.
Three years later Ehud Barak defeated Netanyahu in the elections. Just as in the time of Shamir, now also the Israeli public wanted a prime minister who could promise them everything. Rabin, the much decorated and determined general, had promised peace within six months and defeated Shamir, and now Barak, a similar figure to Rabin, promised peace within three months and defeated Netanyahu. Neither Shamir nor Netanyahu attempted to propose an alternative to the promise of peace of the Left. Their hesitation was manifest and their defeat was only a matter of time.
Barak tried to realize his promise by handing Jerusalem over to the enemy, but the terrorism that naturally increased prevented him from doing so. He ordered the IDF to flee in humiliation from Lebanon, and thus brought the city of Hadera within the range of the Hizballah's missiles. This led inevitably to his defeat.
The peak of the terrorist offensive began in 2000 after Sharon visited the Temple Mount. Arafat called it the Temple Mount War, and he was right. In the election campaign that followed, Yehuda stood at road junctions and handed out material in support of Sharon. He wasn't a Likudnik, but for him Sharon represented a lifeboat in the crisis. Apart from that, who else was there to vote for? Barak?
The public, that had already begun to realize the meaning of the Left's peace, fled from everything exuding a smell of Oslo. They wanted someone who would achieve real, not imaginary peace, would wage a small war and bring all this horror to an end. The Likud achieved a resounding victory, and Ariel Sharon became prime minister.
At the beginning of the decade that followed Rabin's hand shaking with Arafat, Yehuda fought to return to Israel what it had lost. He still remembered the feelings of victory, of belonging to a country in the right, of solidarity that crossed all the political lines. He was an enthusiastic Zionist, and wanted to return to the good, old Zionism that he knew.
However, Yehuda had an open mind, and when Netanyahu continued the Oslo process, he realized that the problem didn't lie simply with who was in power, the Left or the Right, the Labor Party or the Likud. A small pamphlet called Lechatchila began to appear in the synagogue in his settlement. The ideas expressed in it seemed to him to be totally naïve. They talked about the need to set up a belief-based alternative for the leadership of the country.
Yehuda didn't believe that it was possible, but he also realized that there was no other solution. He joined the ranks of Manhigut Yehudit (The Jewish Leadership Movement), and instead of clinging to the Israel that he had lost, he began to dream and to promote the belief-based one, that would eventually replace the one that had failed.
Little David grew up and became a strong, vital boy. A wild flower had grown in the garden of Yehuda and Tamar. David and his friends wore large kippot (scullcaps) and grew long, curly peot -- a kind of unconscious protest against the knitted kippa (scullcap) that was hidden by his father's Palmach-style haircut. Although Yehuda never changed his own appearance, he liked this fashion of the young people living in the hilltop settlements.
A new spirit began to emerge in Yesha. Yehuda couldn't explain it, but it made him feel good. He stopped clinging to the old-style Zionism, and realized that his son was representing something far more relevant.
His son David had never experienced the feelings of victory. The State hardly existed for him. It had not protected him against the Arabs who constantly hurled stones at the school bus he traveled in. It had not saved the father of Uri, his best friend, from that terrorist attack. It had released jailed terrorists who had blown off the legs of Shmuel, who sat behind him in class.
For David a bulletproof bus, concrete walls, and sand bags in the windows were routine things. Not only had the State failed to solve the problem, it had in fact created it, and even persecuted those who tried to defend themselves.
Yehuda and Tamar explained to David that the problem did not lie with the State but with the government. We love the State and the government will change. But David didn't really succeed in understanding these nuances. For him the State did not represent justice, but his parents and his friends did. The teachers and the settlement represented justice, but the State, the army, and the police were something mixed up, that sometimes protects me and sometimes persecutes me. They were something pitiful, that you have to hold onto, to prevent it from getting away.
David and his friends grew up in this duality during the Oslo decade. When Sharon decided to destroy entire settlements and evict their residents, David and his friends were 16 years old. They grew up with a great contradiction -- between wonderful G-d-fearing education, love for the nation and the country, restraint, pioneering, and self-sacrifice -- that they received from their parents, and the impotence, nihilism, and criminal abandonment radiated by their State.
David and his friends grew up with feelings of moral superiority over the State and its institutions, for which his parents still retained some degree of respect. But for David and his friends respect for the State had not ended. It had simply never begun. Yehuda didn't believe that the day would come when he would return his officer's card to his commander in the crack unit in which he served. "I joined the IDF in order to defend Jews and not evict them", he explained. "The day will come when the Israeli Army will return to its former state, and then I will be pleased to serve in it again".
Last week David and his friends sat down in the center of a major traffic route. When the policemen hit them, they laughed, as they had already seen far more dangerous things. When the police officer announced that those who wouldn't leave would be arrested at once, David and his friends surrounded him and vied to be the first arrested. David and his friends had already won.
When the prisoners were brought to the cells they sang loudly, and when the Police requested them to identify themselves, to give fingerprints, and be released under restrictive conditions, they laughed again and refused to cooperate. Their feelings of moral superiority dispelled their fear of the system and its enforcement agencies. The weapon of arrest and trial had totally lost its power of deterrence. The system found itself helpless in the face of a reality it had never expected.
However, the peak of the strength of the act displayed in the "Practice Run" could only be appreciated two days later. David and his friends were brought before a judge for extension of their period of detention. "We are prepared to release them", explained the exhausted police representative to the amazed judge, "but none of these minors is prepared to identify himself or to pledge not to repeat his action."
The judge looked in astonishment at the happy youngsters facing him. "Where are their parents?" he cried. "What kind of parents abandon their children in this way!" Yehuda, who sat at the back, stole a glance at his son who was clearly one of the leaders of the group. Tamar held back her tears. It wasn't easy for a mother who wanted to get up and hug her son in such a situation.
But David was already in the future, in a liberated Jewish Israel. Yehuda and Tamar had given up the old Israel and they were with him, with little David who had run forward, and had jumped from the existing "enlightened" dictatorship to the consciousness of freedom.
Yehuda and Tamar are nearing forty. Their son, David, is aged 16. They are together in this struggle and no-one can resist them. They have already won.
audio Listen to Moshe Feiglin about the new generation -- a "Silver Platter."
Moshe Feiglin Warns: Beware of Provocateurs
The success of the "Practice Run" operation of the National Home movement brought home to Sharon and the extreme Left pulling the strings behind him that with G-d's help the eviction plan will fail.
Sharon is not the kind of man who gives in easily. If he and the Left cannot evict the Jews of Gush Katif by sheer force, they can initiate acts of provocation. The situation in Israel today is chillingly similar to the situation before Rabin was shot. During that period, when it seemed that popular resistance to Oslo was about to defeat the plan, the GSS employed provocateurs to discredit the opposition. Today, the stakes are even higher. If the Left does not succeed in destroying Gush Katif, they know that they are finished. And the Left is traditionally not deterred by bloodshed. If a "settler" opens fire on soldiers, G-d forbid, the entire resistance to the eviction can be neutralized. Certainly no settler would do such a thing. And if no authentic settler can be found to fire the first shot, there are provocateurs that can do the job.
We shall defend Gush Katif and the State valiantly. We shall not permit the Left -- which desires to prove that they are not Jews but rather citizens of the world -- to create provocative acts of mutual firing. We shall never bring weapons to the regions of the confrontation. Anyone who does so will be regarded as an agent provocateur and removed from the area. For more on this subject see Moshe Feiglin's article: Civil War
A Visit to the AIPAC Convention in Wash. D.C.
Shmuel Sackett (Manhigut Yehudit's International Director), joined the AIPAC convention in Washington this week. Shmuel spent his days in the different meetings and discussions mingling with the 5000 Jews that came from all over the USA. During the evenings, Shmuel opened up a guest room in the hotel and invited all the participants to cake and coffee. His main goal, to use every minute possible to try and influence another soul.
As Shmuel said "The Jews that come to participate at this convention are the greatest. They come out of their true love and concern for the Land and People of Israel. The only problem is that they are completely uninformed with what is really happening in Israel and what Sharon and his mafia are truly planning. After you explain to them the simple facts that they didn't know (facts that have purposely been kept from them) it is very easy to convince them to oppose the disengagement from Gaza".
The climax of the convention was when Prime Minister Sharon spoke. As he mentioned his disengagement plans, two Jews (out of 5000) got up and yelled at him that he would never be successful (of course both were Manhigut Yehudit members -- Shmuel Sackett and Tova Abady). It only took about 30 seconds for the security agents to drag them out, but some of the crowd began to applaud, and there were shouts for and against. Sharon's speech was disrupted, reminding him once again that not everybody is in his pocket.
audio Click here to listen to Shmuel Sackett's report, live from the AIPAC convention in Wash DC.
Announcements
Starting on Thurs. afternoon, the 17th of Iyar - the eve of Lag Ba'omer (May 26) Dimitri Parnas will start recruiting new Manhigut Yehudit Likud members, in Miron. This is the most effective, long-term action to take in the political field. Dimitri needs your held. Call him now at 052-2840605 (Israel).
The public is requested to come to the demonstrations held opposite the jails. The flame of the struggle being waged stubbornly within the walls must be allowed to spread outside them also. Details can be found on the Manhigut Yehudit Hebrew website.
In the session of the Supreme Court held this week, in the presence of five judges headed by Barak, Moshe Feiglin represented himself and achieved a significant victory. As of now, there is no moral turpitude associated with the offence of incitement to rebellion, of which Feiglin was found guilty in the past. Because of the length of this week's update we shall give details of the drama that took place in the Supreme Court in next week's update.
This week Moshe Feiglin and Michael Fuah met with members of the Hakerem branch of the Likud in the Carmel Market, Tel Aviv. Yosef Mantinban from Yitzhar also participated in the meeting. Next week a similar meeting will be held in the Likud branch in North East Tel Aviv. It is recommended to come and participate. This is a real experience.
New Articles
An Open Letter to the Residents of Gush Katif by: Michael Fuah
Block Those Streets By Shifra Shomron (18 years old) Neve Dekalim
Jewish Peace -- The Torah Portion of Bechukotai by: Rabbi Dudi Spitz
New Audio Uploadsaudio Click here for links to the following audio files:
Shmuel Sackett: A Live Report from the AIPAC Convention in Wash. DC [first day]
Shmuel Sackett: A Live Report from the AIPAC Convention in Wash. DC [second day]
Moshe Feiglin: A New Generation In Israel -- The "Silver Platter"
Keep up to date with the latest articles and audio updates.Visit our "What's New? web page
New Torah Sparks
The angels danced and celebrated before Jacob when he entered the Land of Israel.(Breishit Rabah 74)
Whoever has the merit to connect to the Holy Land in his lifetime merits to connect in the future to the Holy Land in Heaven Above.(Zohar)
Click here for more Torah Sparks
This Weeks Special Features
Featured Reading: Read about the: The Goal The Struggle for Eretz Yisrael and the Existence of the State by: Moshe Feiglin
"Palestinians" Don't Exist… but Neither Do "Israelis" by: Shmuel Sackett
Featured Audio: audio Survival Versus Identity by: Moshe Feiglin
audio The Root of the Problem by: Shmuel Sackett
The Jewish Leadership Movement
Visit our new updated Manhigut Yehudit English Website at:www.jewishisrael.org
Weekly Email Update
for the 17th of Iyar 5765 (May 26)This update can also be read online at: www.jewishisrael.org/news/updates.htm
In this week's update:
Wild Flowers Grew in the Garden
Moshe Feiglin Warns: Beware of Provocateurs
A Visit to the AIPAC Convention in Wash. D.C.Announcements
New Articles
New Audio Uploads
New Torah Sparks
This Weeks Special Features
Wild Flowers Grew in the Garden
David was six years old when Rabin shook hands with Arafat. He didn't understand very much, but only remembered the _expression of helplessness on the face of his father, Yehuda.
After completing his service in the Israeli army, Yehuda married Tamar who had at the same time received a BA from Bar Ilan University. The loving couple built their home in a well-established settlement located 25 minutes from Jerusalem. This was during Shamir's period as prime minister, when it seemed that the Likud would rule forever. Although the Left continued to apply pressure, nothing seemed to threaten the future of the settlements. Government publicity on TV encouraged Israeli citizens to buy houses beyond the Green Line. The publicity slogan was "a place in the heart" (of the country).
Everything was wonderful. David was their first child, followed by a sister and two brothers. Then Shamir gave in to the pressure of the Left and went to the Madrid Conference. There in Madrid it was already clear that Arafat was returning to the scene, and when the Israelis realized that this was the name of the game, they handed over the reins of the government from Shamir, who had waged a fighting retreat, to Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin, the CGS in the Six Day War, was regarded as Mr. Security and, furthermore, promised a peace agreement within six months.
Yehuda and Tamar saw their secure world crumbling around then. Rabin (followed by Peres and Netanyahu) handed over the heart of the country to Arafat, armed his murderous organization with great quantities of weapons, and awarded international legitimacy and extensive economic aid to the enemy, while at the same time suppressing the sounds of protest that began to be heard amongst the Israeli public.
We could perhaps have swallowed all these troubles, but worst of all was the loss of the basis of national justice. We were no longer the good guys and our enemies were no longer the bad guys. "It's not us against them", explained Rabin, "but peace lovers against the enemies of peace from both nations".
Yehuda and Tamar were born a short time after the Six Day War and experienced the feelings of that victory. They remembered Operation Entebbe, and the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq. For them the State of Israel represented justice, readiness to fight for it, and the capability of achieving it. Suddenly everything changed -- the new equation detached Yehuda and Tamar from their just State of Israel, and turned them into enemies of the State and the nation. Their prime minister placed them together with the Hamas and the Hizballah (that were also opposed to Oslo). From now on they would no longer be pioneers in the forefront of Zionism, but its enemies.
Yehuda began participating in various protest activities. They didn't change anything, but at least helped him to relieve his frustration. When the Zo Artzeinu movement blocked the roads in the country, little David had just celebrated his seventh birthday. His mother told him to look after his brothers because she had to go and bring Daddy home from jail.
Ariel Sharon lay at that time in a protest tent and maintained a hunger strike against the government's policy. Afterwards Rabin was murdered, all the protests were stopped, and Peres took his place. Peres was given a golden opportunity to hand over to the terrorists all the towns in Yesha (Judea and Samaria), without any opposition, and he exploited it fully.
Later there were elections, which Netanyahu won, and then continued in exactly the same direction. Now Yehuda was in total despair. At that time the Arab terrorism increased in intensity: buses were blown up and horrors we had never previously experienced became routine events. The lives of the settlers became cheap, and in some isolated settlements they buried almost 10% of their men-folk.
Three years later Ehud Barak defeated Netanyahu in the elections. Just as in the time of Shamir, now also the Israeli public wanted a prime minister who could promise them everything. Rabin, the much decorated and determined general, had promised peace within six months and defeated Shamir, and now Barak, a similar figure to Rabin, promised peace within three months and defeated Netanyahu. Neither Shamir nor Netanyahu attempted to propose an alternative to the promise of peace of the Left. Their hesitation was manifest and their defeat was only a matter of time.
Barak tried to realize his promise by handing Jerusalem over to the enemy, but the terrorism that naturally increased prevented him from doing so. He ordered the IDF to flee in humiliation from Lebanon, and thus brought the city of Hadera within the range of the Hizballah's missiles. This led inevitably to his defeat.
The peak of the terrorist offensive began in 2000 after Sharon visited the Temple Mount. Arafat called it the Temple Mount War, and he was right. In the election campaign that followed, Yehuda stood at road junctions and handed out material in support of Sharon. He wasn't a Likudnik, but for him Sharon represented a lifeboat in the crisis. Apart from that, who else was there to vote for? Barak?
The public, that had already begun to realize the meaning of the Left's peace, fled from everything exuding a smell of Oslo. They wanted someone who would achieve real, not imaginary peace, would wage a small war and bring all this horror to an end. The Likud achieved a resounding victory, and Ariel Sharon became prime minister.
At the beginning of the decade that followed Rabin's hand shaking with Arafat, Yehuda fought to return to Israel what it had lost. He still remembered the feelings of victory, of belonging to a country in the right, of solidarity that crossed all the political lines. He was an enthusiastic Zionist, and wanted to return to the good, old Zionism that he knew.
However, Yehuda had an open mind, and when Netanyahu continued the Oslo process, he realized that the problem didn't lie simply with who was in power, the Left or the Right, the Labor Party or the Likud. A small pamphlet called Lechatchila began to appear in the synagogue in his settlement. The ideas expressed in it seemed to him to be totally naïve. They talked about the need to set up a belief-based alternative for the leadership of the country.
Yehuda didn't believe that it was possible, but he also realized that there was no other solution. He joined the ranks of Manhigut Yehudit (The Jewish Leadership Movement), and instead of clinging to the Israel that he had lost, he began to dream and to promote the belief-based one, that would eventually replace the one that had failed.
Little David grew up and became a strong, vital boy. A wild flower had grown in the garden of Yehuda and Tamar. David and his friends wore large kippot (scullcaps) and grew long, curly peot -- a kind of unconscious protest against the knitted kippa (scullcap) that was hidden by his father's Palmach-style haircut. Although Yehuda never changed his own appearance, he liked this fashion of the young people living in the hilltop settlements.
A new spirit began to emerge in Yesha. Yehuda couldn't explain it, but it made him feel good. He stopped clinging to the old-style Zionism, and realized that his son was representing something far more relevant.
His son David had never experienced the feelings of victory. The State hardly existed for him. It had not protected him against the Arabs who constantly hurled stones at the school bus he traveled in. It had not saved the father of Uri, his best friend, from that terrorist attack. It had released jailed terrorists who had blown off the legs of Shmuel, who sat behind him in class.
For David a bulletproof bus, concrete walls, and sand bags in the windows were routine things. Not only had the State failed to solve the problem, it had in fact created it, and even persecuted those who tried to defend themselves.
Yehuda and Tamar explained to David that the problem did not lie with the State but with the government. We love the State and the government will change. But David didn't really succeed in understanding these nuances. For him the State did not represent justice, but his parents and his friends did. The teachers and the settlement represented justice, but the State, the army, and the police were something mixed up, that sometimes protects me and sometimes persecutes me. They were something pitiful, that you have to hold onto, to prevent it from getting away.
David and his friends grew up in this duality during the Oslo decade. When Sharon decided to destroy entire settlements and evict their residents, David and his friends were 16 years old. They grew up with a great contradiction -- between wonderful G-d-fearing education, love for the nation and the country, restraint, pioneering, and self-sacrifice -- that they received from their parents, and the impotence, nihilism, and criminal abandonment radiated by their State.
David and his friends grew up with feelings of moral superiority over the State and its institutions, for which his parents still retained some degree of respect. But for David and his friends respect for the State had not ended. It had simply never begun. Yehuda didn't believe that the day would come when he would return his officer's card to his commander in the crack unit in which he served. "I joined the IDF in order to defend Jews and not evict them", he explained. "The day will come when the Israeli Army will return to its former state, and then I will be pleased to serve in it again".
Last week David and his friends sat down in the center of a major traffic route. When the policemen hit them, they laughed, as they had already seen far more dangerous things. When the police officer announced that those who wouldn't leave would be arrested at once, David and his friends surrounded him and vied to be the first arrested. David and his friends had already won.
When the prisoners were brought to the cells they sang loudly, and when the Police requested them to identify themselves, to give fingerprints, and be released under restrictive conditions, they laughed again and refused to cooperate. Their feelings of moral superiority dispelled their fear of the system and its enforcement agencies. The weapon of arrest and trial had totally lost its power of deterrence. The system found itself helpless in the face of a reality it had never expected.
However, the peak of the strength of the act displayed in the "Practice Run" could only be appreciated two days later. David and his friends were brought before a judge for extension of their period of detention. "We are prepared to release them", explained the exhausted police representative to the amazed judge, "but none of these minors is prepared to identify himself or to pledge not to repeat his action."
The judge looked in astonishment at the happy youngsters facing him. "Where are their parents?" he cried. "What kind of parents abandon their children in this way!" Yehuda, who sat at the back, stole a glance at his son who was clearly one of the leaders of the group. Tamar held back her tears. It wasn't easy for a mother who wanted to get up and hug her son in such a situation.
But David was already in the future, in a liberated Jewish Israel. Yehuda and Tamar had given up the old Israel and they were with him, with little David who had run forward, and had jumped from the existing "enlightened" dictatorship to the consciousness of freedom.
Yehuda and Tamar are nearing forty. Their son, David, is aged 16. They are together in this struggle and no-one can resist them. They have already won.
audio Listen to Moshe Feiglin about the new generation -- a "Silver Platter."
Moshe Feiglin Warns: Beware of Provocateurs
The success of the "Practice Run" operation of the National Home movement brought home to Sharon and the extreme Left pulling the strings behind him that with G-d's help the eviction plan will fail.
Sharon is not the kind of man who gives in easily. If he and the Left cannot evict the Jews of Gush Katif by sheer force, they can initiate acts of provocation. The situation in Israel today is chillingly similar to the situation before Rabin was shot. During that period, when it seemed that popular resistance to Oslo was about to defeat the plan, the GSS employed provocateurs to discredit the opposition. Today, the stakes are even higher. If the Left does not succeed in destroying Gush Katif, they know that they are finished. And the Left is traditionally not deterred by bloodshed. If a "settler" opens fire on soldiers, G-d forbid, the entire resistance to the eviction can be neutralized. Certainly no settler would do such a thing. And if no authentic settler can be found to fire the first shot, there are provocateurs that can do the job.
We shall defend Gush Katif and the State valiantly. We shall not permit the Left -- which desires to prove that they are not Jews but rather citizens of the world -- to create provocative acts of mutual firing. We shall never bring weapons to the regions of the confrontation. Anyone who does so will be regarded as an agent provocateur and removed from the area. For more on this subject see Moshe Feiglin's article: Civil War
A Visit to the AIPAC Convention in Wash. D.C.
Shmuel Sackett (Manhigut Yehudit's International Director), joined the AIPAC convention in Washington this week. Shmuel spent his days in the different meetings and discussions mingling with the 5000 Jews that came from all over the USA. During the evenings, Shmuel opened up a guest room in the hotel and invited all the participants to cake and coffee. His main goal, to use every minute possible to try and influence another soul.
As Shmuel said "The Jews that come to participate at this convention are the greatest. They come out of their true love and concern for the Land and People of Israel. The only problem is that they are completely uninformed with what is really happening in Israel and what Sharon and his mafia are truly planning. After you explain to them the simple facts that they didn't know (facts that have purposely been kept from them) it is very easy to convince them to oppose the disengagement from Gaza".
The climax of the convention was when Prime Minister Sharon spoke. As he mentioned his disengagement plans, two Jews (out of 5000) got up and yelled at him that he would never be successful (of course both were Manhigut Yehudit members -- Shmuel Sackett and Tova Abady). It only took about 30 seconds for the security agents to drag them out, but some of the crowd began to applaud, and there were shouts for and against. Sharon's speech was disrupted, reminding him once again that not everybody is in his pocket.
audio Click here to listen to Shmuel Sackett's report, live from the AIPAC convention in Wash DC.
Announcements
Starting on Thurs. afternoon, the 17th of Iyar - the eve of Lag Ba'omer (May 26) Dimitri Parnas will start recruiting new Manhigut Yehudit Likud members, in Miron. This is the most effective, long-term action to take in the political field. Dimitri needs your held. Call him now at 052-2840605 (Israel).
The public is requested to come to the demonstrations held opposite the jails. The flame of the struggle being waged stubbornly within the walls must be allowed to spread outside them also. Details can be found on the Manhigut Yehudit Hebrew website.
In the session of the Supreme Court held this week, in the presence of five judges headed by Barak, Moshe Feiglin represented himself and achieved a significant victory. As of now, there is no moral turpitude associated with the offence of incitement to rebellion, of which Feiglin was found guilty in the past. Because of the length of this week's update we shall give details of the drama that took place in the Supreme Court in next week's update.
This week Moshe Feiglin and Michael Fuah met with members of the Hakerem branch of the Likud in the Carmel Market, Tel Aviv. Yosef Mantinban from Yitzhar also participated in the meeting. Next week a similar meeting will be held in the Likud branch in North East Tel Aviv. It is recommended to come and participate. This is a real experience.
New Articles
An Open Letter to the Residents of Gush Katif by: Michael Fuah
Block Those Streets By Shifra Shomron (18 years old) Neve Dekalim
Jewish Peace -- The Torah Portion of Bechukotai by: Rabbi Dudi Spitz
New Audio Uploadsaudio Click here for links to the following audio files:
Shmuel Sackett: A Live Report from the AIPAC Convention in Wash. DC [first day]
Shmuel Sackett: A Live Report from the AIPAC Convention in Wash. DC [second day]
Moshe Feiglin: A New Generation In Israel -- The "Silver Platter"
Keep up to date with the latest articles and audio updates.Visit our "What's New? web page
New Torah Sparks
The angels danced and celebrated before Jacob when he entered the Land of Israel.(Breishit Rabah 74)
Whoever has the merit to connect to the Holy Land in his lifetime merits to connect in the future to the Holy Land in Heaven Above.(Zohar)
Click here for more Torah Sparks
This Weeks Special Features
Featured Reading: Read about the: The Goal The Struggle for Eretz Yisrael and the Existence of the State by: Moshe Feiglin
"Palestinians" Don't Exist… but Neither Do "Israelis" by: Shmuel Sackett
Featured Audio: audio Survival Versus Identity by: Moshe Feiglin
audio The Root of the Problem by: Shmuel Sackett
Friday, May 20, 2005
What an Army Should Be and what the Isreali army no longer represents
Though Israel's army has been called one of the best in the world, its current officers and generals have recently began to act more like politicians than soldiers, pushing the retoric of diplomatic solutions to win our current war, and even acknowledging their duty to evict Jews from thier own homes instaed of focusing on fighting our relentless enemies, this quote from General Doglas Macarthur (in his farewell speeck to the Cadets of West Point in 1962) is very refreshing indeed...
"Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country.
Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardians, as its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.
These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds."
I write this post as a proud Jew who serves in the Israeli army yearly as part of my reserve duty.
Though Israel's army has been called one of the best in the world, its current officers and generals have recently began to act more like politicians than soldiers, pushing the retoric of diplomatic solutions to win our current war, and even acknowledging their duty to evict Jews from thier own homes instaed of focusing on fighting our relentless enemies, this quote from General Doglas Macarthur (in his farewell speeck to the Cadets of West Point in 1962) is very refreshing indeed...
"Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country.
Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men's minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation's war guardians, as its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.
These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.
You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the Nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds."
I write this post as a proud Jew who serves in the Israeli army yearly as part of my reserve duty.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Road Blocking Demostrations in Israel - A Process of Returning the Power to the People!!
There are those who claim that the road blocking demostrations, where citizens block the traffic on key intersections in Israel, hurt the cause of resitence to Sharon's plan to expel the Jews from Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron. Not only that, some even say that it is a chilul Hashem (desecrating G-d's name)!
I beg to differ, I believe it is a huge kiddush hashem and symbolic of the
transition that we are seeing unfold before our eyes in Israel - where
Israeli citizens are finally acting in a way to bring about "power to
the people" in the running of this country. No longer are Israeli
citizens trusting of their elected leaders, and willing to sit back and
act nicey nicey when our votes/elections are disgraced by elected
officials disdain - since their words to us constituents mean nothing
in their actual political activity.
This country is now being shook up by its citizens so that the voices and votes of the people who live and die for this country will be counted. The most beuatiful
thing about the process unfolding before our eyes is that now it is
the youth who are in the forefront of this struggle. They are this
country's future and they are full of emunah/faith and not afraid of the
threats and intimidation of our government and elected officials.
As for the claim of sinat chinam (causing hatred) and chilul Hashem (desecratign G-d's name), I really beg to differ - those who
are cursing us in the traffic jams would be cursing us anyway.
Besides, you are forgeting all those trapped in traffic who honk
their horns in support and ask for stickers to place on their cars.
The blocking of traffic not only proved that we can jam up the roads
of this country successfully but that the police department can't
even count on all its policemen to go about doing their duties in the expulsion plan. Many many cases have been told of policemen throughout the country who either stood on the sidelines without interrrupting the protestors, or whom handled the protestors
nicely and those whom even told protestors that they support them.
Yes, there were those who went about their job as ordered, and dragged protestors into police cars and some who even hit protestors, but the
cracks have appeared in the police forces that won't go unoticed by
Sharon and the government.
Thank G-d Am Yisrael is waking up and realizing that we must be
accountable for our future. Elections and placing pieces of paper in
ballot boxes don't do it in this country. The Israeli government long
ago proved to us that it can't be trusted for our future or for
following the will of the voters (Rabin's promises, Bibi's promises,
Sharon's promises etc).
Sharon's un-democratic method of pushing through his Jewish expulsion
plan has actually assisted in awaking more and more Jews to act upon
this injustice to Am Yisrael.
I have deep emunah/faith that everything is for the best, and with all the
evil of Sharon's expulsion plan it seems that it might be meant to
expose all of our governments ill methods so that Am Yisrael ends
up taking responsability for its future and leading Eretz Yisrael to
a better future. The struggle for Gush Katif and the Shomron might be
the instigator to the protests but the true cause of this struggle is
much much greater, the process to change Israel from a democracy in
name only to a true Jewish democracy.
That's my guess, you of course can disagree.
In the meantime, lets continue to act to bring about "Power to the People!"
Avi
There are those who claim that the road blocking demostrations, where citizens block the traffic on key intersections in Israel, hurt the cause of resitence to Sharon's plan to expel the Jews from Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron. Not only that, some even say that it is a chilul Hashem (desecrating G-d's name)!
I beg to differ, I believe it is a huge kiddush hashem and symbolic of the
transition that we are seeing unfold before our eyes in Israel - where
Israeli citizens are finally acting in a way to bring about "power to
the people" in the running of this country. No longer are Israeli
citizens trusting of their elected leaders, and willing to sit back and
act nicey nicey when our votes/elections are disgraced by elected
officials disdain - since their words to us constituents mean nothing
in their actual political activity.
This country is now being shook up by its citizens so that the voices and votes of the people who live and die for this country will be counted. The most beuatiful
thing about the process unfolding before our eyes is that now it is
the youth who are in the forefront of this struggle. They are this
country's future and they are full of emunah/faith and not afraid of the
threats and intimidation of our government and elected officials.
As for the claim of sinat chinam (causing hatred) and chilul Hashem (desecratign G-d's name), I really beg to differ - those who
are cursing us in the traffic jams would be cursing us anyway.
Besides, you are forgeting all those trapped in traffic who honk
their horns in support and ask for stickers to place on their cars.
The blocking of traffic not only proved that we can jam up the roads
of this country successfully but that the police department can't
even count on all its policemen to go about doing their duties in the expulsion plan. Many many cases have been told of policemen throughout the country who either stood on the sidelines without interrrupting the protestors, or whom handled the protestors
nicely and those whom even told protestors that they support them.
Yes, there were those who went about their job as ordered, and dragged protestors into police cars and some who even hit protestors, but the
cracks have appeared in the police forces that won't go unoticed by
Sharon and the government.
Thank G-d Am Yisrael is waking up and realizing that we must be
accountable for our future. Elections and placing pieces of paper in
ballot boxes don't do it in this country. The Israeli government long
ago proved to us that it can't be trusted for our future or for
following the will of the voters (Rabin's promises, Bibi's promises,
Sharon's promises etc).
Sharon's un-democratic method of pushing through his Jewish expulsion
plan has actually assisted in awaking more and more Jews to act upon
this injustice to Am Yisrael.
I have deep emunah/faith that everything is for the best, and with all the
evil of Sharon's expulsion plan it seems that it might be meant to
expose all of our governments ill methods so that Am Yisrael ends
up taking responsability for its future and leading Eretz Yisrael to
a better future. The struggle for Gush Katif and the Shomron might be
the instigator to the protests but the true cause of this struggle is
much much greater, the process to change Israel from a democracy in
name only to a true Jewish democracy.
That's my guess, you of course can disagree.
In the meantime, lets continue to act to bring about "Power to the People!"
Avi
Manhigut Yehudit Weekly Update
The success of the "weapons trial" operation of the National Home movement brought home to Sharon and the extreme Left pulling the strings behind him that with G-d's help the eviction plan will fail. The moment restrictions are placed on the movement of residents of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron, the moment it is attempted to block their entry and exit from their homes, the masses of the Israeli public will go out to the streets and physically prevent the perpetration of the crime.
This fact joins a long list of complications and internal contradictions that is constantly increasing in length. Sharon is not the kind of man who gives in easily, and the Left is not deterred by the prospect of bloodshed. The impasse reached by the eviction forces almost certainly invites acts of provocation and manipulation of the basest kind, compared to which the deeds of Avishai Raviv will seem like child's play.
The fact that the affair of the eccentric people whom the military branch of the Left (AKA the Jewish Department of the GSS) has for a long time failed to spur into irrational action on the Temple Mount, and was in the end forced to release without charges being brought against them, and the fact that this ridiculous affair made the headlines precisely on the evening before the blocking of the roads, proves to what degree the various branches of the regime are working together in the service of the Left.
We are standing, with G-d's help, on the brink of victory and we must continue to apply pressure by all legitimate means until the evil decree is cancelled. However, we are facing the extremist Left that is receiving total support from the media, the judicial system, the Jewish Department of the GSS, and seasoned politicians, and is receiving unlimited financial aid from anti-Semitic sources in Europe. (See Prof. Hanokuglo's excellent article http://he.manhigut.org/content/view/1523/119 .)
These forces, that represent a significant minority, will not give up their hegemony and control over the State of Israel. Someone at some stage will fire at a policeman, someone will claim that he was acting on behalf of some kind of Eyal organization, someone will reveal that he received the blessing of rabbis, and so on. We've already seen this movie, and the last time it was successful. We have to be aware of the danger, both in order to try and thwart such scenarios, and to understand the meaning of such events if, G-d forbid, they take place, and not allow the victory to slip through our fingers.
The Left and Sharon are deliberately pushing Israel into a civil war. Those who still don't understand this were given a horrifying reminder this week in the words of the secretary-general of Peace Now, Yariv Openheimer: "We're prepared for a civil war". (For the entire quote click here: http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/001-D-66588-00.html?tag=10-11-29).
We shall defend Gush Katif and the State valiantly. We shall not permit the Left, that desires Jewish blood to be shed, to create provocative acts of mutual firing. We shall never bring weapons to the regions of the confrontation. Anyone who does so will be regarded as an agent provocateur and removed from the area.
See also the report in NRG: "The person who distributed the sticker Sharon, Lily is waiting for you is a Police employee." http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART/872/965.html
Another trick of the Avishai Raviv type was the "Halachic ruling" of Rabbi Karadi (the Inspector-General of the Police), permitting non-Jewishsoldiers to be killed.
It seems that this sad (but essential) opening will become an integral part of the updates in the coming weeks. Readers are invited to send us examples of similar provocative acts.
For further details click here http://www.jewishisrael.org/views/feiglin/feiglin_6512.htm
In this week's update:
The Silver Platter
Jewish Policemen Won't Hit or Evict Jews
On the Time Axis
The Meeting in the Northern Tel Aviv Branch of the Likud
The Supreme Court Session Regarding Moral Turpitude
Announcements
Articles
The Silver Platter
There is one significant difference between the "weapons trial" held this week and the road blocking operations carried out by Zo Artzeinu ten years ago. Zo Artzeinu did not have support from youth. Over the last ten years a new, wonderful generation has grown up in Yesha and amongst the belief-based public. These are young people, seeking the truth, who when growing up were exposed to the helplessness and wretchedness of G-dless Zionism that is currently engaged in self destruction.
These young people have many acquaintances who died as a result of the State's impotence, and they now realize that they are bearing a far greater truth than the official position of the State of Israel. They understand that the State is ill and that they are healthy. They recognize that they are the remedy, the chance, the trunk supporting the sick branches of the State.
Obviously, with such an awareness, arrest doesn't frighten them. These young people aren't afraid of the police because they feel a sense of moral superiority. As opposed to Zo Artzeinu, these young people have the strength and the desire to continue the struggle. They are the silver platter enabling the State of Israel to continue to exist. Because of them Israel will extricate itself from the terrible crisis into which it has been led by the criminal, sick leadership. Because of these young people Israel will be freed from the grip of the enlightened dictatorship and will become a State of real Jewish Liberty.
The Manhigut Yehudit movement salutes Ariel Weingruber and Shai Malka, leaders of the National Home movement, and all this successful generation that is currently bearing the burden of the struggle for our liberty. (Naturally we don't forget the older members, many of whom were arrested yesterday.) With G-d's help the eviction plan will be cancelled and the lives of thousands of Jews who have been condemned to death as a result of it (as happened following the Oslo agreement) will be saved. It's possible that the same irritable driver who cursed the people blocking the roads will have his life saved by their action.
Another innovation heralding great chances is the presence of the Haredi public. At many blocked junctions Jews wearing Haredi clothes joined the blockers. We congratulate them and give them our support. The link being established in recent years between the Haredi and the national-religious publics represents real partnership, and its development, as was seen on the roads, is far more significant than the simple increase in the number of blockers. The Jewish ethos as a factor unifying all parts of the public in Israel permits the Haredi public to participate in the shaping of the State's image, while bypassing the problem of identifying with secular Zionism, that it has always detested.
Jewish Policemen Won't Hit or Evict Jews
Alongside the usual exhibition of violence and strong-arm tactics by the Police we saw an encouraging event. At first we thought this was a chance occurrence, but it was repeated in many places throughout the country. Many policemen simply didn't feel like clearing the road junction. More and more demonstrators began sensing that the Police were with us. They didn't refuse to obey orders, they didn't go over to the other side, and in fact no-one asked them to do so. However, it was clear that many of them were actually pleased with what was happening.
It seems that not only the IDF but also the Israeli police are in the final analysis based on our sons. The "weapons trial" operation examined not only the readiness of our sons to struggle, but also their readiness to cooperate with the eviction idea. The pleasant surprise we experienced yesterday at such an early stage indicates what, with G-d's help, will happen if, G-d forbid, a criminal order is given to evict Jews from their homes.
It is strongly recommended to listen to the following interview with an anonymous activist who describes the behavior of the Police. Click here: http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/audio/malF_17505.asx
On the Time Axis
The current struggle, despite its great importance, is just another "event" on the time axis. We are witnessing the changing of the guard. The old guard doesn't wish to give up its domination and is opposing the first signs of the change. The new guard is hesitating to assume responsibility, to come forward and lead the nation towards its historical objectives. Precisely because of the current events it is right to re-examine the basic assumptions of Manhigut Yehudit. What did we think? From what basic assumptions did we set out? Did we correctly predict the developing reality? A positive answer to all these questions gives grounds for assuming that we are on the right path.
Motti Karpel's new book, On the Time Axis, is a fascinating document that presents the leading articles of Lechatchila since its foundation. In order to understand what is happening now, as part of an overall pattern, you must read this book.
Call 09-7929046 now. You can also order other books from the Manhigut Yehudit library.
The Meeting in the Northern Tel Aviv Branch of the Likud
Last Tuesday Moshe Feiglin and heads of Manhigut Yehudit met with members of the Likud branch in Northern Tel Aviv. The meeting was one of a series of lectures and meetings aimed at getting to know branch members and presenting our positions in a direct, real manner. About 30 branch members attended the meeting and listened attentively to the various ideas presented by the Manhigut Yehuditcandidate for leadership of the party, Moshe Feiglin. The numerous questions addressed to Moshe and to Michael Fuah on various subjects exposed the tremendous leadership crisis existing in the party, and the desire to hear clear views about political and social issues.
The next meeting will be held in the Likud Kerem branch in Tel Aviv, on Tuesday, Iyar 15 (24.5.05).
The Supreme Court Session Regarding Moral Turpitude
This coming Sunday, at 08:00, Aharon Barak and a large number of Supreme Court judges will discuss the subject of Moshe Feiglin's "moral turpitude".
As will be recalled, before the last electionsMoshe was awarded the 38th place in the Likud list for the Knesset. MK Naomi Hazan from Meretz submitted a petition to the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Heshin, claiming that Feiglin (who had blocked roads at the time of Oslo and had been found guilty of rebellion) had committed an offence involving moral turpitude, and could not therefore be a candidate for the Knesset.
Heshin asked Feiglin why he had not declared, in accordance with the law, the offence that he had committed. Feiglin explained that he had not conceived that there could be any connection between the law of moral turpitude (created for tax offences command by Shmuel Plato Sharon) and the offence of public protest for which he had served a sentence. In response Heshin informed Feiglin in writing that he would extend the time available for submitting the official announcement regarding committing an offence in the past, and would subsequently address the issue of whether moral turpitude was involved.
Within the specified period Feiglin submitted the declaration, and (as expected) Heshin ruled that moral turpitude was in fact involved and therefore disqualified Feiglin's candidacy for the Knesset.
Feiglin submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, which with a composition of 11 judges decided not to rule in the matter. (It is somewhat problematic to prevent a person who blocked roads and served his sentence from being a candidate for the Knesset, while still pretending to be a democratic institution.) So how could Feiglin be kept out of the Knesset? The Supreme Court decided to ignore Heshin's decision to give Feiglin more time to submit the request and disqualified Feiglin on the technical grounds that "he did not submit the request in time".
Six judges did however decide to address the issue of moral turpitude. Three of them said that it existed, and three that it did not. One of the righteous people was Judge Tirkel, who subsequently replaced Heshin as chairman of the Elections Committee.
A year ago, when it seemed that elections were in the offing, Feiglin applied to Tirkel and asked him to determine now that there was no moral turpitude, so that he could be a candidate for the leadership of the Likud and for the Knesset. In response, Tirkel requested the views of Attorney-General Mazuz. The latter, as expected, stated that Feiglin's request should be rejected, for two reasons: a) There was no point in discussing the issue because the moral turpitude would expire anyway in July 2005 and the elections would come later. b) There was "heavy" moral turpitude in Feiglin's actions. Tirkel did not accept Mazuz's arguments and ruled that there was no moral turpitude in the offence committed by Feiglin. However, Mazuz then conveniently forgot his first argument and submitted a petition to the Supreme Court against Tirkel and Feiglin.
The Supreme Court requested Feiglin's response to Mazuz's petition. Feiglin replied with a brief document stating, in effect, that "you are all corrupt!". (To view Feiglin's reply click here: http://he.manhigut.org/content/view/1337)
The session will be held on Sunday in hall C, at 08:00. It will be interesting (but of no practical meaning, since the period of the moral turpitude expires anyway in another month).
New Articles
There is a New Generation in Israel! by: Moshe Feiglin
New Audio Uploads
There is New Generation in Israel! an audio interview with: Moshe Feiglin
Building Israel for Jewish Values the "Jewish Leadership Show" with Shmuel Sackett
Keep up to date with the latest articles and audio updates.
Visit our "What's New? web page
Our aim: To perfect the world in the kingdom of the Almighty
Manhigut Yehudit
The success of the "weapons trial" operation of the National Home movement brought home to Sharon and the extreme Left pulling the strings behind him that with G-d's help the eviction plan will fail. The moment restrictions are placed on the movement of residents of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron, the moment it is attempted to block their entry and exit from their homes, the masses of the Israeli public will go out to the streets and physically prevent the perpetration of the crime.
This fact joins a long list of complications and internal contradictions that is constantly increasing in length. Sharon is not the kind of man who gives in easily, and the Left is not deterred by the prospect of bloodshed. The impasse reached by the eviction forces almost certainly invites acts of provocation and manipulation of the basest kind, compared to which the deeds of Avishai Raviv will seem like child's play.
The fact that the affair of the eccentric people whom the military branch of the Left (AKA the Jewish Department of the GSS) has for a long time failed to spur into irrational action on the Temple Mount, and was in the end forced to release without charges being brought against them, and the fact that this ridiculous affair made the headlines precisely on the evening before the blocking of the roads, proves to what degree the various branches of the regime are working together in the service of the Left.
We are standing, with G-d's help, on the brink of victory and we must continue to apply pressure by all legitimate means until the evil decree is cancelled. However, we are facing the extremist Left that is receiving total support from the media, the judicial system, the Jewish Department of the GSS, and seasoned politicians, and is receiving unlimited financial aid from anti-Semitic sources in Europe. (See Prof. Hanokuglo's excellent article http://he.manhigut.org/content/view/1523/119 .)
These forces, that represent a significant minority, will not give up their hegemony and control over the State of Israel. Someone at some stage will fire at a policeman, someone will claim that he was acting on behalf of some kind of Eyal organization, someone will reveal that he received the blessing of rabbis, and so on. We've already seen this movie, and the last time it was successful. We have to be aware of the danger, both in order to try and thwart such scenarios, and to understand the meaning of such events if, G-d forbid, they take place, and not allow the victory to slip through our fingers.
The Left and Sharon are deliberately pushing Israel into a civil war. Those who still don't understand this were given a horrifying reminder this week in the words of the secretary-general of Peace Now, Yariv Openheimer: "We're prepared for a civil war". (For the entire quote click here: http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/001-D-66588-00.html?tag=10-11-29).
We shall defend Gush Katif and the State valiantly. We shall not permit the Left, that desires Jewish blood to be shed, to create provocative acts of mutual firing. We shall never bring weapons to the regions of the confrontation. Anyone who does so will be regarded as an agent provocateur and removed from the area.
See also the report in NRG: "The person who distributed the sticker Sharon, Lily is waiting for you is a Police employee." http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART/872/965.html
Another trick of the Avishai Raviv type was the "Halachic ruling" of Rabbi Karadi (the Inspector-General of the Police), permitting non-Jewishsoldiers to be killed.
It seems that this sad (but essential) opening will become an integral part of the updates in the coming weeks. Readers are invited to send us examples of similar provocative acts.
For further details click here http://www.jewishisrael.org/views/feiglin/feiglin_6512.htm
In this week's update:
The Silver Platter
Jewish Policemen Won't Hit or Evict Jews
On the Time Axis
The Meeting in the Northern Tel Aviv Branch of the Likud
The Supreme Court Session Regarding Moral Turpitude
Announcements
Articles
The Silver Platter
There is one significant difference between the "weapons trial" held this week and the road blocking operations carried out by Zo Artzeinu ten years ago. Zo Artzeinu did not have support from youth. Over the last ten years a new, wonderful generation has grown up in Yesha and amongst the belief-based public. These are young people, seeking the truth, who when growing up were exposed to the helplessness and wretchedness of G-dless Zionism that is currently engaged in self destruction.
These young people have many acquaintances who died as a result of the State's impotence, and they now realize that they are bearing a far greater truth than the official position of the State of Israel. They understand that the State is ill and that they are healthy. They recognize that they are the remedy, the chance, the trunk supporting the sick branches of the State.
Obviously, with such an awareness, arrest doesn't frighten them. These young people aren't afraid of the police because they feel a sense of moral superiority. As opposed to Zo Artzeinu, these young people have the strength and the desire to continue the struggle. They are the silver platter enabling the State of Israel to continue to exist. Because of them Israel will extricate itself from the terrible crisis into which it has been led by the criminal, sick leadership. Because of these young people Israel will be freed from the grip of the enlightened dictatorship and will become a State of real Jewish Liberty.
The Manhigut Yehudit movement salutes Ariel Weingruber and Shai Malka, leaders of the National Home movement, and all this successful generation that is currently bearing the burden of the struggle for our liberty. (Naturally we don't forget the older members, many of whom were arrested yesterday.) With G-d's help the eviction plan will be cancelled and the lives of thousands of Jews who have been condemned to death as a result of it (as happened following the Oslo agreement) will be saved. It's possible that the same irritable driver who cursed the people blocking the roads will have his life saved by their action.
Another innovation heralding great chances is the presence of the Haredi public. At many blocked junctions Jews wearing Haredi clothes joined the blockers. We congratulate them and give them our support. The link being established in recent years between the Haredi and the national-religious publics represents real partnership, and its development, as was seen on the roads, is far more significant than the simple increase in the number of blockers. The Jewish ethos as a factor unifying all parts of the public in Israel permits the Haredi public to participate in the shaping of the State's image, while bypassing the problem of identifying with secular Zionism, that it has always detested.
Jewish Policemen Won't Hit or Evict Jews
Alongside the usual exhibition of violence and strong-arm tactics by the Police we saw an encouraging event. At first we thought this was a chance occurrence, but it was repeated in many places throughout the country. Many policemen simply didn't feel like clearing the road junction. More and more demonstrators began sensing that the Police were with us. They didn't refuse to obey orders, they didn't go over to the other side, and in fact no-one asked them to do so. However, it was clear that many of them were actually pleased with what was happening.
It seems that not only the IDF but also the Israeli police are in the final analysis based on our sons. The "weapons trial" operation examined not only the readiness of our sons to struggle, but also their readiness to cooperate with the eviction idea. The pleasant surprise we experienced yesterday at such an early stage indicates what, with G-d's help, will happen if, G-d forbid, a criminal order is given to evict Jews from their homes.
It is strongly recommended to listen to the following interview with an anonymous activist who describes the behavior of the Police. Click here: http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/audio/malF_17505.asx
On the Time Axis
The current struggle, despite its great importance, is just another "event" on the time axis. We are witnessing the changing of the guard. The old guard doesn't wish to give up its domination and is opposing the first signs of the change. The new guard is hesitating to assume responsibility, to come forward and lead the nation towards its historical objectives. Precisely because of the current events it is right to re-examine the basic assumptions of Manhigut Yehudit. What did we think? From what basic assumptions did we set out? Did we correctly predict the developing reality? A positive answer to all these questions gives grounds for assuming that we are on the right path.
Motti Karpel's new book, On the Time Axis, is a fascinating document that presents the leading articles of Lechatchila since its foundation. In order to understand what is happening now, as part of an overall pattern, you must read this book.
Call 09-7929046 now. You can also order other books from the Manhigut Yehudit library.
The Meeting in the Northern Tel Aviv Branch of the Likud
Last Tuesday Moshe Feiglin and heads of Manhigut Yehudit met with members of the Likud branch in Northern Tel Aviv. The meeting was one of a series of lectures and meetings aimed at getting to know branch members and presenting our positions in a direct, real manner. About 30 branch members attended the meeting and listened attentively to the various ideas presented by the Manhigut Yehuditcandidate for leadership of the party, Moshe Feiglin. The numerous questions addressed to Moshe and to Michael Fuah on various subjects exposed the tremendous leadership crisis existing in the party, and the desire to hear clear views about political and social issues.
The next meeting will be held in the Likud Kerem branch in Tel Aviv, on Tuesday, Iyar 15 (24.5.05).
The Supreme Court Session Regarding Moral Turpitude
This coming Sunday, at 08:00, Aharon Barak and a large number of Supreme Court judges will discuss the subject of Moshe Feiglin's "moral turpitude".
As will be recalled, before the last electionsMoshe was awarded the 38th place in the Likud list for the Knesset. MK Naomi Hazan from Meretz submitted a petition to the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Heshin, claiming that Feiglin (who had blocked roads at the time of Oslo and had been found guilty of rebellion) had committed an offence involving moral turpitude, and could not therefore be a candidate for the Knesset.
Heshin asked Feiglin why he had not declared, in accordance with the law, the offence that he had committed. Feiglin explained that he had not conceived that there could be any connection between the law of moral turpitude (created for tax offences command by Shmuel Plato Sharon) and the offence of public protest for which he had served a sentence. In response Heshin informed Feiglin in writing that he would extend the time available for submitting the official announcement regarding committing an offence in the past, and would subsequently address the issue of whether moral turpitude was involved.
Within the specified period Feiglin submitted the declaration, and (as expected) Heshin ruled that moral turpitude was in fact involved and therefore disqualified Feiglin's candidacy for the Knesset.
Feiglin submitted a petition to the Supreme Court, which with a composition of 11 judges decided not to rule in the matter. (It is somewhat problematic to prevent a person who blocked roads and served his sentence from being a candidate for the Knesset, while still pretending to be a democratic institution.) So how could Feiglin be kept out of the Knesset? The Supreme Court decided to ignore Heshin's decision to give Feiglin more time to submit the request and disqualified Feiglin on the technical grounds that "he did not submit the request in time".
Six judges did however decide to address the issue of moral turpitude. Three of them said that it existed, and three that it did not. One of the righteous people was Judge Tirkel, who subsequently replaced Heshin as chairman of the Elections Committee.
A year ago, when it seemed that elections were in the offing, Feiglin applied to Tirkel and asked him to determine now that there was no moral turpitude, so that he could be a candidate for the leadership of the Likud and for the Knesset. In response, Tirkel requested the views of Attorney-General Mazuz. The latter, as expected, stated that Feiglin's request should be rejected, for two reasons: a) There was no point in discussing the issue because the moral turpitude would expire anyway in July 2005 and the elections would come later. b) There was "heavy" moral turpitude in Feiglin's actions. Tirkel did not accept Mazuz's arguments and ruled that there was no moral turpitude in the offence committed by Feiglin. However, Mazuz then conveniently forgot his first argument and submitted a petition to the Supreme Court against Tirkel and Feiglin.
The Supreme Court requested Feiglin's response to Mazuz's petition. Feiglin replied with a brief document stating, in effect, that "you are all corrupt!". (To view Feiglin's reply click here: http://he.manhigut.org/content/view/1337)
The session will be held on Sunday in hall C, at 08:00. It will be interesting (but of no practical meaning, since the period of the moral turpitude expires anyway in another month).
New Articles
There is a New Generation in Israel! by: Moshe Feiglin
New Audio Uploads
There is New Generation in Israel! an audio interview with: Moshe Feiglin
Building Israel for Jewish Values the "Jewish Leadership Show" with Shmuel Sackett
Keep up to date with the latest articles and audio updates.
Visit our "What's New? web page
Our aim: To perfect the world in the kingdom of the Almighty
Manhigut Yehudit
Monday, May 16, 2005
7 Characteristics of Real Leadership (Manhigut Amitit):
1. Real leadership recognizes that what unites all Jews is much more than what divides it—and will work to foster that understanding
2. Real leadership will lead the State of Israel based on Jewish values
3. Real leadership will tell the whole world that our claim to our land is based on the Book of Books, the Hebrew Bible
4. Real leadership will work to make Israel a Jewish State and not a state of its residents
5. Real leadership will represent the people truthfully and not deceive them
Tzarich manhigut amitit. Tzarich Manhigut Yehudit.
1. Real leadership recognizes that what unites all Jews is much more than what divides it—and will work to foster that understanding
2. Real leadership will lead the State of Israel based on Jewish values
3. Real leadership will tell the whole world that our claim to our land is based on the Book of Books, the Hebrew Bible
4. Real leadership will work to make Israel a Jewish State and not a state of its residents
5. Real leadership will represent the people truthfully and not deceive them
Tzarich manhigut amitit. Tzarich Manhigut Yehudit.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
rubMovies: Gush Katif, Manhigut Yehudit, Refusal to Expel Fellow Jews and others
Each one is worth viewing
Movie on Gush Katif (ENG):
mms://msmedia.a7.org/arutz7/eng-perm/gush-katif-forever.wmv
Movie on Gush Katif (Original version in Hebrew):
www.katif.net/movie.php
Another Gush Katif Movie (HEB):
http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/video/katif_hasbara.asx
Movie on Manhigut Yehudit (ENG):
http://www.manhigut.org/video/winning-night.wmv
Movie on Manhigut Yehudit (Original version in Hebrew):
http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/video/lel-a-nitzahon.asx
Movie on Soldiers Refusing to Take Part in Expeling Fellow Jews (HEB):
http://www.baitle.org/movie/seru.asx
Movie on Helping Israelis and Israeli Soldiers in Defending Themselves legally against the Israeli Justice system for doing what they had to do (ENG):
http://www.honenu.org.il/film-strip.htm
Movie on Helping Israelis and Israeli Soldiers in Defending Themselves legally against the Israeli Justice system for doing what they had to do (HEB):
http://honenu.org.il/pagemovie.htm
Lecture on the Undemocratic Way that Sharon Pushed through the Gaza Expulsion Plan and How We Must Act to Stop It (HEB):
http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/video/tzronen_haifa17405.asx
Each one is worth viewing
Movie on Gush Katif (ENG):
mms://msmedia.a7.org/arutz7/eng-perm/gush-katif-forever.wmv
Movie on Gush Katif (Original version in Hebrew):
www.katif.net/movie.php
Another Gush Katif Movie (HEB):
http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/video/katif_hasbara.asx
Movie on Manhigut Yehudit (ENG):
http://www.manhigut.org/video/winning-night.wmv
Movie on Manhigut Yehudit (Original version in Hebrew):
http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/video/lel-a-nitzahon.asx
Movie on Soldiers Refusing to Take Part in Expeling Fellow Jews (HEB):
http://www.baitle.org/movie/seru.asx
Movie on Helping Israelis and Israeli Soldiers in Defending Themselves legally against the Israeli Justice system for doing what they had to do (ENG):
http://www.honenu.org.il/film-strip.htm
Movie on Helping Israelis and Israeli Soldiers in Defending Themselves legally against the Israeli Justice system for doing what they had to do (HEB):
http://honenu.org.il/pagemovie.htm
Lecture on the Undemocratic Way that Sharon Pushed through the Gaza Expulsion Plan and How We Must Act to Stop It (HEB):
http://www.manhigut.org/hebrew/video/tzronen_haifa17405.asx
Monday, May 09, 2005
A Message to the Residents of Gush Katif
by: Moshe Feiglin
My brothers, the heroes of Gush Katif, it is now clear to the destroyers that if you don't evict yourselves they will simply be unable to do so. In despair they are trying to tempt you to agree to go quietly, and in return they will build you a "new Gush Katif" in Nitzanim.
This means that earlier, when they said that those who would sign first would receive more, they were lying. Do you really think that now they're telling the truth?
Heroes of the Gush, listen to what I say:
This is a most trying situation. In every trial that one faces, the hardest stage is at the end. It is terribly hard for you, but for the destroyers it is even harder. I am near to them, I see them, I smell them, and I know that they are hysterical.
I know Tzippi Livni.
I know how all these people think.
They are panicking.
They'll promise you anything now.
You must realize that the turnaround is gaining momentum. More and more soldiers are refusing to obey orders. More and more demonstrators are going to jail. These are only the first signs of the coming of the great Israeli spring of freedom.
But everything depends on you.
If you evict yourselves, nothing will be of avail.
It won't help if we block the roads.
It won’t help if we get arrested.
It won’t help if we refuse to obey orders.
It won’t help if we come to Gush Katif.
And it won’t help if we organize mass civil disobedience.
It will only result in an improved version of Yamit, but no more.
The destroyers know this, and therefore all their efforts are now being focused on you, so that you evict yourselves.
Please hold on.
You are the boy stopping the hole in the dyke with his finger.
Gush Katif and Northern Shomron are only the beginning. Do you really believe that the person who doesn't keep his word, the liar who declared publicly that he would accept the results of the Likud members' referendum, will keep his promises to you?
The moment you leave there will be a new spin. Eyal Arad will concoct something. The front will shift to Beit El and Ofra, to the Golan and Jerusalem, and no one will remember you. You will be last year's snow. The Finance Minister will explain that there is no money now, perhaps in the future… in the meantime just wait… Don't bother to unpack your suitcases.
Perhaps Sharon will explain again that it was a mistake to promise anything. Perhaps Netanyahu or Olmert will replace him and explain that the promises cannot be implemented just yet.
You will receive what they promised you, just as the Southern Lebanese Army did, and just as the families of the Arab collaborators did, and just as Pollard did, and just as anyone who was tempted to do business with a person lacking G-d did.
Those who are unfaithful to the Land of Israel and the G-d of Israel are also unfaithful to the Jewish People. In fact, they cannot be relied on for anything.
My brothers, the heroes of Gush Katif, you must realize that the option of giving up everything you've believed in, in return for a promise of a material future, simply doesn't exist. If you persevere you will retain your honor and proud spirit, together with your homes and property. And even if, G-d forbid, they succeed in robbing you of your homes and property, they cannot rob your of your honor and spirit.
If you believe in Sharon and follow him, you will lose it all – your homes and your honor.
I am not in your situation, and I cannot judge you. But regardless of your decision I shall always admire you for your stand up to now.
However, perhaps from the place where I am now I can see some things better than you.
I only want to tell you that you are winning.
The destroyers are beginning to crumble.
I only want to tell you that now the fate of the country depends on you.
The lives of millions of Jews in the Land of Israel simply depend on you.
I only want to tell you that after you have withstood over 5000 mortar bombs fired at you, it is inconceivable that you should give in because of a promise made by Tzippi Livni.
Inconceivable!
You are the silver platter on which the State is given to the Jewish People.
I am certain that if only you continue to hold out, with G-d's help you will win.
You will save all of us.
And yourselves, and your honor.
And you and your children and grandchildren will flourish and prosper until the end of time, in your land, in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron.
With love and admiration,
Moshe Feiglin
by: Moshe Feiglin
My brothers, the heroes of Gush Katif, it is now clear to the destroyers that if you don't evict yourselves they will simply be unable to do so. In despair they are trying to tempt you to agree to go quietly, and in return they will build you a "new Gush Katif" in Nitzanim.
This means that earlier, when they said that those who would sign first would receive more, they were lying. Do you really think that now they're telling the truth?
Heroes of the Gush, listen to what I say:
This is a most trying situation. In every trial that one faces, the hardest stage is at the end. It is terribly hard for you, but for the destroyers it is even harder. I am near to them, I see them, I smell them, and I know that they are hysterical.
I know Tzippi Livni.
I know how all these people think.
They are panicking.
They'll promise you anything now.
You must realize that the turnaround is gaining momentum. More and more soldiers are refusing to obey orders. More and more demonstrators are going to jail. These are only the first signs of the coming of the great Israeli spring of freedom.
But everything depends on you.
If you evict yourselves, nothing will be of avail.
It won't help if we block the roads.
It won’t help if we get arrested.
It won’t help if we refuse to obey orders.
It won’t help if we come to Gush Katif.
And it won’t help if we organize mass civil disobedience.
It will only result in an improved version of Yamit, but no more.
The destroyers know this, and therefore all their efforts are now being focused on you, so that you evict yourselves.
Please hold on.
You are the boy stopping the hole in the dyke with his finger.
Gush Katif and Northern Shomron are only the beginning. Do you really believe that the person who doesn't keep his word, the liar who declared publicly that he would accept the results of the Likud members' referendum, will keep his promises to you?
The moment you leave there will be a new spin. Eyal Arad will concoct something. The front will shift to Beit El and Ofra, to the Golan and Jerusalem, and no one will remember you. You will be last year's snow. The Finance Minister will explain that there is no money now, perhaps in the future… in the meantime just wait… Don't bother to unpack your suitcases.
Perhaps Sharon will explain again that it was a mistake to promise anything. Perhaps Netanyahu or Olmert will replace him and explain that the promises cannot be implemented just yet.
You will receive what they promised you, just as the Southern Lebanese Army did, and just as the families of the Arab collaborators did, and just as Pollard did, and just as anyone who was tempted to do business with a person lacking G-d did.
Those who are unfaithful to the Land of Israel and the G-d of Israel are also unfaithful to the Jewish People. In fact, they cannot be relied on for anything.
My brothers, the heroes of Gush Katif, you must realize that the option of giving up everything you've believed in, in return for a promise of a material future, simply doesn't exist. If you persevere you will retain your honor and proud spirit, together with your homes and property. And even if, G-d forbid, they succeed in robbing you of your homes and property, they cannot rob your of your honor and spirit.
If you believe in Sharon and follow him, you will lose it all – your homes and your honor.
I am not in your situation, and I cannot judge you. But regardless of your decision I shall always admire you for your stand up to now.
However, perhaps from the place where I am now I can see some things better than you.
I only want to tell you that you are winning.
The destroyers are beginning to crumble.
I only want to tell you that now the fate of the country depends on you.
The lives of millions of Jews in the Land of Israel simply depend on you.
I only want to tell you that after you have withstood over 5000 mortar bombs fired at you, it is inconceivable that you should give in because of a promise made by Tzippi Livni.
Inconceivable!
You are the silver platter on which the State is given to the Jewish People.
I am certain that if only you continue to hold out, with G-d's help you will win.
You will save all of us.
And yourselves, and your honor.
And you and your children and grandchildren will flourish and prosper until the end of time, in your land, in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron.
With love and admiration,
Moshe Feiglin
Monday, April 11, 2005
Israel has unfortunately become a Police State
...the eyewitness account says it all.
Revava to the Temple Mount Eyewitness Report
The first thing I want to make clear is that the media and official police
reports of only a handful of protesters is an outright lie. Although it is
true that masses of people did not make it to the Temple Mount or even the
Western Wall Plaza, it was certainly not due to a lack of interest but a
virtual siege by the police of the entire Old City. It is hard to say
exactly how many people showed up, first of all because this was a
completely grassroots effort and there is no real way to differentiate
between a "Revava activist" and a regular Jew who is coming to pray at the
Kotel or visit the Old City. The police erred on the side of caution and
anyone who they remotely feared might be as they like to put it a "settler"
(even though a majority of Revava supporters do not live in the
"territories") was barred entry to the Old City or arrested on the spot. If
they did somehow manage to get through, or in my case were already in the
Old City, they scrutinized every person who entered the Kotel Plaza and
expelled or arrested anyone who they even thought might even consider being
involved. Finally, the turnout was naturally going to be lower than
expected because of the constant reports from the police and government
that the event was canceled and early reports of multiple arrests of Revava
activists and organizers (Yisrael Meir Cohen was arrested at roughly 6 AM
myself at 8). They even announced on the news in the morning that any
"right wing activists" who attempted to enter the Old City would be
immediately arrested (and they made good on that threat). I know for a fact
that there were several buses chartered from cities across Israel from as
far away as Haifa and Gush Katif and in the past several days we have had
non stop phone calls to our office and all of our personal cell phones. I
was away for Shabbat in Safed and even I personally spoke to at least 25
people on the bus Sat night who promised they would come and bring friends
and family.. While there were nowhere near our goal of 10,000 participants,
the police estimate of "several dozen" is blatantly dishonest and nothing
more than propaganda to delegitimize the organization and the entire
struggle for the Temple Mount. I personally saw many people in the Kotel
Plaza when I arrived at 8 AM and I was told by others that arrived later
that there was a solid presence throughout the day including Knesset
Members, veteran Land of Israel activists and many people who prayed and
danced in support of the Temple Mount. It is impossible to tell how many
people were turned away by the police at some point before they arrived but
"several dozen" does not do justice even for the number of people who
actually made it to the Kotel.
Yisrael Meir Cohen and I slept (or more accurately "rested briefly") last
night in the Old City because we feared (rightfully so) that the police
might attempt prevent us from entering in the morning. I received a call at
around 7:30AM that Yisrael was already arrested and I realized then that
it was going to be a long day. I finished the morning prayers and headed
down to the Western Wall, at 8AM sharp passing many people and police
officers on the way. None of them even alluded to the fact that I was
breaking the law merely by being there. I went through the security check
at the Western Wall, where 5 guards were standing and none of them
mentioned that anything was out of the ordinary so I figured that for the
time being the coast was clear. I didn't even make it all the way down the
stairs when the commander of the plainclothes division "pounced" on me and
told me "You realize that you are not allowed to be here?!" I figured that
he was referring to the Temple Mount which was closed to Jews, and guarded
by hundreds of riot police standing shoulder to shoulder at the gate. I
told him that he has nothing to worry about and that I had no intention of
storming the Temple Mount or causing any other disturbance. He informed me
that it was forbidden for me to be in the Kotel Plaza or even the Old City
at all and asked how I managed to "sneak in". When I told him that I simply
walked through the gate and I questioned him why he was not bothering the
thousands of other people who had come to pray he told me that I was under
arrest and that I had to "go with him to the car".
I made it clear that I had absolutely no intention of going anywhere, I
didn't have the chance to break any laws even if I wanted to and there is
no way he can arrest me for showing up at the Western Wall. He begged me
"not to make a scene" and that is precisely what I did. I ran away from him
and started shouting to the media circus which was there that I hadn't done
anything, and in the Israeli version of "democracy" Jews can be arrested
for merely coming to the Kotel. Religious freedom in Israel only applies to
Arabs! The Sharon government uses Bolshevik tactics on a regular basis in
an attempt to silence us, but he will not succeed. Finally, I shouted "The
Temple Mount belongs to the Jewish People" At this point I was surrounded
by several officers who attempted to push me towards the police car. I laid
on the ground and had a rather nice verbal exchange with the 8 or so
officers who attempted to carry me out. At one point they just got tired
and put me down to "take a break". I decided to have mercy on them and told
them I would walk by myself to the car if they left me alone. It was
obvious that they had laid a "trap" for me, the knew I would come and
therefore allowed me to do so in order that the have a pretense to arrest me.
They arrested me and brought me for "questioning" at the police station,
which was clear was not taken seriously even by the arresting officers who
allowed the arrestees to freely speak with each other and even talk on the
phone. They wanted to release me on my own recognizance on the condition
that I wouldn't return to the Old City for 24 hours. I told them that I
refuse to sign anything, I did nothing wrong, all of my belongings are in
the Old City, I fully intend to go back there and they can either release
me with no conditions or bring me before a judge for a remand hearing.
They were most displeased but legally they had to bring me before a judge
within 3 hours which is a huge waste of time and resources as we were only
talking about a 24 or even a 12 hour ban, or officially charge me with a
crime which was impossible because I hadn't committed one. If all the
arrestees demand to be brought before a judge it can seriously tie up the
courts for the entire day. In the end the Judge disregarded my 30 minute
argument complete with Supreme Court precedents why they had to release me
unconditionally and that my arrest was illegal to begin with. He
"sentenced" me to a 12 hour ban from entering the Old City and I was on my
way. While in the police station I sent out a bundle of text messages to
the "chevra" to see what was going on in the Old City. 90% of them were
also arrested or soon to be. The police arrested anyone who they recognized
as an "activist", or even anyone who had a gush katif or Revava t-shirt.
Everyone was released shortly with the same conditions.
In short "dozens" of people were arrested and many more expelled from the
Western Wall. There were even reports in the media of police savagely
beating an elderly man who merely asked them how they could throw good Jews
out of their homes?
One thing is for sure, I have never seen a police presence like the one I
witnessed today. There were literally thousands of officers, border police
and soldiers deployed all over Jerusalem many of whom where brought from
other cities. They certainly took Revava seriously regardless of their
mocking after the fact. In response President Moshe Katzav called for an
"solution" to be found in the near future which will allow Jewish Prayer on
the Temple Mount in a dignified manner.
Several members of Knesset showed up and citing their legal immunity
demanded to be allowed on the Temple Mount. When they were refused they had
very harsh words for the police and government. Especially Internal
Security Minister Gideon Ezra who was personally there to observe the
situation and received an earful of insults and criticism.
Regardless of how many people actually showed up, and how many actually
made it in, the campaign has been a success of magnitude proportions. For
nearly a month the subject of the Temple Mount permeated the media both
Israeli and worldwide and the issue has been firmly put on the agenda. The
fact that such a wide variety of people and "mainstream" members of Knesset
chose to participate is the best proof that Revava is not some "fringe
group" but speaks for a sizable portion of the Jewish People. We are not
"violent extremists" or "ultra-nationalists" as the media likes to dub us,
but plain old Jews who care about Eretz Yisrael and the desecration of
G-d's name which is permitted to go on. The Temple Mount is the heart of
the people and this campaign has showed that this is an important issue to
many Jews. This was no provocation or attempt to sabotage the disengagement
plan (although in essence it can serve as both), it was genuine concern for
the issue of freedom of religion in Israel and equal access to Jewish holy
sites. It is a disgrace that Jews are banished from our most holy site and
forbidden to pray there, and by a Jewish government no less. The majority
has now spoken that the Temple Mount belongs to the Jewish People and we
are willing to stand up for our rights to free access. If that is a
provocation, then so is the very fact that we are Jews...
...the eyewitness account says it all.
Revava to the Temple Mount Eyewitness Report
The first thing I want to make clear is that the media and official police
reports of only a handful of protesters is an outright lie. Although it is
true that masses of people did not make it to the Temple Mount or even the
Western Wall Plaza, it was certainly not due to a lack of interest but a
virtual siege by the police of the entire Old City. It is hard to say
exactly how many people showed up, first of all because this was a
completely grassroots effort and there is no real way to differentiate
between a "Revava activist" and a regular Jew who is coming to pray at the
Kotel or visit the Old City. The police erred on the side of caution and
anyone who they remotely feared might be as they like to put it a "settler"
(even though a majority of Revava supporters do not live in the
"territories") was barred entry to the Old City or arrested on the spot. If
they did somehow manage to get through, or in my case were already in the
Old City, they scrutinized every person who entered the Kotel Plaza and
expelled or arrested anyone who they even thought might even consider being
involved. Finally, the turnout was naturally going to be lower than
expected because of the constant reports from the police and government
that the event was canceled and early reports of multiple arrests of Revava
activists and organizers (Yisrael Meir Cohen was arrested at roughly 6 AM
myself at 8). They even announced on the news in the morning that any
"right wing activists" who attempted to enter the Old City would be
immediately arrested (and they made good on that threat). I know for a fact
that there were several buses chartered from cities across Israel from as
far away as Haifa and Gush Katif and in the past several days we have had
non stop phone calls to our office and all of our personal cell phones. I
was away for Shabbat in Safed and even I personally spoke to at least 25
people on the bus Sat night who promised they would come and bring friends
and family.. While there were nowhere near our goal of 10,000 participants,
the police estimate of "several dozen" is blatantly dishonest and nothing
more than propaganda to delegitimize the organization and the entire
struggle for the Temple Mount. I personally saw many people in the Kotel
Plaza when I arrived at 8 AM and I was told by others that arrived later
that there was a solid presence throughout the day including Knesset
Members, veteran Land of Israel activists and many people who prayed and
danced in support of the Temple Mount. It is impossible to tell how many
people were turned away by the police at some point before they arrived but
"several dozen" does not do justice even for the number of people who
actually made it to the Kotel.
Yisrael Meir Cohen and I slept (or more accurately "rested briefly") last
night in the Old City because we feared (rightfully so) that the police
might attempt prevent us from entering in the morning. I received a call at
around 7:30AM that Yisrael was already arrested and I realized then that
it was going to be a long day. I finished the morning prayers and headed
down to the Western Wall, at 8AM sharp passing many people and police
officers on the way. None of them even alluded to the fact that I was
breaking the law merely by being there. I went through the security check
at the Western Wall, where 5 guards were standing and none of them
mentioned that anything was out of the ordinary so I figured that for the
time being the coast was clear. I didn't even make it all the way down the
stairs when the commander of the plainclothes division "pounced" on me and
told me "You realize that you are not allowed to be here?!" I figured that
he was referring to the Temple Mount which was closed to Jews, and guarded
by hundreds of riot police standing shoulder to shoulder at the gate. I
told him that he has nothing to worry about and that I had no intention of
storming the Temple Mount or causing any other disturbance. He informed me
that it was forbidden for me to be in the Kotel Plaza or even the Old City
at all and asked how I managed to "sneak in". When I told him that I simply
walked through the gate and I questioned him why he was not bothering the
thousands of other people who had come to pray he told me that I was under
arrest and that I had to "go with him to the car".
I made it clear that I had absolutely no intention of going anywhere, I
didn't have the chance to break any laws even if I wanted to and there is
no way he can arrest me for showing up at the Western Wall. He begged me
"not to make a scene" and that is precisely what I did. I ran away from him
and started shouting to the media circus which was there that I hadn't done
anything, and in the Israeli version of "democracy" Jews can be arrested
for merely coming to the Kotel. Religious freedom in Israel only applies to
Arabs! The Sharon government uses Bolshevik tactics on a regular basis in
an attempt to silence us, but he will not succeed. Finally, I shouted "The
Temple Mount belongs to the Jewish People" At this point I was surrounded
by several officers who attempted to push me towards the police car. I laid
on the ground and had a rather nice verbal exchange with the 8 or so
officers who attempted to carry me out. At one point they just got tired
and put me down to "take a break". I decided to have mercy on them and told
them I would walk by myself to the car if they left me alone. It was
obvious that they had laid a "trap" for me, the knew I would come and
therefore allowed me to do so in order that the have a pretense to arrest me.
They arrested me and brought me for "questioning" at the police station,
which was clear was not taken seriously even by the arresting officers who
allowed the arrestees to freely speak with each other and even talk on the
phone. They wanted to release me on my own recognizance on the condition
that I wouldn't return to the Old City for 24 hours. I told them that I
refuse to sign anything, I did nothing wrong, all of my belongings are in
the Old City, I fully intend to go back there and they can either release
me with no conditions or bring me before a judge for a remand hearing.
They were most displeased but legally they had to bring me before a judge
within 3 hours which is a huge waste of time and resources as we were only
talking about a 24 or even a 12 hour ban, or officially charge me with a
crime which was impossible because I hadn't committed one. If all the
arrestees demand to be brought before a judge it can seriously tie up the
courts for the entire day. In the end the Judge disregarded my 30 minute
argument complete with Supreme Court precedents why they had to release me
unconditionally and that my arrest was illegal to begin with. He
"sentenced" me to a 12 hour ban from entering the Old City and I was on my
way. While in the police station I sent out a bundle of text messages to
the "chevra" to see what was going on in the Old City. 90% of them were
also arrested or soon to be. The police arrested anyone who they recognized
as an "activist", or even anyone who had a gush katif or Revava t-shirt.
Everyone was released shortly with the same conditions.
In short "dozens" of people were arrested and many more expelled from the
Western Wall. There were even reports in the media of police savagely
beating an elderly man who merely asked them how they could throw good Jews
out of their homes?
One thing is for sure, I have never seen a police presence like the one I
witnessed today. There were literally thousands of officers, border police
and soldiers deployed all over Jerusalem many of whom where brought from
other cities. They certainly took Revava seriously regardless of their
mocking after the fact. In response President Moshe Katzav called for an
"solution" to be found in the near future which will allow Jewish Prayer on
the Temple Mount in a dignified manner.
Several members of Knesset showed up and citing their legal immunity
demanded to be allowed on the Temple Mount. When they were refused they had
very harsh words for the police and government. Especially Internal
Security Minister Gideon Ezra who was personally there to observe the
situation and received an earful of insults and criticism.
Regardless of how many people actually showed up, and how many actually
made it in, the campaign has been a success of magnitude proportions. For
nearly a month the subject of the Temple Mount permeated the media both
Israeli and worldwide and the issue has been firmly put on the agenda. The
fact that such a wide variety of people and "mainstream" members of Knesset
chose to participate is the best proof that Revava is not some "fringe
group" but speaks for a sizable portion of the Jewish People. We are not
"violent extremists" or "ultra-nationalists" as the media likes to dub us,
but plain old Jews who care about Eretz Yisrael and the desecration of
G-d's name which is permitted to go on. The Temple Mount is the heart of
the people and this campaign has showed that this is an important issue to
many Jews. This was no provocation or attempt to sabotage the disengagement
plan (although in essence it can serve as both), it was genuine concern for
the issue of freedom of religion in Israel and equal access to Jewish holy
sites. It is a disgrace that Jews are banished from our most holy site and
forbidden to pray there, and by a Jewish government no less. The majority
has now spoken that the Temple Mount belongs to the Jewish People and we
are willing to stand up for our rights to free access. If that is a
provocation, then so is the very fact that we are Jews...
Thursday, April 07, 2005
"...The IDF is no longer the ultimate tool for the realization of our national objectives. We must continue to stand in the vanguard of the Israeli army, but education, settlement, and concern for the weaker sections of the population are currently more important. A religious Air Force cadet who evicts Jews because if he refuses we won't have a religious pilot is in my opinion a person whose values have become totally confused."
For more read on....
It's Time to Refuse Orders
By Moshe Feiglin
14th of AdarII 5765 (Mar25, 05)
The caller sounded authentic.
"I'm a Manhigut Yehudit activist," he introduced himself, "and I've read the booklet, The Obligation to Refuse to Obey Orders. Now I've received a call-up notice for reserve duty to guard settlements in Northern Shomron. I told my battalion commander that I don't wish to participate in the activities of an army making preparations to evict Jews from their homes, and that I don't intend to appear. The commander explained to me that there is no connection between our assignment and the disengagement plan, that other soldiers will guard the Jews in Northern Shomron while I sit in jail. What do you advise me to do?" my caller asked.
"First of all," I replied, "I don't advise you to do anything. It's your decision. I can only think together with you and say how I think I would act. Obviously, if my service would facilitate the active participation of other forces during the actual eviction, then I would even refuse to wash dishes on a remote army base."
"That's not the situation," he explained. "The activity is planned for Pesach. My task would be to guard Jews in settlements."
"OK," I replied. "It's now clear that we are not talking about refusal with the intention of interfering with the implementation of the eviction order, but refusal in a far broader context."
"First of all, the true struggle for Gush Katif is not a tactical struggle. It is important to demonstrate at road junctions, to establish a mass physical presence in Gush Katif, and we encourage such activities. However, in the final analysis we aren't stronger than the State itself. All the acts of protest and struggle are based on the assumption that the government does not reflect the wishes of the nation; accordingly, its decisions are not legitimate."
"As long as we fail to prove that the disengagement plan is contrary to the nation's wishes, Sharon will find the tactical solution for all the forms the struggle takes. The disengagement plan will be finally discarded only when it becomes crystal clear that the nation is opposed to it. The solution will take the form of a decision by the nation."
"For precisely this reason, Sharon and the Left are afraid of a referendum. They know that a referendum campaign will recreate the direct link between the belief-based public and the national public that we saw in the Likud referendum. It will reveal the natural, healthy inclination of the majority of the nation towards its Jewish identity and beliefs and towards the public that represents these values."
"Of all the activities aimed at thwarting the disengagement plan, refusal to obey orders is the most important, not because it will necessarily halt the eviction, but because large-scale refusal is in fact an alternative form of referendum! The IDF is still the army of the people. If the majority of the soldiers refuse to carry out the order, it will be an unambiguous vote by the nation against the disengagement plan."
"You have to make up your own mind, but if I were to receive a call-up notice today, I would refuse to appear for reserve duty. The army's main assignment at the moment is to evict the Jews of Gush Katif. As long as the IDF prepares and trains for the execution of this crime I shall refuse to wear its uniform."
"Refusal today is referendum, and is the only possible way to vote against the disengagement plan."
There was silence on the line.
"So what do I reply to my battalion commander when he says that what I am actually doing is abandoning the security of Jews living in Northern Shomron?" he then asked.
"In my opinion this is a far simpler question," I replied. "Until Rabin shook hands with Arafat, a single company of the Border Guards could maintain security in the entire region. You are required to do reserve duty because of the Oslo process. The danger to the settlements and to the entire country does not come from the Arabs, but from the Left that brought the murder organizations here and gave them hope of victory. The soldiers guarding the settlements are carrying out a very important task, but they are dealing with symptoms -- not with the illness. In contrast, soldiers who will now refuse to serve, and will consequently be jailed, are carrying out a far more important task, since they are attacking the root of the matter, and because of their efforts we won't need guards at all in the future."
"It's important to realize that the problem doesn't lie with the Arabs but with the Jews. The IDF is, therefore, no longer the ultimate tool for the realization of our national objectives. We must continue to stand in the vanguard of the Israeli army, but education, settlement, and concern for the weaker sections of the population are currently more important. A religious Air Force cadet who evicts Jews because if he refuses we won't have a religious pilot is in my opinion a person whose values have become totally confused."
"Thank you for talking to me," said the voice on the other end of the line.
"With G-d's help, the situation will be turned upside down, just as in Megilat Esther," I replied.
"Happy Purim."
For more read on....
It's Time to Refuse Orders
By Moshe Feiglin
14th of AdarII 5765 (Mar25, 05)
The caller sounded authentic.
"I'm a Manhigut Yehudit activist," he introduced himself, "and I've read the booklet, The Obligation to Refuse to Obey Orders. Now I've received a call-up notice for reserve duty to guard settlements in Northern Shomron. I told my battalion commander that I don't wish to participate in the activities of an army making preparations to evict Jews from their homes, and that I don't intend to appear. The commander explained to me that there is no connection between our assignment and the disengagement plan, that other soldiers will guard the Jews in Northern Shomron while I sit in jail. What do you advise me to do?" my caller asked.
"First of all," I replied, "I don't advise you to do anything. It's your decision. I can only think together with you and say how I think I would act. Obviously, if my service would facilitate the active participation of other forces during the actual eviction, then I would even refuse to wash dishes on a remote army base."
"That's not the situation," he explained. "The activity is planned for Pesach. My task would be to guard Jews in settlements."
"OK," I replied. "It's now clear that we are not talking about refusal with the intention of interfering with the implementation of the eviction order, but refusal in a far broader context."
"First of all, the true struggle for Gush Katif is not a tactical struggle. It is important to demonstrate at road junctions, to establish a mass physical presence in Gush Katif, and we encourage such activities. However, in the final analysis we aren't stronger than the State itself. All the acts of protest and struggle are based on the assumption that the government does not reflect the wishes of the nation; accordingly, its decisions are not legitimate."
"As long as we fail to prove that the disengagement plan is contrary to the nation's wishes, Sharon will find the tactical solution for all the forms the struggle takes. The disengagement plan will be finally discarded only when it becomes crystal clear that the nation is opposed to it. The solution will take the form of a decision by the nation."
"For precisely this reason, Sharon and the Left are afraid of a referendum. They know that a referendum campaign will recreate the direct link between the belief-based public and the national public that we saw in the Likud referendum. It will reveal the natural, healthy inclination of the majority of the nation towards its Jewish identity and beliefs and towards the public that represents these values."
"Of all the activities aimed at thwarting the disengagement plan, refusal to obey orders is the most important, not because it will necessarily halt the eviction, but because large-scale refusal is in fact an alternative form of referendum! The IDF is still the army of the people. If the majority of the soldiers refuse to carry out the order, it will be an unambiguous vote by the nation against the disengagement plan."
"You have to make up your own mind, but if I were to receive a call-up notice today, I would refuse to appear for reserve duty. The army's main assignment at the moment is to evict the Jews of Gush Katif. As long as the IDF prepares and trains for the execution of this crime I shall refuse to wear its uniform."
"Refusal today is referendum, and is the only possible way to vote against the disengagement plan."
There was silence on the line.
"So what do I reply to my battalion commander when he says that what I am actually doing is abandoning the security of Jews living in Northern Shomron?" he then asked.
"In my opinion this is a far simpler question," I replied. "Until Rabin shook hands with Arafat, a single company of the Border Guards could maintain security in the entire region. You are required to do reserve duty because of the Oslo process. The danger to the settlements and to the entire country does not come from the Arabs, but from the Left that brought the murder organizations here and gave them hope of victory. The soldiers guarding the settlements are carrying out a very important task, but they are dealing with symptoms -- not with the illness. In contrast, soldiers who will now refuse to serve, and will consequently be jailed, are carrying out a far more important task, since they are attacking the root of the matter, and because of their efforts we won't need guards at all in the future."
"It's important to realize that the problem doesn't lie with the Arabs but with the Jews. The IDF is, therefore, no longer the ultimate tool for the realization of our national objectives. We must continue to stand in the vanguard of the Israeli army, but education, settlement, and concern for the weaker sections of the population are currently more important. A religious Air Force cadet who evicts Jews because if he refuses we won't have a religious pilot is in my opinion a person whose values have become totally confused."
"Thank you for talking to me," said the voice on the other end of the line.
"With G-d's help, the situation will be turned upside down, just as in Megilat Esther," I replied.
"Happy Purim."
Monday, April 04, 2005
Welcome Back Days of Oslo!!!
Re: Announcing the politically motivated arrest of Raanana veteran activist - Eallan Hirshfeld
I must completely set aside all the urgent things i have to do tonight, in order to tell you -- with great sadness I must admit -- of the unjustified politically motivated arrest of our dear friend, Eallan Hirshfeld, a Raanana businessman, formerly from Great Britain, by the Shabak (Israeli Secret Service), earlier today.
Eallan, a modern-Orthodox Anglo-Saxon resident of Raanana who recently retired from his airconditioner retail business, became a proud grandfather not long ago, and suffers from significant health problems (heart trouble, I believe). Eallan has been a leading figure in the Land of Israel movement during the entire Oslo period. I have always looked up to him, due to his peculiar combination of courage and philanthropy. During the struggle for the Golan Heights, it can now be told that there is a reason we never ran out of Golan stickers: every time we were about to, Eallan put his hand into his pocket, printed some more, and distributed them to everyone. As for Hebron, Eallan was always the moving spirit and initiator of the monthly trips from Raanana to Hebron that have been going on for years. Eallan has also been responsible for the beautiful Yesha arts & crafts fairs that have been held in Raanana on so many occasions. In short, Eallan is a terrific political activist and a pleasure to work with, and his arrest is an attempt to delegitimize him and you and me.
This is a grave escalation on the part of the Shabak (Israeli Secret Service). Just to give one example of how off-base the Shabak can be, when I demonstrated peacefully against Yosi Beilin and was briefly arrested in Rehovot a couple of years ago, the Shabak had the audacity to have me questioned for this "crime". Their investigation was doubly an embarrassment since it came AFTER my arrest had been publicized and denounced by outraged citizens all over Israel and the world and in particular by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel!!
Please IMMEDIATELY start banging on all the doors you know to get our good friend Eallan back home to his family -- and to us. We need him now more than ever:
Please email the following message (or similar) EACH TIME YOU SIT DOWN AT THE COMPUTER, to : panatz1@acri.org.il ;pm_eng@pmo.gov.il; sar@mops.gov.il; sars@int.gov.il; ulandau@knesset.gov.il; dankner@maariv.co.il; yoav@nfc.co.il; mikieitn@knesset.gov.il; ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il; gsaar@knesset.gov.il; eyishay@knesset.gov.il; nslomianski@knesset.gov.il; zhendel@knesset.gov.il; ylitzman@knesset.gov.il:
FREE EALLAN HIRSHFELD!!! שחררו את אילן הירשפלד !!
Association for Civil Rights in Israel: Please immediately demand the release of political activist Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Prime Minister Sharon and Police Minister Ezra: Free our friend -- Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Minister Natan Sharansky: Please meet urgently with the Prime Minister and demand the immediate release of Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Former Minister Uzi Landau, also from Raanana, who knows Eallan personally: Please demand the immediate release of Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Maariv Editor Amnon Dankner, NFC Editor Yoav Yizhak: Please write about the imprisoned Raanana businessman, Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Chairmen of the Knesset Law Committee M. Eitan, Defense Committee Y. Steinitz:: Demand a meeting with Sharon to discuss the immediate release of Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Knesset Faction Chairmen Saar (Likud), Yishai (Shas), Slomianski (Mafdal), Hendel (National Union); Litzman (UTJ): Speak up on behalf of your factions and demand our friend Eallan's immediate release!!
Other hawkish MKs: Help release our friend, Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Also, please call Uzi Cohen, the legendary deputy-mayor of Raanana, who knows Eallan personally and ask him to intervene. (09 7713152
09 7610300)
Thanks, everybody!!
Susie Dym, spokesperson (Mattot Arim)
sddym@bezeqint.net
Re: Announcing the politically motivated arrest of Raanana veteran activist - Eallan Hirshfeld
I must completely set aside all the urgent things i have to do tonight, in order to tell you -- with great sadness I must admit -- of the unjustified politically motivated arrest of our dear friend, Eallan Hirshfeld, a Raanana businessman, formerly from Great Britain, by the Shabak (Israeli Secret Service), earlier today.
Eallan, a modern-Orthodox Anglo-Saxon resident of Raanana who recently retired from his airconditioner retail business, became a proud grandfather not long ago, and suffers from significant health problems (heart trouble, I believe). Eallan has been a leading figure in the Land of Israel movement during the entire Oslo period. I have always looked up to him, due to his peculiar combination of courage and philanthropy. During the struggle for the Golan Heights, it can now be told that there is a reason we never ran out of Golan stickers: every time we were about to, Eallan put his hand into his pocket, printed some more, and distributed them to everyone. As for Hebron, Eallan was always the moving spirit and initiator of the monthly trips from Raanana to Hebron that have been going on for years. Eallan has also been responsible for the beautiful Yesha arts & crafts fairs that have been held in Raanana on so many occasions. In short, Eallan is a terrific political activist and a pleasure to work with, and his arrest is an attempt to delegitimize him and you and me.
This is a grave escalation on the part of the Shabak (Israeli Secret Service). Just to give one example of how off-base the Shabak can be, when I demonstrated peacefully against Yosi Beilin and was briefly arrested in Rehovot a couple of years ago, the Shabak had the audacity to have me questioned for this "crime". Their investigation was doubly an embarrassment since it came AFTER my arrest had been publicized and denounced by outraged citizens all over Israel and the world and in particular by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel!!
Please IMMEDIATELY start banging on all the doors you know to get our good friend Eallan back home to his family -- and to us. We need him now more than ever:
Please email the following message (or similar) EACH TIME YOU SIT DOWN AT THE COMPUTER, to : panatz1@acri.org.il ;pm_eng@pmo.gov.il; sar@mops.gov.il; sars@int.gov.il; ulandau@knesset.gov.il; dankner@maariv.co.il; yoav@nfc.co.il; mikieitn@knesset.gov.il; ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il; gsaar@knesset.gov.il; eyishay@knesset.gov.il; nslomianski@knesset.gov.il; zhendel@knesset.gov.il; ylitzman@knesset.gov.il:
FREE EALLAN HIRSHFELD!!! שחררו את אילן הירשפלד !!
Association for Civil Rights in Israel: Please immediately demand the release of political activist Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Prime Minister Sharon and Police Minister Ezra: Free our friend -- Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Minister Natan Sharansky: Please meet urgently with the Prime Minister and demand the immediate release of Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Former Minister Uzi Landau, also from Raanana, who knows Eallan personally: Please demand the immediate release of Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Maariv Editor Amnon Dankner, NFC Editor Yoav Yizhak: Please write about the imprisoned Raanana businessman, Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Chairmen of the Knesset Law Committee M. Eitan, Defense Committee Y. Steinitz:: Demand a meeting with Sharon to discuss the immediate release of Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Knesset Faction Chairmen Saar (Likud), Yishai (Shas), Slomianski (Mafdal), Hendel (National Union); Litzman (UTJ): Speak up on behalf of your factions and demand our friend Eallan's immediate release!!
Other hawkish MKs: Help release our friend, Eallan Hirshfeld!!
Also, please call Uzi Cohen, the legendary deputy-mayor of Raanana, who knows Eallan personally and ask him to intervene. (09 7713152
09 7610300)
Thanks, everybody!!
Susie Dym, spokesperson (Mattot Arim)
sddym@bezeqint.net
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Ariel Peres, Shimon Sharon and the end of Zionism
By Moshe Dann
Twelve years ago the 'Oslo Process' was inaugurated based on secret agreements and understandings. Its PR rationale was Land for Peace, relying on Arafat as a partner. It was all a lie.
Today, after thousands of dead and tens of thousands crippled, that same process (led by some of the same people) continues under the PR slogan disengagement. Since there is still no 'peace partner' as yet (only a truce partner) terrorists will not only stay in place but are honored and strengthened. Oslo III is, therefore, 'Land for Nothing.' Unilateral withdrawal is only a euphemism for retreat. No mandate and no explanations. As Israelis say, Kacha! (just because).
Missing in the debate over Israel's proposed retreat from all or most of Yesha – the historical and strategic heartland of Israel -- is the context from which that policy has emerged. During the last forty years the essence of Jewish identity, the foundations of Zionism, and the institutions of Israeli democracy has been assaulted.
This assault has diminished Jewish content in public education and in daily life, it has attacked the national religious settlement movement inYesha, has politicized the IDF and the courts, it has controlled the media, educational and cultural institutions and by and large Israel's political economy. By pitting loyalty to the State against the settlers there is a constant desire to divide and conquer public opinion. The State itself replaces ideology with its own values based on the myth that it represents the popular will and serves our common interests.
Engaging in diatribes against personalities and hysterical scenarios only contributes to a general confusion about who is responsible; there is a failure to understand the inner dynamics of what's really happening -- and this leaves us in anger and despair.
The Sharon/Peres plan is part of an agenda that seeks to destroy Zionism and replace it with a new Israelism (nationalism per se), to transform Jewish nationhood into a secular pluralistic republic (in the Western European tradition) and to maintain control of Israel's political/economic system in order to preserve the interests of the ruling elite. This agenda seeks to de-Judeize Israel, to assimilate and integrate into (and hopefully be accepted by) the international community, especially by the West, and to stay in power.
Three main obstacles stand in their way: Anti-Semitism, Arab terrorism and the national religious Zionist camp. The latter, especially the Jews who live in Yesha are not marginal; they are fully integrated into the fabric of daily life and especially the IDF. These Jews are rooted in an ideology of Jewish settlement that is basic to Zionism and Jewish consciousness.
Disengagement, even if possible is not only or even primarily intended to separate from Arabs (the external threat), but from the religious Right, the settlers, who represent an internal threat to Israel's ruling elite. Both Arab and religious Jewish nationalists – because they are idealists -- are perceived by the political/economic establishment in Israel as extremist threats to their power. Idealists can't be bought. Disengagement therefore means nothing more than uprooting Jewish communities and allowing Palestinian terrorists a sovereign state in return for, hopefully, international good will. PM Sharon has said clearly to the Palestinians: 'whether or not you stop terrorism and incitement, we will leave.' What a bargaining position and incentive!
The hope is, of course, that Palestinian moderates will control extremists in return for a significant cut of the loot, in addition to the billions stashed away by Arafat in Swiss banks and throughout the world. But even if terrorism continues at a reduced level, that too will be acceptable, manageable in the jargon of experts, as long as there won't be too many casualties and the elites continue to rule. It's not so much that the ruling elites want freedom from the Arabs, since they are necessary in the workforce; the elites want freedom from Judaism and from Zionism.
The willingness of Israel's government to cede most of Yesha to a terrorist-oriented Palestinian state is the logical consequence of the political agenda. This includes building barriers and fences throughout the country along what were the armistice lines of 1949 (with some exceptions). In some cases it may provide a temporary obstacle for terrorists; more important, however, it restricts the expansion of Jewish communities and defines a future Palestinian state. It declares: 'Israel stops here.' That, perhaps, may buy some respite, but not for long. Nor is it enough.
For the international ruling elites, Israel is an anachronism among nation states. Zionism is an impediment to both the international communtity and the Israeli State who desires an assimilation into a world economic structure. Israel is particularistic (nominally Jewish) in a 'pluralistic/universalistic' world; the basis for its existence is a 'homeland for Jews.' That made sense after the Holocaust; today it's inadequate and insufficient as an historical reference. Hence, the need to restructure.
Sharon and Peres seek to create a new coalition representing a center that will thwart challenges from the Greater Israel national religious anti-Palestinian-state forces on one side and those calling for the dismantling of the State on the other. Their agenda is not only to create physical borders, but social, cultural and political ones as well that will ensure their continued dominance of Israel's political economy and culture.
The Oslo Accords were meant to stop Jewish settlement in Yesha; the Sharon/Peres plan takes it the next step: the destruction of those Jewish communities.
Regardless of Palestinian terrorism and incitement, the inevitability of a Palestinian state (in Sharon's words) has become an obsession that has paralyzed the government's ability to consider any other options and requires Israel's dependence on American/European and Palestinian good will. That policy comes out of a deeply-rooted belief that the Jewish people do not have the inalienable right to establish their national home in the Land of Israel.
Yoram Hazony's book, The Jewish State; The Struggle for Israel's Soul, laid out in striking detail how Israel's Left-wing intellectual elite have undermined the basic premises of Zionism. Published just before former PM Ehud Barak agreed to give Arafat and the PLO almost everything they wanted – nearly all of Yesha, including east Jerusalem and exclusive rights over the Temple Mount, Hazony exposed a cancer that has eaten away at Israel's raison d'etre as a Jewish state. This post-Zionist policy waited only to be implemented. PM Sharon, who presented himself as a Right-wing leader, became its Godfather.
Coincident with Oslo, Education Ministers cut budgets for teaching about Judaism and introduced pro-Palestinian propaganda in textbooks. Today, Jewish students in Israeli secular schools may graduate knowing little or nothing about their religion or their history. That is deliberate policy.
Israeli universities, with one exception, are bastions of anti-Jewish propaganda. TV stations which are primary cultural molders denigrate Judaism and Jewish values and promote consumerism. Alternative radio stations (like Arutz 7) that provided services and information to supporters of the Greater Israel concept were closed (unlike the pro-peace at all costs, Voice of Peace, and unlike the hundreds of pirate Arab radio stations).
Specials laws and penalties have been proposed to prevent expressions of dissent. Legitimate protests are considered criminal acts. New prisons and detention camps are planned for those who resist evacuation.
Ministers who disagree with PM Sharon have been summarily fired. Never before has such arrogance been institutionalized and legitimized. Even institutions which are supposed to prevent such abuse have remained silent.
Indoctrinated by Israel's polictically dominated media, many Israelis no longer believe in their country and the justice of its cause. Politicians, community leaders and artists espouse anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist doctrines that would be considered bigotry if uttered by non-Jews; their insults are carried by a compliant media into every home.
Add to all this four years of unremitting terrorist attacks and the result is emotional exhaustion and despair. Sharon has taken advantage of that societal malaise to fragment and demoralize the opposition; but this is not new.
The seeds of this denouement can be found decades ago in attempts by Israeli socialists to substitute a form of nationalism for religious faith and a detachment from Judaism. Their attack on Jewish identity, the one common denominator which holds us together, is an attempt to break the connection between Judaism and Zionism.
Israeli leaders are unable to express an authentic, proud and definitive Jewish message. Nor have they been able to articulate Israel's place and purpose in Jewish history. They have defended Israel as if it were simply a country like any other – rather than one that lives on the edge of extinction because it is Jewish. That distinction is crucial: the only reason that the Land of Israel has value is because Jews live in it, because it is central to Jewish consciousness and belief.
The culture of Israelism, which spurns authentic Jewish content and has little or no understanding or connection to Judaism, or Israeli history, contains a kind of Judeophobia. Attacking Jews who live in Yesha is an example of the Kulturkampf that is tearing apart Israeli society and with it the nationalist ideology and religious belief that define and distinguish us. For many, that is why the Jews of Yesha have become The Enemy.
The struggle in Israel over Sharon's policy of retreat is not merely about power, and certainly not peace, but over Jewish identity and Jewish values. It is ironic that those who support this policy because of their concern for the Jewish character of Israel and Israeli democracy have so little regard for either at home.
Anti-Zionist Leftists have, however, raised important questions. What does Jewish national self-determination mean when so many Israelis either totally reject that concept or have little understanding of it?
If Israel is nothing more than a few Jewish symbols and some official recognition of holidays, but without a Jewish content, why does there need to be a State of Israel at all?
In order to ensure their control, the ruling elites and their supporters will buy off whomever they can and impoverish the rest until they too give in. They will imprison those who protest and try to break the will of any opposition. In the name of The State, they will try to destroy the Jewish and Zionist ethos that has sustained and inspired us for thousands of years and brought us back to our homeland.
The triumph of The State, wherever it is, can only be meaningful when it expresses the will of the people. Otherwise, it is only another form of repression.
________________________________________
The author, a former asst professor of History (at CUNY), is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem. moshedan@netvision.net.il Dedicated to the memory of Adir Zik.
Published on http://www.jewishmag.com/88mag/jewishnationalism/jewishnationalism.htm
By Moshe Dann
Twelve years ago the 'Oslo Process' was inaugurated based on secret agreements and understandings. Its PR rationale was Land for Peace, relying on Arafat as a partner. It was all a lie.
Today, after thousands of dead and tens of thousands crippled, that same process (led by some of the same people) continues under the PR slogan disengagement. Since there is still no 'peace partner' as yet (only a truce partner) terrorists will not only stay in place but are honored and strengthened. Oslo III is, therefore, 'Land for Nothing.' Unilateral withdrawal is only a euphemism for retreat. No mandate and no explanations. As Israelis say, Kacha! (just because).
Missing in the debate over Israel's proposed retreat from all or most of Yesha – the historical and strategic heartland of Israel -- is the context from which that policy has emerged. During the last forty years the essence of Jewish identity, the foundations of Zionism, and the institutions of Israeli democracy has been assaulted.
This assault has diminished Jewish content in public education and in daily life, it has attacked the national religious settlement movement inYesha, has politicized the IDF and the courts, it has controlled the media, educational and cultural institutions and by and large Israel's political economy. By pitting loyalty to the State against the settlers there is a constant desire to divide and conquer public opinion. The State itself replaces ideology with its own values based on the myth that it represents the popular will and serves our common interests.
Engaging in diatribes against personalities and hysterical scenarios only contributes to a general confusion about who is responsible; there is a failure to understand the inner dynamics of what's really happening -- and this leaves us in anger and despair.
The Sharon/Peres plan is part of an agenda that seeks to destroy Zionism and replace it with a new Israelism (nationalism per se), to transform Jewish nationhood into a secular pluralistic republic (in the Western European tradition) and to maintain control of Israel's political/economic system in order to preserve the interests of the ruling elite. This agenda seeks to de-Judeize Israel, to assimilate and integrate into (and hopefully be accepted by) the international community, especially by the West, and to stay in power.
Three main obstacles stand in their way: Anti-Semitism, Arab terrorism and the national religious Zionist camp. The latter, especially the Jews who live in Yesha are not marginal; they are fully integrated into the fabric of daily life and especially the IDF. These Jews are rooted in an ideology of Jewish settlement that is basic to Zionism and Jewish consciousness.
Disengagement, even if possible is not only or even primarily intended to separate from Arabs (the external threat), but from the religious Right, the settlers, who represent an internal threat to Israel's ruling elite. Both Arab and religious Jewish nationalists – because they are idealists -- are perceived by the political/economic establishment in Israel as extremist threats to their power. Idealists can't be bought. Disengagement therefore means nothing more than uprooting Jewish communities and allowing Palestinian terrorists a sovereign state in return for, hopefully, international good will. PM Sharon has said clearly to the Palestinians: 'whether or not you stop terrorism and incitement, we will leave.' What a bargaining position and incentive!
The hope is, of course, that Palestinian moderates will control extremists in return for a significant cut of the loot, in addition to the billions stashed away by Arafat in Swiss banks and throughout the world. But even if terrorism continues at a reduced level, that too will be acceptable, manageable in the jargon of experts, as long as there won't be too many casualties and the elites continue to rule. It's not so much that the ruling elites want freedom from the Arabs, since they are necessary in the workforce; the elites want freedom from Judaism and from Zionism.
The willingness of Israel's government to cede most of Yesha to a terrorist-oriented Palestinian state is the logical consequence of the political agenda. This includes building barriers and fences throughout the country along what were the armistice lines of 1949 (with some exceptions). In some cases it may provide a temporary obstacle for terrorists; more important, however, it restricts the expansion of Jewish communities and defines a future Palestinian state. It declares: 'Israel stops here.' That, perhaps, may buy some respite, but not for long. Nor is it enough.
For the international ruling elites, Israel is an anachronism among nation states. Zionism is an impediment to both the international communtity and the Israeli State who desires an assimilation into a world economic structure. Israel is particularistic (nominally Jewish) in a 'pluralistic/universalistic' world; the basis for its existence is a 'homeland for Jews.' That made sense after the Holocaust; today it's inadequate and insufficient as an historical reference. Hence, the need to restructure.
Sharon and Peres seek to create a new coalition representing a center that will thwart challenges from the Greater Israel national religious anti-Palestinian-state forces on one side and those calling for the dismantling of the State on the other. Their agenda is not only to create physical borders, but social, cultural and political ones as well that will ensure their continued dominance of Israel's political economy and culture.
The Oslo Accords were meant to stop Jewish settlement in Yesha; the Sharon/Peres plan takes it the next step: the destruction of those Jewish communities.
Regardless of Palestinian terrorism and incitement, the inevitability of a Palestinian state (in Sharon's words) has become an obsession that has paralyzed the government's ability to consider any other options and requires Israel's dependence on American/European and Palestinian good will. That policy comes out of a deeply-rooted belief that the Jewish people do not have the inalienable right to establish their national home in the Land of Israel.
Yoram Hazony's book, The Jewish State; The Struggle for Israel's Soul, laid out in striking detail how Israel's Left-wing intellectual elite have undermined the basic premises of Zionism. Published just before former PM Ehud Barak agreed to give Arafat and the PLO almost everything they wanted – nearly all of Yesha, including east Jerusalem and exclusive rights over the Temple Mount, Hazony exposed a cancer that has eaten away at Israel's raison d'etre as a Jewish state. This post-Zionist policy waited only to be implemented. PM Sharon, who presented himself as a Right-wing leader, became its Godfather.
Coincident with Oslo, Education Ministers cut budgets for teaching about Judaism and introduced pro-Palestinian propaganda in textbooks. Today, Jewish students in Israeli secular schools may graduate knowing little or nothing about their religion or their history. That is deliberate policy.
Israeli universities, with one exception, are bastions of anti-Jewish propaganda. TV stations which are primary cultural molders denigrate Judaism and Jewish values and promote consumerism. Alternative radio stations (like Arutz 7) that provided services and information to supporters of the Greater Israel concept were closed (unlike the pro-peace at all costs, Voice of Peace, and unlike the hundreds of pirate Arab radio stations).
Specials laws and penalties have been proposed to prevent expressions of dissent. Legitimate protests are considered criminal acts. New prisons and detention camps are planned for those who resist evacuation.
Ministers who disagree with PM Sharon have been summarily fired. Never before has such arrogance been institutionalized and legitimized. Even institutions which are supposed to prevent such abuse have remained silent.
Indoctrinated by Israel's polictically dominated media, many Israelis no longer believe in their country and the justice of its cause. Politicians, community leaders and artists espouse anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist doctrines that would be considered bigotry if uttered by non-Jews; their insults are carried by a compliant media into every home.
Add to all this four years of unremitting terrorist attacks and the result is emotional exhaustion and despair. Sharon has taken advantage of that societal malaise to fragment and demoralize the opposition; but this is not new.
The seeds of this denouement can be found decades ago in attempts by Israeli socialists to substitute a form of nationalism for religious faith and a detachment from Judaism. Their attack on Jewish identity, the one common denominator which holds us together, is an attempt to break the connection between Judaism and Zionism.
Israeli leaders are unable to express an authentic, proud and definitive Jewish message. Nor have they been able to articulate Israel's place and purpose in Jewish history. They have defended Israel as if it were simply a country like any other – rather than one that lives on the edge of extinction because it is Jewish. That distinction is crucial: the only reason that the Land of Israel has value is because Jews live in it, because it is central to Jewish consciousness and belief.
The culture of Israelism, which spurns authentic Jewish content and has little or no understanding or connection to Judaism, or Israeli history, contains a kind of Judeophobia. Attacking Jews who live in Yesha is an example of the Kulturkampf that is tearing apart Israeli society and with it the nationalist ideology and religious belief that define and distinguish us. For many, that is why the Jews of Yesha have become The Enemy.
The struggle in Israel over Sharon's policy of retreat is not merely about power, and certainly not peace, but over Jewish identity and Jewish values. It is ironic that those who support this policy because of their concern for the Jewish character of Israel and Israeli democracy have so little regard for either at home.
Anti-Zionist Leftists have, however, raised important questions. What does Jewish national self-determination mean when so many Israelis either totally reject that concept or have little understanding of it?
If Israel is nothing more than a few Jewish symbols and some official recognition of holidays, but without a Jewish content, why does there need to be a State of Israel at all?
In order to ensure their control, the ruling elites and their supporters will buy off whomever they can and impoverish the rest until they too give in. They will imprison those who protest and try to break the will of any opposition. In the name of The State, they will try to destroy the Jewish and Zionist ethos that has sustained and inspired us for thousands of years and brought us back to our homeland.
The triumph of The State, wherever it is, can only be meaningful when it expresses the will of the people. Otherwise, it is only another form of repression.
________________________________________
The author, a former asst professor of History (at CUNY), is a writer and journalist living in Jerusalem. moshedan@netvision.net.il Dedicated to the memory of Adir Zik.
Published on http://www.jewishmag.com/88mag/jewishnationalism/jewishnationalism.htm
Sunday, February 27, 2005
The Principle of Pikuach Nefesh - Interview with Rabbi Moshe Tendler on the situation in Israel
Even before the government voted to destroy the communities of the Gaza Region, most people were feeling helpless - clueless about how they could personally help change the terrible decree facing the Jewish people. As the Jerusalem protest tent was folding last month, Voices Editor (moi) and Publisher had the opportunity to chat with the respected Yeshiva University rosh yeshiva and Jewish leader Rabbi Moshe David Tendler, shlita. Here are some excerpts of our talk:
Many years ago, a talmid of mine married and lived on a kibbutz. After nine years of married life, which included visits to the biggest fertility specialists in Israel, G-d did not strengthen with them with children.
He was appointed as a shaliach to America, where the couple consulted with experts in fertility management. None of the doctors they met had the key that the Ribono Shel Olam keeps in His pocket. After almost two years, and no children, they prepared to return to Eretz Yisrael. He asked me if he could see my father-in-law [the great sage of the previous generation HaRav Moshe Feinstein] ztz'l. Like a good Litvak, my father-in-law said to him, 'Did you try everything? The best in Israel? The best in America? You gave up? There's nothing else? Well, now the Ribono Shel Olam will help.' As long as you think you have a better idea, one that the Ribono Shel Olam didn't think of, He waits until you finish. Once you make up your mind that there's nothing to do, then you come to the conclusion, ‘Ein lanu al mi le'hisha'en elah al Aveinu She'BaShamayim.’ (We have no one to rely on, except our Father in Heaven.)
On the way home, they took a side trip to France and to Italy, and by the time they landed home in Israel, she was expecting. They have nine children today, bli ayin hara.
I use this story for myself and for others. The trick is to give up. We haven't given up enough.
Surely, we have to do everything. Lemaan yevarechecha H' Elokecha bechol ma'asecha asher ta'aseh... (So that Hashem will bless you in everything you do. If you do, Hashem will bless you, and if you don't, He won't bless you.)
So you did everything you could possibly do, and you have to have confidence that it will work out fine. The question is, 'Did we do all we could possibly do?' That's the whole shayala (question). Give up when there are some obvious important things to do yet, and then HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not yet involved.
Did we do everything possible? I think there is more to do:
We must contact the American money men, who support Sharon and the city of Jerusalem. Money talks and money men talk. They should be told that we cannot have confidence in Sharon when military men, Shabak and the secret service all say we're increasing the danger to the lives of Israelis with this act [the Sharon Plan]."
We must get the cooperation of the OU (Orthodox Union), the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) and the Young Israel to organize a march on Washington with very simple signs, 'Bush, would you let this happen in America?' 'Bush, where is your biblical integrity?' We must bring out 50,000 people, as we did for the march on Washington a few years ago. If we do, I am convinced that the Senate will become stronger in its support of Israel.
Pikuach Nefesh
"There's a klal gadol baTorah. In the gemora, sometimes discussions or controversies end up with the word teiku. What's teiku? Tishbi yetaretz kushiyot ubaayot (Eliyahu HaTishbi will answer the questions we have when he comes).
But in halacha, there's no such thing as no answer. When there's no specific answer in halacha for this case, you fall back on principles. Safeik de'oreita le chumra. Safeik derabanan lekulah. (If you have something you're not sure of, if it's from the Torah, you take the stringent approach. If the question is from the rabbis, you take the more lenient option.)
There's no specific answer to the problems facing Am Yisrael today. There's no quick answer to the Kassam rockets. But we have a base halacha which says, when in doubt, pasken the halacha as it is written. And what's written, Pikuach nefesh is docheh kol mitzvah she baTorah. (Where there's a life at stake, you can transgress the mitzvoth in the Torah [note: except three]). Therefore, analyze the situation.
Am I endangering the life of a Jew by the 'disengagement'? Am I improving their security by doing that? That will be my decision. Pikuach nefesh is docheh kol mitzvah she baTorah. So I ask myself a question, 'Is pikuach nefesh involved here?' The generals say it is. The Shabak says it is. The rabbanim in the hitnachluyot say it is. The people are yelling, 'You're killing me.' So, the 'disengagement' is forbidden.
Not because of ahavat haaretz (love of the land), Eretz Shelaimah (wholeness of the land). That confuses the situation. It causes the opposition to demean the machloket (disagreement) into whether we want more territory or less territory. That's not the issue. We want our children not to be killed. Period.
On the big issue of what's good for the Jews or bad for the Jews, we've reached an impasse - teiku. When you have a teiku, you go back to principles. The key principle here is pikuach nefesh.
That's the big error that's being made now in this whole battle. They [the organizations fighting the dismantling of Gush Katif] are putting too much Zionism into the picture. When in doubt, go with the halacha.
And the halacha says clearly, 'This act is endangering the life of Jews.' Oslo was isur me'doreita (forbidden from the Torah) for one reason - not because you felt it was going to fail, but because the signing of Oslo and the reincarnation of Arafat that followed, led to more Jews being killed.
That was foreseen by the little rabbanim in the hitnachlayut (Yesha communities). It wasn't seen by the big rabbanim who had trouble deciding whether they do or do not vote with the government. A shayala was asked, ‘Is Oslo good for the Jews or bad for the Jews al pi halacha?’ They didn't know, so they decided to support the government. That wasn't the issue. If they didn't know, they should have gone back to principles. The first principle, 'pikuach nefesh.'
The Infinite Jew
What do the proponents say? Will [disengagement] increase or decrease security? 'Well...it will decrease security now. But in the future, it will be good.' There's no such halacha that you kill somebody now because in the future you'll save more lives. That's against the halacha. We don't have that concept of sacrificing a few Jews so you can save a lot more Jews, because to wax mathematical and poetic, a Jew is of infinite worth, and ten infinities are no more than one infinity. Infinity is infinity.
What should regular people do?
Push this one point. Don't talk about anything else.
Don't talk about how much effort [people of Gush Katif] put into building their hot houses, and what a terrible thing it is to uproot someone, or that it is reminiscent of the Shoah. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about one simple thing, 'You're killing our children.' Period. Not here. Not in Gush Katif. You're killing our children in Tel Aviv.
The Kassam rockets are getting better. Israel is so small. Add a few more grains of powder to a kassam rocket. If you're not interested in accuracy, and just want blind terror, it will hit Tel Aviv also. If it hits Tel Aviv, then you'll get a reaction.
If the first rocket landed in Tel Aviv, they would have wiped out swaths of enemy territory in order to prevent it.
Endangering Ourselves
I have big investments in Eretz Yisrael - 43 grandchildren and great-grandchildren living here, bli ayin hara. So I'm not exactly an outsider. It cannot be that while I was not looking Israel became a fascist dictatorship country with one man calling all the shots.
The fact that Sharon is so resistant to a Misha’al Am (referendum), indicates that he knows he is not presenting a popular plan. If he could have a mandate and a decent majority voting with him, he'd have it his way.
We are surrounded by enemies. They're killing our children. Which nation has ever suffered this thing of arbitrary missiles - 'I'll just send out a missile and see whom I can kill' - and it doesn't lead to a declaration of war!
It boils down to: we have to do what we have to do. And no one's asking me.
[Speaking after the deadly Kassam missiles hit Sderot, Rav Tendler said] Right now, Sharon doesn't understand that he can do whatever he pleases against the Arab terrorists with full support of the people of America. Bush will yell that it wasn't a measured response, and so on. But the majority of Americans today, as anti-Semitic as they are, are pro-Israel, because they hate the Arabs more. It's not from Ahavat Mordechai, but from Sinat Haman.
If I were Sharon, I'd make an announcement on the radio today, 'If one more Kassam rocket lands, this geographic area consisting of ten blocks will be destroyed in the morning by bombers. You have 24 hours to take your belongings and leave. Next Kassam rocket, 20 blocks get destroyed. Next, 30 blocks get destroyed.' They'll stop.
This is like what Yehoshua did when he came into Eretz Yisrael. 'I will leave you an escape hatch, and you can go out.'
The halacha is clear. Pekuach nefesh must be the motivating factor."
Article published in the February Issue of Voices Magazine
Even before the government voted to destroy the communities of the Gaza Region, most people were feeling helpless - clueless about how they could personally help change the terrible decree facing the Jewish people. As the Jerusalem protest tent was folding last month, Voices Editor (moi) and Publisher had the opportunity to chat with the respected Yeshiva University rosh yeshiva and Jewish leader Rabbi Moshe David Tendler, shlita. Here are some excerpts of our talk:
Many years ago, a talmid of mine married and lived on a kibbutz. After nine years of married life, which included visits to the biggest fertility specialists in Israel, G-d did not strengthen with them with children.
He was appointed as a shaliach to America, where the couple consulted with experts in fertility management. None of the doctors they met had the key that the Ribono Shel Olam keeps in His pocket. After almost two years, and no children, they prepared to return to Eretz Yisrael. He asked me if he could see my father-in-law [the great sage of the previous generation HaRav Moshe Feinstein] ztz'l. Like a good Litvak, my father-in-law said to him, 'Did you try everything? The best in Israel? The best in America? You gave up? There's nothing else? Well, now the Ribono Shel Olam will help.' As long as you think you have a better idea, one that the Ribono Shel Olam didn't think of, He waits until you finish. Once you make up your mind that there's nothing to do, then you come to the conclusion, ‘Ein lanu al mi le'hisha'en elah al Aveinu She'BaShamayim.’ (We have no one to rely on, except our Father in Heaven.)
On the way home, they took a side trip to France and to Italy, and by the time they landed home in Israel, she was expecting. They have nine children today, bli ayin hara.
I use this story for myself and for others. The trick is to give up. We haven't given up enough.
Surely, we have to do everything. Lemaan yevarechecha H' Elokecha bechol ma'asecha asher ta'aseh... (So that Hashem will bless you in everything you do. If you do, Hashem will bless you, and if you don't, He won't bless you.)
So you did everything you could possibly do, and you have to have confidence that it will work out fine. The question is, 'Did we do all we could possibly do?' That's the whole shayala (question). Give up when there are some obvious important things to do yet, and then HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not yet involved.
Did we do everything possible? I think there is more to do:
We must contact the American money men, who support Sharon and the city of Jerusalem. Money talks and money men talk. They should be told that we cannot have confidence in Sharon when military men, Shabak and the secret service all say we're increasing the danger to the lives of Israelis with this act [the Sharon Plan]."
We must get the cooperation of the OU (Orthodox Union), the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America) and the Young Israel to organize a march on Washington with very simple signs, 'Bush, would you let this happen in America?' 'Bush, where is your biblical integrity?' We must bring out 50,000 people, as we did for the march on Washington a few years ago. If we do, I am convinced that the Senate will become stronger in its support of Israel.
Pikuach Nefesh
"There's a klal gadol baTorah. In the gemora, sometimes discussions or controversies end up with the word teiku. What's teiku? Tishbi yetaretz kushiyot ubaayot (Eliyahu HaTishbi will answer the questions we have when he comes).
But in halacha, there's no such thing as no answer. When there's no specific answer in halacha for this case, you fall back on principles. Safeik de'oreita le chumra. Safeik derabanan lekulah. (If you have something you're not sure of, if it's from the Torah, you take the stringent approach. If the question is from the rabbis, you take the more lenient option.)
There's no specific answer to the problems facing Am Yisrael today. There's no quick answer to the Kassam rockets. But we have a base halacha which says, when in doubt, pasken the halacha as it is written. And what's written, Pikuach nefesh is docheh kol mitzvah she baTorah. (Where there's a life at stake, you can transgress the mitzvoth in the Torah [note: except three]). Therefore, analyze the situation.
Am I endangering the life of a Jew by the 'disengagement'? Am I improving their security by doing that? That will be my decision. Pikuach nefesh is docheh kol mitzvah she baTorah. So I ask myself a question, 'Is pikuach nefesh involved here?' The generals say it is. The Shabak says it is. The rabbanim in the hitnachluyot say it is. The people are yelling, 'You're killing me.' So, the 'disengagement' is forbidden.
Not because of ahavat haaretz (love of the land), Eretz Shelaimah (wholeness of the land). That confuses the situation. It causes the opposition to demean the machloket (disagreement) into whether we want more territory or less territory. That's not the issue. We want our children not to be killed. Period.
On the big issue of what's good for the Jews or bad for the Jews, we've reached an impasse - teiku. When you have a teiku, you go back to principles. The key principle here is pikuach nefesh.
That's the big error that's being made now in this whole battle. They [the organizations fighting the dismantling of Gush Katif] are putting too much Zionism into the picture. When in doubt, go with the halacha.
And the halacha says clearly, 'This act is endangering the life of Jews.' Oslo was isur me'doreita (forbidden from the Torah) for one reason - not because you felt it was going to fail, but because the signing of Oslo and the reincarnation of Arafat that followed, led to more Jews being killed.
That was foreseen by the little rabbanim in the hitnachlayut (Yesha communities). It wasn't seen by the big rabbanim who had trouble deciding whether they do or do not vote with the government. A shayala was asked, ‘Is Oslo good for the Jews or bad for the Jews al pi halacha?’ They didn't know, so they decided to support the government. That wasn't the issue. If they didn't know, they should have gone back to principles. The first principle, 'pikuach nefesh.'
The Infinite Jew
What do the proponents say? Will [disengagement] increase or decrease security? 'Well...it will decrease security now. But in the future, it will be good.' There's no such halacha that you kill somebody now because in the future you'll save more lives. That's against the halacha. We don't have that concept of sacrificing a few Jews so you can save a lot more Jews, because to wax mathematical and poetic, a Jew is of infinite worth, and ten infinities are no more than one infinity. Infinity is infinity.
What should regular people do?
Push this one point. Don't talk about anything else.
Don't talk about how much effort [people of Gush Katif] put into building their hot houses, and what a terrible thing it is to uproot someone, or that it is reminiscent of the Shoah. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about one simple thing, 'You're killing our children.' Period. Not here. Not in Gush Katif. You're killing our children in Tel Aviv.
The Kassam rockets are getting better. Israel is so small. Add a few more grains of powder to a kassam rocket. If you're not interested in accuracy, and just want blind terror, it will hit Tel Aviv also. If it hits Tel Aviv, then you'll get a reaction.
If the first rocket landed in Tel Aviv, they would have wiped out swaths of enemy territory in order to prevent it.
Endangering Ourselves
I have big investments in Eretz Yisrael - 43 grandchildren and great-grandchildren living here, bli ayin hara. So I'm not exactly an outsider. It cannot be that while I was not looking Israel became a fascist dictatorship country with one man calling all the shots.
The fact that Sharon is so resistant to a Misha’al Am (referendum), indicates that he knows he is not presenting a popular plan. If he could have a mandate and a decent majority voting with him, he'd have it his way.
We are surrounded by enemies. They're killing our children. Which nation has ever suffered this thing of arbitrary missiles - 'I'll just send out a missile and see whom I can kill' - and it doesn't lead to a declaration of war!
It boils down to: we have to do what we have to do. And no one's asking me.
[Speaking after the deadly Kassam missiles hit Sderot, Rav Tendler said] Right now, Sharon doesn't understand that he can do whatever he pleases against the Arab terrorists with full support of the people of America. Bush will yell that it wasn't a measured response, and so on. But the majority of Americans today, as anti-Semitic as they are, are pro-Israel, because they hate the Arabs more. It's not from Ahavat Mordechai, but from Sinat Haman.
If I were Sharon, I'd make an announcement on the radio today, 'If one more Kassam rocket lands, this geographic area consisting of ten blocks will be destroyed in the morning by bombers. You have 24 hours to take your belongings and leave. Next Kassam rocket, 20 blocks get destroyed. Next, 30 blocks get destroyed.' They'll stop.
This is like what Yehoshua did when he came into Eretz Yisrael. 'I will leave you an escape hatch, and you can go out.'
The halacha is clear. Pekuach nefesh must be the motivating factor."
Article published in the February Issue of Voices Magazine
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