David Bogner (Treppenwitz) blogs from the West Bank about the war, & I add my 2 cents
Trep has been providing thought-provoking commentary.
A whispered post (this one's a heartbreaker)
Handy To-Do List (how we can help)
A difficult lesson (frankly gruesome--is this truly the only way?)
A depressing epiphany (ever is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are cloudy all day)
I've said this before and I'll say it again, though it certainly won't endear me to Trep, Jameel, West Bank Mama, other settlers and/or their supporters in the Galut/Diaspora: Call me naive, but I've been saying for the past 30 years or so that Israel should have kept the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights as militarized buffer zones, rather than opening them up to settlement. It's bad enough being ruled by an army other than your own, but having one's home turf invaded by the enemies' homes is not going to be popular with the locals. That said, the various governments (Labor, Likud, etc.) that encouraged settlement having made, in my opinion, a serious and, now, literally life-threatening error in judgement, the settlers can hardly be blamed for having gone where their government encouraged them to go, and they certainly deserve protection. I hope that, in the long run, there be peace in the Land, gladness eternal for its inhabitants, as the prayer says. In the meantime, do what you have to do to survive. Israel is there for all of us.
For a different perspective, I strongly recommend that you write to David Shasha at Davidshasha@aol.com and ask to be added to the mailing list for the Sephardic Heritage Update newsletter that he edits and e-mails. Mr. Shasha is coming from an angle that I haven't encountered elsewhere. If I understand correctly, he's of the opinion that the early Zionists, having done such a thorough job of demonizing the Arabs, forced Arab Jews to deny their heritage, and thus deprived the fledgling Jewish State of what might have been a wonderful resource for helping establish a State of Israel whose people, with centuries of experience, knew how to get along with their Arab neighbors.
The damage is done, on all sides. Israel has spent over 50 years creating what's, to a great extent (in my opinion), a pseudo-European state, and an Ashkenazi one, at that, in the middle of the Middle East, thoroughly downplaying and disrespecting the Arabic roots of a very large segment of Israel's Jewish population. The territories have been thoroughly settled. Israel has backed itself into a corner. Does it have any other choice, at this point, but to fight for its life?
Did I mention that I'm a Zionist? Did I mention that my nephew is in basic training in the Israel Defense Force, giving me good reason to bite my nails? Did I mention . . . yes, I did.
A whispered post (this one's a heartbreaker)
Handy To-Do List (how we can help)
A difficult lesson (frankly gruesome--is this truly the only way?)
A depressing epiphany (ever is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are cloudy all day)
I've said this before and I'll say it again, though it certainly won't endear me to Trep, Jameel, West Bank Mama, other settlers and/or their supporters in the Galut/Diaspora: Call me naive, but I've been saying for the past 30 years or so that Israel should have kept the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights as militarized buffer zones, rather than opening them up to settlement. It's bad enough being ruled by an army other than your own, but having one's home turf invaded by the enemies' homes is not going to be popular with the locals. That said, the various governments (Labor, Likud, etc.) that encouraged settlement having made, in my opinion, a serious and, now, literally life-threatening error in judgement, the settlers can hardly be blamed for having gone where their government encouraged them to go, and they certainly deserve protection. I hope that, in the long run, there be peace in the Land, gladness eternal for its inhabitants, as the prayer says. In the meantime, do what you have to do to survive. Israel is there for all of us.
For a different perspective, I strongly recommend that you write to David Shasha at Davidshasha@aol.com and ask to be added to the mailing list for the Sephardic Heritage Update newsletter that he edits and e-mails. Mr. Shasha is coming from an angle that I haven't encountered elsewhere. If I understand correctly, he's of the opinion that the early Zionists, having done such a thorough job of demonizing the Arabs, forced Arab Jews to deny their heritage, and thus deprived the fledgling Jewish State of what might have been a wonderful resource for helping establish a State of Israel whose people, with centuries of experience, knew how to get along with their Arab neighbors.
The damage is done, on all sides. Israel has spent over 50 years creating what's, to a great extent (in my opinion), a pseudo-European state, and an Ashkenazi one, at that, in the middle of the Middle East, thoroughly downplaying and disrespecting the Arabic roots of a very large segment of Israel's Jewish population. The territories have been thoroughly settled. Israel has backed itself into a corner. Does it have any other choice, at this point, but to fight for its life?
Did I mention that I'm a Zionist? Did I mention that my nephew is in basic training in the Israel Defense Force, giving me good reason to bite my nails? Did I mention . . . yes, I did.
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:21 AM
7 Comments:
Here I was thinking that noone in Israel has blamed us for the war, and whoops, a Zionist in New York goes and does just that. You just don't get it - they hated us WAY before we won Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights - the Six Day War proves that. The only way to survive in this country is to make it a losing proposition for the Arabs to start a war with us. Since killing all of the Arab civilian population is not an option, then building homes and settling the land so that it will stay part of Israel. I find it a bit surprising that you don't see this. Israel left north Lebanon with its tail between its legs six years ago - and Hizballah is rewarding us for our weakness with this war. You think that we should now show even more weakness by giving up more territory?
Sorry, I meant south Lebanon.
She's right, Shira, they hated us before the six day war--that's why they were getting ready to wipe us off the map in the first place. Tel Aviv is Occupied territory too.
And don't tell me you think that cleaning up and reopening the Kotel was a mistake too. We captured that in 67 too.
Well, I told my husband that I was going to be shot at sunrise for this post. West Bank Mama, I guess you're the first to have the honor.
"they hated us WAY before we won Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights - the Six Day War proves that. The only way to survive in this country is to make it a losing proposition for the Arabs to start a war with us. Since killing all of the Arab civilian population is not an option, then building homes and settling the land so that it will stay part of Israel."
Maybe I'm just hopelessly naive. I've always assumed that there would be a land-for-peace swap eventually, so I've always figured that it would make/would have made more sense simply to leave the conquered areas in the hands of the Israel Defense Force and not to move Israelis in than to have to move them out later. *BUT* a land-for-peace deal only works when there's an official, binding peace treaty. The Egyptians may hate Israel's guts, but they're not shooting. That's what I had in mind.
"You think that we should now show even more weakness by giving up more territory?" ***NO!!!*** Okay, I made an error in judgement in hoping that the hitnatkut (withdrawal from Gaza) might work. I've learned my lesson, on three counts. First, the withdrawal didn't stop the shooting. Second, the Israeli government did not keep its commitment to take advantage of the absence of Israeli citizens from Gaza to go after terrorists the minute they started shooting, which was, I believe, one of the premises on which the settlers were forced to move--the withdrawal was supposed to free up the IDF and *increase* Israel's security, not be detrimental to it. Third, the Israeli government has proven itself totally incapable of resettling "removed" settlers. I think that the way the refugees from Gush Katif have been treated is a disgrace. How can the Israeli government talk about removing more settlers when they haven't figured out how to resettle the ones whom they removed almost a year ago? Who are these incompetents, anyway?
Last but most important: "Here I was thinking that noone in Israel has blamed us for the war, and whoops, a Zionist in New York goes and does just that." It depends on whom you mean when you say "us." Let me make one thing clear: I blame the Israel governments, past and present, not the settlers, for this war.
Politics aside, every time I say "Sh'ma koleinu ("Listen to our voice," a prayer for help), I have *all* the people of the *entire* Land of Israel in mind. I pray for your safety.
For what it's worth, I sincerely hope that I did not cause upset or offense. I'm praying for peace, but it appears that victory must come first.
Mark/PT, concerning the Kotel, here’s what I said in a previous post: "I have said, consistently, ever since Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza, . . . that the only part of the conquest that absolutely had to remain in Israeli hands was the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Ir Haatika/Old City and whatever other parts of Jerusalem had to be under Israeli control in order to guarantee access to the Kotel/Western Wall. ” I strongly believe that it is absolutely essential that Israel remain in control of the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel!
I'm curious: Does anyone have anything to say about my description of Israel as a pseudo-European, (pseudo-American, perhaps?) state in the middle of the Middle East? On the plus side, that does make it the only democracy in the Middle East. On the negative side, what about the the "Ashkenazization" of the Sefardi and Arab Jews, the suppression of Arab Jewish culture, and other non-Ashkenazi cultures? Why on earth does one see man of Ethiopian ancestry come out of a yeshiva education dressed like Jews from Poland? Are Jews of non-Ashkenazi heritage being pressured into feeling ashamed of their ancestry and culture?
Okay, maybe the Ethiopian-Israeli rabbi whom I saw in a photo standing next to a Kes, a traditional Ethiopian-Jewish spiritual leader, was dressed not like a Polish Jew, but rather, like a "black hat" from Boro Park. I can understand him wanting to wear a suit in a modern country such as Israeli. But why the black hat? Would it be a sin for him to wear a more traditional Ethiopian-Jewish head covering? Does cultural pressure from us Ashkenazim tend to make non-Ashkenazim hesitant to show pride in their own various heritages?
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