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By Reuven Koret April 22, 2005
I have a confession to make. I've been pretty depressed by what's happening in Israel. I came to this country for idealistic reasons, believing in the Zionist mission, convinced that Israel is the best place for a Jew to call home. That optimism has been sorely challenged by our defeatist government, which has ignored the electoral mandate of the people who brought it to power and ignored the referendum of the rank-and-file of the party which selected the Prime Minister.
I can rationally understand the need for Israel to have defined and defensible borders, to order its priorities according to existential needs like eliminating the Iranian threat, and to maintain good relations with the United States and other relatively supportive nations. But it still does not add up to explain the policy or Ariel Sharon or to justify the anti-democratic and anti-Jewish tactics that have been determining the Israeli order of the day.
The sadness of the realization that people like me are compelled to oppose the foolishness and self-destructiveness of our elected government is at least partially compensated by the recognition that there are millions of Israelis, and tens of millions of people worldwide, who share my frustration and disillusionment. There is latent strength in those numbers, and in the power of those people. As a publisher, I have the power to help galvanize support, get the facts out, and contribute to a responsible opposition to an untenable and deeply dangerous policy direction.
That will be the focus of Israel Insider in the months to come. There is a time for all things, and this is the time for patriots to stand up and be counted, to act and not just talk. Only massive non-violent civil disobedience, in the tradition of the American civil rights movement, will move the nation and stop the insane expulsion and eradication orders which threaten to tear our country apart, and break our hearts and faith in the Israeli state.
This Passover, during your seder, I urge my fellow Jews to think about the fate of deportation, displacement, and destruction which awaits nine thousand people in Gaza and another thousand in Samaria. Is this our legacy to our children? Is this what we came home for? If we so quickly abandon these town and villages to unrepentant terrorists, who will use them as a new forward base in the "phased" plan to expel the Jewish people from "Palestine," then what will stop the forward momentum of additional liquidations and expulsions?
Many have observed that Gaza first will lead to Jerusalem last, and I am convinced that this is true. When at the conclusion of your seder, you and your friends and families say "Next Year in Jerusalem!" I urge you to add, in your hearts and on your lips: "Next year in Gush Katif!" It cannot be that the tide of the Jewish return to their homeland will be reversed, and that the call of Moses to "Let my people go!" will become, in the policies of Sharon: "Force those people out!" All of the People of Israel, and our supporters around the world, should say, and pray, loud and clear: "Let our people stay!"
You'll pardon us if we take a holiday break, as we hope you do, and add:
"Chag Pesach Sameach. A joyous Passover to all the friends of Israel Insider!"
Reuven Koret
Publisher
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