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Jason Orenstein is currently studying for a Masters in Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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By Jason Orenstein
June 2, 2003
Among the many reason that Jews give for their choosing not to support / recognize / live in the Jewish State of Israel is due to the secular Jewish government that decides her laws and policy.
I have always been of the belief that the creation of the Jewish State of Israel has been the manifestation G-d's will to return his children, the Jewish People, to their eternal Homeland, the Land of Israel. There, and only there, can the Jew live as a Jew - with pride, without fear of persecution for doing so, and with the power to defend himself if the need should arise. This served as the main reason why my wife and I made Aliyah just over 4 months ago from New York (where we were very happy and comfortable).
While I may not always agree with every law or policy decision undertaken by the Jewish State of Israel, this has never weakened the regard in which I hold the State of Israel, nor diminished the gratitude that I feel towards her. The government of the Jewish State of Israel represents me, personally, both as its citizen and as a Jew and I have always been able to express that with great pride - regardless of what the rest of the world may feel, do or say.
I awoke this morning to a different reality. The pride that I have carried in my heart and expressed to all who would listen, of the ability of the Jew (with a special emphasis on myself) being able to live in the Jewish State of Israel has been diminished. Last night, Prime Minister Sharon, in his explanation for the need of Israel to accept the Road Map, said, "Maintaining three and a half million Palestinians under occupation is a bad thing and must end."
I am well aware of what the world thinks of Israel and the Jewish People. I am all too familiar with the double standard that Israel is held to in its war against the Palestinian Authority's terror machine and has been held to throughout her history. Yet, none of that really bothers me, simply because that's the way it has always been and will continue to be.
Yet, to have the Prime Minister of Israel refer to the nation as occupiers hurts - a lot. I did not move to the Jewish State of Israel to be called an occupier (as I could have just as easily stayed in New York for that), and certainly not by the Prime Minister of the Jewish State of Israel. I did not move to the Jewish State of Israel to be told by the Prime Minister of
Israel that the apartment that I recently bought (and is currently being built) in Maaleh Adumim (with a population of over 30,000 and is one of the fastest growing 'supposedly' Israeli cities) is being built on land that doesn't belong to me (or any Jew for that matter) and even though in a final settlement I may be "allowed" to stay there, I should be aware that I am an occupier all the same.
Whatever happened to the Jewish people's historic right to live in the Land of Israel? What about the fact that Israel only came into possession of these "occupied territories" as a result of a defensive war? If the Prime Minister of the State of Israel proclaims to the world that the Jewish People are guilty of being occupiers of these territories and those Palestinians living within them as a result of a war where the Arab world proclaimed proudly its goal of driving every Jew - man, woman and child into the sea, then it won't be long before the world calls for the end of the Jewish occupation of lands conquered in 1948 (as the Arab world already does). After all, the PLO (known today as the Palestinian Authority), which was founded in 1964, before there were any "occupied territories," had already proclaimed in its charter the need to eliminate the Jewish State of Israel.
Prior to the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel there were a significant number of Arabs living in the Land (perhaps a majority of them), who as a result of the war, found themselves living in the new Jewish State of Israel - as a minority - or in refugee camps. What about their rights?
If the Jewish People's right to the State of Israel is simply a moral or historic one, then perhaps Prime Minister Sharon is correct, that we are in fact occupiers. Whereas 60 years ago, the Jewish People were the oppressed and downtrodden nation, after six million Jews were slaughtered in the Shoah (Holocaust), today the Palestinians have taken our place, and as such, now it is their turn to have a state in the Land of Israel (at the expense of the Jewish People, of course, who, in the eyes of the world - and Israel's Prime Minister, have made the
astounding transition from being the oppressed to being oppressors).
Thankfully, the right of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel is not merely a moral or historic one, rather a divine one. Thankfully, the right of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel is not one that the world or even the Prime Minister of Israel can take away or apologize for.
I will continue to support the Jewish State of Israel, and take pride in that I am blessed to live within her borders and have citizenship in this state. I will continue to pray for the welfare of the government of the Jewish State of Israel, even if I disagree with some of their decisions and policies. I will sacrifice all that I have to defend and strengthen her and the right of the Jewish People to her. Yet, I will not sacrifice my right to the Land of Israel and of the Jewish People to her in the name of diplomacy, morality or any other reason. The right of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel predates the creation of the State of Israel, and that will never change, regardless of what our Prime Minister may say.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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