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By Bruce S. Ticker
June 7, 2005
When Helen Freedman reaches the Gaza border in the next few days, she says, she could be turned back by Israeli troops. That won't silence her. "I'll be calling the American Consulate and I'll be angry," she promised.
Then what?
The Consulate will probably tell her that they cannot dictate policies to a sovereign nation. Besides, they no doubt have much practice responding to "very angry" callers.
Freedman, who is with Americans for Safe Israel, sounds as if she was making things up as she goes, which underscores the failure of disengagement opponents to galvanize Americans in any substantial way to lobby against the Israeli government's plan to withdraw from all settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank in mid-August.
Opponents of disengagement intend to spend time with Jewish settlers in Gaza to protest the impending pullout. Just a week ago, thousands converged on the streets outside Baruch College in midtown Manhattan to jeer Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was inside addressing 1,500 Jewish leaders who back his Gaza policy.
To top it off, a group of Baptist ministers is joining Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind for this week's trip to Israel, according to New York Jewish Week. From his Oklahoma City church where he pastors 3,000 congregants, the Rev. James Vineyard proclaimed, "The Bible says that land belongs to the Jews. The Lord, God of Israel, is not going to look favorably on the giving away of one grain of sand."
At last week's protest rally, Hikind boomed, "It is easier for me to find Baptist ministers than rabbis."
Hikind should listen to his own words. He might get the message that he has no choice to move outside Jewish circles for help because the the vast majority of Jews both in the United States and Israel either support disengagement or don't care. It has become annoying to hear their rhetoric. Their antics have reached the point of downright embarrassment. It is time to give it up.
They might consider saving their energy and political capital for a far larger task. The day could surely come when Israel must negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians. Of course, many Palestinians have made it clear that they want everything -- the right of return, a piece of Jerusalem and the entire West Bank.
The Israeli government is obligated to hold the Palestinian Authority's feet to the fire on every last demand. Israel offered the Palestinians an independent state nearly five years ago and they repaid them with a war that snuffed out more than 1,000 Israeli lives. The Israeli government cannot afford to play games.
Which brings us back to Hikind, Freedman and their associates. They are gaining no traction among the so-called silent majority of American Jews because those who pay attention concur that the cost of protecting many settlements is too high. They can gain more traction than they ever dreamed of if they focus on pressuring Israel to be careful in negotiations, and the Palestinians to be serious.
Because, after nearly five years of a war which the Palestinians initiated and persisted with, most Jews may well wonder why Israel should bother talking with them at all. If Israel must negotiate, my educated guess is that most Jews would unite in the belief that the Palestinians must justify every last demand.
Yet, how can we bring all these silent and perhaps apathetic Jews together? Leave that to Dov and Helen. They and their friends are uniquely talented in galvanizing the masses on any issue that concerns them. Look how far they have gone in opposition to disengagement, a cause with limited appeal. Combine these right-leaning folks with a popular, righteous cause and there is no stopping them.
The negotiating process, if it ever resumes, will be a defining moment for Israel's future, far more than disengagement from Gaza. It barely requires mention that whatever Israel cedes to the Palestinians will determine whether Israelis live in genuine peace or create a fatal system of trap doors.
So it is crucial that Israel ensures as cautiously as possible that each provision will be enforceable. Each party must pull its weight and live up to their responsibilities. Neither side, moreso the Palestinians, has done this.
In fact, the very concept of a Palestinian state has already been accepted in many quarters with no questions asked. Here are some questions which have yet to be posed or satisfactorily explained: What is the need for a state? Are there no other options? What of Gaza joining Egypt and part of the West Bank joining Jordan? How will the Palestinians form a viable government? How will they control terrorism? How will they operate a criminal-justice system?
Does anyone recall any of these questions being asked in the past 12 years before Israeli leaders proposed or offered the Palestinians a state? Israel's future security depends upon deep consideration of every issue.
A well-oiled lobbying force in the United States could keep Israel's feet to the fire so that they keep the Palestinians' feet to the fire. Hikind and Freedman might want to redirect their energies to this end. It will refresh their credibility as it helps to secure Israel's future.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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