|
|
By Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver
September 3, 2006
"Now is not the time to dig up old grudges. We are living in very hard times, with so many Jews wounded, threatened, and displaced from their homes. Be sensitive to their feelings. We ought to set aside our differences and give encouragement, and not dwell on the faults of the government or the army; instead, let's gather to pray for them." "The whole world is against us. We must unite to defend the State of Israel's right to self-defense. We are all ambassadors for the State of Israel." "It's not about uniting in support of the government, but about uniting in support of the people under attack."
Although at first compelling, I contend that the highly selective definition of national crisis visible between the lines reveals that these calls are demonstrably warped:
If unity for the Jewish people is really what all this hoo-ha of patriotic frenzy is about, then:
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer when the Israeli government started sponsoring and arming terrorist groups under the transparent guise of peace, even letting top terrorist leaders and their collaborators roam free, and maintaining a charade of "the Arabs want peace" even after everyone saw through it as a blatant lie? "One makes peace with enemies, not friends!" they preached.
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer in defending the right of our fellow Jews of Gush Katif and Northern Shomron to their homes, villages, and land? "We don't mix into politics," the "leaders" declared.
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer when, after the army fled and ceased patrolling areas of Gaza outside Gush Katif, Kassams and mortars rained down incessantly on the Jewish villages there, and the army didn't lift a finger, and the Jewish world sat idly by, pretending that this was normal, or denying it altogether? "Oh, what do those settlers expect, living where they live? Yawn. Pass the juice."
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer after the homicide bombings, drive-by shootings, and sniper attacks that murder Jews in Yehudah and Shomron on a daily basis? "Sacrifices for peace," right?
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer when the homes of the Jews of Amonah were demolished and the thousands of youth who dared protest were cruelly beaten and molested, with riot police (better put, storm troopers) ordered to use their batons to strike at the heads and private parts of defenseless protesters, and trample them with German horses? Oh, they were "just following orders."
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer when the surrender of Gush Katif was followed so predictably by Hamas bombarding the Jews of Sderot, Netiv Ha'Asarah, and nearby villages with Kassam rockets daily for months on end, and the Israeli government did nothing because it didn't want to look stupid and admit its "mistake" in surrendering land vital for security to terrorists? "Kassams, shmassams!"
Where were the calls for unity and mass prayer when the Jews of the Avraham Avinu neighbourhood and the Shapira building in Chevron were to be expelled? "The fanatic settlers are causing trouble again."
Why is it that only when the Israeli government decides that murderous attacks on its citizens are intolerable that the right of Jews to defend their lives and property is allowed to be promoted in rallies, demonstrations, and prayer gatherings--where someone invariably makes sure that the Israeli flag is patriotically waved? Why are these calls coming largely from the same rabbis and laymen who were so shamefully silent during the Gush Katif expulsion, or actively supported it, from those who never said--my, what a coincidence--"Lo nishkach ve'lo nislach"? ("We will neither forgive nor forget.")
The answer to all these questions is chillingly simple: According to democracy, the secular goddess of Western culture and the Zionists who worship that culture, and that has deviously infiltrated into the thinking of Jewry as a whole, omniscience and absolute moral correctness is conferred upon all those democratically elected. Thus, a crisis is defined as a situation where a democratically elected government declares it a time of crisis; until then, there is no crisis, no matter how many Jews are wounded and slain. Jews' right to live in their homes securely is valid only if the popular vote deems it valid, and hard facts of danger to Jewish lives are only accepted as real if the majority recognizes them as such. The State is all-powerful, and that is axiomatic, and anyone caught doubting the supremacy of its authority is hounded as an infidel and ostracized as a fanatic, lunatic, and anarchist.
Thus, the message is clear: The democratically elected state deems the blood of the Jews of Chaifa and Rosh Pina redder than that of the Jews of Gush Katif, Yehuda and Shomron, and of anyone daring to challenge its tyrannical rule. The right to safety and property of the former is legitimate, of the latter, illegitimate, or at best, "a matter of opinion." And we've been duped by this insidious, obscene distortion of our values, this intellectual mishmash; in fact, most of us have swallowed it hook, line, and sinker.
Indeed, it's about time for unity. Unity in supporting the right of all Jews to self-defense, not only those in the North, or in Ashkelon. Unity in supporting the right of all Jews to remain in their homes unmolested, not only those of Tiberias and Carmiel, but even those in (gasp) those "outposts," a.k.a. Jewish villages. Unity in disengaging ourselves from the cowards (vis-a-vis the goyim) and bullies (vis-à-vis the Jews) calling themselves our leaders, and insisting on leadership of honesty, integrity, and genuine respect for Jewish safety and property, based on timeless Torah values.
Above all, there must be unity in declaring the most taboo statement of all, but the one upon whose recognition our very survival hangs:
"The attacks against the Jews both in the South and the North are the direct result of the Israeli government's reckless, senseless, treacherous retreats from those fronts, spawning a downward-spiralling trend of self-destruction that must be expunged from our midst once and for all, before it's too late."
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
