Let the synagogues go with dignity

I've just read that the government voted 14-2 against demolishing the synagogues in Gaza, and to be quite honest, I cannot understand why. On the one hand, I can of course understand the not wanting to destroy the synagogues; under the best of circumstances it would be very painful to witness, and this is certainly not the best of circumstances.

If we allow the synagogues to remain standing, how long will it take before they are desecrated and destroyed by Palestinians, whose track record with regard to protecting Jewish holy sites is remarkably less than stellar? What would be more unbearable to watch - Israeli soldiers demolishing the synagogues with the dignity and solemnity required of such a task, or to see these buildings gleefully vandalized and desecrated on purpose - a sort of spiritual pigua (terror attack), if you will?

Unfortunately, I do not see a situation where these synagogues will remain standing under the protection of the Palestinians, given the lawlessness that currently reigns in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority, with all due respect, cannot control its citizens, nor does it really seem to want to do so. Under these circumstances, do we really want to entrust them with our holy sites if we have another choice? Two painful choices to choose from. There is no third choice. The synagogues must die. Do we allow them to die with quiet dignity, or do we knowingly subject them to a painful, undignified death?

And, before people start to attack me for wanting to destroy synagogues, well, that just isn't the case. Secular as I am, it is troubling to see any house of worship destroyed. Sometimes, it must be done though. Like now. If we do not, the Palestinians will. It's as simple as that. I expect our government to act responsibly on such an issue. The outcome of this vote serves no one but those Palestinians who are undoubtedly already making plans for desecration parties, and woe be the people who try to stop them.

Update: Well, as predicted, the Palestinians have set fire to four synagogues in Gaza, and are currently knocking them down. Are any of us really surprised? Apparently, some folks in the PMO expected a different result...

The Prime Minister's Office said Monday that the PA must act to prevent the "acts of arson." "Israel expects the Palestinian Authority to maintain the dignity of the structures of the synagogues," said David Baker, an official in the PMO. "Unfortunately, that has not occurred, and the PA is expected to take the necessary steps to prevent these acts of arson."

How pathetic... How sadly predictable...

My last disengagement post - a summary of emotions

These past few weeks have been very interesting, to say the least. It's been pretty incredible (and not necessarily in a good way) to see how high emotions have risen as a result of the disengagement. While speaking to my parents over the weekend, they asked me what the feeling was like in Israel these days, and I suggested that they check out the Israeli blog scene. Let's face it. We run the gamut of the political spectrum, and the disengagement really put us to the test. Buttons were pushed, battles were fought, and it was often truly scary to witness the venom being exchanged, as people took passionately opposing opinions on a myriad of disengagement-related topics, including the use of children, acceptable levels of resistance, and of course, the actual act of leaving Gaza.

It's been quite the eye-opening experience, and I know some of the events that I've witnessed - both good and bad - will be forever burned into my brain. I never imagined that I would feel such empathy and sadness for those settlers who left on their own, packing up their homes and families, opting to avoid clashes with security forces. Nor will I soon forget the raging anger I felt while watching those who stayed behind - their violence against the soldiers, their defiance, their complete disregard for law and life. I knew ahead of time that it wouldn't be easy, but I don't think I fully realized just how ugly it wasn going to get. Red lines were not only crossed, they were obliterated. Who would have thought that youngsters would taunt and argue with soldiers while their parents simply looked on and watched, or permit them to take place in physical altercations such as what happened in Kfar Darom? Who could have imagined that parents would allow their children to be portrayed as Holocaust victims, stars on their clothes and crying, marching with their hands in the air? Who would believe that Holocaust imagery would be used repeatedly, as though we can even compare people being evicted from their homes and compensated to people being forced to go through the horror of the concentration camps and marched to their deaths? Not to minimize the pain these people are feeling over losing their homes, but please. There can be no comparison between what has happened in Gaza to the greatest tragedy ever to befall the Jewish people.

I have to say, I have been reading blogs on and off for several years now, and I have never seen such fierce writing and commenting on the Israel-related blogs in all that time as I have during the time leading up to and including the disengagement. I have discovered things about myself - some of it not too pretty, and learned some intense lessons. If we can all say the same, then perhaps it wasn't all for nothing. Despite the intentions of some individuals to thwart the disengagement, Israel has managed to leave Gaza. We must now do what we can as a nation to heal the wounds and help those rendered, for all intents and purposes, homeless. The government must do everything in its power to ensure that these individuals can start to rebuild their lives as smoothly as possible, and while there may be small pockets of success here and there, I'm willing to bet that there's still so much more that can and should be done.

As for those who endangered the lives of members of our security forces and committed various other crimes (including all those soldiers caught stealing items from empty homes in the settlements), well, let them rot somewhere. Their actions only served to make a fragile, difficult situation even worse. They are a disgrace to this country and deserve to be treated as such.

On this note, I want to say that I'll make every effort to stop writing about the disengagement (barring any exceptional events that I believe require commentary). It is time for us to start picking up the pieces and move on to other subjects, before it consumes us completely.

We've had a bad day

I'm sitting here at the computer listening to some good mellow songs. I'm a big believer in music setting the mood, and right now, just to give you an idea of the way I've been feeling lately, I keep hitting the replay button on Daniel Powter's "Bad Day". There's just something about the song that moves me, and I suppose it has to do with everything that's been going on lately.

To show contrast between what's been happening in Gaza and how it's affecting people in Tel Aviv, those reporters not sent down South have been plying their stories from some of the sandy spots in the city, interviewing folks on the beach. While I can certainly understand the desire and the need to escape from reality, I was actually quite shocked by the amazing display of apathy. These people didn't seem to care that our country is being ripped apart by an issue that will change the face of Israel forever, that history is being made right under their sunburned little noses, that nothing will ever be the same.

I suppose for them, maybe it won't. They will continue to live their lives as if nothing has changed. I just can't understand it. I am in favor of the disengagement. Despite the fact that my heart repeatedly broke as I watched people's sadness and unbearable despair unfold on television as they packed up and left their homes behind, I truly believe that this is still the right thing to do. However, I am still human. What kind of monster would I have to be not to be moved by the images we have seen? It is these people, the ones who chose to leave prior to the deadline, who are heroes deserving respect and to be treated with dignity for their courageous decision and actions. In my eyes, courage lies in making the difficult choices and following through, and that is what these people have done. They have made the decision to do what they can to move forward, to put their lives back on track. They have chosen to do the very best for their families and for the State of Israel, and for this, they should be commended, and provided with whatever assistance is necessary to help them in any way possible.

On the flip side of this equation, of course, are those who have chosen to stay behind and fight. I am truly appalled and sickened by the things that I've seen and heard. Their actions are positively shameful, and I cannot believe the depths to which they are sinking in this battle of brothers. When all is said and done and the security forces have managed to evacuate everyone, what will become of our country? What will it take to heal the wounds inflicted by this necessary move that is just so painful? Is this only the beginning of something, or does it end once all Israelis are out of Gaza? I fear for the immediate future of our nation as I hit the replay button to hear Daniel Powter's words yet one more time.

A brilliantly written article...

Uzi Benziman of Haaretz has written a most eloquent article regarding the failure of the right-wing leadership to rein in the extremists in its midst. While the leadership is to be complimented for its quick condemnation of the recent terror attack in Shfaram last week, they must also do more to root out these fanatics. To not take action would most certainly be detrimental to the settler movement, as it will be forced to prove its legitimacy in the wake of such actions perpetrated in their name.

A few more words on the subject, because I just couldn't help myself

Not surprisingly, I am still getting flack for my previous posts. I know He was hoping that we'd take break from politics (sorry, He), but I just felt that I had a bit more to say on the subject. What follows is a paraphrasing of a response that I just sent to a reader who was particularly upset by what I wrote. I won't give away the reader, as the identity is between the reader and myself, but I will add, in case said reader is miffed that I'm using the response as the basis for a blog entry, that I had been considering an entry of this nature even prior to reading the email that I received, and took this as a sign that something needed to be written here.

I believe that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I want to believe that the majority of people supporting anti-disengagement do not perpetrate these acts, and I'm sure that it's not everyone. However, I still stand by my comments though, in that I am disgusted by the acts perpetrated in the name of the anti-disengagement movement. Perhaps I could have used different phrasing to more carefully emphasize the distinction between people. What is interesting, however, is that people who are in favor of the disengagement (or at least not distinctly anti-disengagement), read what I wrote in precisely the way that I intended it - not as an attack against everyone in orange, but against those who perpetrate the acts in the name of "orange", so to speak.

What the regular "oranges" don't seem to realize, is that most of the "blues" believe that all of the oranges support these activities, because it is what we are shown on television and what we read in the newspapers. Everyone knows someone whose car antenna has been vandalized, and we see what the right-wing politicians are saying, how they are planning to tie up the security forces, etc. If you read some of the other left-wing blogs, like Dutchblog Israel, for instance, you will see that he expresses similar sentiments, though not as strongly as I do. Clearly, there is a problem here, and it's not just with me. Admittedly, I was a little shaken up by the overwhelming responses that I've received, and I've begun discussing the issue with friends and colleagues, taking a more neutral stand than usual, and what I've discovered is that most people do not distinguish between the "different shades of orange", because they haven't been convinced that it's necessary to do so. Sad but true.

Perhaps there are a majority of oranges who don't support these activities, but if so, they are a silent majority. In the same way that people don't believe that there are many Palestinians who want peace because they don't talk about it publicly, the blues are believing the worst of the oranges, because we don't hear anything else. And, when I so much as made a peep (ok, a very loud peep) in condemnation of what's been happening, all the oranges read that I was attacking their entire camp, and began to attack me back, often getting quite personal. With the exception of one or two people, hardly anyone on the right actually wrote that they condemned the actions as well, or tried to distance themselves from these actions. Again, sad but true.

Anyone who knows me, knows what my sense of humor is like, and knows that I can be quite sarcastic and cynical. I can accept that people have clearly misunderstood some of the things that I said in a tongue-in-cheek manner, not knowing me or the way I am, and for that, I am sorry. However, I also think that the more sane folks on the right have to be more vocal in their condemnation of acts being perpetrated in their name. I think it's wonderful that there are activities in at least one yishuv where they do just that, but it seems to me that this has to be shown to the "outside world". We are the ones who need convincing that there are voices of reason among you, and that the hooligans among you do not represent you. Patting yourselves on the back behind closed doors will not help your cause if people don't know that it's taking place. In the truest of Israeli traditions, it would seem that the majority of oranges are victims of their own poor hasbara, because the word just isn't getting out there. If you don't believe me, ask anyone who is even marginally pro-disengagement (and not some serious lefty like me), just like I did.

I have seen the enemy, part 2

I had not intended to post on this subject again so soon, but given that my previous entry has clearly irked some people whose writing I greatly respect and enjoy, I felt it necessary to provide a response, part two, if you will.

As you've probably already ascertained, I am generally against the settlements, and believe, for the most part, that they are an obstacle to any future permanent agreements with the Palestinians. I do, however, believe that it is possible to reach a compromise under certain circumstances that would allow Israel to retain control over areas like Maaleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, Ariel, etc., in exchange for land elsewhere that could go to the Palestinians (not unlike the agreements we have with Jordan). As I've mentioned in a previous entry, I know that it must be difficult for people to be forced to leave their homes and livelihoods, everything they have worked to build for so many years. If I were in that position, I would like to think that I would do as asked, with great sorrow, perhaps, but believing that I was doing it for the greater good, that such a request would not be made of me if it were not so incredibly important for the future of the state that I live in and love (warts and all). I would like to think that you would not see me arguing with or screaming at soldiers, poor kids who have the misfortune of being the wrong age at the wrong time. You would not see me trying to make life difficult for my fellow Israelis by blocking roads as they try to get home to their children after a long day at work, and you would certainly not see me compare the disengagement to the Holocaust.

My problems are not with each and every individual settler, and indeed, I have had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a number of people in various settlements. They are among the finest people I know, and I enjoy their company immensely. And of course, I realize that not everyone waving an orange ribbon is running out to attack police officers. In fact, I would like to think that the majority are not. On the flip side, however, I know I am not alone in being horrified at what I've seen on television - the disgusting treatment of our police officers and soldiers being verbally - and sometimes even physically - attack by anti-disengagement supporters of all ages. My husband (who is nowhere near me politically) and I were aghast to watch a young girl who could not have been older than 12 letting go with a non-stop verbal tirade against a soldier. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry at such a spectacle.

People talk about the violence that the police are using against these people. What about the violence that these people are perpetrating against the police and the soldiers? How on earth can parents allow their children to attend and often bring their children to events where there is even the slightest chance for violence? What are parents teaching their children if the children think it's okay to abuse those who are serving in our country's military? Who are their role models? Suddenly, instead of our sons and daughters defending Israel against her enemies, they are being forced to fend off women and children. Our police force, struggling to keep our country safe even at the best of times, are being pushed to the brink of despair and exhaustion by these protestors, unable to the jobs that they were hired to do.

And these are just the protests that we see. The countless stories that I've heard about people whose cars have been vandalized simply for having a blue ribbon tied around the antenna, blue ribbons being removed from house gates, etc. Given that Israel is a democracy, it seems that an awful lot of people are trying to stifle the rights of the pro-disengagement folks.

I can respect the right of the anti-disengagement community to protest what is happening. Truly, I can. What I cannot respect or accept are the tactics being used by some in battle. Instead of directing their anger at the government, many members of this community are fighting dirty, unnecessarily tying up the police force and the military and wreaking havoc on the daily lives of Israeli citizens who might otherwise have supported them. To those of you who support and participate in these tactics, you are battling the wrong foes. You are your own worst enemy (and some would say this about me, I'm quite sure), and no good can possibly come of your actions. To those of you who are simply against the disengagement, yet you have chosen to take the high road this Summer, you have my respect for your positions, and my sympathy for your losses.

I have seen the enemy, and it is orange

It must be the most successful marketing campaign in history. The color orange is so strongly identified with the settler/anti-disengagement movement that I automatically become suspicious of anyone and anything with the color orange. It's even reached the point where it has simply become a distasteful color. Yes, the cute little stuffed penguin on my desk has suddenly become an enemy agent, and parts of the company logo will have to go. I feel funny getting in taxis that have an orange ribbon (and given that I take a shuttle taxi between the train station and my office twice a day, the orange ribbon potential is always there), as if I'm actually contributing money directly to the anti-disengagement movement. Of course, maybe they change their ribbons based on the neighborhood that they happen to be driving through, as one Jerusalem-based taxi driver told Lisa from On the Face. In the area where my office is, though, I'm inclined to doubt it. These guys are "ktumim" ("oranges") through and through.

"Ktumim". Whenever I say it, I say it with disdain, as if I was swearing. I wish I could say that I can't help it, but that would be lying. Obviously, I do it on purpose. Perhaps if I wasn't so disgusted by their actions, I wouldn't feel the need to refer to them in this way, but their protest methods are so utterly abhorrent that all I feel is anger. Placing fake bombs in bus stations sickening, and to place one in the Netanya bus station just two days after last week's terror attack in the city is a twisted act of cruelty perpetrated against the people in Netanya. I think of these religious (am NOT referring to all religious people here - am specifically referring to those I describe in the following text, having seen it on the news - I have many religious friends and colleagues who are wonderful people and would never do such things, especially not in the name of Judaism) people who would never take God's name in vain, yet these same people have no qualms about taking events of the Holocaust and equating these atrocities with what is happening here, like writing their identity numbers on their arms in protest, or pinning Stars of David to their clothes.

With the latest goings on at Kfar Maimon, I can't help but be reminded of a woman I know who lives there. A fervent right-winger (I can only assume that her car is bedecked in orange, and that she's probably gone out and purchased a new wardrobe consisting solely of orange articles of clothing) who had no problem to share her political beliefs (and any other beliefs she may have had) with anyone who would listen (not a terribly endearing quality in the workplace), I imagine her to be serving up coffee and cake to her "guests", reveling in the fact that she is doing her part for the cause (perhaps she's even helping them to abuse the soldiers and police in the vicinity). This charming individual once tried to explain the actions of the would-be Jewish terrorists who tried to blow up an Arab girls' school in Jerusalem some years ago as an act of misguided youth (she knows one of the families, and he couldn't possibly be a terrorist!), and my colleagues and I are counting our blessings that she is no longer working with us, so that we won't have to go through the disengagement with "ha'ktuma ha'zot".

Of course, I realize that not everyone sporting orange these days supports the perpetrators of these acts, and that they are simply against the disengagement. However, words of condemnation are few and far between, and if these people do not take a vocal stand against the psychos, one can only assume that they support them. And, with these frightening hooligans setting the course of events, it should prove to be a most interesting Summer, to say the least, pitting Jew against Jew, brother against brother. Let the feelings of impending dread begin...

Joke of the moment

בהתחלה תליתי על המכונית סרט כתום, כי אני נגד ההתנתקות. אחר כך תליתי סרט ירוק, כי חסמו אותי באיילון. אחר כך תליתי סרט כחול-לבן, כיאני בכל זאת ציוני, ושמתי גם סרט צהוב, בעד המלחמה נגד הסרטןעכשיו כולם בטוחים שאני הומו

At first I tied an orange ribbon to my car, because I'm opposed to the pullout from Gaza. After that I tied a green ribbon, because they blocked me in (not 100% about the translation) on the Ayalon (freeway). After that I tied a blue and white ribbon because, after all, I'm a Zionist. I also put a yellow ribbon, in support of the fight against cancer. Now everyone's sure I'm gay.

I had to think about it for a second, but I got there in the end. Made me laugh.

Who's the terrorist now?

Those bloody fanatics are at it again. "National Home", the radical right-wing organization at the forefront of the battle against the disengagement and responsible for most of the "civil disobedience" that we've been seeing (they make the Yesha Council look like a centrist group) have disrupted traffic and put innocent lives in danger this morning by spreading oil and nails on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, sort of like an opening act for the planned afternoon event of blocking major intersections across the country at rush hour later today.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm in favor of the disengagement. Strongly in favor. However, I'm also human, and I can respect that it will not be easy for these people who have invested all of their lives in building their homes and communities, creating livelihoods and families, suddenly having to start from scratch. It is natural for them to be upset, as anyone being forced to uproot would be. The government is compensating them for their pain and hardship during this period, as it should. I can even understand those who are hiding their heads in the sand, trying to avoid the inevitable. What I cannot understand or accept are those who believe that their violent acts of opposition (and they are indeed violent) will somehow change destiny, or curry public opinion in their favor. Demonstrations in front of government offices are one thing. Turning a highway into a hazardous obstacle course is simply violence for violence' sake, and nothing more.

I see these youths on television, and it just makes me sick to watch. Complete disrespect and disdain for soldiers and others in positions of authority, and this pales in comparison to their treatment of and attitude towards the local Palestinian population. Obstructing traffic and endangering people on the roads, looking for all the world as if it's a big game. Their smiles and singing as they wreak havoc says it all. Their actions make them no better than the terrorists who blow themselves up in Israeli population centers, preying on innocent victims whose only mistake is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And, to further the comparison, all you have to do is watch the interviews with the parents, praising their children for standing up and fighting for their beliefs, no matter who gets hurt. What has happened to Israeli society, when parents have pride in their 12 year-old daughters for getting themselves thrown in jail for breaking the law, when mothers stand on the front lines, using their babies as shields? When did we teach our youths that it is okay to hurl verbal and physical abuse at young soldiers, whose only "crime" is serving the state, and often protecting those very same abusers? Who are the real terrorists in this story? We cannot let them get away with their actions. We cannot let their madness win, for then, we will truly be in trouble.

Just peachy, thanks...

It seems you can't go anywhere these days without hearing about the upcoming disengagement. Everybody's talking about it, and passions are running high on both sides. One of the more unusual aspects is the implication associated with the color orange. All of a sudden, the simple act of getting dressed in the morning has turned into a complex ideological issue. What to do? Relegate that favorite orange top to a pile in the back of the closet, with hopes that it will still be in style once all is said and done? Wear it and either hope that nobody notices, or prepare for the inevitable barrage of questions as to where your allegiances lie? Decisions decisions.

My friend T has a creative solution. When I chided her as to her choice of trouser color, she did her best to convince me that they weren't actually orange, but rather peach. I didn't buy it, and neither did the other people who queried her on the same issue. If this is how she chooses to deal with the issue, well, I can hardly fault her. What's a girl to do when her favorite clothing color has suddenly become the pariah of the crayon box? Well, I did a quick comparison between orange and peach and, well, sorry T, but you're wearing orange. Though maybe it was closer to bittersweet, but peach, it definitely was not.

I am not an orange person. Never have been, and given what it currently represents, I don't see myself becoming an orange person at any time in the near future. Don't know what I'll do if the settlers suddenly decide to adopt forest (hunter) green, black, indigo, or any other shade of blue. Of course, my non-existent dilemma pales in comparison to that of the cellular phone company Orange, which has a large client base here. Perhaps they should change their name to Peach...