Gush
Katif: The Way Forward
In the last two weeks we
have been witness to a terrible self-inflicted disaster. Any Jew that
does not have a heart of stone wept copious tears. However, now is the
time to stop crying. To make sure that our energies are focused on
positive acts (not weeping, anger, hate, resentment, etc.) G-d is good,
and the fact that he gives us life, strength, intelligence and skills
means we must utilize them towards positive ends. In this essay we will
diagnose and examine the nature of the self-inflicted disaster, and
outline a positivist program that for turning the disaster into the
ultimate victory.
What Happened?
The
scope of
the tremendous Chillul Hashem (desecration of G-d's name) is almost too
great for words. Nevertheless, we need to write down a few
facts and keep them clear in our minds - especially since the western
and Israeli press/propaganda will try to distort and diminish the
magnitude of the crime.
Noble,
courageous Jews who suffered over 6,000 rocket attacks in the last two
years (and by Divine miracles only one died) we beaten and dragged out
of their homes. Jews in the rest of Israel were protected by those in
Gush Katif who, with complete self-sacrifice motivated by love of their
fellow Jew, absorbed the brunt of the Arab hate. The enemy who
murdered, sent missiles, blasted buses of children and danced to each
death of a Jew, were not expelled - instead it was the victims who were
blamed and deported. Not only the living, but even Jews murdered al
Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying G-d's name) are having their graves dug up
since the enemy cannot stand the thought of even the dead in
their
midst. All the Jewish soldiers who died since the Six Day War in order
to take
and hold this land to insure Israel's security had their life-sacrifice
stepped on and desecrated by this action.
- Ten thousand peace loving Jews, who had no other aim than
to quietly in their homes, raise their families, and grow vegetables
(tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, etc.) were vilely slandered in
the
press as violent settlers who somehow threatened the one million
surrounding Arab neighbors. According to some twisted way of thinking,
the mere proximity of these families to the Arabs justified the
destruction of 30 years of hard work: building greenhouses, synagogues,
stores, and beautiful houses and gardens. People who built from a
wasteland of rocks and dirt a economic powerhouse producing 15% of all
Israeli agricultural exports (45% of all tomatoes!) had their life work
smashed in front of their eyes.
- Children had their
houses and playgrounds destroyed and watched their parents dragged off
by
police. The Israeli newspapers then blame the parents (the
victims) that they should not have exposed their children to such
scenes. The
life possessions of families were placed in containers which they may
not see again for months. In many cases there were no containers and
the possessions have been stolen by Arabs. The families themselves live
in refugee camps, crowded hotels, etc. Any promised compensation for
the theft of land, businesses, houses, etc. has not been seen and,
knowing Israeli bureaucracy (and charges for the moving, police, etc.),
may not be paid for years, if it ever is.
- The crime is
not only against the families of Katif and Shomron. The entire nation
of four million Jews is threatened, as well as Jews throughout the
world.
We will explain how in the next two sections:
The New Defense/Military
Situation in Israel
Israel strategic military position is now greatly weakened, placing all
four million Jews in Israel in grave danger. The so-called
disengagement was nothing less than leaving the battlefield in time of
war in full retreat. Nothing was gained and nothing was even asked for
in terms of improvement of Israel's defensive position. The argument
that some military experts proffer that this retreat was necessary or
that it makes it easier for the IDF to go back in is laughable.
Firstly, all un-biased
military experts oppose this retreat. Former Israeli Defense Forces
Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon (who was recently fired for voicing
opposition to the "evacuation" plan) said, "Immediately after the
disengagement, we can expect a burst of terrorism" - especially in
Judea and Samaria. Former minister Moshe Arens calls it "an act of
barbarism that would not be countenanced anywhere else in the western
world." He states the obvious, that it is a "prize being given to the
terrorists" and it will "most likely bring an upsurge of terrorism with
the feeling that terrorism works." Avi Dichter (head of Israeli
intelligence GSS, and also fired for his opposition) said that "Gaza
will become southern Lebanon" and "Shomron will become the new Gaza."
(Haaretz Aug 15,16, Gamla, Arutz Sheva, etc.)
Secondly, it is laughable
that the IDF will go back into Gaza. They don't go there now. They had
excellent strategic bases in Neve Dekalim, Netzarim, etc. that were
superb scouting and listening posts and jump-off points for missions.
But "international pressure" kept them from going into Gaza
for more than a few hours. Now that it is an international border, they
certainly won't enter, especially against a better fortified enemy.
However, we don't have to
appeal to experts to understand the obvious stupidity of running away
from a battle. Does anyone have doubts about how long Israel would last
if it disbanded its Army and trusted the Arabs and the good will of the
world? Nothing has changed in the last 50 years; the Arab world still
finds Israel an anathema and will be perfectly happy if it were
destroyed. Now, it will posses a haven in Gaza to launch their
unchanging and never denied campaign to drive Israel into the sea. Gaza
would become a terrorist paradise with its deep-water seaport
and airport to bring in weapons, missiles, and terrorists at will. Who
needs to go to terrorist camps in Afghanistan, when one can get
training by the inventors of modern terrorism (the PLO) in the
Hamas-run state of Gaza? The location of Gaza is much better for
attacks on Europe and Israel. The "leadership" in Gaza has a long
history of excellent terrorist training. No amount of walls will keep
Kassam rockets away from the Israeli towns of Ashkelon, Sderot as well
as longer range Kassam-2,-3,-4 (17 km), Katusha, and Nassar-3's. Now
that Israel has abandoned the mountain-tops of Sa-Nur and Chomesh in
the Shomron, the major Israeli cities of Afula, Hadera and even Netanya
will come easily in range from there. Security fences will not help;
terrorist infiltration will shift to employing Israeli Arabs, or
exploiting Arab workers who still need to travel to Israel-based jobs.
Finally, there
might still be some people who allow political considerations to blind
them to the obvious military/terrorist threat. However, we can use a
well-known military technique to uproot this
bias. Simply place oneself in the enemies' shoes. They are not at all
blinded by liberal, political biases. They see this retreat clearly as
proof that "Jihad works." They have announced that it was not Israel's
choice that caused this withdrawal, but the "brave sacrifices of the
suicide bombers." The machine-gun laced celebrations clearly show us
they know this is a win. And they also celebrate the images of crying
IDF soldiers. They recognize that when your enemy is retreating and
crying, that is a win.
Losing the Psychological Warfare Battle - A Threat to the World and
World Jewry
The new bases in Gaza and Shomron will
undoubtedly become magnets for all the displaced terrorists from Iraq,
Afghanistan and the rest of the world. More availability of money (from
diverted aid shipments), a more industrialized terror-base,
better-trained candidate pool, and most importantly, closer access to
Europe
and population centers will be key elements in the growth of this new
terror haven.
However, a worse message was given by this "disengagement."
Military experts know that there are two components to warfare: the
physical war and the psychological war. In many ways the second is more
important. Once your enemy feels that future fighting is hopeless, you
have won. On the flip-side, if you are Napoleon and conquer Moscow but
your enemy does not feel it has lost, all the technical and physical
superiority will not give you victory.
Very simply then, the Arab and Moslem terrorist now know that
Jihad works, and we can expect them to use it more and more to further
their aims in more and more places in the world. It is a winning
strategy. First in southern Lebanon and now in Gaza. In fact, it is so
successful that it can get the "enemy army" (i.e. the IDF) to actually
join one's own side and further the aims of the Arab world - i.e. the
destruction of Jewish towns and cities and ultimately all of Israel.
Furthermore, we saw another very disturbing trend in Israel
these last weeks. A special riot police force has been employed against Jews called the
Yassam. They dress totally in black, have special helmets, and have no
name-plates so they can operate without legal constraints. They have
been specially trained in hand-to-hand violence (bone crushing, jamming
fingers in the face, nose, etc) as well as how not to leave identifying
marks of damage. In the last few months they have been deployed
frequently in KGB-like actions to suppress Chassidic Jews, hilltop
protesters, and of course in Gaza. Sometimes they break up non-violent
protests by riding in on horse-back swinging clubs (similar to how the
Cossacks would carry out a pogrom). They are a wonderful psychological
suppression force that currently is mainly used not for true riots, but
rather to suppress legitimate political demonstrations and protests.
The use of these "police" (who seem to
be for the most part non-Jewish
Israelis) to carry out pogroms against Jews, as well as use of the army
to drag people out of their homes and to destroy Jewish homes and
shuls, sends a very clear message to Anti-Semites around the world. For
hundreds of years pogroms were carried out across Germany, Poland,
France, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Morocco by anti-Semites against Jews. What
did they do? They dragged Jews out of their homes, destroyed homes and
shuls. In the last hundred years, we have not seen much of this: it
became taboo. But at a deep psychological level the taboo is now
broken. They have seen Jews do this to Jews! Hey, that means even Jews
agree that some Jews deserve this treatment. And the justification can
be quite minor, i.e. that they live in the wrong place, or too close to
us.
Lastly, we have now seen how a political clique in the Knesset
can destroy the political base of its opponents. It is very simple.
Just create a political coalition in the Knesset, and then order the Army to destroy the
homes in the heartland of the parties that oppose the coalition. The families will
be in havoc and chaos for years, and this will greatly decrease the
power-base of opposing political parties. Why else was the
Likud/Labor faction in such a rush to carry out this destruction? Would
it really make a difference it they waited another year till new towns
could be created?
The Roots of the Problem
Up till now we have examined the
external aspects of the disaster in detail. But to really diagnose the
problem, and then to come up with the solution, we have to go to the
roots of the problem. Our rabbis tell us that the Second Temple was
destroyed because of Sinas Chinam (causeless hatred). It was the
fragmentation and fractionalization of the Jewish people that brought
about this destruction. As long as this continues, we will continue to
remain in Golus (exile). Nowhere is this golus felt more strongly now
than in Israel, where deep splits and hatred are emerging between
religious and non-religious Jews, as well as liberal vs. conservative,
and all other sorts of fissions.
It is these splits and fissions that
foster the growth of terribly negative stereotypes and hatreds of one's
fellow Jews. There is propaganda that tomato growers are "fanatical
settlers." That non-religious Jews are no better than non-Jews.
Outlandish claims appear in newspapers that it is kosher, legal and
democratic to defeat one's political opponents by the raw use of force
to destroy their towns and cities. That it is permissible to use
physical violence against one's fellow Jew, in uniform or out of
uniform.
An Outline for a Solution
As we stated at the beginning of this
essay, our aim is to provide a positive, forward looking framework for
solving this problem. The problems that we have described in this essay
might appear grave. However, there is also great reasons for optimism.
At the core of every Jew is a indestructible G-dy soul, and all we have
to do is uncover it. What follows is an outline for a solution. It is
not comprehensive because every Jew must contribute their own talents
to helping solve the problem.
Firstly, we have keep things clear in
our minds. Their are many problems in Jewish and Israeli society. Not
everyone pays their fair share of taxes, not everyone contributes to
military duty equally. But we can't let anyone side-track us about
these issues. They are secondary. First of all we have to know that we
are under attack in in the midst of a war. The first thing has to be to
fight our enemy in a united front. The other issues should also be
addressed, but if we don't get this first issue correct, there will be
no Israel.
Secondly, as we pointed out in the last
section, the root of the problem is Sinas Chinam. It is the internal
Jewish battles that are destroying us. When we are united, we have
nothing to fear from external enemies. There are two elements to
uniting the Jews:
- We cannot be united except with truth. That truth must be rooted
in Torah (G-d's Truth). We have to use the Torah's perspective on how
to look at the political, military, and psychological war that is being
waged against us (as described at length in the earlier sections of
this essay).
- More importantly, our Rabbis told us that the cure for Sinas
Chinam is Ahavas Chinam. Simply we have to redouble our efforts in
Ahavas Yisroel (Loving one's fellow Jew).
We must break down these barriers to
dialog. Every Jew must feel the family ties that bind us all together.
What we talk about is not as important as that the words come from the
heart. Everyone we talk to has to actually feel that when we are
talking to them, that the underlying emotion is love regardless of the
words.
Even when there is rebuke to be given
for acts that must be stopped - the underlying Ahavas Yisroel must come
through (see the essay titled: On Giving Rebuke: A Guide to the Hypercritical and Hypersensitive, (www.kesser.org/essays/rebuke.html)
There is no magic formula of words,
points, or facts that we can use that will crush the hatreds. Because,
at their roots, this is not a intellectual thing. It is an emotional
problem. Thus everyone can help, and the only requirement is that one
speak clearly and simply from the heart.
The reward will be great. For when the
Jewish people are truly united with one heart, we will be a fitting
vessel for the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days, and the end of
this dark bitter golus.
The Author is the Chief Scientist at a U.S. Army funded think tank in Massachusetts, USA.