 |
|
February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
July 9, 2003
/ 9 Tamuz, 5763
About those ‘settlements’
By
Yossi Klein Halevi
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
In 1982, Israel's defense minister, Ariel
Sharon, sent bulldozers into Yamit, an Israeli town of whitewashed
houses located at a point where the Sinai Desert meets the
Mediterranean Sea. Within hours, a thriving community of 5,000
people was reduced to rubble.
That self-inflicted wound was the price Israel paid as part of its
peace treaty with Egypt. The devastation, though, wasn't just
physical. Lives were uprooted and often shattered. Many former
settlers divorced under the strain of relocation. Others never
overcame their bitterness and sense of betrayal.
Israelis are recalling that precedent now as we face the prospect of
uprooting settlements in the West Bank as part of any Mideast
peace agreement with the Palestinians. And, ironically, again it is
Sharon, this time as prime minister, who may be presiding over the
destruction of Israeli communities — on land the international
community believes should be a future Palestinian state.
For the Palestinians, dismantling most settlements is a
prerequisite for establishing a viable state. Giving up the settlements this time and voluntarily
abandoning the claim to our historic heartland will fundamentally
alter Israeli society and deeply wound the Jewish people. The
enormity of this sacrifice is not appreciated by world opinion.
More than 200,000 Israelis live in the territories. And while no one
imagines removing them all, even a partial uprooting will traumatize
Israeli society for decades. That's why the difficulty of this
concession will require recognition of the international community
and a reciprocal Palestinian response.
Unlike Sinai, which few Israelis considered part of the nation's
historic patrimony, the West Bank — the biblical Judea and Samaria
— is the birthplace of the Jewish people. And Jews carried its
memory with them through centuries of exile and longing. For many
Israelis, a Jewish state without Judea and Samaria is a body
without a soul.
| (W)E-THE PEOPLE |
|
Let your voice be heard! To express your concerns about the administration's plan for the Holy Land, you may contact
President George W. Bush by fax: (202) 456-2461, (Andrew Card, Chief of Staff)
or by e-mail.
Dr. Condoleeza Rice, National Security Advisor, FAX (202) 456-2883, PHONE (202) 456-9491
Mr. Elliot Abrams, the Director for Near East and North African Affairs, at FAX (202) 456-9120, and by phone through his secretary Joanna, (202) 456-9121
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000 or by e-mail form:
http://www.defenselink.mil/
Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, 1010 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1010 or by e-mail form
http://www.defenselink.mil
| |
Even worse is a Jewish state that willingly cedes that land. No nation has ever done what Israel may be about to do
to itself: voluntarily withdraw from its heartland and destroy its own communities. The mutual recriminations that will
result from that process could devastate the nation.
Where Yamit was barely a decade old before being dismantled, many settlements in the West Bank are entering
their fourth decade of existence — a long time in the life of this young country. And those settlements have produced
a native generation of Judeans and Samarians, whose attachment to the territories isn't just ideological but
instinctive.
The very word "settlements," which implies transient and artificial communities, is misleading. In fact, the
settlements are thriving towns and villages, whose residents see their presence in Judea and Samaria as
historically just, even miraculous.
What makes the prospect of withdrawal particularly cruel is that few Israelis believe it will lead to genuine Arab
recognition of Israel's right to exist. The anti-Jewish hatred in the Arab world — encouraged even by such
pro-Western regimes as Egypt and Saudi Arabia — has so deeply penetrated all levels of society that reconciliation,
at least for now, seems inconceivable. Many Israelis suspect the formula of "land for peace" is a deception: After the
land is handed over, there will still be no peace for Israel.
One settler I spoke to recently said, "If we knew there would be peace in exchange for withdrawal, it would at least
make the sacrifice understandable. But we won't even have that consolation."
Still, most Israelis are so desperate to ease this pathological conflict they are ready to try again to negotiate a deal.
Israelis realize, too, that, for the sake of Israel's future as a Jewish and a democratic state, we must end our
entwinement with Palestinians, even at the price of separating from cherished land.
Most Israelis would probably acknowledge that we acted recklessly by indiscriminately settling the territories. But the
blame hardly belongs to Israel alone. Those Israelis who opposed settlements were undermined by the
decades-long absence of a Palestinian negotiating partner. Instead, Palestinian leaders declared they would use
any territories evacuated by Israel as a base from which to destroy the Jewish state.
Israel's annexationists weren't bolstered just by rejection from the Palestinians but by Israeli security needs. Without
the West Bank, Israel is barely eight miles wide at its narrowest point; a surprise attack, like the 1973 Yom Kippur
War, could sever the country in minutes. By ceding its claim to Judea and Samaria, Israel will have more than earned
the right for a reciprocal gesture from the Palestinians: ceding the call for the return of Palestinian refugees to
pre-1967 Israel, which Israelis rightly see as a Palestinian attempt to demographically destroy the Jewish state.
The international community needs to unequivocally support Israel in that demand. One major flaw of the "road map"
now being promoted for Mideast peace is that it ignores the need for a Palestinian concession on the "right of
return."
Finally, the international community needs to acknowledge the risks Israel will be taking and the price it will be
paying in dismantling settlements. That acknowledgment won't ease the trauma of uprooting. But it will at least
reassure Israelis that their sacrifice won't be dismissed as self-evident, leaving them exposed to new Palestinian
demands.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Yossi Klein Halevi is the Israel correspondent for the New Republic and the author of "Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist (Little, Brown) and, most recently, of "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew's Search for G-d with Christians and Muslims in the Holy
Land."
Comment by clicking here.
01/27/03: Sharon's journey to the center
11/19/02: What Sadat understood about Israelis and peace
10/21/02: Sharon's balancing act
10/15/02: United State
09/18/02: Despite the dangers to their own safety, Israelis strongly back Bush on Iraq
08/02/02: Terrorism won't break Israeli will: This fight is for the world's future
07/22/02: Time to take off the blinders: There is a global surge of anti-Semitism
05/01/02: The U.N. won't investigate the real tragedy
01/24/02: 'Cycle of Violence' is a Middle East lie
01/10/02: Seized ship is terror wake-up call
12/19/01: Understanding the JDL
12/04/01: Time to end the Arafat charade
11/20/01: Good try, Mr. Powell, but Mitchell Report is fundamentally flawed
© 2003, Yossi Klein Halevi
|
