Realigning Labels

It's no secret that Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert invests a lot in public relations experts. He also knows that properly chosen labels are the key to success.

I haven't forgotten that his (and Sharon's) "Kadima" party was first called "National Responsibility," but then the polls showed that it wouldn't attract voters. Considering its history, "Opportunist" would be a more accurate name. After numerous meetings and consultations, they finally decided on "Kadima," which really is a great name. "Onwards!" the only problem is that the party's ideology is bringing us to disaster, like the fellows walking onwards off the cliff. Though they do look so proper...

Now there's another new name. Olmert's Resettlement Plan, which he has been calling Convergence is now called "Realignment". And what's that supposed to mean? Maybe it would have had been a better, more linguistically accurrate name for his political party, instead of Kadima.

Realignment: Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus
Realignment
occurs in sports when a league decides to change which teams are in which
divisions, usually by creating new divisions. The reasons for having extra
divisons is generally that in the playoffs, with more division champions better
matchups can be made. Also, since teams generally play more games against teams
in their own divison, teams can better know their own division rivals, since
they will have less teams in their own divison to dedicate to playing. Another
reason for realignment might be to create divisions that are more equal in size,
as the NBA did in the 2004-05 season. MLB realignment however, has mainly been
for creating extra playoff teams. MLB can refer to Major League Baseball.
A playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game
or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of
determining a league champion. The championship of a league may be determined by as few as a single playoff between two teams, or by an elimination tournament
involving several teams.

Now, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China or the exiling of law-abiding citizens and the destruction of their homes and communities? Does he think we're just some money-hungry pawns, willing to do anything for a price?

The good news is that if he had to change the name, then his Convergence plan of destroying the vast majority of Jewish communities in Samaria and Judea couldn't have had been doing well. It's like the Jewish custom of changing a sick person's name in order to facilitate good health.

Lehavdil, to differentiate, I see the label change as extremely propitious. It's good news for us. Add to that the recent leaks and announcements, each time listing fewer and few communities to be destroyed. And again, they're focusing more on the hilltop communities, rather than the larger yishuvim. That news is in the right direction. Of course, to clarify, I firmly believe that we have a full right, in every sense of the word, to live in all parts of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel.

To remind you, it's illegal in the United States to have restricted housing, which discriminates against anyone because of race or religion. Jews have always been in the forefront of all civil rights movements and all support for those endangered. That is except for one. And I, for one, can't comprehend why the world accepts, condones, encourages and even legislates the discrimination against Jews.

Yes, no matter what you call it:

• Resettlement
• Disengagement
• Convergence
• Realignment
• The Final Solution

It's all the same. It is ethnic cleansing, transfer, exile, aparthide and the Holocaust; it's discrimination against Jewish Civil Rights. It's a form of anti-Semitism, and we have to fight it, "...with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."