As much as I and all residents in the South crave the normalcy of returning to work and school without fear of rocketing, I cannot but feel deeply disappointed. I agree wholeheartedly with Batya's last postings. Why stop the campaign now? Why care that the world is upset with us? Whatever is new with that? When have they ever approved of our actions and why should we care about them? Did they not all stand idly by as we were slaughtered throughout the Holocaust?
What have we gained? "Kosher Har'ta'ah" is a phrase I am unable to aptly translate. "The ability to put fear of reprisal into someone?" Whatever-- this was NOT the aim of the war. Putting a total halt to rocketing WAS! And, I don't see that happening any time soon. And, what about Gilad Shalit? I don't believe Ohlmert nor Barak when they claim that his well-being is a priority of this government. If so, why not refuse further humanitarian aid unless he is freed, or the very least, that the Red Cross be allowed to visit him??
How in heaven's name can a total halt to rocketing have been achieved when Egypt refuses to allow any foreign troops (our troops of course!) man the Philadelphia corridor through which explosives and ammunition are smuggled? And, even should they agree to the posting of international forces along that area, since when have we EVER been able to rely on any but our own personnel to get the job done?! We will have a return to the same untenable situation as before (intermittent rocketing) with only a humongous national overdraft to show for this war!!!
Last night my husband and I returned home from Shabbat spent with relatives. (My married children refuse to spend Shabbat here not for fear, as much as the wish to spare their very young children the trauma of sirens and the sounds of war so Savta and Saba come to them!) Before the entrance to Sederot the bus driver of the 353 line put on the lights and announced, "We are entering Sederot. Should there be a color red alert, both the back and front doors will be open and you must leave the bus immediately and seek shelter. Sederot residents, please descend from the bus with all possible speed so we need not tarry."
Those were the first words heard from the driver, but not the last. As the 9:00 o'clock news came on, he hit the steering wheel and cursed! "Idiots," he added, "How can we withdraw now? Why isn't Lieberman in the cabinet, or anyone else with any guts?" That unknown driver is probably a resident of the south and crudely expressed our shared frustration: to have come THIS far, and to have spent so much money and lives, soldiers and civilians alike, to reach this point... and then simply stop!?
I have used Batya's comparison to the halt of antibiotics many times in the past weeks in my correspondence abroad, doing my best at public relations. We can only guess at the mutation expected in the life-threatening bacteria over the border in Gaza, should, as I fear our use of "antibiotics" be ceased! And, who will pay for this folly? You and I, of course! The innocent citizens of our nation who haven't bunkers like those in the Kirya into which our brave leaders descend in times of war!
As I got off the bus, I told the driver, "It's a shame we don't have you sitting in the government!" That would be a blessed addition to the spineless folks sitting there now, with their political agendas instead of the good of the country foremost in their sight.
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