Hamas War

Monday, December 21, 2009

"Orange," as a Label

Yesterday, a sweet young woman called me about a project/business she's involved with Dapei Katom, Orange Pages.  My reaction threw her for a loop, to put it mildly.

"I don't like the name. Why orange?  The movement failed.  It has been revealed that its leadership cooperated with the government during Disengagement.  Why would anyone want to be associated with such a label?   I wouldn't.  Although residents of Judea and Samaria were the most dedicated and devoted supporters of Jewish rights to live in Gush Katif and opposed Disengagement, the DP's prefer living in Lachish and the Negev.  They've rejected us.  I can't have anything to do with that label; it means loser as far as I'm concerned.  And it never included us in Judea and Samaria.  When I hear the name Dapei Katom, Orange Pages,  I think it means businesses which are owned by former residents of Gush Katif.  Get another name."

What do you think?

PS I promised that I'd blog about her project to publicize it, but I warned her that I'd complain about its name.  The aim of the business/project (whatever it is exactly) is to compile a comprehensive list of businesses based in Judea and Samaria and presumably the Jordan Valley, too.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is difficult to understand completely what it is you are saying.

My understanding is that there is a "Young women" who is compiling a list of businesses in Judea and Sameria for promotional purposes. Sounds like a chessed she is doing for these businesses.

And you have an issue regarding the name because it is associeated with the people from Gush Katif that you now reject because they moved to the negev?

I do not understand where you believe that the color Orange is associated with only the people from Gush Katif.

I was in Gush Katif and Sderot before the expusion and saw great solidarity between the Jews of Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha). The "Team color" was orange. Symbolic of our movement, ideologies and level of morality.

Because there is no more Gush Katif, should we divorce ourselves from this "Orange" movment. My greatest memories are to stand side by side with my brothers and sisters waving orange flags...

I commend this young women for doing what she is doing.

Addiditionally, I think that the '"Orange as a Lable"' is fitting,appropriate, and a clever play off of the yellow pages.

I wish her luck and I wish you luck as well. I hope you are able to come to peace within yourself and not be triggered by a company name....

Regards

chaya said...

you write:
the DP's prefer living in Lachish and the Negev. They've rejected us

Get your facts straight - The megurashim of Gush Katif went to live where they were told that they would be able to rebuild their communities as communities. This was in Lachish and the Negev.

Anonymous said...

Ironically enough, your blog homepage has a banner on top with a person with an Orange Shirt...

Batya said...

a, chaya and a,
I guess I wasn't clear. The picture and orange shirt in my banner prove that there was great opposition in Shiloh for Disengagement.
"Orange leadership" essentially followed government direction before and after Disengagement. That's why the Jews living in Gush Katif lost their homes, and that's why they're attempting to rebuild in Lachish and Negev rather than Judea, Samaria and Jordan Valley. there is a small group in the Jordan Valley suffering great difficulties with the government.

The orange label/logo was gush katif, not Judea Samaria. We wore orange to support Gush Katif. Now gush katif is judenrein. The orange movement failed.

Daniel said...

I wouldn't mind an "orange hechsher" on Israeli products. That way I would only purchase from Yesha supporters.

Batya said...

Why call it "orange?" what's the source?

YMedad said...

a) the movement, in the sense of its leadership perhaps failed but I don't think there ever really had a chance except to protest. once the political decision was taken, all that could have been done was to delay the process.

b) the color orange doesn't mean a failed movement but the spirit of opposing the weakness of the belief in Eretz-Yisrael.

c) to denegrade those who did not move into Judea & Samaria (and there are those in smaller numbers who are in Ariel and other communities) is dicey: they suffered for years the mortars in addition to shootings and infiltrations and in being rejected by the state it is not that easy to judge them.

d) and in the end, it's just a name.

btw, Anon. 7:14, it is a commercial venture.

Batya said...

No surprise that I see things differently. I usually do, never dull.

JDL London Canada said...

The other day I found my orange Gush Katif tee-shirt and during the days of the threat of expulsion, I was probably the only one in Canada with a Gush Katif flag on my car. The flag comes out during spring and summer and goes into the garden. The tee-shirt well, let's I wear it every once an a while. I bought three for the whole family. It was certainly an attention getter but it reminded everyone in our community(those that cared) of what was at stake. Today, it's still the same balagan and not a peep until,G-d forbid, another war because of the fact Judea and Samaria get 'cleaned out'. Only this time the backlash in the West will be quite profound ...

Batya said...

Unlike my treasured Save Soviet Jewry SSSJ buttons, my orange bracelet was thrown out when it broke.

The official "orange" and Moetzet YESHA protest movement didn't proclaim that they had to stop Disengagement, because the next step would be against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. That was my theme. I'm sorry, but I can't consider myself "orange," even though it was once my favorite color.

Anonymous said...

lack of housing and little to no new building construction prevented Gush Katif communities from even considering establishing anew in Yehuda and Shomron.

I think the color orange could use a new look and this promotional booklet fits the bill.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
Anonymous, it wasn't lack of housing that kept expellees out of YoSh. Did you know that virtually all of the expellees from the four communities in the northern Shomron are either still in the Shomron or are living in the region just south of Hevron? They aren't building independent communities because the government piles up too many difficulties to be worth the effort, but many families chose to stay together in YoSh in communities like Kedumim (I think that most of Homesh is in Kedumim) rather than rebuild their communities elsewhere. Other families simply chose communities in YoSh that suited them.
The choice was either be a neighborhood in YoSh, like half of Netzarim chose to be in Ariel and half of Morag chose to be in Tena-Omarim, or keep the community separate, but outside of YoSh. The community Netzer-Ariel has suffered extreme financial difficulties due to lack of government support, and just as they were very close to building starts, the freeze was announced, but they're not leaving. Also K'far Darom's kollel dayanut (yeshiva for married men learning how to be judges), which has students from several Gush Katif communities, relocated to Beit Hagai in the Hevron region and several families not associated with the kollel joined them.

Be careful with terms like "rejection". Many people, especially families who had lived in Yamit, were too tired to face the ordeal again. When my husband was at the GK bank that relocated to Ashkelon and saw a group of friends from one of the first communities founded in GK their reply to our living in Elon Moreh was a unanimous, "Good!" It has been absolutely heart-breaking to see so many families crack under the strain of losing their homes and farms.

I think that she should choose another name. There is no way that Orange Pages is not going to be associated with GK businesses, especially since the Orange Gallery is located in Nitzan and I seem to remember other GK projects involving Orange Pages.
However, IMHO, orange has remained the color of the struggle for maintaining the communities of YoSh. I prefer to think of the Orange Camp as being the group of people who didn't sell out and those who did as not representing the Orange Camp.

Batya said...

Thanks for your input, Hadassa. Another of the big mistakes in the anti-Disengagement struggle was ignoring the fact that many gush katif communities were guaranteed eternal existence by Menachem Begin as compensation for his Camp David destruction.

Moriah said...

Orange is the color of the struggle of the "settlers" Not the color of failure. Let's not belabor and debate the color. Let's get a good link on your website so we can support our people.

Jeremy said...

Money quote from Rav Yoel Bin Nun:

"דגלנו כחול-לבן בלי שום כתום. כחול-לבן שורשו בקודש, בציצית. הכתום הוא חוקות הגויים. אני לא כתום, גם לא פס, גם לא כתם ושמץ. רק כחול-לבן ואחדות ישראל."

Batya said...

Moriya, the "orange struggle" failed and in the dust the dp's rejected the embrace and support of "the settlers."

Jeremy, too bad you didn't translate Rav Yoel. To paraphrase, Rav Yoel said that his colors are blue and white.

This "orange listing" is commercial. They're cashing in on sentiment. I'd stay away from color as a label and go for "Yishuv Ha'Aretz," "Settling the Land." or "Moledet," Homeland.

Jeremy said...

Sorry - While I'm a frequent visitor of your husband, I don't really know your clientèle...

Batya said...

Jeremy, you're certainly welcome here. You'll see that I'm of a different mind and blog. And it's always good to translate, because not everyone knows Hebrew.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!

"Moriya, the "orange struggle" failed and in the dust the dp's rejected the embrace and support of "the settlers.""

The same people who encouraged the DP's to go quietly encouraged them not to go to YoSh, mainly most of the YeShA Council and the rabbis that backed them, who are part of "the settlers". Support from "the settlers" was not unanimous (too many agreed that refusal to obey orders was wrong) and too often that "embrace" was the kiss of death. Did most of Gush Etzion and rabbis like Rav Aviner of Beit El and I'm sorry to say, Rav Druckman, do anything other than stab Gush Katif and the northern Shomron in the back? I am almost certain that the residents of the four communities in the northern Shomron did not deal at all with the YeShA Council when they chose to stay in YoSh. They knew where they wanted to go and dealt only with those communities. The DP's from Gush Katif were farther, ideologically and physically, from YoSh. That fact coupled with pressure not to dissolve communities, as if Homesh has dissolved, destroyed much chance of GK DP's following the example of the northern Shomron. Which is a real shame, because virtually everyone in Nitzan today would be doing much better in communities like Elkana, especially the unemployed.

I agree that the time for colors has long passed. Moledet has connotations of the political party. Yishuv HaAretz has too long a translation IMHO. The project needs a catchy Jewish business name that has a good English equivalent. Something that involves a spiritual and financial investment in Israel - the soul and the brain working together. It IS a commercial venture after all.