Musings #150
November 2, 2005
Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan
We’re Disengaged
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but we’re going on with our lives disengaged from all those who were thrown out of their homes by the Israeli Government in the Name of Disengagement.
With very few exceptions, we haven’t done anything major, changed our routines, sacrificed anything of value for the benefit of the (choose your term; I don’t know what’s the best one):
evacuees
homeless
refugees
victims
Periodically like right now, I mount my office chair and charge ahead writing, trying to challenge the establishment, and change the world. But the rest of the time, I’m like everyone else, busy with work and family, laundry and shopping.
Even here in Shiloh, we’re busy keeping our routines going. In the early days after the soldiers and police forced people from their homes in Gush Katif and Northern Shomron, we collected gifts and freshly baked treats to send to Nitzan, the Caravilla neighborhood, the largest concentration of Disengagement victims and Ariel, where the Yishuv Netzarim were temporarily “relocated”—what a cold, technical word. Relocated, like moving a book from the shelf to the table. I can’t remember the last request I got to help.
I write; I talk to people; I write. And I even managed to make contact with an old friend who’s now living in a caravilla. But my life is going on as usual, and it’s almost embarrassing, yes it is embarrassing to admit.
We should have all stopped our routine and gone out to protest. Some of you will remind me that you did. Many good people left their homes to try to break through the barriers and make it to Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. Why that great effort failed is no longer that important.
Orange ribbons are still seen tied to bags, baby carriages and car antennas, which have gotten very black from soot. A few of us still have orange bracelets, though mine is temporarily brownish from the minerals in the spa I visited on Sunday. Last month I had donations to treat some “evacuee” women to an evening with us in the spa, but after dozens of calls I finally found some who were interested in going, and then they never showed—too depressed to get out.
The Sharon Israeli Government considers Disengagement a roaring success. He claims Security in Israel has improved at the same time that the Arab terror state shot rockets into Israel wounding civilians and an Israeli woman was stabbed by an Arab terrorist. And thousands of innocent Israel citizens are homeless and unemployed, since their homes were destroyed and they were evicted in the Name of Disengagement.
All over the world, Jews and self-proclaimed lovers of liberty and civil rights are silent.
And we used to wonder how the Holocaust could have happened.
Batya Medad, Shiloh
Copyright©2005BatyaMedad, Contact me for publication permission; private distribution encouraged.
Shilohmuse@yahoo.com
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
http://samizdatblogfree.blogspot.com/
http://shilohpics.blogspot.com/
http://www.shilo.org.il
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA
Thursday, November 3, 2005
#150 We're Disengaged
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Excellent post. I felt a pang of guilt after reading even though I know I tried very hard to fight against the deportation of Jews from their homeland.
I'm feeling very guilty.
bs"d
I know that many people who are now in close proximity to the evictees or refugees or whatever name you choose have been doing many acts of chesed. My sister mentioned that in a Neve Dekalim school I believe, teachers and staff have been doing shifts for teachers who find it difficult to get to their jobs. They are doing this in order to save them their jobs for the future. I suspect that many that find themselves as a neighbor to a refugee is doing what they can. Of course your writing is crucial and it's imperitive that we keep the public informed and up to date.
I'm not going to blame the victims, but for some reason, they've been too quiet. This week's outburst by a Neve Dekalim resident at Rubi Rivlin caught on video was a fresh sign of waking up, and maybe starting to fight back, but I don't count on it. Where's moetzet yesha? Are they still licking the wounds? It's as if they've totally gone back to their routine as well.
I know that we are just now able to learn lessons from the expulsion, but there are two things that need to be done immediately;
1) keep the 'panim el panim' going and make it more efficient and effective. I blame the media for the success of the expulsion and panim el panim is the only way to get around the myths and stereotypes,
2) keep the orange revolution going. Make sure that 'orange' thinking people still have ribbons on their rear view mirrors, purses, knapsacks, baby carriages, talis bags, and more. Many 'orange' people have become despondent by letting the media and leftists win by also getting to their motivation and hope. Many people snicker at the usefulness of the orange bracelet I still wear, and as you said, most people just want to get on with their lives which were disturbed by some ruckus this summer but really has nothing to do with them.
Batya: If yuo have a square unpainted spot on your wall in your home, zecher l'churban, I can suggest an addition. I have added a key on a nail from the front door of my friend's home -- which used to exist in Neve Dekalim.
Seeing it everyday is a powerful reminder of the churban...and of the geula which will come as well.
Shabbat Shalom.
Simply, Moetzet Yesha is part of the problem. I covered some of it in http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2005/08/138-ends-and-means.html
I hung an orange ribbon on my front door, besides still wearing the orange bracelet and the ribbons are still tied to my bags.
Post a Comment