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| New Migron, photo Batya Medad |
Shiloh now longer gets the voyeur interrogators asking how we'll deal with impending evacuation etc the way Migron does.
The unpleasant reality I'm referring to is the fact that we're being ruled by extremist ideologues who refuse to accept the simple truth that not only does Israel have every legal right to be in Judea and Samaria but the mountain ridge of Shiloh, Hebron, Shechem and Migron are totally necessary for our security.
The "West Bank" isn't some remote territory; it is a small area, close to Israel's main population centers.Arutz 7 has Giulio Meotti saying it, but I've known it for decades. My neighbors, Yossi and Perchiya Apter had a weekly vigil, which I participated in, near the Knesset about twenty years ago in which we held up signs saying "The way to peace is 1,000,000 Jews in YESHA." I remember Yossi explaining to an IDF soldier that the soldier was wrong in saying he was protecting Shiloh.
Israel is a very tiny country. Its land mass is less than the size of New Jersey; its total population less than New York City's. It is surrounded by fanatic Arab countries commanding vast land masses and populations.
Since 1967, the mountain range running from Jenin to Hevron, comprising a continuous ridge approximately 55 kilometers long, 20 km. wide and reaching heights of 1,100 meters, has become Israel's front line for air defense.
"Shiloh is protecting Tel Aviv," said Yossi to the soldier.
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| Demonstrating for True Peace- photo Batya Medad |
Yossi was correct in that.
Being a realist I must repeat that we can't negotiate peace with the Arabs. They want our destruction and continue to educate their children in that direction. See the recent PMW-Palestinian Media Watch updates which show this.
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| "New Migron," photo Batya Medad |
Another unpleasant reality is that Israel is ruled by the Left, no matter for whom the citizens vote. In the earlier days, the first twenty-nine years, Leftist Labor ruled directly, but the Rightist opposition was strong. That kept Labor in line. Once Menachem Begin took power there was no longer a strong Right wing in the opposition to balance government decisions. That is why only Begin's Likud could have given Egypt the Sinai, and only Ariel Sharon's Likud could have pulled off Disengagement. The Likud in opposition would have had stopped the Left from doing such things.
And that's why again I'll be voting National Union, not NRP aka Jewish Home. The NU is an opposition party which understands that there is a great importance in being in the opposition. They must get stronger to be more effective.
12 comments:
The question is why aren't there 1 million Jews in yesha. Could it have anything to do with the vaadot kabala, unscientific graphology tests, religious profiling to the nth degree, high entrance fees to yishuvim (eg 50,000nis!!!) and protektsia for insiders? And all of this before there was any freeze. It's fine to blame the rest of the world, but we also have to look at ourselves. (From a yishuv in yesha).
there are serious yeshivos and not serious ones...I know a yeshiva in israel that is not only serious but pays its students to learn. I'm sure there are many like the one I know. Why not 1 million in yeshiva? Someone has to work to support them you know.
Genoism, what's the connection?
a, very few yishuvim have "entrance fees." The history/cause of all the vaadot kabala, entrance procedures is that we were overseen/governed by the same govt dept as moshavim. In the early days especially, small communities can't just accept anyone. I once had to reject a single mother who at the last stage before coming mentioned that she couldn't wait to be in a place where she wouldn't have to supervise her children after school while she was away at work. That would have been a danger to the community, two boys without anyone taking responsibility. Once a family of con artists got in and had to be removed by the police after running up massive debts here and Jerusalem. Their previous community had lied about them, which actually is against Jewish laws of lashon haraa.
Now there are larger yishuvim much easier to get into usually, but we can't afford the social services for problematic families, so we must have an entrance procedure.
I also live on a yishuv, so there is no need to be so defensive. I didn't say that there shouldn't be any selection procedure, but that if the acceptance conditions weren't so draconian the population in yesha would have grown dramatically by now.
The two specific stories you brought hardly prove anything. The point is that yishuvim have been rejecting perfectly good candidates, thus stopping their own growth.
Just because the whole world is against us doesn't mean that we are perfect.
a, after 31 years here, I can say that lack of housing, just like in any market has been the problem.
Most yishuvim were envisioned as small communities with limited growth and population, and that's why they're small. All of the yishuvim that were planned as large with more open acceptance are full, too.
It goes back to the "vision" or lack of by Gush Emunim, Moetzet YESHA and govt restrictions.
Arik Sharon, in his good years, did more for growth of Jewish life here than anyone else.
Shalom!
We were rejected by two communities, so we found another one close by. The rejection stung at first, but after years of living near those two communities, including working in one of them, it became clear that the match wasn't right. That's generally the case. If we had somehow managed to push our way in we would have wasted years and possibly had to deal with the hassle of selling an older house when new houses were available.
Small communities especially can't take the risk of being too varied or else they fall apart and then it's even harder for them to grow.
I could add a long list of examples to the two that Batya gave, especially of, but not limited to, parents looking for free babysitting.
No-one has mentioned the role that distance from employment centers plays in the growth of a yishuv.
P.S. We've lived in Yesha for over 20 years, most of our friends live in Yesha - all over - and I've never heard of an entrance fee.
Hadassa, some communities have had entrance fees for years. They attract a more affluent population obviously. Here in Shiloh a modest "synagogue building contribution" may still be part of the fee paid when someone buys or builds a home.
And true, a small community must be homogeneous to thrive. There must be basic aims and values in common.
I would be suspicious of any party that carries "national" in it's name, because of bad experiences with national socialists.
Mash, it has different connotations in Hebrew, and I'm talking Israel, not Europe.
Batya, can you please say more about National Union and Bayit Yehudi? I'm an oleh chadash trying to figure out which party I like. Also, does National Union have anything in English?
a, Bayit Yehudi is the old NRP with a new name. Their aim has always been to compromise and be in the cabinet. they claim they have to protect national religious interests
National Union is for Jews of all stripes who believe in the importance of the Land of Israel being Jewish and for a strong Israel, ideals over cabinet perks. I'll try to find out who's doing their English
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