There is no legitimacy to Ehud Olmert's Expulsion Plan, the nation of Israel voted on it long ago, at Mt. Sinai.
Turning reality on its head, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on presenting his new government to the Israeli Knesset recently, stated that the Jews of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) endangered the State of Israel. "The continuance of scattered Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria endanger us," said Olmert.
Not Hamas' genocidal suicide bombings mind you, nor Iran's threat to vaporize Israel with its nukes.
Not the rapidly secularizing Israeli masses for whom being Jewish is losing all meaning; nor its defeatist corollary, reflected so eloquently by Olmert himself, speaking to the Israel Policy Forum in New York, in June 2005, "We are tired of fighting. We are tired of being courageous. We are tired of winning. We are tired of defeating our enemies."
What's the alternative, being slaughtered by Hamas? Only Jewish "settlers" are a threat to Israel, according to Ehud Olmert.
In response to Olmert's charges, National Religious Party secretary Shalom Jerbi said that Prime Minister Olmert's "Convergence" plan would be dangerous to the State of Israel instead of saving it. "Uprooting Jewish communities is not saving Zionism. It is the noose that strangles the Jewish state," he said in reply to Olmert's speech.
The Council of Settlements in Judea and Samaria (The Yesha Council) released a statement, "Olmert plans to endanger the State of Israel by handing Hamas strategically vital areas, this should worry not only the residents of Judea and Samaria but every citizen of Israel. Olmert and his immature government are seeking to present Hamas with Israel's last bulletproof vest."
I would add that by strengthening Hamas, the world should be concerned. The connections between Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Iran, Hizbollah, al-Qaeda, and the Global Jihad Network have been reasonably proven.
Interestingly, the Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, told the Hebrew newspaper Maariv the same day as Olmert spoke in the Knesset, that he would try to get around the Hamas government by presenting a referendum to PA voters, to ratify or decline a peace pact with Israel. Abbas called on the Olmert government to renew negotiations with him.
Yet the Hamas-led PA called Olmert's Knesset speech, launching his new administration a "declaration of war." Referring to Olmert's plan of retaining some Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, "settlement blocs," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said, "There is nothing new in his speech." The spokesman added that, "Arafat recognized Israel, but was not made a partner and that therefore the problem is not with us but with Olmert. We will continue to defend ourselves against Israeli terror and the occupation."
Taking a page out of Joseph Goebbels' propaganda lessons, Olmert continues to propagate the "big lie" that Kadima's election "victory" gave him the authority to carry out wide ranging expulsions of more Jewish "settlers," promising again in the Knesset, not to hold a referendum on the issue.
Olmert speaking via satellite to an Anti-Defamation League convention not long ago said, "I wanted the elections to be a referendum on the plan I presented." Olmert added, Kadima has a mandate, and he intends to use it effectively in order to implement his "Convergence" plan and "create a new reality in the Middle East."
No matter what Olmert says, no matter what they tell you, no matter how much they lie, know, the elections were not a referendum for expelling more Jews from their homes. Little was discussed about "Olmert's plans" during the election. Contradictory voices came out of Olmert's own party, stating there were no plans for future unilateral expulsions of settlements.
I can't understand why people like Benjamin Netanyahu, Nadia Matar ("Women in Green") and others on the right (before the recent election) described it as a referendum on the withdrawal-expulsion issue. They helped Olmert reinforce the idea.
Referenda without clear policy guidelines, without specifics (who exactly is going to get expelled, from where, and how much or how little compensation are they going to get?), simply are not carried out like this.
For starters, let's look at Olmert's statement about the election being a referendum (don't misunderstand, I categorically deny that any particular generation of Jews has the right to give away parts of the G-D's Promised Land).
Kadima (his party) won only 29 out of 120 seats, or 24% of the vote. All the other parties that favor territorial compromise (Likud, Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and UTJ, Meretz, Labor, the Arab parties) do so only within a negotiated settlement with the Palestinian Authority. They claim to be against a unilateralist policy, like Ehud "following in Sharon's footsteps" Olmert is promoting.
Olmert's "Referendum" was a complete flop. He lost it. Olmert's "Referendum" was roundly defeated by 76% of the voting public.
Olmert presented his new coalition of 67 seats to the Knesset, but of the parties in Olmert's new coalition government, both Labor and Shas (31 seats combined), are on record as opposing a unilateral expulsion of Jews without an agreement with the PA. So what will happen to Olmert's government, will it fall apart at the first sign of "Convergence?"
When Ariel Sharon began promoting his Gaza Expulsion Plan, euphemistically called "Disengagement," opponents called for a referendum. Ministers in his government (including Olmert) spoke out against holding one. The then Minister of National Infrastructure, Yosef Paritzky, claimed it contravened the democratic principles of the country. The Justice Minister at the time, Yosef Lapid, expressed his opposition to the referendum idea, "Such a move is not part of our democratic process." Both politicians had a point; modern Israel has never held a referendum.
A little history about the call for referenda in Israel…
Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin – then a Knesset Member – in the early 1950's opposed the deal that then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion worked out with West Germany, to accept reparations after the Holocaust. Begin suggested a national referendum to allow the people to decide whether to accept them or not, but Ben-Gurion refused. In February 1958, Menachem Begin again suggested using referenda to decide on various issues in the young Israeli democracy. Ben-Gurion's ruling party, Mapai, responded, calling the proposal "Bonapartist, fascist and totalitarian."
Certainly, referenda are neither fascist nor totalitarian.
Referenda are used in many democratic states around the world to allow the citizens to directly decide important issues. For example, referenda have been used by European countries to decide on whether to join the European Union, or once in, to adopt the European Monetary System and replace their national currency with the Euro. Many states in the US use referenda for a whole host of issues, and the constitutional process of adopting a new state constitution itself can include a referendum from voters.
Is there a more important issue today, pressing the people of Israel, than the issue of territorial integrity or withdrawal from parts of its historic homeland, the biblically promised, Land of Israel?
But, Olmert's "Referendum" is more reminiscent of the "electoral process" of former totalitarian regimes (vote yes or no) such as Saddam Hussein's Iraq or the Former Soviet Union under Brezhnev.
Olmert's claim that the election was a referendum on his Unilateral Expulsion Plan, now being called "Convergence," bolstered by Netanyahu's and Matar's politically immature pre-election statements, just goes to show how many Israelis live in La La Land.
Everyone in the world knows that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish People. Christianity and Islam are built on Judaism and both recognize this fact. The nations of the world, through the League of Nations and later the United Nations, gave its stamp of approval also.
For those who say "Israeli settlements" are a violation of "International Law" or the Geneva Convention, they simply don't know what they're talking about. The League of Nations' "Palestine Mandate" recognized the right of Jews to "close settlement on the land," and no later UN resolution has ever abrogated those rights. Even the 1947 Partition Plan into Arab and Jewish states, left over 6,000 Jews in the proposed Arab state and assumed that Jews would continue to live in the Arab state, as Arabs would in the Jewish state.
By Divine Right, historical right, and internationally recognized law; Jews have a right to settle, build homes and towns, and live in all parts of their homeland, Israel, including the areas liberated in 1967.
The use of referenda to generally resolve issues in Israel is perfectly democratic, it builds social solidarity and wide consensus, contrary to the views of the "people's representatives." But on the issue of territorial compromise and expulsion of Jews from their homes (such as happened in Gaza/Northern Samaria and now what they want to do with more of Judea/Samaria – the West Bank), something that gets to the heart of Israel's national existence, and will negatively effect Jews living around the world, even democracy has its limits.
How many Americans would honor the outcome of a referendum in the US (through elections or otherwise), to return the "Occupied Territories" to Native American Indians, along with the concomitant expulsion of millions of black, white, Asian, and Hispanic "settlers?"
There is no legitimacy to Olmert's Expulsion Plan, the nation of Israel voted on it long ago, at Mt. Sinai.
ariel@columnist.com
http://www.geocities.com/ariel_natan_pasko
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THE TRUE MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE DAY
BY: FERN SIDMAN
As we prepare to celebrate the 58th anniversary of the State of Israel, we ask ourselves what the true and genuine meaning of Israeli independence really is. We know that 58 years ago, in May of 1948 the United Nations declared the creation of the State of Israel. Each year we celebrate the birth of the modern State of Israel with great fanfare and jubilation. We also remember those who have fallen in the line of duty to protect the State of Israel. We remember thousands of members of the Israel Defense Forces, whose lives were snuffed out in the many wars that the State of Israel has been forced to endure.
And we ask ourselves who bestowed this independence of statehood upon us. Yes, the UN declared the creation of the state, yet we know that our independence was granted to us by a higher authority. We know that Hashem orchestrates everything that occurs, both on a personal and communal level. As Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, ZTK"L said in 1995:
"What is independence of the Jewish Nation? It is that we OURSELVES, ALONE, do not rely on any other nation. This is the deeper meaning of the concept, "a nation that dwells alone". And how do we arrive at a situation where we become a nation that dwells alone? Only when we put our trust in God, and not in the gentile.
Certainly it is scary when one is surrounded by hundreds of millions of Arabs who want to wipe us out, and on each and every action we make, the entire world condemns! But it is only scary for one who is lacking faith; it is only frightening for those who deep in their souls are still slaves and not capable of being independent!
And so, how embarrassing it is to hear from our "leaders" year after year on Holocaust Day, the same tired, empty phrases. Like a dog returning to his own vomit, they repeat, "that if the State of Israel and the I.D.F. had been around ten years earlier, it could have prevented a Holocaust". Really? Then why doesn't the same State and army of Israel dare return fire in a war against an enemy who sits within her, and who slaughters its citizens daily? They would have dared act against the Nazis? Why, that might harm "diplomatic relations"…
"And so we celebrate Independence Day and Yom Yerushalayim, saying "Hallel". Not only for the quantitative aspect of the miracles of 1948 and 1967 which were greater than the miracles that occurred in the time of the Hashmonaim, but we also thank G-d for the qualitative aspect of the miracles, which were a sanctification of G-d's Name, a redemption of the People and it's land - that is, a forging ahead. Whose heart cannot grow warm from the memory of the Israeli soldiers marching forward in the Sinai Desert, the Golan Heights, Yehuda, Shomron; when the names Shechem, Hebron, Jericho, the Temple Mount became real again! The Messiah was knocking on the door, and a spirit of purity passed through the entire nation…
Yes, we know that those last three dots we wrote above are not something to be happy about, for everything started going downhill from there. Since then, the grand spirit that had been injected into the people has been forcibly smothered out by the evil Jewish governments. In a short period of time, we saw the obscene spitting on the miracle, and an abandonment of the lands we captured. But G-d is not at fault for this, and so we can not quit giving Him praise for the miracles He granted. On the contrary, we must recall these great miracles, gather strength, and vomit out of power those betrayers of G-d's miracles, thereby taking the reigns and going in the direction of those gates which Hashem opened for us, in order that we may bring the complete redemption!"
Yes, Israeli Independence day is a day to give praise to the Almighty who intervened on our behalf and saw to it that the creation of a Jewish State would become a reality. And yet, instead of hearing prayers and supplications to Hashem on this day, our leaders speak of "never giving up the hope of peace" with our enemies. These words were spoken by Shimon Peres and are echoed by others of his ilk. He and the other myopic and spiritually bankrupt leaders of the "independent" State of Israel speak of further territorial compromises with the Arab enemy who vows to destroy the "independent" State of Israel by any means possible.
Our leaders speak of more Jewish evacuations and demolitions of even more Jewish settlements in the liberated lands of Judea and Samaria, all the while paying lip service and babbling about the bravery and courage of Israeli soldiers who gave their lives to defend the "independent" State of Israel. Their callousness is appalling and truly loathsome. While family members and friends of soldiers who have perished defending the State of Israel mark a national day of mourning and remembrance of their loved ones, the leaders of the "independent" State of Israel make a mockery of their memory by calling for the land that they fought so valiantly for, to be handed over to the same enemy that was responsible for their deaths.
Let us understand the true meaning of independence and from whom it actually emanates. Let us recognize the omnipotent power behind our independence. Let us recognize the G-d of Israel, and even further, let us fear and serve only Hashem, the One and Only Creator of the Universe and Giver of independence. Let us remind those in power in the government of the "independent" State of Israel that they cannot banish the presence of G-d. They cannot, in their arrogance declare independence and sovereignty until they recognize the source of that independence. Let us remind the powers that be in Israel, that we cannot and do not have the ability to give up G-d given land to our enemies and we cannot expel more Jews from their homes. Let us remember the lesson of independence on this day by refusing to bow to the will of mere mortals and let us turn our faith over to the Almighty.
Comment by FERN SIDMAN | May 9, 2006