I love Israel. It is my home. I read about every event there, feeling like I'm staying in touch in some way. So why do I hesitate to make Aliyah?Aliyah Under a Microscope
Starting with the Oslo accords with Peres as a naive and willing participant (leading to the Oslo war), Clinton achieved his ambition to claim a role in international statesmanship (in addition to the American involvement in the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict ending with the Dayton Peace Accords in November, 1995 and the establishment of a Muslim state in eastern Europe).
As Daniel Pipes noted (November 16, 2005), the motives for signing the Oslo Peace Plan were very different for each side. The Palestinians still wanted to destroy Israel, and Israel wanted nothing more than the official recognition of Israel's right to exist. Is there really a basis for negotiations between people holding these radically distinct objectives? I find it very hard to believe that Israeli politicians are so naive that they would believe the posturing and deception of their neighbors and the nations that support them. Surely there must be Israelis who want to win, not lose .... people who are realistic ideologues that can see through the lies and half-truths embedded in "peace plans" that mean one thing in English and the opposite in Arabic.
As Pipes pointed out, wars are lost when the defeated side acknowledges the loss, not when military conquest occurs. (Look at what happened to Germany after the first world war.) Continuous losses will discourage the greatest optimist. It is surely very difficult to live in a war zone on constant alert for violence. Add to that the liberal distribution of money buying world opinion, which is shaped in large part by the media. Israel shouldn't get into that game, but why tolerate anti-Israel acts and media propaganda within the country itself? It's self-destructive. Giving the enemy at your door funds and training to achieve your annihilation is insanity. And anyone else who does that is not your friend.
My dreams of living and working in Israel have been ripped to shreds by the socio-political maneuvering of the myopic left-leaning majority who actually seem to run the country. The weakness shown by those members of the cabinet and the Knesset who collapse at the slightest hint of disapproval by the EU, UN, and especially Obama and his administration makes me shrink from making a move that may cost me everything. What's the point of bowing to international pressures and caring about world opinion if you're not waiting for your enemies to destroy you, but you are doing that for them? As Abraham Lincoln said, " You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time.” So why bother?
I'd gladly give it all up to be a part of an Israel with a rational government that cares for all its people, but why should I move there and have to fight against the very abuses that I'm trying to escape here? To escape anti-Semitism? Forget the PA and Hamas. I can handle them. How do I deal with the Israeli sympathizers who embrace those enemies? What about courts that favor the very people that have sworn to liquidate all Jews?
Not nice? Actually, it's revolting. No less revolting is the treatment by the Israeli Knesset, military and legal system of the Jewish expellees from Gush Katif and all of Gaza. Was it necessary at the time for Israel's survival? Or did it tear the nation apart and victimize the very people it was supposed to protect? South Africa's welfare wasn't enhanced by the abuse of Africans by Europeans in their own country; nor was violent religious discrimination by other governments against their own citizens (e.g., Waco, Texas, U.S.A. in 1993, the Armenian genocide in Turkey in 1914, the Halabja poison gas attack against the Kurds in Iraq in 1988, Zoroastrians in Iran now).
Am I giving up on Israel? No! But I refuse to trust my fate to those who have demonstrated a proven record of losses, and a habit of repeating the same pattern over and over and over ..... ad nauseum. Either think outside the box or end up buried inside it.
(This was inspired by an article by Rachel Saperstein, one of my favorite writers.)
Monday, 2 August 2010
by Rifkah Zyntyg
I love Israel. It is my home. I read about every event there, feeling like I'm staying in touch in some way. So why do I hesitate to make Aliyah? Gush Katif is a very big reason. Many other reasons abound. Perhaps I'm too analytical. Looking at the pros and cons, I find that the latter wins hands down.Every lawyer knows a case is won before it goes to court. Intense preparation is the secret. Naive trust will always be trumped by thorough research and exhaustive trials by over-qualified personnel. I hope against hope that Israel will fight to win in every battle, in every place and under every condition. Then victory is guaranteed. Surely freedom, respect, and ultimately peace will follow. I look forward to making Aliyah when that happens.
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