DIALOG.......................
A PAINFUL PASSOVER
By the time we sat down to celebrate our first seders, we already knew about the horrendous slaughter which took place at a hotel in Netanya where people had gathered for their own Passover experience. It left Jews everywhere deeply saddened--and the leaders of Hamas overjoyed. As the New York Times reported, the murderous attack left Hamas "pleased and satisfied." "Our spirit is high, our mood is good," Ismail Abu Shenab, a Hamas leader, was quoted as saying. The Passover massacre was "the crowning achievement" of Hamas' efforts thus far, he added "with a smile." (New York Times, April 4, 2002)
Mr. Arafat, typically, condemned the Netanya attack in English, while in Arabic he described the young man who blew himself up as a "martyr." Yesterday the Palestinian leader called for a "million martyrs to march upon Jerusalem." (Jerusalem Post)
Where will it all end? I do not know, but what Israel is asking of Yassar Arafat is nothing less than a replay of a momentous decision made by Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, 54 years ago.
It was June 20, 1948, at the height of Israel's War for Independence. In the midst of a cease-fire between the Israeli and Arab armies, a ship loaded with Jewish fighters and all manner of weaponry approached Tel Aviv, anxious to unload its much-needed cargo.
But these fighters were not part of the Haganah, the Israel Defense Forces under the leadership of the Government of Israel and its Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion.
These fighters were from the Irgun, the Jewish underground whose leaders had decided to fight their own war against the Arabs. These arms would be for their soldiers who would follow the orders of their officers.
Ben-Gurion demanded that the Irgun surrender its cargo of arms to the Government of Israel and its Army. But the Irgun instead mocked Ben-Gurion and prepared to unload its stash.
Ben-Gurion later wrote: "The arrogant action of armed gangs inside the country gravely endangers our ability to defend our own future and the future of the entire Jewish people. This danger will not end until the citizens of this country and Jews everywhere understand the tragic significance of the very existence of such organizations. Not only the Army, but the entire people, must help to uproot this evil."
Israel's first Prime Minister then made the most difficult decision of his life: He ordered the Irgun ship and its precious cargo sunk.
As Robert St. John wrote in his biography of Ben-Gurion: "[Ben-Gurion] was certain that this was the moment in which the authority of the
state had to be established. If the dream had been worth twenty centuries of struggling and waiting, it was worth securing, now, by bold action."
For the last 18 months, indeed for the last six years, since Yassar Arafat's return to the West Bank and the opening of the Oslo talks,
Palestine's first chairman has been asked to reign in his underground-Hamas, Islamic Jihad and others.
The Palestinian Authority has possessed the arms and overwhelming strength to do so, and Chairman Arafat has had, and continues to have, the political authority to demand it.
But he has not.
Today there is great suffering in the Middle East. And what Israel has asked of Mr. Arafat, we can only ask of him yet again today:
Be a leader. Be a statesman. Be a force for bridge-building, not destruction.
Help build a Palestinian society that will improve your people's lives.
Sit with Israel, negotiate and be prepared, as Israel will be, to compromise, for peace.
And recognize, as David Ben-Gurion did 54 years ago, that the arrogant
action of armed gangs inside Palestinian-controlled territories gravely endangers your ability to defend your own future and the future of your people. This danger will not end until Palestinians everywhere understand the tragic significance of the very existence of such organizations.
The entire people must help to uproot this evil.
But it must begin, Mr. Arafat, with you.
For only then will both Palestinian and Israeli know true shalom, true
salaam, true peace.
*
12 THINGS WE CAN DO FOR ISRAEL
I am grateful to my colleague and friend, Rabbi Jack Moline, for assembling this comprehensive list of things all of us can do to help Israel at this very difficult time. I hope you will look through it and share it with your family and friends:
1) Write letters of encouragement to Senators and Representatives - and even state and local officials -- who have been supportive of Israel in any way. The letters should be personal and to the point, signed with respect and a valid address. E-mail is a good second choice, but nothing beats a hard copy.
Name of Rep/Senator, United States Capitol, Washington, DC
2) Write letters of objection to those whose support for Israel has been less than adequate. Those letters, too should be respectful and to the point. The goal is not to berate, but to persuade.
3) Write or call the White House to encourage the President to continue his extraordinary support for Israel and to persevere in the war against terror.
President George W. Bush, The White House, Washington, DC
202-456-1111
4) Read the newspaper and watch television with a special eye for reporting on Israel and the Middle East. When someone has done a good job, write or call with praise. When someone has done a poor job, carefully communicate your objections. It is as important to watch carefully local news, as it is national news. One good source for being a media watchdog is <http://www.honestreporting.com/ (See below for more about this site.)
5) Shop for Israeli products. They are everywhere if you just look for them.
6) Support Israeli emergency medical services. Magen David Adom fulfills the function of the Red Cross in Israel (<file:///C:/DOCUME~1/rosen/LOCALS~1/Temp/FrontPageTempDir/www.magendavidedom.org www.armdi.org). Likewise, Hadassah Hospital and many other hospitals and emergency centers in Israel need your support.
7) Call friends in Israel just to talk to them. Invest ten dollars in a phone card and you can probably talk for an hour. Ask them about school, about work. Tell them you miss them. Promise you will visit.
8) Make plans to go to Israel. Put the money away. Buy a couple of Israel bonds to cash when you get there. Send for the brochures. Enroll in the El Al frequent flyer program. If you can go now, go now, on a solidarity mission or a quick trip or to stay in a hotel in Tiberias or Eilat.
9) Talk to friends and neighbors, particularly those who are not Jewish. Send them articles that are short and to the point. Engage them on the issue and about how important it is to you. If they show sympathy for the Palestinian cause, agree with them to the extent your conscience allows. But make it clear that there is no alternative for the Jews in Israel or in the world other than a secure Jewish nation in Israel.
10) Show up to organizational events. (Two were listed, including the AIPAC policy conference on April 21-23. Information is at <http://www.aipac.org/)
11) Keep yourself informed from many perspectives. If you only read books and listen to analysis by the people with whom you already agree, you will remain a well-informed ignoramus. If for no other reason than you need to know your opponents, you must educate yourself with information and disinformation from the right and the left, from the Arabs and the Israelis, from the Muslims and the Jews, from fundamentalist Christians who love Israel but dismiss Judaism, and from liberal Christians who love Judaism but dismiss Israel. Go to their web sites -- it's free and it's an education.
12) Pray. Maybe a rabbi has to say it, but maybe it is as necessary as any of the other steps. Prayer in our tradition is not magic. We have no contest with other religions as to who can flood God's office with the most signatures on a petition. Prayer serves to reinforce our values, our connection with God and the strength we need to do what is right, even when what is right isn't always comfortable. Without a grounding in religious life, we are nothing but anther nation vying for a piece of the world's power. And likewise, if we rely only on our religion, we become nothing but narrow-minded partisans. Prayer keeps us balanced and mindful of the need to honor our Creator in everything we do.