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| Secular Palestinians enjoying a concert in Rawabi (screenshot) |
That I oppose that now is simply a matter of another reality. Which
is that that radical Islam is unrelenting in its goal to destroy the Jewish
state in its entirety and replace it with an Islamic Republic.
In pursuing that goal they have left no stone
un-turned, including the killing of innocent civilians both Jewish and Muslim. Even
using their own children as shields when Israel tries to defend itself against
their attacks. So that they can claim Israelis are baby killers! All while feeding their
propaganda campaign to the world painting Israel as an apartheid state that uses Nazi like
tactics against Palestinians living in the territories.
So as much as I believe that a two state solution would be
the best outcome for Israel living in peace with her Palestinian neighbors... it is an
impossible goal to achieve as long as terrorists in Gaza (Hamas) and Lebanon (Hezbollah)
control things - with the unbridled support of the Islamic Republic of Iran
which is dedicated to wiping Israel off the map! Anyone advocating a two state
solution under these conditions needs to have his head examined!
That being said, I still believe that Israel and Palestinians
could in theory live together side by side in peace and with good relations
along the line of Canada and the US. What would a Palestinian state look like? That was demonstrated to me last night as I watched a
60 minutes report about Rawabi - a new settlement on the West Bank. Only this one is a
Palestinian settlement. One where the standard of living rivals any upscale city
in the US. It is described by it’s builder as a secular city.
And indeed it is.
There is hardly anything that could be identified as religious in nature in Rawabi. Just
a bunch of people enjoying an upper middle class lifestyle in all its glory.
Frankly, I wouldn’t mind living in a city like that. If this is what a future Palestinian
state would look like, I would support it in a heartbeat. I doubt that any sane
person wouldn’t.
This city was built under Israeli occupation with the help
of the Israeli government. Which was absolutely necessary for it to get off
the ground. According to the 60 Minutes report - that help was slow in coming, because it was opposed by the
hard core religious settlers who do not believe that a single inch of our land
should be ceded to any non Jew for any reason. They believe that it is
imperative to settle every part of biblical Israel as promised to us by God.
What they fail to understand is that this attitude has been responsible for a lot
of bloodshed. Much of it Jewish.
For them
it is not about safety. If that were their intent, I would agree with - or at least understand them. They
are opposed to any Palestinian State even under the most peaceful of conditions.
So that when the builder of that
Palestinian city applied for permits for a variety of things necessary in order for it to succeed, settlers that live in an Israeli settlement nearby opposed it. They want to see only Israeli settlements for their own narrow religious reasons.
What about that claim? Sure, when the time for God’s ultimate promise to be fulfilled arrives,
then with God’s help - of course we will take our land back. But that time is not now regardless
of how much they believe it to be.
They insist that giving land to a
Palestinian – let alone building an entire city is a Yehoreg V’al Ya’avor - that every Jew has an obligation to die before giving up any land. That is clearly not Halacha. The world’s greatest Poskim agreed that in pre-messianic times Pikuach Nefesh (endangering Jewish lives) supersedes that requirement. Even my own Rebbe agreed with that despite his unqualified support for all settlement activity in Israel. The reason he supported that is precisely the reason most Poskim did not. He felt that by not settling the land it would present a greater danger to Jewish lives than it would be by settling it. He told me this personally.
Because of their religious beliefs these people were successful in delaying the building of
this city. But ultimately Israel granted the builder everything he needed for
it to succeed. And succeed it did. In spades!
One of the purposes cited by the builder is that he wanted to
show how Israelis and Palestinians could live together side by side in peace
and harmony.
As I said, this would be a wonderful outcome for the two
peoples. The problem is that under current conditions it will never happen. As noted above the Islamic fundamentalists that rule Gaza have about as much interest in
building a secular Palestinian state as the Charedi parties have in
making Israel a secular state. Their model is Iran. Not Rawabi. That is what
this builder either does not understand or refuses to admit.
But still… seeing tens of thousands of people enjoying a
secular concert at a huge stadium in a city that rivals the best of what America
has to offer gave me a least a picture of what could be possible… IF! (….and
that’s a big if) the Islamic fundamentalists would be eliminated from the
picture. And our own religious Zionist extremist settlers would face reality
and come to their senses. Imagine the possibilities…
