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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

TU B'SHEVAT 5768 -- BITTER FRUIT

Today the world saw the reason that Isael never should have withdrawn from Gaza in 2005: the brink of war and a potential new refugee crisis. Caught between the Israeli army in the north and the Egyptian army in the south, many of the Arab population of Gaza pressed against the southern border crossing, trying to make their way into Egypt only to be repulsed.

The proximal reason for this: Israel turned off power and water to Gaza as a response to the incessant Qassam missile barraging of southern Israel. In this past week alone 150 Qassams barraged the town of Sderot. Even today, when Israel eased off on the power and water blockade, 19 missiles were launched into Israel by Hamas.

Although there is reason to be glad that the Israeli Government has finally taken action to help the town of Sderot, there is more reason to be angry with the Israeli Government, which Government created this unnecessary reality, which it caused by unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza. Many, many persons (including myself, well before I commenced this Blog) wrote in 2004 and in 2005 that the inevitable result and consequence of such a withdrawl, beyond the obvious insult to the lives of the Jews then living in Gaza on land bought and paid for prior even to the 1948 War of Independence, would be (1) the setting of a precedent for ethnic cleansing in the form of making Gaza free from Jews, (2) the pitting of Arab against Arab in civil and political war, (3) the inevitability of security issues to Israel, most especially in the form of the launching of Qassam rockets into Israel by various terrorist groups, and (4) risk to the 'peace' with Egypt, however cold and fragle that "peace" may be.

Much has come to pass, including the (a) capture of Gilad Shalit into Gaza, (b) the captures of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev into Lebanon, and (c) the now infamous Second Lebanon War. Now, Gaza is on the verge of out and out civil war, war with Israel, and perhaps even war with Egypt - unless Egypt desides to war on Israel.

Sooner or late and probably sooner, the Arab populations of Judea-Sumaria will rise up in arms to support their brethren in Gaza. They will vote en masse with rocks, bullets, Qassams, and Katyushas. All the world of Islam will support them, as will Europe and much of the Third World. So too will the Arab citizens of Israel, more than a million of whom blatantly celebrate "Al-Naqba" (the Catastrophe of the Existence of the Jewish State of Israel) on Israel Independence Day.

Surely this was all forseen, and Israel and the world chose the evil path that has led us to today's bitter fruit.

This bitter "fruit" does not appear to be fruit upon which the "SH'HECHIANU" blessing is deserved.

May HaShem come speedily in our days and rebuild the Beth HaMikdash.