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Going Up To Jerusalem – We Are All Commando 13

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 1:51 pm 
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Going Up To Jerusalem - We Are All Commando 13

by Jerry Waxman

We happened to go to Jerusalem yesterday. We began to wander toward the market. Suddenly we saw a mighty big procession, with singing, chanting, drum beating, and lots of flag waving. I found out that it was a yearly thing, Aliya le-Yerushalayim -- going up to Jerusalem.

Aliya to Jerusalem




Early tractor Oliver 1947Groups of youths paraded down the street in front of us. They were jubilant, waving flags and carrying signs. These were youths from the settlements. They were joined by tractors of more than 60 years ago. They all had a part in building up Israel as a Jewish state. They all see Jerusalem as the center of Israel life, the Jewish capital since the time of David.

Concert in Jerusalem The marchers all assembled in a huge park for an evening of music and fun. Some musicians were already playing music. There was a fast Chassidic piece -- klezmer music -- and then they went to more modern favorites.

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This year Jerusalem Aliya carried an air of defiance. At a time when around the world there are rallies and protests against Israel . . . when there are new calls to boycottIsrael products, and condemn all of Israel in general, and its defense forces in particular . . . the settlement youth proclaimed solidarity with IDF. They carried signs saying "We are all Shayetet 13" (the commando unit that boarded the Gaza flotilla two days earlier.")

At the park, a woman explained to me the significance of going up to Jerusalem every year at about the time of Shavuot. Our holidays all carry messages of building up the land of Israel, and being a united people. The families of the settlements link their lives to the capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem. When I told her that we came from Sderot, her eyes widened and she welcomed us as part of the cause - uniting and protecting the land of Israel.

Girl with flag in Jerusalem There may not be much to be proud of, living in the Negev. But to live where enemies shoot rockets because they don't want you there is an act of defiance. To live in the settlements, where so much of the world believes you don't belong, is an act of defiance. To do your duty as a soldier and protect the borders even while much of the world calls you a criminal, is an act of defiance. It was good -- no, it was fantastic -- to see youths of all ages, despite all that the world is saying about them, marching in solidarity and with pride


Don’t Blame Obama

Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 3:10 am 
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“Don’t Blame Obama”

Recently, news sources reported a rally in Jerusalem. Demonstrators protested President Obama’s policy to freeze settlements. The intent of the rally was supposed to send a message to PM Netanyahu that the people who elected him to office were extremely uneasy with any suggestion of selling or otherwise negotiating away any part of the Land of Israel.
Speakers at the rally roused up the crowd with rhetoric not about President Obama’s policies but about President Obama himself. More on that later, but for now — well, those speakers were wrong… I mean plain WRONG! for more than one reason. They should have studied the facts before speaking.. They should have looked more closely at the Jewish observance of Tisha B’av which was today.
Tisha B’av is a special day on the Jewish calendar. It is not a holiday, and not a day of celebration. The opposite; it’s a day of fasting and mourning in remembrance of awful things that have befallen Jews on this particular day. In one way of looking at the Jewish calendar, the month of Av is the 11th month. Tisha B’av then is the 9th day of the 11th month, or 9/11.
Not to diminish what 9/11 – the 11th day of the 9th month – means to Americans, Tisha B’av has been the host to the most immense pain and loss that the Jewish people have suffered repeatedly throughout history. As the U.S. 9/11 is characterized by the falling of two towers, in Jewish tradition Tisha B’av is most remembered for the destruction of two great and holy structures – the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. That destruction of the two temples occurred centuries apart is less significant than that the destruction occurred at all.		 Titus Besieging the Temple of Jerusalem


Titus Besieging the Temple of Jerusalem

At the time of the destruction of the Temples, thousands upon thousands of Jews lost their lives, and those who survived would face being captured, being enslaved, eventually being exiled from the land and dispersed throughout the world. The 2000 year Jewish diaspora has not been a good time for the Jewish people. But never, never in the literature or the litany have Jews focused on blaming Nebuchadnezzar or even Hitler for their troubles.
Although evil leaders have caused great pain and suffering that has perpetuated even up to today in the Jewish experience, on Tisha B’av we have a very typical Jewish response; Not revenge. Not violence. Not even trying to talk with our enemies. On Tisha B’av Jews look inward as a nation and attempt to answer the questions: “Where did WE go wrong?” “What did we do wrong to invite this disaster upon ourselves?”
At the rally in Jerusalem, the speakers were wrong to point fingers at anyone. Yes, some U.S. emissaries have shown anti-Israel leanings, and Jews should rightfully demand that they reconsider their positions before they come to Israel And yes, President Obama has put pressure on Israel to abide by policies that would be detrimental to Israel. And yes President Obama has been wrong about this issue. BUT so has Israel; the people of Israel, including Jewish people wherever they live.
A former Member of Knesset, a Rabbi Eliezer Waldman called Barack Obama a rascist. (I hope these comments will fade into obscurity quickly. Nevertheless here is the story – for more context. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132612 )
His remarks were not about U.S. policy. They were leveled at the U.S. president and they were confrontational. His remarks drew cheers from the crowd the same as radio talk show hosts in America draw cheers when they say something outlandish.		 The Romans Led by Titus Take Jerusalem and Burst into the Holy of Holies in the Temple


The Romans Led by Titus Take Jerusalem and Burst into the Holy of Holies in the Temple

Rabbi Waldman was wrong. And so were those who cheered.
For a Jewish leader to publicly call Barack Obama a rascist not only is a blatant falsehood which serves no positive purpose whatsoever, it has the great potential to incite the wrath of anti-semites worldwide. As if all we need now is for the world to point fingers at us – Jews – for insulting, without reason, a very popular world leader.
Rabbi Waldman was wrong, and his statements should be denounced by more learned rabbis and more savvy leaders.
As it turns out, a few days before the rally – but largely unreported – President Obama was reconsidering his policies in the Middle East, particularly in Israel, and was considering changing some of the personnel involved in middle east affairs. Obama reportedly was easing off on some of the things he had said earlier regarding Israel’s right to build in Jerusalem.
I think the U.S. president is someone who will listen to reason. I believe it will take a long time, but that with a proper approach, President Obama will come to agree that the settlements are not the real issue, and not at all a blockage to peace. The operative phrase is “proper approach.”
Confrontational words and gestures are not a proper approach. Reasoning and negotiating would be more effective. Looking within ourselves as a nation, and reflecting on how we got ourselves into our present predicaments, would serve us much better than false and inflammatory remarks.
30 July 2009

Sderot Israel

Letter To President Obama Following Cairo Speech

Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 1:46 am 
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Open Letter To President Barack Obama in the Wake of His Address in Cairo on 4 June 2009

by Jerry Waxman

To the Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America

Dear Mr. President:

I'm writing to you from Sderot, where I live. You visited this town last year. In your speech in Cairo you referred indirectly to Sderot's unique disposition in the tragedy of "the roadmap." On the one hand I want to thank you - for speaking directly to the terrorists in front of a world audience, telling them that violence does them no good. On the other hand I want to tell you that you've let me down. You've let down the people of Sderot, where you talked about our right to defend ourselves.

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MATZO.

Your solutions to the problems which concern Israel are not solutions at all. They will not lead to a lasting peace. Logic, pragmatism, and lessons from history tell us so. I support your vision of a world at peace and harmony, and I respectfully have to tell you that the policy you have outlined does not represent change. It is the same as the policies of the two administrations before you. This does not lead to peace.
Mr. President, I want to tell you that I came to Sderot less than a year ago. I left a job and a pretty good and safe life to live here. I know of others who have come from different countries and different walks of life with similar stories. They left secure, comfortable lives to live in Israel. And although many of us here have nothing now - no jobs, no security, no homes, nothing - we are determined to stay in Israel - in Sderot and in every town, city, and village in the land of Israel. We are fulfilling an age old dream of our ancestors and ourselves to live in this land.
I don't believe there is another people or nation on earth that has a dream like this. I don't believe there is one man or woman amongst the thousands of Palestinian refugees who would come to live in this land if they had more secure options elsewhere. Those who have shot rockets into Sderot have no claims to this town. They don't want to live here. A plan to carve out a piece of territory for people who really don't dream of living there is not a plan that will succeed, Mr. Obama.
When you spoke at the university in Cairo, people applauded your comments when you spoke of restoring dignity to the Palestinian people. I wholeheartedly agree that the Palestinian people deserve to have the same freedoms and opportunities as all people deserve. But then when you admonished the extremists for shooting rockets into Jewish homes, there was no applause.
How do you explain that, Mr. Obama? How do you explain that the one thing the Muslim world could do to shake off the stigmas and the stereotypes - to collectively and vocally denounce the few terrorists among them - they won't do it?
Neither did your comments about recognizing Israel draw applause from your Cairo audience, even though Egypt's Anwar Sadat was the first leader of a major Muslim country to risk his life, and lose it, by reaching out to Israel.
What does that tell you, Mr. Obama? If Egyptians show no pride in their country's historical peace agreement with Israel, can you expect other Arab and predominantly Muslim countries to open their skies to Israeli planes, and open their ports to Israeli goods, and open their minds to treating Jewish people with the same dignity and respect as all people deserve?
There is no connection to Jewish settlements, Mr. Obama. Jews have lived in Hebron and Gush Etzion long before there were ever Palestinian refugees. If there are Palestinians who dream of living in the territories of Judea and Samaria, there should be no reason they couldn't live there in peace with the Jewish settlers. Your call to Israel to stop Jewish settlements to form a separate state for Palestinians is not a call for peace. It is a plan that has failed, and can only fail again. There is no chance that it will lead to peace and prosperity for anyone, Muslim, Christian, or Jew.
That the Palestinian people have suffered there is no argument. That the Palestinian people deserve to have better lives, I totally agree. That much of their suffering began at the time that Jews declared Israel a state there is no denial of the correlation. But to suggest that Israel is the main cause of their suffering is to deny facts, and ignore truth. And to suggest a separate state for Palestinians is not a logical conclusion at all. As a peaceful solution to a problem, it doesn't merit consideration if only because it is not something the Palestinian people have ever struggled for or shown an interest in.
While the comparisons are not exactly warranted, Mr. President, please consider the oppressed minorities in the United States. The African Americans don't have a separate state within U.S. borders. The Latin Americans have not demanded a separate state. Nor have the Asian Americans. What would be the policy of the United States were the Muslim Americans to make demands for a separate state within the borders of the U.S.?
Mr. Obama, I do not join those Israelis who would respond to your speech with sarcasm or mockery. I do not join the Jewish activists who would use anger and invective against you as a way to thwart your goals. I am an American who supports you in your efforts to do what is in America's best interests. I am a friend who wants you to avoid doing things that are not in America's best interests and not in your best interests.
The "roadmap" is such a thing. I had hopes, in my support for you as a world leader, that you would see that the roadmap does not provide a pragmatic solution to any legitimate concerns of anybody who lives in the region. I had hopes that you would be more imaginative and act with more intelligence than your predecessor on these issues. I had very high hopes that you would act as a true leader and speak the real truth, though it may fly in the face of what other leaders have said, and put this roadmap aside to work out more desirable, more feasible, and more attainable goals in cooperation with affected parties in the region.

Until now, you have let me down. And while nobody may see it yet, you have let America down. Please consider these things that I have written, Mr. Obama, and be the true leader that Americans voted for. Distance yourself from failed agendas including the roadmap, and rely more on truth.

Respectfully,

Jerry Waxman
Sderot Israel