The Jewish Suicidal Urge...

"Then the Devil Said"

- Natan Alterman, Jewish / Israeli Poet (1910 - 1970)

"Satan then said:
How do I overcome
This besieged one?
He has courage
And talent,
And implements of war
And resourcefulness.
Only this I shall do,
I'll dull his mind
And cause him to forget
The justice of his cause."

H'aretz reports:

The Jewish National Fund will place signs commemorating the Palestinian villages of Yalo and Amuas, destroyed in 1967, which were located in what is today Canada Park, near Latrun.

The decision was made following a petition to the High Court by the Zochrot organization, dedicated to commemorating destroyed Palestinian villages and supporting the right of return for Palestinians that fled or were expelled in 1948.

The JNF said that it did not oppose putting up the signs as long as they did not damage the park's aesthetic value.

To make things even more preposterous, the managing director of Zochrot is Eitan Bronstein - a nice Jewish name if I ever heard one. Eitan is going to tell us what one of the main goals of Zochrot is:

Signs posted at demolished villages will invoke the question of a Law of Return for Palestinian refugees. The signs will place the question of the Palestinians' right to return on the public agenda by testifying to that which existed here, to that which cannot be ignored forever. Jewish recognition of the ongoing refugee problem and determined striving towards an agreement on the issue of return are keys to real reconciliation between the two peoples. Without a fair solution to the problem of return, the conflict can never be resolved.

We are a group of Israelis that aim to raise awareness to the tragedy and suffering of the Palestinian people, particularly among the Jewish population of Israel. Posting signs at demolished Palestinian villages is one way to advance this goal, but is only one element of an expansive effort to commemorate the Naqba in Hebrew. Calling attention to the Naqba in Hebrew-at schools, universities, and in other public arenas-should be an objective of all who desire mutual recognition and peace between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. At a time when the word "mahsom" (roadblock) is so ubiquitous that young Palestinians are unaware that it's a term belonging to the occupation, let alone a word in Hebrew, it is appropriate that Israelis think and speak of the Naqba as a way to begin to understand Palestinian suffering.

Now, for some basic questions:

1) What is a nice Jewish boy like Eitan Bronstein doing serving at the head of an Israeli organization that refers to the creation of the State of Israel as the Naqba (Catastrophe) and which calls for the "Palestinian" Right of Return - which would utterly destroy the Jewish State of Israel?

2) Why is it that Israel's Supreme Court, time and again, undercuts anything and everything that characterizes Israel as a Jewish State and our connection to the Land of Israel?

3) What is the Israeli / Jewish visitor to these "aesthetically beautiful" parks supposed to feel when reading such a sign? That he is a thief? That this land does not belong to him - not the 67' borders and not the 48' borders either? When Jewish students will be brought to these parks on outings, will it be a required part of their curriculum to understand that they have no right to be here? (Ok kids, now go and have a good time...).

In the opening poem, Natan Alterman, Israel Prize winner and lover of the Land and People of Israel, divined the major challenge that the Jewish People in the State of Israel are facing today. Alterman recognized that the greatest threat to the Jewish State and the ability of the Jewish People to fulfill their collective destiny were not the enemies that surround us, but our Jewish brothers and sisters who have forgotten the "justice of our cause" - who have lost sight of the unique mission and destiny of the Jewish People that justifies our continued existence, and as such, have lost the ability to perceive the historical, moral and divine legitimacy of the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

Today, we have the government of the State of Israel preparing to destroy Jewish communities in the Land of Israel and expel thousands of Jews - all in the name of "Democracy". 20,000+ military and police personnel were called up to besiege those who were protesting against the plan (more troops than have been used to fight against "Palestinian" terrorists" - in the name of "upholding the rule of law".

Have we gone mad? Have we lost our minds? Have we forgotten our millennia-old yearnings and prayers to return to the Land of Israel and to restore what was rightfully ours? Have we forgotten who is the true enemy, who has spent the last 100 years trying to wipe out any Jewish presence in the Land of Israel? Have we become so consumed in our quest to adopt every western value and cultural norm, no matter how perverse, that we are willing to sell our birthright for a pot of American lentils? Have we lost the ability to inspire our young through our heritage, that they must embrace the cause of our enemy in their quest for self-fulfillment?

It's time to wake up... It's not too late... But we're getting close!