The subtitle of a novel written by Benjamin Disraeli in the
middle of the 19th century, Two Nations, is appropriate for
Israel. Our most prominent two nations are not the well-to-do and the
poor, as in Disraeli's case, but the religious and the secular. The
current chapter of this story focuses on those opposing the withdrawal of
Jewish settlements from Gaza and the northern West Bank, and those who are
in favor of the withdrawal or indifferent.
The tension between religious and secular Israeli Jews is
not new. It has long appeared in neighborhoods defined as religious or
secular, the social life of religious Jews focused on synagogues and
religious study groups, the problems of hosting religious Jews in secular
homes that do not observe kashrut, as well as religious, secular, and
anti-religious political parties. One of my doctoral students (a Korean
Presbyterian minister) is doing his dissertation on the decline of
religious-secular tension during the of intafada (which reminded
both religious and secular Jews of the hostility to them all), showing how
the decline has been arrested by the issue of disengagement.
It is not entirely accurate to describe the camps opposed,
in favor, or indifferent to disengagement as religious and secular. Not
all religious Israeli Jews are intense in their opposition to the
withdrawal; many of the ultra-Orthodox are more concerned about their own
studies and—if they are upset about something in the public
sphere—they express themselves about violations of the Sabbath or women
who dress immodestly. Moreover, a number of secular people are concerned
that the withdrawal has been poorly conceived, or is altogether wrong.
Nonetheless, the general picture is that those intense in
opposition to the withdrawal are overwhelmingly Orthodox Jews of the
Religious Zionist variety.
The "two nations" image captures the near total
lack of rapport or communication between the camps of intense opponents
and others. Each sees something else happening; each is concerned about
different basic values; there is little effective communication. They are
talking past one another, each having their own conversation, almost
entirely with themselves.
Some examples from e-mails received in the last couple of
days:
Today,
on the fast of the 17th of Tammuz a new movement has begun. The
founder, Chaya Gross has taken up position in front of the Prime
Minister's Residence in
Jerusalem
and will be continuing fasting (although with water) until this decree
has been nullified. The movement is meant to be made up of women only,
whose main objective is to raise consciousness of the dangers involved
in the government's plan for Gush Katif and the
Northern Shomron
. Their most serious concern is for the safety of the Jewish people in
the
Holy Land
.
--------------
I am writing you in connection with my 14 year old
daughter Chaya who has spent the past 3 weeks of her summer vacation in
jail. No ,no, she hasn't murdered anyone. Nor did she steal anything,
assault anyone or sell drugs. All she did was go to a demonstration in
" the only democracy in the Middle East". Here is how it
happened. On 22 Sivan 5765 {29.06.05} Chaya decided to lend moral
support to her friends who went to protest Ariel Sharon's plan to expel
Jews. What follows is a direct quote from the official indictment filed
against Chaya. She is accused of standing on a sidewalk while her
friends proceeded to block traffic. After her friends were arrested a
policewoman asked Chaya to leave the area. Chaya refused, saying that
she wasn't doing anything illegal, that she had every right to stand on
"every inch of the
Land
of
Israel
". The policewoman, unimpressed, warned Chaya that if she didn't
leave immediately she will be arrested. To which Chaya replied:
"So, shut up and arrest me then". That's it. This is the
case that the State of Israel has against Chaya. And, because Chaya
participated in a similar demonstration once before, the State
prosecutor asked the juvenile court to remand Chaya into police custody
UNTIL THE END OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HER - a process that can last
for MONTHS!! What is truly unbelievable is that this unprecedented
request was granted. Judge Dalya Korn wrote a 10-page dissertation about
the danger to society inherent in Chaya's disregard towards the law
passed in the Knesset (
Sharon
's expulsion law). That, combined with the fact that Chaya participated
in a similar "unlawful" demonstration before, has made her
into a REAL PUBLIC DANGER, thus justifying her imprisonment until the
end of the legal process.
There is no shortage of commentary opposed to the
protesters. The earlier strategy of protesters (sitting on major roads
during rush hour) pretty much exhausted tolerance for them, and produced
something close to physical confrontation between infuriated drivers and
those halting the traffic. Recent demonstrations have focused on marches
to reinforce the settlements in Gaza, which are distant from population
centers and do not threaten the indifferent secular majority. Public
opinion polls show a wavering of support for disengagement or the
settlers, depending on how the most recent demonstration has been
perceived.
Other e-mails concern a legal action against Omri Sharon,
the prime minister's son and chief political aide, concerned with issues
of campaign finance. It is hard to distinguish what he is accused of doing
and accusations earlier lodged against the campaigns of previous prime
ministers. As in the US and elsewhere, campaign finance is a favorite
field for good government enthusiasts (once called googoos), or a cat and
mouse game between reformers wanting morality and campaigners wanting to
win elections. Last night we saw Ehud Barak (accused of the same crime
some years ago, and aching to be the next prime minister) asserting that
Ariel Sharon had violated a campaign finance law with unprecedented
impunity, and so must resign immediately in shame. A number of
settler supporters insist that the whole issue of withdrawing settlements
is Sharon's scheme to deflect attention from his legal problems.
A
senior police officer speaking . . . on condition of anonymity
says there is enough evidence to indict and convict PM Sharon, but
"it's unreasonable to topple a gov't over criminal cases." . .
. .The source said that police investigators were made to understand
that the policy is not to delve into cases that might incriminate the
Prime Minister, in order not to destabilize the regime in
Israel
.
One e-mail contained the following picture. It shows
morning prayers at a site where many thousands of settler supporters were
kept confined at a moshav while on their way to the settlements at Gaza.
It displays the commonality of religious demonstrators and soldiers,
separated only by a fence.
Membership in one nation or the other will influence the message seen in
the photograph. One view is that it shows the unity of the Jewish people:
those currently in uniform on one side of the fence, and those who have been
or will be in uniform on the other side. Somehow we will get through this
problem. Another view is the hostility of the fence, representing what the
anti-Jewish government is enforcing between those wanting to preserve the
Land of Israel and those forced by mandatory conscription to oppose them.
The fence is porous. Religious protesters and soldiers can speak to one
another. But what about secular soldiers? They are not in the picture.
Protest leaders remain insistent that they will convince the people and the
government to curtail the disengagement. It is scheduled to begin in less
than three weeks. A substantial number of settlers in Gaza have signed on to
accept compensation, and seem inclined to leave peacefully and quietly. Most
of the protesters are from the West Bank, and are intent on entering Gaza
and making it impossible for the army and police to remove them. Assuming
that the army and police manage to block their movement to Gaza and succeed
in removing the settlers, what is next? Some protesters and their leaders
are so intense that they overlook the consequences. How much of the
population will continue to charge the regime with abominable crimes against
the Jewish people? How much alienation will come out of this, and what will
be its impact on a small and beleaguered nation? "Optimists"
may see the problem ending with the next suicide bombing, ideally in Europe
or—God forbid—in Israel. Yet pessimists expect that such an event will
enliven those opposed to disengagement. It will reinforce the view that there
is no peace for the Jewish people, and that we must hold on to all the land
that we can.
Perhaps Jews are destined not only to be apart from others, but also from
one another.
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