Choice

Israel continues to empty settlements from the west bank, they appear to be following a strategy of unilateral retreat that will have no tangible benefits. No one is happy, not the US government, not Hamas, not the PA, not Iran, not the EU, not Saudi Arabia. The kind of violence they have been experiencing started from the early days of the Zionist enterprise, especially after the so called British Mandate that was supposed to implement the Balfour Declaration. Extrapolating backwards based on numbers of settlers, it appears that the Jewish population around Israel would have to drop to below 50,000 before any of the local Arabs would feel like they've won the struggle.

I've been reading The Oslo Syndrome, Kenneth Levin. It explains alot about the psychological conditioning that Jews have experienced for centuries. It's about long term physical abuse by aggressive host countries and neighbors. As an engineer that uses statistics frequently I see a trend and there are no pending changes that will change the root cause for all the trouble over in Israel. It's an unfortunate fact that anti-semitism and anti-Zionism have saturated the world's culture, even among many Jews who are trying to hide any trace of Jewish uniqueness.

First off, the term occupied territories should be discarded. The land belongs to Israel and is a rightful part of their historic country. The League of Nations said as much in the 1920's. Ever since then the land has been stripped away a piece at a time. The trend is clear, Israel has to decide if living in the land is worth the struggle and then make their position clear. G_d will bless them if they stand for their legitimate rights.

Judea without Jews

Israeli leadership appears to be committed to turning their own people out of their homes in multiple settlements in Judea and Samaria. They are following a strategy of unilateral retreat that will have no tangible benefits. What is the point of all this self inflicted pain?

Taking out violent feelings on people who can't fight back? Self abuse? Suicidal tendencies? Are they trying to please someone? When I watch the faces of the various local and international leaders on TV and WWW, it looks like no one is happy, not the US government (Rice), not Hamas, not the PA, not Iran, not the EU, not Saudi Arabia, certainly not expelled fellow Jews. They shouldn't worry about world opinion and they certainly can't worry about Palestinian opinion which largely continues to hate them on several levels.

The aim of this behavior is simply to make Judea free of all Jews. What a travesty of history and their national identity as a people of G_d. They are giving away the their soul. Next they'll divide up Jerusalem, they will give away their heart.

But then, is lack of faith or belief the real reason? Many in the Israeli establishment don't know their own G_d. The prophet Malachi tells of the lack of justice that cost Israel dearly in the past. The injustices being displayed today in Israel violate the most basic of Torah commandments to love your neighbor, to care for the weak and love the Lord. This is the trouble that the descendants of Jacob are facing, but the prophets say they will survive this. But with what kind of distress, with what kind of grief and sorrow? Pray for them.